Both Simon Jordan and Gary Neville have hit out at Leeds United's squad after they released a joint statement regarding a viral video which showed them ignoring a young fan.
Whites players were subject to a significant amount of backlash on social media following the video's virality which, coupled with their 4-1 loss to Bournemouth later that afternoon, has led to the statement being released.
In the statement, players pointed out how fans 'deserve more than this' and asked to reach out to the family of the young boy to try and rectify the situation.
However, many, including Jordan and Neville, disregarded the statement as a simple PR move by the club to deflect heat off the squad, with the talkSPORT host
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"You look at this Leeds situation and you watch them coming out and I find it difficult to square the circle of the fact that you can't even engage [with fans]," Jordan said on the Jordan and White show on talkSPORT earlier this afternoon.
"Now we can all sit on the sidelines pointing our finger at them, but the modern-day footballer needs to remember where they've come from and what it was like to be a young man watching your heroes go past to such a point where you can't even engage with them in eye contact.
"I remember once [at Crystal Palace] Trevor Francis was the manager, and we were playing at home and a group of kids wanted an autograph. I don't care about saying it on here, I literally went down the tunnel and grabbed him and said, 'Get out there and sign these kids' autographs'.
"It's something about it that's a privilege. If you're in a position where young kids want to engage with you - and I can understand a little bit with younger footballers who don't have kids of their own - but withstanding that, the only reasons you're in your position is because of your talent, and then the engagement of the watching audience.
"I don't understand why football clubs don't ensure that their players are aware of that a bit more. There's no need for a chit-chat to every kid, just a wave, an acknowledgement, some eye contact.
"At the training ground, I'd be having a conversation with the group. I'd be saying, 'Look, I'm not here for long but I expect a better code of conduct from my players in engaging with the public and I don't want it to be an excuse for you to lose the next game and feel sorry for yourselves'.
"I feel strongly about it. I felt strongly about it at the time, I feel like players and managers need to understand the privileged positions they're in because there's one thing worse than people asking for your autograph - the day they don't!"
Neville also gave his thoughts on the matter, tweeting: "This isn’t a message to Leeds players it’s to all players/teams apologising. No-one is falling for sanitised/vanilla PR guff anymore. Speak from the heart and better on video so fans can see your faces."
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