Redwatch: No Liverpool FC conspiracy theories, just bad finishing to blame for Stoke defeat

Redwatch: No Liverpool FC conspiracy theories, just bad finishing to blame for Stoke defeat

It’s unlikely that a refereeing conspiracy against Liverpool FC will gain as much notoriety as these legendary hare-brained theories, but this was the sinister spectre raised by Kenny Dalglish during his post-match comments on Saturday.

Stoke’s pitch may well have resembled the grassy knoll but the Britannia Stadium was no Sea of Tranquility as Kenny called into question the tide of disputed refereeing decisions that appear to have gone against the Reds this season.

In truth the conspiracy angle was a Press interpretation of his cryptic remarks after the game; my take was that he was considering resorting to the dubious tactics of other managers who seek to intimidate referees by publicly criticising them.

Quite why he would need the owners’ permission to do this I’m not quite sure, but if he does consult them I hope that sanity prevails and Kenny reverts to his usual style of dignified silence when he feels aggrieved, laced with the odd barbed oblique observation.

Samuel Johnson may have thought that patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel, but for me it’s managers who seek to excuse their side’s shortcomings by blaming referees.

The Old Curmudgeon down the road is of course a master of this, as is his best mate Big Sam, now thankfully exiled in the South and the Championship, a win double if ever there was one.

That doesn’t sound like the type of the company that I wish to keep.