You would've thought that footballers have learned from other players about what they can and can't post on social media. Joey Barton is usually the poster boy, Ryan Babel is usually good for a fine or two now and again. Bacary Sagna clearly didn't heed the advice from those gone by, though, as he gave his own analysis of referee Lee Mason in a deleted Instagram post.
Man City beat Burnley 2-1 yesterday. It was tricky enough for Pep Guardiola's side, but they got over the line in the end. Mason dismissed Fernandinho early in the game for a two-footed lunge - just the third red card in six games for the Brazilian.
Sagna clearly wasn't impressed with the performance of the Bolton-based ref, posting on his official Instagram:
10 against 12... but still fighting and winning as a team #together #mancity
Now, that's a fairly silly thing to post on any form of social media these days because journalists and fans will jump onto it straight away. Which they did. Sagna did replace the picture with an identical one, only with the hashtag #youfreetothinkwhatyouwant added. Cryptic!
Here's the photographic evidence:
Sagna trying to cover his tracks. Claimed it was "10 against 12" (implying ref was against City) but he's amended post. FA may be interested pic.twitter.com/JyX2eT3fVz
— Paul Hirst (@hirstclass) January 2, 2017
Sagna trying to cover his tracks. Claimed it was "10 against 12" (implying ref was against City) but he's amended post. FA may be interested pic.twitter.com/JyX2eT3fVz
— Paul Hirst (@hirstclass) January 2, 2017
The FA weren't impressed. Considering we've seen bans for managers for speaking out against refereeing decisions (cough, Jose) the association could come down hard on the right back. The Frenchman has until 5pm on Friday to respond.
It could've just been a complete misunderstanding. Perhaps Bacary's finger slipped while typing, or that pesky auto correct took over. He probably meant to say 10 vs 11, which was just stating the facts of the game!
Probably. You can keep up with the wacky world of Sagna via his official instagram. Fair warning, it feature phoneboxes, paintings, and the Eiffel Tower.
