FOOTBALL PLAYERS, managers and club owners do not like to lose.
And if they do, some may try to find an excuse - for example, injuries, busy matches or bad referee decisions.
But these game stars went with the strangest reasons we’ve ever heard for a poor result.
SunSport uses seven of the strangest excuses in football.
Pep Guardiola
Usually you sing when you win, but not Pep Guardiola.
After City beat Wolves on penalties in the 2017 League Cup, the Spanish boss went on the offensive over the ball.
“This is unacceptable, the ball was unacceptable for high level competition,” he exploded.
“It’s too light, it moves all over the place, it’s a bad ball. It is impossible to score with such a ball, and I can say that since we won, I do not make excuses.
“All my players were like, ‘What is this?’ I regret that the Carabao Cup is not a serious ball for serious competitions. This is [for] marketing, money, fine, but unacceptable - [it has] no weight, nothing.
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Jose Mourinho
Special One was once pissed off when the floodlight operator and fans were “asleep” during Chelsea’s game against QPR at Loftus Road in 2014.
The Blues were supposed to win 2-1, but Mourinho didn’t like the coverage or the fans.
“I think the person in charge of the lighting was in the same mood as the crowd because everyone was sleeping,” he groaned.
“It took him 20 minutes to realize that it was dark, and it took me 30 minutes to realize that the stadium was not empty. When we scored, I realized that the stadium was full.”
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Sir Alex Ferguson
Back in 1996, Southampton sent Manchester United to the purge in the first half of a Premier League game.
3-0 at half-time, United went into the second half in a completely different form.
Cause? Because the United stars couldn’t find a gray badge.
Fergie confirmed after the final whistle: “The players don’t like the gray bar. It is difficult for them to distinguish each other. We had to change lanes.”
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Alan Pardue
When Alan Pardew’s Newcastle lost 2-0 to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in 2012, Notting Hill Carnival was to blame.
He showed: “Today was a little unfair to us. We couldn’t reschedule the game to Sunday due to the Notting Hill carnival.”
Pards also once complained about the length of the grass in a pre-season friendly against the Rangers.
And he complained about the quiet transfer market, saying the coverage of the Olympics was distracting.
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Mohamed Al Fayed
The former owner of Fulham was friends with Michael Jackson.
He was so fond of the King of Pop, who spent mega money at Harrods, that he oddly built a statue in his honor at Craven Cottage.
However, when it came to summer residents, they flew out.
Al-Fayed complained: “This statue was a charm and we removed the luck from the club and now we have to pay the price.”
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Barry Fry
Always a game for laughs, we didn’t consider Barry Fry to be a superstitious type or a believer in the gypsy curses that fell on St. Andrews.
But to break a losing streak at Birmingham City in 1994, the enigmatic coach decided to water the grass on the pitch…with his own urine.
“We didn’t win for three months… We were desperate, so I peed in all four corners, holding myself back as I hobbled across the field,” he said.
“Did it work? Well, we started winning and I thought we were, and then they fucking fired me, so probably not.”
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Vladislav Vashchuk
Spain had a brilliant team in the 2006 World Cup and inflicted their worst 4–0 defeat on Ukraine in history in the group stage.
But defender Vashchuk had the most amazing excuse for losing his country.
It was outside interference from the surrounding wildlife at their hotel, keeping them awake the night before the game.
“Because of the croaking of the frogs, we hardly got a wink of an eye,” he said.
“We all agreed that we would take some sticks and go hunting for them,” he added bravely.
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