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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Tom Blow

Simon Jordan lays into Billy Sharp over Wrexham outburst - "You've been around the block"

Simon Jordan has hit out at Billy Sharp after the Sheffield United captain criticised Wrexham's conduct surrounding their FA Cup tie.

Championship side United defeated National League outfit Wrexham 3-1 in an fourth-round replay at Bramall Lane on Tuesday night. The tie went to a replay after Wrexham almost pulled off a famous shock at the Racecourse last month, with that game ending 3-3.

Veteran striker Sharp, 37, slammed Wrexham in his post-match interview after the non-league outfit repeatedly referred to the Blades as "Sheffield" and baited Premier League side Tottenham - United's fifth-round opponents - on social media before the replay.

Sharp's outburst has received mixed reviews. Some fans have praised him for calling out Wrexham's "disrespectful" behaviour, while others have questioned him for hitting out at a non-league team. Former Crystal Palace owner Jordan is in the latter camp.

"Wrexham are a club that's getting a lot of interest because of the ownership model, so they would have come into this game with a lot of the back stories and Ryan Reynolds and whoever else [co-owner Rob McElhenney] and what Wrexham are going to do and how they are going to make an assault on football," Jordan told talkSPORT.

"And I really don't understand why Billy Sharp would feel the necessity to worry about a team that they should have beaten anyway... Do you know what makes me laugh about some of the football people? Football can be the most disrespectful industry in the world.

Billy Sharp hit out at Wrexham during his post-match interview (Ryan Browne/REX/Shutterstock)

What do you make of Billy Sharp's rant? Let us know in the comments below!

"Yet they all seem to harp on about respect. They very rarely give any of it, yet they are very quick to tell other people what respect should look like. The Wrexham players have turned up to an FA Cup tie against a very significant football club in Sheffield United, who are likely to be promoted [to the Premier League, currently second in the Championship].

"They are going to buoyant, they are going to be full of themselves, they are going to have a lot of energy out of being very successful in their own league - second - and also taking a soon-to-be Premier League football club to a replay.

"Of course they are going to be full of themselves! Why would you worried about that? You're a 35, 36-year-old that has been around the block - played in the Premier League - why in god's name would you feel the need to have that outburst on television?"

Wrexham have received a lot of attention due to their owners - Hollywood stars Reynolds and McElhenney. The National League side have spent big since their takeover in 2020 and were the subject of 'Welcome to Wrexham' - a Disney documentary series.

Speaking after the Blades' win, Sharp told ITV: "I am glad we've beaten them. They are doing well in their league and we are doing well in ours, but I wasn't happy with a few of their players there.

"The way they've been as a club before the game, eyeing up Spurs before the game - they had not even beaten us. They thought we would just roll over when they got back in it and I think the referee was helping them as well, I don't think he gave me one foul all night."

Wrexham's Ben Tozer defended his employers in his post-match interview. He said: "I don't think any of our lads have said anything disrespectful. We certainly approached the game properly but if that's the way they want to be then that's the way they want to be."

Tozer added: "He [Sharp] should show more respect to us. I said to him face to face 'show a bit more humility'. We've congratulated them on the win. We haven't come in sulking, we've walked as one down the tunnel as normal. It's just a shame that's the way it's ended.

"They showed a real lack of humility. But listen that's the way they want to be and I feel that if we'd won that game, we would have shown a lot more humility and respect."

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