Peterborough United owner and Chairman Darragh MacAnthony has fully backed his manager in the fining and transfer listing of four players following a breach in club discipline.
Club captain Gaby Zakuani, forward Emile Sinclair, summer signing Nathaniel Mendez-Laing and club record signing Tyrone Barnett have all been placed on the transfer list and fined following an incident in Peterborough City Centre on Saturday night/Sunday morning.
All four are believed to have gone to the Halo nightclub and some national newspapers such as The Sun claiming that two players in their early 20’s even spent the night in police cells!!
Although all four players have been advised not to speak about the incident, THEY HAVE NOT EVEN BEEN ALLOWED TO EXPLAIN THEIR SIDE OF THE STORY!!
Captain Zakuani was determined to explain the situation via twitter though: ‘I went out on a weekend where there’s no midweek game, those that know me know I don’t drink or smoke, I was up at 8am for church the next day.
‘Honestly, at the time I didn’t feel I did anything wrong as I was home about 2am, I wasn’t arrested, no fighting or anti-social behaviour.
‘I understand the club are not happy as we are at the wrong end of the table and I have nothing but total respect for the gaffer and staff.
‘I’m hurt that is has come to this as we have made a lot of history in the past five seasons and I love the club to bits, sorry to all my fans.
‘I hope it gets resolved one way or another, and I’m 100% committed, and never will give less than that. Thanks.’
Halo manager Dave Keetley backed up Zakuani on Twitter: ‘@Gabs50Zakuani visited Halo on several occasions. ALWAYS acted the perfect gentleman. NEVER done anything to the detriment of @theposhdotcom’.
The Posh did issue a statement via their website yesterday [Monday, 12th November] advising the players had been fined and transfer listed and that they wouldn’t be commenting any further on the situation.
Chairman Darragh MacAnthony has since backed his manager via Twitter: ‘Just back from a trip & arrived in my office to mountains of tweets. A lot of them full of abuse & anger aimed at me. Now I really am baffled.
‘The Club has made a statement as you all know & I am fully behind the Gaffer on his course of action today.
‘I give blood sweat & tears for the Posh & invest no matter what. Personally have helped players out many times through tough times so when our clubes back is to the wall, have been well beaten at home again, I need my lads to show some common sense, humility, class & stay focused on battle in hand. If they can’t be trusted to do that, then Posh will be stronger without them going forward. Harsh but true!’.
Without knowing exactly what went on it sounds as though Gaby, at least, is unfortunate to have been caught up in all of this. He gives everything to the club and put his health on the line last season when playing with injury after injury. As he said he doesn’t drink or smoke and was back home by 2am…not unusual for many players around the country who don’t have a game for a week!
No doubt something did happen but very few people will know exactly what though. If fergie feels this is the correct course to take, then we should all back his judgement. But then you must question why other players haven’t felt the full force when they’ve been found quilty of drink driving or being fined for abusing a police officer!!
With the new formation Posh have been playing recently, Gaby has seen his chances limited as Fergie likes his defence to be able to play the ball out of defence, something Gaby isn’t best at doing! Likewise, we haven’t seen the best out of million pound man Tyrone Barnett as our style doesn’t suit his ability. Sinclair has also been in and out of the team as his form fluctuates greatly with each passing week while summer signing Mendez-Laing has failed to impress during his fleeting opportunities he’s had.
Will Posh be better off without them? Given their supposed lack of respect to the club with this incident then yes, we are better off without them.
Having said that, each player does offer something to Posh but if Posh do move them all on, we’d need reinforcements pretty damn quickly as we would stand no chance of staying in the Championship with an even smaller squad which contains virtually no forwards!!
What do you think about the situation?
Let us know your comments below or in the forum.
KEEP THE FAITH
UP THE POSH
