Manchester United's Harry Maguire has been given some advice by Liverpool legend John Barnes on how to deal with 'ignorant' fans.
Maguire was subjected to boos during England's 3-0 victory over the Ivory Coast on Tuesday night. Gareth Southgate later referred to the booing as an 'absolute joke'.
Barnes suffered a similar fate when he was playing for the national team. He was booed back in 1993 before a World Cup qualifier against San Marino.
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The Liverpool legend cited Ashley Cole and Raheem Sterling as two other players who have been booed while playing for the national team before offering Maguire some advice via the Daily Telegraph. He explained: "They are much more supportive of all the England players now.
"In my generation it depended on what club you played for and agendas against certain players. My situation was a story about me not being born in England or committed to England because I used to have banter with Bryan Robson about the West Indies cricket team being better than England.
"When we played against San Marino, because of that story I got booed before the game. Ashley Cole went through that, Raheem Sterling as well, but when I played it was regular because it was tribal.
"In the last 10 years supporters have been supportive of all the England players regardless of which club they played for, which is why this was so shocking. We hadn’t seen it for years and because Harry Maguire has never let England down and always played well."
When asked how Maguire should deal with the aftermath of the boos, Barnes added: "Everyone is different. It didn’t bother me because I know what football fans are like so I took it with a pinch of salt.
"I am sure it could upset a lot of people and I’m not sure how Raheem Sterling or Ashley Cole felt. But I consider these people to be ignorant.
"I did as well as I could for England so it was water off a duck’s back to me, as much as it is not nice it did not affect me. Harry Maguire may feel the same as me, I don’t know.
"The next game was Holland and all those fans who were booing me started to cheer me when I scored. That is how ridiculous the whole idea is of football fans who say they hate you, then they love you when you score.
"As long as the manager was happy with me, my teammates were happy with me, that was the only thing that mattered."
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