'The FA might want to write him a four-page letter' - Klopp slammed by 77 y/o former ref for his behaviour

Jurgen Klopp has been blasted by 77-year-old former referee Keith Hackett for his antics on the Premier League sidelines.

The German is one of the most comical and animated figures on the pitch and it's part of why he's been so successful since his switch from the Bundesliga.

To be successful in the Premier League, you need the skills to be a manager as well as the personality to keep the media onside but Hackett believes Klopp and others need to be reeled back in.

He wrote in a column for the Mirror: “First of all, I’m very clear that managers should not be allowed to come onto the field of play at the end of the game. Stop them coming on.

“It might be great that Klopp runs down the touchline but why do we have a technical area?

“Why do we have a procedure in place that says you stay in your technical area? Yet we don’t apply it. To some degree, fourth officials are weak and are ignoring it. Sometimes, it’s not what he says, it’s how he communicates.

“I think the FA might want to write him a four-page letter explaining his misdemeanours and that we want an improvement in his behaviour. A shot across the barrel.”

Without sounding ageist or prejudicing Hackett for being 77, the first thing I will say is that a lot of his complaints are quite trivial and the type of complaints you would expect of an older man out of touch with the real issues plaguing the world of football.

Instead of wasting a column in the Mirror to complain about the likes of Klopp not respecting the technical area, he could have discussed the lack of quality Premier League referees.

That said, I must say that managers and players are ridiculous at times with the way they disrespect referees. FIFA and the FA should adopt a no-nonsense policy with disrespect the same way rugby officials do but that only works because, generally, rugby referees make far fewer mistakes and TMO (television match official) works almost flawlessly.

On the whole, rugby players have less to complain about while football players are often well within their rights to protest.