Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp vents his anger at an assistant referee during Liverpool’s game with Manchester City. AFP Photo

Paul Kennedy

If you ask most Liverpool fans what they would do if they came home from work early and found their wife in bed with Jurgen Klopp, chances are most would put the kettle on so there’s a nice cup of tea waiting for him when he’s ready to leave.

They’d also probably offer to give him a lift home too if he needed it.

Despite what has been an indifferent start to Liverpool’s season, Jurgen’s position as manager is as safe as houses. He is adored and can do nothing wrong in the eyes of every single red.

That said, the German’s popularity outside of Liverpool is certainly waning. He’s gone from being the loveable man of the people and a breath of fresh air in the Premier League to an aggressive, xenophobic ogre in the space of just a few short weeks.

He rattled a few cages the other week when he singled out three clubs in world football who, in his words, could do "anything they wanted".

He was talking about Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain and Newcastle United. All of which are owned by incredibly wealthy Middle Eastern oil tycoons.

Jurgen then ruffled a few more feathers for his antics on the touchline during Liverpool’s feisty clash with Manchester City.

Obviously irked by the failure of the official to spot a foul on Mohammed Salah, the manager decided to vent his anger on the assistant referee.

Klopp is 190cm tall, and cuts a pretty intimating figure with a booming voice to match, so his reaction didn’t look good on television and the German was rightly given a red card. He did apologise straight away after the match had finished but will now face a future ban from the touchline.

All of the above has led to a switch in feelings towards Klopp, particularly from Premier League pundits.

Former Blackburn Rovers striker Chris Sutton even went as far as suggesting Klopp should be banned for a whopping 10 games for his actions.

A ban is correct, no one can argue with that, but 10 games is a little OTT.

As for his comments about City, Newcastle and PSG, I doubt they will go away anytime soon. Klopp is clearly peeved about the xenophobic accusations and I read one article this claiming his was even considering taking legal action against City who made the accusation.

I hope he doesn’t. Liverpool followed up their victory over Manchester City with a gritty win against West Ham on Wednesday evening. Their season seems to be slowly getting back on track so they don’t need any off-the-pitch distractions

If he does drag this out, his popularity will continue to dip in the media and among football fans that don’t support Liverpool.

As for the Liverpool fans themselves, myself included, they really don’t care what Klopp says or does. We love him that much.

So much in fact, I need to grab a box of tea bags on the way home just in case he’s decided to pop around while I’ve been at work. VNS