talkSPORT pundit Simon Jordan has said that the Aston Villa owners shouldn’t get involved after an ugly on-field incident involving Tyrone Mings and Anwar El Ghazi in the Premier League game against West Ham on Monday night.
Mings berated El Ghazi for not tracking back and the Dutchman got in his face and appeared to push his head forward at Mings.
No action was taken by the referee and Dean Smith, talking on Sky after the game (Sky Sports, Monday, 10pm), said, “It probably overstepped the mark, but there’s a good spirit in the dressing room… they shook hands, it’s done.”
Former Crystal Palace owner Simon Jordan was asked whether the Aston Villa owners should take more action, but he said it just showed passion and was a flashpoint. He said the owners shouldn’t get involved.
“I don’t think so,” Jordan said on the Jim White Show (talkSPORT, Tuesday, 11am). “Mings is right, calling out a player for not tracking back, El Ghazi’s reaction is wrong.
“It doesn’t need anyone else’s involvement. I imagine Dean Smith will have a word with the two players.
“There’s a line you shouldn’t cross and this arguably goes over that, but what do you want from players, do you want them to be robots?
“They’re professional and should know where to draw the line but in the heat of the moment… everyone has a flashpoint. A flashpoint is a flashpoint. This is about pressure, expectation, I think it’s great someone like Tyrone Mings wants to take responsibility in the game.
“I’m looking at El Ghazi, you didn’t so something, own it and act like man. I don’t think the guys at Aston Villa need to supercede Dean Smith. I was going to be a bit sly and say John Terry knows about this sort of stuff, but I’ll leave that there.”
In-fighting
It’s very unusual to see players on the same team squaring up to each other and the incident last night reminded us of the Lee Bowyer/Kieran Dyer incident from 2005. Ironically, that game involved Aston Villa as well, but it was the Newcastle players who were fighting this time.
Both Bowyer and Dyer were sent off after throwing punches at each other after Bowyer accused his teammate of not passing to him.
That was a much more serious incident but El Ghazi was stupid last night, moving his head forward with a motion that’s definitely seen other players get red cards for before.
Mings is the rock at the back for Villa but he’s not the club captain. However, if a player isn’t tracking back he’s entirely within his rights to call out a teammate.
Jordan is right when he says El Ghazi should have taken it on the chin.
If he’d got a red card then the repercussions would have been greater. As it is, Smith has said it’s sorted and wants to draw a line under it and move on.
He’s the manager and should make that decision, but we’re sure he’ll talk to both players and remind them of their responsibilities.
If there is a fall guy, though, it’s likely to be El Ghazi. He was dropped for the 1-0 defeat to Crystal Palace, while Mings has played the full 90 minutes in every league game for Villa this season.