‘Trouble seems to follow him’ – Pundits slam Grealish over car incident

Former footballers Darren Bent and Danny Murphy have criticised Jack Grealish after he was caught breaking coronavirus lockdown rules.

Grealish said yesterday how he was “deeply embarrassed” after he “stupidly agreed” to go to a friend’s house this weekend during the coronavirus lockdown

West Midlands Police said they were called just before 10am on Sunday to the Dickens Heath area of Solihull to reports that a Range Rover had crashed into two parked cars in the street, causing them minor damage.

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The force said the driver had left his details with a member of the public before leaving on foot and would be spoken to by police in due course.

Images surfaced online on Sunday of a damaged white Range Rover, as well as a picture that appeared to show the Villa midfielder in slippers and a bright blue hoodie.

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Less than 24 hours before the incident, the 24-year-old Grealish had launched a video appeal for people to stay at home during the Government-enforced lockdown.

“This could be damaging on a whole new level,” Bent told talkSPORT on Tuesday morning.

“He is the Aston Villa captain, a role model, a leader. In Birmingham he is idolised.

“I thought he had turned over a completely new leaf; he was given the armband by Dean Smith and it forced him to grow up and people have been singing his praises.

“He was on the cusp of the England squad, and people have been talking about him moving to some of the highest-profile clubs in this country, but this will do no favours for him whatsoever.

 

“There’s been talk of an England call-up, but Gareth Southgate is going to look at that and think, ‘can I trust him?’

“I think that was a big issue before and why he wasn’t picked for the squads. Can he trust Jack Grealish? This isn’t going to help his cause one bit.

“Clubs might be put off as well. He’s got all the ability, but can you trust him? If you’re on a pre-season tour and they let the players have a bit of free time, are these issues going to keep coming up?”

Meanwhile, Murphy has admitted to feeling “sad” for Grealish after the Aston Villa captain produced a brilliant season on the pitch.

“I’ve been one of his biggest fans this season, I’ve raved about him, wrote a column about him, because he’s been brilliant on the pitch,” Murphy said on Monday.

“Part of that is because he has been in a better place in terms of his discipline away from the field.

“But then this… trouble seems to follow him a little bit.

“We have to be a bit careful because we don’t know exactly what’s gone on, but it doesn’t look good for him.

“The bigger thing is not so much if he gets punished for this, it’s more about the perception of possible admirers – possible new employers and Gareth Southgate.

“He’s got to choose between lots of gifted and talented players and as England manager you want disciplined players, so that type of behaviour and that type of publicity knocks Jack down the pecking order.

“The word I would use is, ‘sad’. I’m sad for him that he’s now got to deal with this when everything was going so well for him.”

 

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