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Liv v Eve

Cross post there... my understanding is that this isn't about "filho da puta", it's about something after that. And, not knowing Holgate's Portuguese, but presuming it's not advanced, I'll wager it was something universally understood... but we'll see.

As an LFC fan, I'm gutted
Agreed, it would appear to be something said which is clearly understood in either language, a spoken word or phrase that is very similar in both languages.
 
The Ref Stop
I did not see this live but have watched the videos that I could find on the internet. Minimum of YC for the push. That is clearly done with disregard for the danger to his opponent. As far as what was said... Not sure there. I don't see S.O.B being racial and the language this is an issue. Regardless of what was said.... Madley was clearly attempting to intervene to prevent retaliation when Holgate grabbed him by the shoulder to pull him to face him. It is likely to state a case, complain about what was said, or something. I do not care. DO NOT EVER TOUCH THE REFEREE. Madley was dealing with Firmino. There is no acceptable reason to grab his shoulder and pull him away from the direction the Madley is attempting to walk. This is a byproduct of the FA's, EPL and referees' failure to enforce the policy they tried to adopt addressing this https://www.premierleague.com/news/65240. They have continued to allow players to crowd officials, impede officials' movement and touch officials. This should NEVER be allowed. Although it did not appear to be what criminally could be considered an assault, he is pulling the referee to complain or argue. He should be gone and the FA is part responsible for not following through on this type of conduct and the referees of the PL
 
Madley's had a shocker here, regardless of what Firmino said. Failing to punish the dangerous push, putting himself in the middle of a mass con so he has no idea what's going on around him, failure to make any effort whatsoever to even try and control the crowding and failing to do anything about being grabbed by Holgate. Any one of those would get a below standard in a 7-6 assessement, all 4 in one incident is totally unacceptable from a top ref. He's just switched off there and let events happen to him - unfortunately, he needs to be given a serious break from top matches after that IMO.

And partly because of that, I can't see him making it worse for himself by confirming any racist language in the incident. If he reports that he heard something and failed to show red for it, on top of all the other mistakes he made, that could be the end of his top flight career. Which means it'll come down to a case of he said/she said, which, as long as Liverpool don't try the daft "cultural differences" defence they did with Suarez, should mean nothing comes of it.
 
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