When reflecting upon Jurgen Klopp's decision to salute the Kop after the West Brom game, John Giles adhered to the maxim that 'it is never a good idea to act like a clown'.
Never. He didn't consider the proposition that such behaviour is de rigueur in the Bundesliga.
In his column for the Herald, Giles said that the Liverpool players looked 'embarrassed' by the crowd saluting display.
It won't have taken them long to twig that Klopp was concerned largely with optics, wrote Giles.
It won't have taken them long to figure out that it's all about optics and if there's one thing players hate, it's a grandstanding manager who has an eye on the media.
He dispensed some old fashioned advice. The way to build morale is not through 'gimmicks' but through detailed work on the training ground.
Klopp's post-game antics were also criticised by James McClean, who branded the Liverpool manager an 'idiot' for spurning the post-game handshake with Tony Pulis.
I’ve got a lot of respect for the man because he done a great job at Dortmund but I think he is a bit of an idiot to be honest on the game on Sunday.
Win, lose or draw you have got to be respectful.
Later in his Herald article, Giles considered the malaise at Chelsea. He has an interesting theory as to why Mourinho may have lost the trust of the players in his dressing room.
The player's wives.
Giles suggests that his players partners would have taken a dim view of his treatment of team doctor Eva Carneiro.
His biggest mistake appears to be his confrontation with team doctor Eva Carneiro, who was clearly a popular member of staff.
That episode was about more than football and left an imprint on the players through their wives.
Disconcertingly, Giles used the phrase 'talks trash about other managers' while discussing Mourinho's 'mind games' bullshit. It is rather difficult to imagine an Americanism such as this emerging from Gilesy's mouth.
We suspect an editor was at work on that passage.
Read more: James McClean Was Less Than Impressed With Jurgen Klopp's Conduct After Anfield Draw
