Simon Jordan has branded Welsh football's class of 2016 as 'a bunch of childish idiots' for their wild celebrations following England's infamous defeat to Iceland at the European Championships.
Wales meet England in their third game of Group B at the upcoming World Cup, with Rob Page's men looking to cause a big upset as part of their plans to reach the knockout stages.
The contest will be a repeat of the game at Euro 2016, which England won in dramatic style courtesy of Daniel Sturridge's last-gasp winner. However, the fortunes of the two sides after that game couldn't have panned out more differently.
READ MORE: Wales World Cup squad in full as Joe Allen and Rubin Colwill included
Wales topped the group, before going on to reach the semi-finals, while England were sensationally dumped out in the last 16 stage.
A video of the Wales squad celebrating that England defeat soon surfaced, and clearly ruffled a few feathers among English fans and pundits, with Jordan among those to take exception. Indeed, even after six years it's clearly still a source of irritation.
As part of a discussion with Euro 2016 goal idol Hal Robson-Kanu on talkSport on Thursday, Jordan said: “I thought it was childish. I wasn’t offended, I thought it was childish. I look at the Welsh and I think, what a childish bunch of idiots, what was necessary about that?”
However, Robson-Kanu, who scored twice for Wales during the tournament, insisted it wasn’t about celebrating England’s downfall.
“We were celebrating Iceland as underdogs achieving something fantastic,” he replied.
"No you weren't. You were parodying England," Jordan sniped back.
Conversation soon drifted to Gareth Bale, whom Jordan previously referred to as a 'busted flush' back in the summer, and he clearly has his doubts that the Wales skipper has the ability to light up the tournament in Qatar.
“I’m disappointed with the way his career has gone," he said. "Living in Spain for 20 years and watching the way lots of other British players had been accepted and embraced but didn’t achieve some of the things that he achieved at Madrid is a curiosity.
“I think some of it is explained by his failure to embrace the culture over there or lack of propensity to want to learn the language.
"Or maybe standing in front of a flag saying Wales first, golf second, Real Madrid third, is not a clever thing to do.
"You've got a player that's played 21 games in La Liga over two years, which is not great for him. He's 33 and playing in the MLS.
"At 33 years of age, you've got Ronaldo, you've got Ibrahimovic. You've got players playing at very significant ages that are still operating at a high level. "
In response, Robson-Kanu showed his support for his former team-mate stating: “You mention he didn’t embrace the culture, he did, he learnt the language.
“But what he didn’t do, he didn’t entertain the media, that was his downfall at Madrid.
"When he moved to LA he did his first interview in Spanish, for the Spanish speaking fans!"
Bale netted in that clash with England back in 2016, and will likely be the main source of inspiration when Wales take on the Three Lions this time around.
Get your brilliant 48-page Wales at the World Cup preview special
Gareth Southgate's men will clearly be favourites with the bookies, but Robson-Kanu believes the heat will be on them rather than Wales.
"I think Wales will have a lot less pressure on that third game than England," he said.
"I'm not going to go all the way there [in saying Wales will beat England] but it's going to be a very interesting game.
"The big issue for England players in particular in major tournaments has always been about expectation and pressure. If there's expectation and pressure riding on that third game, Wales will be going into it with less pressure."
READ NEXT:
