Didi Hamann has urged Jurgen Klopp to apologise to James Pearce following his refusal to answer the journalist’s questions during the post-Wolves press conference.
The reporter had been snubbed by the manager in the wake of the 3-0 defeat at the Molineux with the latter citing the Athletic man’s prior writing on the club as a factor.
“I think the least James deserves is an apology,” the German told talkSPORT.
“This club is based on respect and I think there’s a time when someone in the club has to say to him ‘this is Liverpool Football Club, we can’t do this’.
“We have respect campaigns in the Premier League, we have campaigns against bullying and you can’t have the Liverpool manager behave the way he did.
“I feel that no-one in the club has the bottle to tell him, which I think they should.”
Whether the German will continue his embargo against the individual in future pressers remains to be seen, though it’s clear that the issue is a personal one for the former Borussia Dortmund boss.
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We can see where our ex-Red is coming from, as journalists simply shouldn’t be prevented from performing their roles nor humiliated in front of their colleagues.
Equally, of course, given that Klopp was prepared to tolerate Pearce’s question from another report, it’s abundantly clear that the tension discussion of his side’s poor form.
Until further details come out to clarify the conflict between the two, however, it’s critical that journalists feel empowered to keep asking the difficult questions without fear of losing access.
You can catch the clip below, courtesy of @talkSPORT:
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