Dwight McNeil and his girlfriend have to cope with his failed transfer to Crystal Palace.
That’s the view of The Pitch Prospect co-host and ex-Crystal Palace owner Simon Jordan, who spoke out about the Everton winger’s heartbreak on Deadline Day.
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McNeil appeared set to move from Hill Dickinson Stadium to Selhurst Park on Monday after agreeing a loan deal with a £20m purchase obligation.
But the move fell through at the 11th moment as The Pitch Prospect revealed that the relevant paperwork had not been submitted to the league in time to complete the deal.
The late drama enraged McNeil’s partner Megan Sharpley when she posted a lengthy post on social media targeting the south London team.
In an emotional upload, she criticized the club for a lack of communication, described Palace’s treatment of McNeil as “cruel” and criticized the FA Cup holder for affecting his mental health.
McNeil shared his girlfriend’s posts on his own Instagram Story while reflecting on being “kept in the dark” by the Eagles.
His failed transfer, which resulted in him undergoing a medical and agreeing to a four-and-a-half year contract, was one of the biggest talking points on deadline day.
Jordan spoke out and insisted this was the brutality of the football industry and that the beloved couple needed to put an end to it.
Says Simon
Speaking on the White and Jordan show on Tuesday, he said: “The fact that these footballers are rewarded so heavily does matter because it is an integral part of the opportunity.”
“If you are having difficulties in life because your family or yourself are facing a challenge and all too often in life people take on things that represent adversity in life.
“A challenge, a breakup of a relationship, a loss of something that everyone goes through every day of their lives, and the mental health card comes out. I’m sorry for resilience.”
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“I think she really feels like they are struggling with the decision not to get a move to Crystal Palace.”
Before adding: “But I’m afraid, with all due respect, without knowing the details of how tragic a move to another football club is for him, I have little time for such an attitude.”
“You have to overcome adversity, you can’t succumb to it, you’re still in a remarkably privileged position to be playing in, or you’re on the staff of a big Premier League football club where you’re still under contract.”
“If Crystal Palace wanted to sign you there would be more opportunities, now you might wish there was a little more courtesy and maybe you would have expected a little more communication.”
“Perhaps you should speak to your agent about the dynamics of the relationship he had with the buying football club and the selling football club and then ask him for an explanation.”
“But I have to say, without being too mean, this to me is…what tragedy are we talking about here?”
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“You haven’t managed to move to another football club and ultimately you could have a difficult time at Everton.
“Maybe it’s not like being part of the first team. Yes, it’s very difficult to be a Premier League footballer. Yes, it’s very, very admirable to be in the 0.1% of people who make it to the top of the game.”
“But it’s life, everyone walking down the street, everyone in life, in every walk of life, is told things that don’t necessarily happen, and it might be disappointing, but come on, come on.”
“This idea that you’re a slave laborer and then you’re dragged around like a piece of meat.
“First of all, you have your own free will, if you don’t want to go, you won’t go.
“And if you wanted to stay at a football club that didn’t want you and sit around and collect your wages, like a lot of these players do, then that’s what you do.”
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“This idea that you are a piece of meat is, with all due respect, just absolute nonsense.”
When co-host Jim White asked him whether McNeil deserved to be treated with respect and kindness by Palace, Jordan showed little understanding.
He explained: “This is a business deal, and in business deals the commodity may be a human being, but it is a business deal.”
“The person is being transferred for £20 million and there is an associated salary that could be another £20 or £30 million over the course of that player’s contract.”
“So it’s a business transaction and you might not like it and you might think it’s unfriendly.”
White interjected, then asked if he was implying that McNeil and Sharpley should “get over it,” to which Jordan said, “Yes, I am.”
“I say, as disappointing as it may be, you are still at a football club, you are not in a situation where you are being thrown apart and completely ignored.”
“There was no transfer measure in the football business.”
And Jordan then concluded by saying, “If you want to have empathy for that, fantastic, you do it.”
“What I would like to suggest is, with due respect to the personalities involved, if you think this kind of adversity is going to break you, wait until something really bad happens in your life.
“Wait until you are out of the world of football where you will be protected, coddled, cared for and rewarded when you are not entitled to it.”
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“Wait until no one cares about you anymore. Wait until you face the real world.”
“Dwight McNeil is paid very well to perform and do his job as a professional footballer.”
“If you want to set up an advisory function in every single bleeding company to manage the affairs of people outside of their role, how are you going to run the company?”
“My reaction to someone close to me, with due respect, would be: Get yourself together.”
McNeil will now turn his attention to Everton’s away game at Fulham on Saturday, where he will be aiming to make just his eighth Premier League appearance this season.