Andros Townsend concedes that he hasn’t taken any offence at Roy Hodgson’s joke at half-time, in the match between England and Poland on Tuesday.
Apparently, Hodgson joked during the first half that he is planning to get Chris Smalling to pass the ball to Townsend as much as possible. It turns out that one of the English players took it personally and included the term ‘feed the monkey’ in disgust. The phrase dates back to the time when American Space Agency, NASA sent a monkey into space for experimental purposes as part of one of their missions.
Townsend tweeted, “I don’t see why so much fuss is being made. No offence was meant and there was none-taken. It isn’t even news worthy.
Wayne Rooney was quick to jump to his manager’s defense and said, “He hasn’t done anything wrong. This is ridiculous.”
The Football Association and Hodgson are upset that his comments has made headline, especially after England qualified for the World Cup, next summer.
“I apologise to any offence taken to my comments said at half-time. I spoke to Townsend. He assures me that the FA would not misunderstand his statement and the comment was a completely genuine.”