PL star slams Roy Keane’s ‘dinosaur mentality’ after indirect criticism on Stick to Football

West Ham United’s Michail Antonio has hit back at criticism from Roy Keane over his off-the-pitch endeavours.

The Manchester United icon has, as usual, ruffled some feathers with his latest comments on this week’s episode of Stick to Football.

His take on Bruno Fernandes – a player whom he’s been highly critical of before – hasn’t resonated too well with the Old Trafford faithful after he slammed the club captain for having not won any major honours in his career at 29 years of age.

Surprisingly, the one member of the panel who passionately put forward a case for Fernandes was Arsenal legend Ian Wright, as Keane proceeded to question whether the player benefits his teammates and the dressing room.

Keane rejects premise of current players’ podcasts

Later in the show, the Irishman questioned how professional, top-flight footballers can regularly take part in their own podcasts while staying 100 per cent focused on their club affairs.

He said: “I think that [podcasts] can be a distraction for a player, particularly if you’re on the back of a defeat, and you’re in the next day and everyone is having a bit of a laugh. I don’t think you should laugh for a week or two if you’ve been beaten.”

This was perceived as an indirect dig towards Antonio, Tom Cairney and Callum Wilson, with the trio all running the ‘Footballer’s Football Podcast’ – usually with weekly instalments.

The Irons frontman was pressed on Keane’s words in today’s release, responding: “It’s dinosaur mentality because when he was playing, every manager, every fan, everybody, constantly said, ‘Focus on your football’.

“Go to sleep with a football in your arms – the only thing you’re allowed to think about is football. Your wife deals with your kids – don’t play with your kids – football’. That’s what it was when he was playing.

“Obviously, in time, players who played with him went bankrupt because all they did think about was football and that’s all it was. Now, obviously, footballers are focusing on their football, can do their football, but can also focus on other things: business, fashion, [and] some are rappers now. People focus on other things.”

“If I’ve got time to do this, then why shouldn’t I?” Antonio continued. “With the podcast, I understand that if you’ve got battered on the weekend – which I did – it’s not a thing about being sad for two weeks because there’s another game coming next week. You’re meant to forget what happened on the last weekend and make it better the next week.

“That’s why a lot of players struggle with mental health problems because people are telling them they’re meant to struggle for two whole weeks because they got battered on the weekend. No, you deal with it. You are sad when you leave and for that night.”