Ian Wright has admitted he was wrong to condemn the Goodison Park faithful on Match of the Day after Southampton’s 2-1 win over Everton.
The Arsenal legend had initially suggested it was “abhorrent” that Denise Barrett-Baxendale was reportedly placed in a headlock after the 4-1 defeat to Brighton (Match of the Day, 29m 54s, 14 January).
However, no incidents have been reported to Merseyside police and Wright has issued an apology to Everton’s fans for his comments on Saturday (14 January).
“I should have said allegedly and that’s the mistake I made,” said Wright (Wright’s House Podcast, 17 January).
“The thing is as well, is that Everton fans have always been very good and I’ve never seen them in this light. I was thinking afterwards why has nobody filmed anything or filmed Denise Barrett-Baxendale in a headlock?
“I am so angry with myself and I’ve really let the Everton fans down and they’ve been very good and I wanted to apologise for that.”
Mess
The whole situation at Goodison Park is a complete mess at the moment. The board being urged to stay away and the alleged incident with Barrett-Baxendale seem to have no substantiation at present, and considering the timing of the club reporting both incidents, there are certain questions which need to be answered.
If the incident did happen then it should have been reported to the police immediately. At no point should a board member be threatened or assaulted whilst at a football match, nor should anyone for that matter.
Although no answers have been delivered, it certainly seems like some of the statements could well have been used to take some of the attention away from what is happening at the club.
Everton are on a dire run of form and Frank Lampard has to take some of the responsibility, and questions should be centred around his future at the club. Instead, large chunks of the criticism have been thrown the way of the board at what is a crucial period.
A decision on Lampard simply has to be made. They either back their boss and allow a new manager enough time in January to adequately strengthen the current squad.
