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Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has been warned ahead of the Merseyside derby against Everton that his continual berating of match officials will not help his team's cause.
Referees' chief Mike Riley and his members are angered by Rodgers continuing to claim his club are victimised by officials, regarding it as a tactic to seek an advantage.
Ahead of the crunch match at Goodison Park, the Liverpool boss has defiantly repeated his frustrations over the way his club's games are officiated, sarcastically remarking he would have to take a holiday when his striker Luis Suarez got a decision in his favour.
Good decision, ref: Brendan Rodgers has complained about refereeing standards
'Brendan Rodgers isn't the first manager to try it on,' said a referees' source.
'He has been reminded that Kenny Dalglish did the same thing as Liverpool manager last season and it didn't work for him.
'It won't work for Brendan, either. There have been phone calls which have relayed that message. It is pretty clear.'
Premier League referees, who are looked after by Professional Game Match Officials Limited, are becoming increasingly resentful at the way they believe they are being used as scapegoats by managers for poor results.
Victim? Luis Suarez has been booked three times for diving at Liverpool
Rodgers has been strident in his defence of controversial Uruguay striker Suarez, who has been booked for diving three times since he joined Liverpool at the start of last year.
Rodgers blasted referee Mike Jones for not awarding Suarez a penalty against Norwich last month.
When the Uruguayan was clearly seen to have dived the following weekend against Stoke City, however, Rodgers claimed not to have seen it.
He continued his theme ahead of today's derby game when he said: 'One of these days, we will get a decision.'
Everton, though, clearly felt Suarez's over-reaction to a tackle in a derby match last season cost Jack Rodwell a red card and Goodison boss David Moyes has hit back at the striker's antics, saying: 'He has history. It will turn the supporters away.'
Rodgers was appointed after Kenny Dalglish created a PR disaster by supporting Suarez in his racial abuse case with Manchester United's Patrice Evra.
But the Ulsterman, who has been mocked as football's answer to fictitious television windbag David Brent from The Office for his appearances in a fly-on-the- wall documentary Being: Liverpool, has also been strident in sticking up for his club's interests.
Different approach: Everton boss David Moyes
And he again appeared to try to put pressure on a referee, Andre Marriner, who takes charge of the derby.
'It is so important for the referees to stay calm and not get excited,' said Rodgers.
'I've seen it over the years, some of the tackles in these games is incredible. My last memory was a tackle of [Everton's] Steven Pienaar that was up around the top of the guy's thigh. I don't believe he even got booked for it, which was absolutely incredible.
'So there's a responsibility there for the refs to make sure it's a football game and not a rugby game.'
Unfortunately, the problem is that referees nowadays are celebrities. With every 'strange' decision they make comes extra publicity, then their 'value' goes up for their after dinner speaking engagements. These refs can double their annual income by after dinner chats, so it's worth their while to be controversial. Suarez, unfortunately, merely assists them with his dramatic diving!
- Stumpy Jay , East Surrey, 28/10/2012 05:45
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