Spurs caretaker boss Ryan Mason was unimpressed by the way Callum Wilson spoke about Tottenham Hotspur forward Richarlison and his bad luck in front of goal this season.
Newcastle United striker Wilson and West Ham United counterpart Michail Antonio caused something of a tabloid stir earlier this month when they expressed amusement at their mistaken belief that Richarlison has been booked for celebrating disallowed goals three times this season (it has in fact only happened twice).
The pair laughed at the incident in the May 2 episode of the BBC’s Footballer’s Football Podcast after Richarlison had a strike ruled out against Liverpool and then was booked for removing his shirt. Both Wilson and Antonio then acknowledged that they admire Richarlison, with Wilson saying ‘I rate him as a footballer with his charisma’ and that he understood why Richarlison went ‘ballistic’ – but that element of the conversation went largely unreported in outraged national media transcripts.
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Nonetheless, Mason told Football.London that he did not like to see fellow professionals poking fun at each other, adding: “I certainly don't feel like I'm ever in a position to criticise another head coach or another manager on the work they're doing or the job they're doing at their football club.
“Richy I don't think he's thinking about other players, to be honest, I think it is his own pride and his own determination that will probably drive that most of all. In terms of Richy. I don't know. Maybe he's heard it, maybe seen it? Maybe. Maybe it might give him a little bit more. I'm not sure. I'm really not sure about that.”
He added: “First of all, I guess as a coach I wouldn't do it, and as a player, I've never done it as well. I don't really like that type of thing. We're all trying to do our best.
“We're all professionals. We're working hard. We dedicate our lives to get to this level and to compete at this level. So don't really like that type of thing personally.
“But from a player's point of view, I've been signed for a club as a record signing, so I know the feeling that you want to give back. You really want to give back and one thing I will say about Richy is he has always come in and he's added energy to try to you know, he's a fighter.
“He works hard, he trains hard and I've never seen someone that's shirked responsibility. Yes, of course, we would have wanted more goals and he would have wanted more goals from himself, but that's not happened. Hopefully now he can influence the last two games and score goals to help us.”
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