This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…
How long is this story is going to run?
You imagine it’s going to get a lot of coverage when the teams meet again in January, but for now it’s still quite a talking point.
After the defeat to Millwall, Leeds United owner Andrea Radrizzani sent out a tweet in which he heavily criticised the EFL and their lack of VAR, insinuating that it was directly responsible in helping the Lions to victory when the home side were awarded a penalty and had defender Gaetano Berardi sent off, although the red card was later rescinded.
What’s been said?
Former Leeds United defender Danny Mills spoke to Football Insider about the matter, and he thinks that the owner was out of order for the way he handled the situation:
“It’s not a great idea, is it? In this day and age it’s hard when people want to hear from the chairman but some of the best chairman and best owners are the ones who just stay silent. Let the manager, let the coach, let the team do the talking.
“Maybe it’s just a little bit of frustration from Radrizzani, of course he wants to do well, he wants his team to do well. Saying things on Twitter about officials and teams and players is never a good idea.”
What should be done?
And Danny Mills is exactly right here. There has to be a certain level of expectation and behavioural standard depending on how high up the hierarchy you go, and you can see a clear example in other sports.
Whilst it may be an unwritten rule, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has stated that “Owners, management personnel and coaches must be held to a higher standard than players” when it comes to incidents of ‘misconduct’, but the logic still applies here.
Opinions like this should be made by the players, coaches and to a lesser extent the fans. And if an owner or another high ranking member of the board does want to voice their views, then it should be in a more dignified manner than an angry rant on Twitter.
It’s not that we should be restricting people from having their views, in fact so long as they’re legal and non-offensive, the more the better because it encourages debate.
But there’s a time and a place for them to happen, and an angry tweet in the aftermath of a defeat is not the way to go about it for someone who should know better.
