Former EPL referee Clattenburg labels Jurgen Klopp sour loser

Former Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg has branded Jurgen Klopp as a “strange bloke” and a ‘sour loser’. Before Clattenburg departed for Saudi Arabia in February 2017, both shared three years in the Premier League together. The official further claimed the Liverpool boss tried to intimidate him before a big game. Former referee Mark Clattenburg has opened up on his relationship with Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp.

“Jurgen Klopp, Brilliant manager, Sour loser. I first came across him in April 2014. His Borussia Dortmund side lost 3-0 at Real Madrid in a Champions League quarter-final first leg. After the game, I came out of my dressing room and Real defender Marcelo and his wife asked for a picture. It was a private picture on their phone so I said yeah, no problem,” explained Mark in his recently released autobiography “Whistle Blower”, according to Daily Mail football news.

“Klopp walked past just as the photo was being taken. ‘Oh, so that’s why we got beat, is it?’ he said. He was not being humorous or friendly, he was being sarky. ‘You’re lucky you only got beat 3-0,’ I said. The fact we were in Madrid probably gave me a bit of bravado to answer back. It annoyed me when managers could not be gracious in defeat. Klopp never took losing well. When he was winning he was happy, he was good fun. When things were not going his way, he got prickly.”

My final game with Klopp was in January 2017 against Chelsea at Anfield. Managers rarely came into my dressing room for the exchange of team-sheets an hour before kick-off. On this occasion, Klopp came in with Jordan Henderson. It was bizarre, he stood and stared at me for about 30 seconds. I just stared back at him. I could see Jordan was a bit like, ‘What the hell’s going on?’ Did Klopp think I was stupid? I was not going to be bullied by him. He left and all I thought was: “What a strange bloke”, – says an extract from Clattenburg’s autobiography “Whistle Blower”.