Gary Neville has slammed Leeds after the club released a statement apologising for their players appearing to ignore young fans on the weekend.
Leeds have found themselves at the centre of a storm on social media after a video clip of the players walking past supporters without acknowledging them went viral. Players decided to keep their heads down and continue on through the hotel lobby to the team bus without stopping to sign autographs for fans, including young children.
The video was taken before Leeds suffered a damaging 4-1 loss against Bournemouth, which plunged the future of manager Javi Gracia into uncertainty. Leeds are just one point above the Premier League relegation zone after going five games without a win.
Leeds released a statement on their club website which expressed remorse for ignoring fans while promising to improve on the pitch. Former Manchester United defender Neville was not impressed and hit out at what he saw as an inauthentic gesture.
He tweeted: “This isn’t a message to Leeds players it’s to all players/teams apologising. No-one is falling for sanitised/vanilla PR guff anymore. Speak from the heart and better on video so fans can see your faces.”
His comments came after Piers Morgan branded Leeds’ players "selfish arrogant p****s” and talkSPORT pundit Simon Jordan said they “should be ashamed of themselves”.
The statement to fans read: “As the first team squad at Leeds United, we wanted to reach out to the fan base regarding yesterday’s game and subsequent posts on social media,” the players said in a statement.
“Firstly, the performance was not good enough. There is no other way to look at it and the only way to respond is on the pitch. Leeds fans travel up and down the country in huge numbers and deserve more than this.
“What is just as concerning to us as a group, is the video online of us leaving the hotel. Words can’t express how sorry we are that the youngster in the video wearing the Leeds kit is not shown more love from the squad.
“On a matchday we do an activation walk, before and after this we stop for photos and autographs to ensure we interact with fans, but also that we are on time when leaving for games. However, there is no excuse for not acknowledging fans and if the parents of the fan wearing the Leeds kit in the video could make themselves known to us, we would be grateful.
“We do not believe that this fight is over and we will keep going until the last ball is kicked this season. Thank you again for your support.”
