Gary Neville and Roy Keane railed against the fans responsible for the latest sorry episode to impact the final weeks of the English football season - as Robin Olsen was attacked at Manchester City.
Aston Villa boss Steven Gerrard was left fuming by the scenes at the final whistle as home fans invaded the pitch having won the Premier League title with a 3-2 comeback.
City have since apologised to the visiting club and player after the incident followed similar problems at Everton, Port Vale, Huddersfield and Nottingham Forest in recent weeks.
“We’ve gone from this brilliant last 30 years where we brought the fences down in English football and the fans have respected, 99 times out of 100, the fact you don’t run on the pitch because they enjoy the family environment,” Neville told Sky Sports.
“We’ve got far more children coming to the game, far more women, and all of a sudden in the past few weeks [and] months - we’ve got these idiots not just running on the pitch, which is a problem, but attacking players... what the hell are you doing?
Shocking footage has emerged of Aston Villa goalkeeper Robin Olsen being assaulted numerous times whilst leaving the Etihad pitch. pic.twitter.com/yG0XIOAacs
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) May 22, 2022
“Running on the pitch is delirium, they’ve won the league. I get that. Attacking the opposition players on the pitch? Where has this come from, why is it happening? I’ve got no idea. It’s absolutely ridiculous.”
Fellow pundit Keane blamed the issue on fans forgetting how to behave when being kept away from grounds during the pandemic.
“It’s disgraceful, a player or a manager is going to be seriously injured,” he stated. “If you’re mad enough to come on and punch a player, then you’re mad enough to do something similar like stab a player. There’ll be something crazy happen.
“I think when Covid happened, people came back and forgot how to behave themselves. Idiots. Scumbags. Disgrace.”
