Obviously, threatening officials is terrible behavior and should not be tolerated.
However, I can understand club and fan frustration (the frustration part, not the threatening part) with the current state of officiating. Officials are not accountable for their decisions.
John Stones sat on the bench for a year and a half because his form was not adequate. If any of out players perform poorly, have a bad attitude, miss practice or any other items among a host of transgressions, the manager can drop them. The club can sell them. Look at Mesut Ozil. He went from Arsenal to Fenerbahce.
The officiating crews hired to adjudicate football matches in the Premiership, and to a lesser extent lower divisions, are presiding over outcomes that have millions (billions) of £s of consequences. If a team are relegated or miss a UCL spot etc, that has material financial implications for the club, it players and its personnel. Not to mention the fans and local businesses once fans come back.
Officials need to be held accountable. Pep has to answer all sorts of questions and be subjected to every manner of journalism under the sun. If City lose, people will talk about giving him the sack. He is accountable, not inly to the fans and the media (LOL) but most importantly to City’s board and ownership.
When was the last time PGMOL sacked an official for poor officiating? When was the last time they even reprimanded one for poor performance?
Incidentally, if PGMOL did these things people probably wouldn’t “threaten” officials because they would no longer feel like officials are accountable to know one. Obviously crazies are gonna act crazy.