Coote was last in charge of VAR for Liverpool’s match against
Everton that saw Virgil van Dijk’s season ended.
Last month’s match against Everton
saw Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk receive a season-ending
injury as the result of a reckless, knee-high, studs-up lunge by
goalkeeper Jordan Pickford that appeared to go unreviewed
by VAR official David Coote.
Unsurprisingly, then, when it was announced that Coote would
again be taking charge of video assistant referee duties for a
Liverpool match, this time against Leicester City
on Sunday, the reaction of Liverpool fans was shock and
annoyance.
Today, though, the league have announced a change to their
weekend plans: Coote will instead be refereeing the Saturday match
between West Bromwich Albion and Manchester
United
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However, the Professional Game Match Officials Limited, or
PGMOL, insist that Coote’s widely criticized performance the last
time he manned the VAR booth—which was, of course, also for a
Liverpool match—has nothing to do with it.
Instead, it’s said to be down to “operational reasons” and that he’s needed on an
earlier match. And no matter the how or why of it, such is the
state of refereeing in the Premier League it’s hard to know if fans
will find any comfort in the switch.