John Giles has criticised Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp for his interaction with Chris Hughton last weekend, declaring his conduct as "wild, almost out of control, behaviour."
On Saturday Liverpool ran five goals past Chris Hughton's Brighton in a game that ended 5-1. Television cameras appeared to capture a testy exchange between the pair, as Klopp initially celebrated with his players before proceeding to shake Hughton's hand.
BBC pundit Garth Crooks was dismissive of the act claiming Klopp was “celebrating with his staff like it's the final of the Champions League” while Hughton appeared unimpressed with the duration he had to wait.
Klopp proceeded to apologise for the "misunderstanding."
Klopp clears up the Hughton controversy. Load of fuss about nothing...pic.twitter.com/Km0G0eziJr
— Empire of the Kop (@empireofthekop) December 5, 2017
However, in his Independent column today John Giles said this was just one of a number of misdemeanours by the German boss, comparing it to Guardiola's exchange with Nathan Redmond the week before:
The odd show of passion is fine but there’s a line which should not be crossed and Jurgen Klopp has been living on the wrong side of it all season.
Giles said during the game Klopp deteriorated until "abandoning all sense of decorum" in his actions, before admitting it was unlikely to have been deliberate:
Klopp’s reputation as a loveable German eccentric is hard to square with the bug-eyed character who was fist-pumping in front of Chris Hughton at the weekend.
I will concede that Klopp’s wildly enthusiastic behaviour on the touchline in recent weeks is rooted in his passion for the game and contains nothing malicious.
Klopp has always worn his heart on his sleeve and it would be a shame for him to temper that passion. In saying that, it is easy to understand why such an illustrated figure on your opposing touchline could prove irritating.
It is hard to imagine the Liverpool boss will pay too much heed to the criticism either, as he prepares to take on FC Spartak Moscow in the Champions League tonight.
You can read Giles' column here.
