West Ham star Michail Antonio is out of order for gossip mongering about the Steven Gerrard situation at Aston Villa.
We all, whether you are a fan of West Ham or any other club, want our players and managers to be honest and open and less robotic.
West Ham skipper Declan Rice, James Maddison at Leicester and Emi Martinez at Aston Villa are three that spring to mind as living in the real world and giving interesting interviews voicing proper, honest opinions.
So the fact West Ham striker Antonio has a podcast with Callum Wilson where he peels back the Premier League curtain to offer fans a sometimes fascinating insight is brilliant.
And Antonio can certainly never be accused of being robotic, unless he’s busting out some robot dancing as part of one of his brilliant goal celebrations!
But comments from Antonio this week about the sacking of Premier League great Steven Gerrard at Aston Villa has left something of a sour taste.
Villa eventually caved to overwhelming fan pressure by axing Gerrard following a 3-0 defeat to Fulham.
Villa’s players were then accused of s-housery of the highest order when they thumped Brentford 4-0 in the very next game following Gerrard’s departure.
West Ham and Villa fans may have heard or read Antonio’s comments on the situation in the wake of Gerrard’s sacking.
But here’s a reminder for those who haven’t.
“What I’ve heard in the grapevine is that there is a few players who weren’t really having him,” Antonio told the Footballer’s Football Podcast.
“I’m not sure how many. But what I’ve heard in the grapevine is that there were a few players who didn’t like how he was.
“It wasn’t how he wanted to play (that they didn’t like), it was more how he was a manager himself and how he dealt with the players. That’s what I heard.”
Antonio is a Jamaica teammate of Leon Bailey – who scored in the thrashing of Brentford after Gerrard’s exit.
So it probably isn’t that difficult to identify who was on the other end of Antonio’s grapevine.
Regardless it all feels a bit below the belt.
West Ham star Antonio is out of order for gossip mongering about the Gerrard situation at Aston Villa.
Antonio and the mystery Villa mole have broken the code of ‘what happens in the dressing room stays in the dressing room’.
And it feels a bit off, perhaps more so because Gerrard is having his personality and ‘how he is as a person’ publicly questioned without the right of reply.
Players need to be very careful with this kind of thing, after all who knows, Antonio could end up playing for Gerrard before his career is out.
It’s not nice to see and if the shoe were on the other foot how would Antonio or the Villa mole feel?
What about if a manager came out and started publicly questioning Antonio’s attitude and ability off the back of a few months of poor form?
Football is an entertainment sport but save it for the pitch, don’t resort to tabloid tittle tattle that questions someone’s character and likeability.
Gerrard probably won’t care too much, consoled by memories of a brilliant career and a Champions League winners medal.
The former Liverpool hero has always spoken very highly of West Ham – praising the club’s supporters as ‘proper fans’ and remarking how classy we were following that heart-breaking FA Cup final defeat.
If Gerrard has half as much desire to succeed as a manager as he did when a player then he’ll be back with a vengeance regardless of what a few fickle footballers at Aston Villa have to say about him when his back is turned.
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