Ryan Mason has said he does not really like current professional footballers mocking their peers after Richarlison became the butt of Callum Wilson and Michail Antonio's jokes on their BBC podcast.
The Newcastle and West Ham strikers poked fun on their The Footballer's Football Podcast at Tottenham's £60m Brazilian when they stated that he has four yellow cards to one Premier League goal this season, having whipped his shirt off three times to celebrate goals that were ruled out by VAR. Wilson joked that the Spurs man was almost at a suspension for celebrating goals that never were.
Mason said he was not a fan of mocking or criticising other people in the same profession.
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"I certainly don't feel like I'm ever in a position to criticise another head coach or another manager on the work they're doing or the job they're doing at their football club," he said.
"Richy I don't think he's thinking about other players, to be honest, I think it is his own pride and his own determination that will probably drive that most of all. In terms of Richy. I don't know. Maybe he's heard it, maybe seen it? Maybe. Maybe it might give him a little bit more. I'm not sure. I'm really not sure about that."
He added: "First of all, I guess as a coach I wouldn't do it, and as a player, I've never done it as well. I don't really like that type of thing. We're all trying to do our best.
"We're all professionals. We're working hard. We dedicate our lives to get to this level and to compete at this level. So don't really like that type of thing personally.
"But from a player's point of view. I've been signed for a club as a record signing. So I know the feeling that you want to give back. You really want to give back and one thing I will say about Richy is he has always come in and he's added energy to try to you know, he's a fighter.
"He works hard, he trains hard and I've never seen someone that's shirked responsibility. Yes, of course, we would have wanted more goals and he would have wanted more goals from himself, but that's not happened. Hopefully now he can influence the last two games and score goals to help us."
Richarlison has managed just one Premier League goal and four assists since his £60m move from Everton and two Champions League goals.
"I think I can probably speak quite openly in terms of the goal return that he'd probably be disappointed with that," said Mason. "He's never really had any rhythm whatsoever. He has had quite a few injuries this year and has picked up a few on international duty.
"I've always felt like he's been chasing his fitness and there were moments early on in the season where he got a few disallowed goals, a few moments where he hit the post and maybe if those would have gone in then it would have created a bit of momentum. We've got two games and hopefully he can still impact the season and score some goals to help us finish the season in a good way, and then I'm sure come pre-season, he'll come back full of energy to really show us what it's really all about."
After a difficult season for the club and their beleaguered supporters, Mason is hoping that his team can win their final home game of the season against Brentford on Saturday and give the fans something to cheer.
"I think our fans always, always come to our stadium with a positive energy, and as a fan, a fan of football like that it needs to be both ways, and you need to feel that energy from both sets, whether it's the fans, whether it's the players," he explained.
“It's a big part of our job to go to the stadium and show the energy and really try to transfer that because our stadium is amazing, our fans are amazing, and yeah, we definitely want to get that as good as it was."
He added: "It's part of our job. It's our duty to go there and show the energy. You naturally understand the frustration because it's been an up and down season and we've been quite inconsistent. So it's normal that fans feel that, but ultimately, the fans are coming to the stadium tomorrow, they work hard, they pay their money and they're coming to support us.
"That's the first thought in their mind, and as a group of players representing the club, we want to show our appreciation and show the energy to try and get a positive result."
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