It’s not difficult to figure out whose side Ray Wilkins is taking.
A report broke on Monday morning which claimed that Chris Brunt had engaged in a furious dressing room row with his West Brom teammates and manager Alan Pardew.
The Express & Star report stated that Brunt ripped into several players and accused them of underperforming in West Brom’s 2-1 defeat to Huddersfield at the weekend before turning his anger on Pardew by questioning his tactics.
Brunt came off the bench to set up the Baggies’ consolation goal on Saturday and has clearly grown tired of seeing his side prop up the rest of the Premier League table.
He's had enough! https://t.co/nFsG6rTtXk
— FootballJOE (@FootballJOE) February 26, 2018
The passion displayed by the Northern Ireland international came just over a week after it emerged that four senior players – namely Jonny Evans, Gareth Barry, Jake Livermore and Boaz Myhill – were found to have stolen a taxi during West Brom’s training camp in Spain.
And while supporters reacted by praising Brunt and even calling for him to replace Evans as club captain, Ray Wilkins was not a fan of the rumoured diatribe.
Speaking on Sky Sports News, Wilkins took umbrage with Brunt’s undermining of Pardew.
“I think first and foremost it shouldn’t even have come out of the dressing room anyway,” he said.
“What happens in the dressing room should stay in the dressing room.
“Chris, for me, has been bang out of order. Try and sort your own life out first because it’s pretty evident that the senior players at West Brom aren’t performing to the sort of level.
“If you look at that squad of player they possess, they should never be bottom of the league seven points adrift, never.
“Because they have a squad of players that is more than capable of finishing a good eighth-ninth off the bottom, near mid-table.
“If you have got something to say to the manager, then say it to him face to face after the game. Just go and see him one to one and have a little confab with him there.
“But to actually come out and make that statement in front of other players belittles the manager for a start and I don’t think it’s very healthy for the club.
“By having a go at the players, I see nothing wrong with that at all. It’s almost healthy when you have got players having a little dig at each other, trying to get the best out of each other. I am all for that. No problem whatsoever.
“But certainly don’t belittle the manager in front of other players.”
