Brendan Rodgers’ “Manc Ref” criticisms could land him in trouble

Brendan Rodgers faces a slap around the wrists and a heavy fine after his criticisms of referee Lee Mason, who officiated Liverpool’s 2-1 defeat to Manchester City on Thursday.

Mason missed a number of penalty decisions for both sides in the exciting encounter, and also, with the help of his linesman, wrongly adjudged Raheem Sterling offside when the youngster was put through for a clear first half goalscoring opportunity.

But Rodgers was aggrieved at the appointment of Mason for the game, who hails from Bolton, Greater Manchester.

He is quoted on ITV Sport as saying:

I was surprised we are playing in Manchester and have a referee from Greater Manchester. I am sure we won’t get (for) Liverpool-Man City someone from the Wirral.

I thought they were horrendous in terms of performance.

Hopefully we don’t have another Greater Manchester referee again on a Liverpool-Manchester game.

The officials make mistakes, I just felt the mistakes made shouldn’t have happened at this level. This is a big game”.

Recently, Hull City boss Steve Bruce was fined £10,000 by the FA for his post-match criticism of referee Michael Oliver following a defeat against Tottenham.

Is Rodgers right to complain so publicly about the officiating of the Man City-Liverpool game? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below, or on Twitter @thisisanfield

After slipping to fourth in the Premier League with defeat at the Etihad, Liverpool now travel to third-place Chelsea for their final game of 2013 on Sunday.

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