Wolves coach Gary O’Neill strongly criticized the shocking way in which Coventry coach Mark Robins celebrated in the face of a ball-collecting boy, after a dramatic late victory in the FA Cup quarter-finals.
Robins, 54 years old, celebrated the victory madly, and deliberately directed his joy at the boy collecting the balls and shouted at him.
After Hajj Wright’s winning goal in the 100th minute, Robins sprinted down the touchline and shouted at the boy, who was said to be 13 years old.
After the boy walked away, Robins stepped back and hit the boy with his fist up in the air, expressing his joy.
So this is the Mark Robins celebration Gary O’Neil called “disgusting and disgraceful”.
Get a life Gary. #PUSB pic.twitter.com/Y5DA5eB0ya
— Alex Johnson 🇺🇦 (@AlexndrJohnson) March 16, 2024
In his post-match press conference, O’Neill described what happened as “disgusting.”
He said: “Celebrating in the face of a young boy like that I thought was disgusting. It shouldn’t happen. I waited for Mark downstairs and talked to him, because I was really respectful in the end, after losing a big match.”
“He apologized, but celebrating in the face of a young boy is disgusting. The boy is really upset. This should not happen,” he added.
He continued, “They are just kids doing something, and the boy is really upset. It was really important for me to talk to Mark about this topic afterward.”
Gary O’Neil has slammed Mark Robins for his “disgusting” behavior 😡
The Coventry boss celebrated in the face of a ball boy, who was left in tears ⬇️https://t.co/MOqhwfZoKv pic.twitter.com/Yi6OnlNdhd
— Mirror Football (@MirrorFootball) March 16, 2024
The Coventry coach later apologized and justified his action by saying: “The young boy dropped the ball earlier and walked away smiling. That really upset me, so I celebrated in front of him.”
He added, “I don’t show my emotions often, but this is what the FA Cup does to you.”
Coventry beat Wolverhampton 3-2 in the Midlands derby, booking their place in the FA Cup semi-finals.
In an exciting encounter, Coventry scored twice in stoppage time to book their trip to Wembley.
Ellis Sims equalized in the 97th minute, before American Haji Wright scored in the 100th minute of the match, in the 10th minute of stoppage time.