Kenny Shiels has been heavily criticised for suggesting female footballers are more likely to concede goals in bursts than their male counterparts "because girls and women are more emotional than men".
Shiels's Northern Ireland side lost 5-0 to England Tuesday, a result which ended their hopes of qualifying for next year's World Cup. Northern Ireland trailed 1-0 at the break, but conceded four goals in 27 minutes during the second half.
"If you go through the patterns, when a team concedes a goal they concede a second one within a very short period of time," Shiels, speaking from the 1940s, said in his post-match press conference.
"Right through the whole spectrum of the women's game, because girls and women are more emotional than men, so a goal going in, they don't take that very well.
"You go through the stats, which journalists love to do. We went 1-0 down, we killed the game, tried to slow it right down to give them time to get that emotional imbalance out of their head. That's an issue we have, not just Northern Ireland, but all countries have that problem. I shouldn't have told you that."
I’m sorry Kenny Shiels, but women are not “more emotional” than men and maybe men could learn from how most women manage their emotions. Ironically, his comments are probably an emotional response of a coach. pic.twitter.com/TPAfDYxydS
— Finian Murphy (@finianmurphy) April 13, 2022
Shiels, who previously managed Kilmarnock, Morton, and Derry City, has been the Northern Ireland women's manager since 2019.
Women in Football CEO Yvonne Harrison said her initial reaction to Shiels's comments was "shock that in this day and age you're hearing comments like that".
"Women being classed as too emotional has been something that's there for far too long, and it's just perpetuating this stereotype that we can't control our emotions in any setting, that it's not just on a football pitch, and that is deeply unhelpful," she told Sky Sports.
"We hear from our members at Women in Football when we do different programmes and leadership courses about some of the challenges they face. Not necessarily on the pitch, but in the workplace in the football industry. These comments around if they make a statement, it can be classed as too emotional, but if a male colleague does that, it's assertive."
'Kenny Shiels talking foolishness!'
Former England goalkeeper Siobhan Chamberlain told BBC 5 Live: "We all know - and we get it drilled into us as footballers - the five minutes after you concede a goal, the five minutes after you score a goal across the board, not just in women’s football, in men’s football as well, you’re more likely to concede a goal, you’re more likely to potentially go on to score again.
"That’s not just in the women’s game, that’s in the men’s game as well and to just generalise that to women is a slightly bizarre comment.
"You need to kind of take a bit of responsibility of knowing the value that words can hold and when you give post-match press conferences when you’re feeling emotional after a big game, it’s important to make sure that you’re speaking sensibly and are aware of the message that your words can carry."
Former England international Ian Wright said on Wednesday that Shiels was "talking foolishness", while Ireland international James McClean said Shiels is the "Gift that keeps on giving".
"Same guy when managing Derry said that international football has no pride anymore, that Ireland are England reserves and the North of Ireland are England reserves' reserves, and now manages the North of Ireland women's INTERNATIONAL team," McClean posted on Instagram.
Kenny Shiels talking foolishness! Talking about emotional women ! Didn’t that man see how many times I was crying on the PITCH! kmt pic.twitter.com/gTKIpd3fV3
— Ian Wright (@IanWright0) April 13, 2022
Featured image: 12 April 2022; Northern Ireland manager Kenny Shiels speaks to players during the FIFA Women's World Cup 2023 qualifier match between Northern Ireland and England at National Stadium at Windsor Park in Belfast. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
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