Aston Villa advised Jack Grealish against speaking to the press after his side were cruelly denied a point against Crystal Palace in the last minute.
Villa were cruelly denied a point against Crystal Palace at the weekend, after a horrendous error from referee Kevin Friend.
Villa thought they had scored a legitimate equaliser when Henri Lansbury blasted home in the last minute of their match against Palace, but Friend inexplicably booked Grealish for diving.
The decision was arguably the worst refereeing call of the season so far in the Premier League, and Grealish refused to speak to reporters after the game.
“Sorry, I would talk but I have been told not to,” he said. “I will get myself in trouble.”
Villa’s advice to Grealish’s was a wise, as his anger was understandable.
Grealish had not even gone down looking for a foul, so it was baffling to see why he was adjudged to have dived.
The last thing Villa would want is to have Grealish suspended for speaking out of turn after the game, so his stance over not speaking to the press seems a clever one.
The harsh defeat to Palace leaves Villa sitting in the relegation zone heading into the first international break, although Dean Smith’s side have already shown enough to suggest that they can compete well back in the Premier League.
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