Ian Wright has explained why Rio Ferdinand’s comments about Newcastle were “very surprising”.
Ferdinand came in for some rather intense criticism after launching into a bizarre defence of Newcastle owner Mike Ashley last month.
The BT Sport pundit followed up those comments by posting some fishing emojis on Twitter after it was pointed out just how wrong he was.
Wright has offered some measured thoughts, admitting he was “very surprised” by Ferdinand’s reaction.
“With the incident, it was factually wrong,” he told The True Geordie podcast.
“And so unfortunately for Rio, whether he’s got the right people around him to say ‘Ease off because that’s not factually right’.
“I remember when I had a go at Newcastle fans about Andre Marriner getting so much stick and that it was unfair for them to put him under so much pressure. They came for me!
“I cannot sit here and defend what happened because it was factually wrong but what I was surprised was that he continued it with the fishing rod and that’s maybe something that – in hindsight – he wouldn’t do.
“It’s very surprising because I’ve worked with him and I know he’s very meticulous in what he’s doing.
“I’m not going to make excuses for him, he’s just come back from the Maldives and maybe his head is in the clouds. I don’t know what happened.
“The only thing for me is that once it started to get into the realms of people questioning his credibility he should (have stopped).”