Roy Hodgson got himself into a bit of unexpected trouble today following headlines like this earlier this morning.
The England manager is believed to have uttered the words "feed the monkey" towards Andros Townsend on Tuesday night at halftime during England's game with Poland, as part of a fairly innocent, inspirational tale that he used an an analogy for passing the ball to Townsend.
Somebody in the camp has leaked the story of Roy Hodgson's attempt at a joke, and as one would expect, it has been sensationalised beyond belief by the English media. Some team members and well-renowned footballers have sprung to the defence of Roy on Twitter today though.
I don't know what all this fuss is about. No offence was meant and none was taken! It's not even news worthy!
— andros townsend (@andros_townsend) October 17, 2013
Seen the story on roy this morning. He done nothing wrong. This is ridiculous. — Wayne Rooney (@WayneRooney) October 17, 2013
Ashley Cole wasn't even there, but it hasn't stopped the masses from accusing him of being the rat in the camp.
???????????? love how people blaming me already, and i wasn't even there, anything bad in the world #blameash @MrBlackMills — Ashley Cole (@TheRealAC3) October 17, 2013
Roy Hodgson is neither a racist nor a comedian. — Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) October 17, 2013
Thought I'd read Roy ''story''. Biggest load of bollocks I've ever wasted 10 seconds reading.He gave a context laden tale for fucks sake. — Stan Collymore (@StanCollymore) October 16, 2013
Racism is hard enough to keep on the agenda as it is without making everyone think a legitimate space tale should be a cause for offence. — Stan Collymore (@StanCollymore) October 16, 2013
No way Roy meant anything offensive. PC brigade getting all worked up over fook all again. Back under your boulders you belters...
— Joseph Barton (@Joey7Barton) October 17, 2013
Jason Roberts, as one would expect, has had his say on the subject, and it's also as you would expect.
Hodgson "joke" or "analogy" is the comment of a 66 year old man who probably does not see why a comment like that might be a problem in 2013
— Jason Roberts (@JasonRoberts30) October 17, 2013
Beyond football, everybody's favourite tweeter, TV personality and Arsenal fan has had his say.
Roy Hodgson is not a racist. But he does need better jokes. End.
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) October 17, 2013
So there you have it. Roy is not a racist, just a rather poor comedian, but his team talk worked a treat the other night nonetheless.
cover image: theguardian
