Gary Neville has called for footballers to have “some authenticity” online after Manchester United midfielder Bruno Fernandes took to social media after his penalty miss against Aston Villa.
United were awarded a penalty in stoppage time against Villa. At the time, they were 1-0 down in the Premier League fixture.
Fernandes stepped up but fired the spot kick over the bar, with United going on to record their first league loss this season.
The Portuguese midfielder later published a long post on social media apologising for the mistake and vowing to “be ready next time”.
United then put out a post of their own, collating responses to Fernandes from his team-mates.
However, some fans questioned whether Fernandes’s long apology – and the similar reactions from his team-mates on social media – was necessary.
Neville on “apology culture”
Former Manchester United defender Neville was another to have his say. He believes that players should either speak on TV or post a video to social media if they want to apologise for missing penalties or other mistakes.
During a Twitter Q&A, he replied to one fan who asked about whether players should apologise for missing penalties: “It’s embarrassing! They need to sack their PR people, speak with some authenticity and get on with it.
“I’m going to go big on this in the next few weeks. They’ve all got these comms managers, that are creating personalities that don’t exist.”
He went on to say in a separate tweet: “The apology that’s engulfing football would be ok if it came from a genuine place.
“However more often than not it’s a smokescreen and diversion tactic designed to mask a c**p performance by experts!!!
“Lose a game = crisis comms meet! How do we spin this one our way?”
He then added: “Final message of the day on the Apology stuff and strong advice to players. If you’re going to say something after a game, either go on TV (I accept players don’t always want to) or post a video on social media where everyone can see it’s you.”
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