Ex-England boss Roy Hodgson has ‘no sympathy’ for Man Utd star Mason Greenwood after England Covid-19 shame
ROY HODGSON says he has no sympathy for Mason Greenwood and claimed the Manchester United star deserves all the punishment he will get for his England hotel shame.
Greenwood was sent home in disgrace with Phil Foden from their first ever senior squad after being caught arranging a hotel meeting with two girls in Iceland.
Since then there have been calls to go easy on the 18-year-old and the Manchester City star with claims they are so young they should be expected to make mistakes.
But former England boss Hodgson, who takes his injury-hit Crystal Palace side to Old Trafford on Saturday, said “I’m afraid when you make mistakes that are as big a mistake as Mason Greenwood made you should be expected to pay some sort of price for that.
“So I’m not certain sympathy is the right word.
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“It is important he learns from the mistake, I’m sure he will, but errors of that magnitude unfortunately are going to be criticised, scrutinised and are going to be punished I guess.
“I’m not prepared to stand here and say sympathy, I’m not even really prepared to talk about age as well.
“The fact is if you are old enough to come in and hold down a regular spot at Manchester United, and you are old enough to get called up and play for England then I’m afraid you’ve got to produce that level of behaviour that is required in those instances.
“I’m just fortunate it didn’t happen on my watch, it was someone else’s problem.”
Hodgson is giving the chance to one of his former England players, Nathaniel Clyne, to resurrect his career by training with Palace.
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Clyne, 29, is without a club after leaving Liverpool over the summer following two nightmare years blighted by back and knee injury.
And Hodgson says he has an open mind about offering the right-back a deal should he prove his fitness and show he can still perform.
He added: “I believe he was coming to be tested today so he could take part in some training with us over next couple of weeks where he is interested to improve his fitness and show us and not only us, perhaps other clubs too, that he is fit and ready to go again.
“We are happy to welcome him back into the fold to give him that opportunity.
“A lot hinges on Nathan Ferguson, the player we have actually brought in to be a right-back at the club and to compete for a place there. A lot will depend on how his injury situation pans out over the next few weeks.
“But it will be very nice to see where Nathaniel is and if there is an opportunity for us to offer him something or if he is interested in us offering him something, then him joining us.”