James Maddison has not let Simon Jordan forget his words, and now, the TalkSport pundit has finally admitted he was wrong about the Tottenham star.
James Maddison and Simon Jordan have been going back and forth ever since Tottenham Hotspur clinched the UEFA Europa League on 21 May.
The former Crystal Palace chairman had earlier cast doubt on whether Maddison had the credentials to be part of a title-winning side. That take, however, did not age well.
Maddison did respond after Tottenham’s Europa League win, with a cheeky dig. He posted a video to his Instagram story, which started with Jordan’s remarks, then cut to scenes of him celebrating Tottenham’s Europa League triumph alongside his teammates. The caption? “Bookmarked it. Knew it would come in handy.”
Unwilling to back down, Jordan doubled down on his Maddison criticism. He responded with a swipe at Tottenham’s league position, saying: “You win things now with James Maddison and your team gets relegated.
“Perhaps if he had been available for Spurs more this season, they might have got relegated – they did their very best to try to, did they not, by finishing fourth from bottom?”
James Maddison forces Simon Jordan to backtrack after Tottenham’s Europa League win
James Maddison fired back at the ex-Crystal Palace chairman, stating he would not shy away from calling people out when criticised, and that he would not become a player who offers bland, media-trained responses.
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He also reminded Jordan that football is a team game – a clear response to the pundit’s claim that Maddison was not in the final lineup – and ultimately called for some overdue recognition, cheekily asking Jordan to eat humble pie.
Now, Simon Jordan has conceded defeat. Speaking on TalkSport, he admitted he was wrong about the Tottenham midfielder and that he had indeed eaten the humble pie Maddison served.
He said: “I took the meek, first of all it was tongue-in-cheek, second of all I think he spoke brilliantly there, absolutely right, too many generic answers from players – lack of character. I am the first person to say that sort of thing so I think what James has said is absolutely right.
“Unfortunately for James, I think probably if you look at the win record, when he plays for Tottenham and when he is absent, I think the win record when he is playing is worse than when he is not playing.
“So it does support my argument. I did make a tongue-in-cheek observation, of course, the ultimate thing is you win with James Maddison and get relegated like Leicester did when he was in that side that won the FA Cup, then got relegated. Tottenham did their best to try and get relegated this season.”
Simon Jordan reflects on Maddison criticism and media backlash
The TalkSport pundit did eventually admit his initial verdict was off the mark, and that he did not need to be defensive about it.
He added: “I do not need to eat a humble pie because the first part of what I said in the clip that was played to James, which was omitted, was absolutely wrong. I am happy to be wrong and I am glad I am pulled up about it because people do not pull people up, and I should have been pulled up and so should other people that have criticised him.”
When asked about Maddison’s overall response to punditry and media criticism, Jordan continued: “He is very assured and I think people… I reacted to him at times when I saw him not going for England duty and being found out at a casino thinking hmmm, not sure about that James.
“And there are times when he has got tickets on himself, and I do not mind that as long as you can back it up. I think when he talks in interviews after games, he is very self-assured, very confident, he expresses himself and I think it takes people back a little bit because they do not like people that are confident.
“People do not like people that are assertive, they go oh he is aggressive. Oh he is cocky. No he just knows his own mind so I have absolutely no problem with him biting back because he is doing a tongue-in-cheek anyway at people that have said you do not win things with this fella. Because ultimately in the great scheme of things he is right and people like me are wrong.”