Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
BUZZ PREMIER LEAGUE OFF Hodgson brands Watford’s mascot ‘a disgrace’ for his provoking of fans
happier. Referee Mark Clattenburg pulled him up for going down too easily under Miguel Britos’ escort before the home side’s mascot, Harry the Hornet, mocked him with a comedy dive on the final whistle.
Then Palace manager Sam Allardyce did not see the funny side of a grown man dressed as an insect falling down, scowling it was “out of order”.
But Gracia has no special plan to stop Zaha, saying: “He is a very good player whose style of play involves a lot of dribbles and situations involving contact.
“It’s difficult to tell defenders not to tackle him because if you want to defend well, you have to stay close and sometimes be in contact with players.
“Our game plan is always different and we try to avoid the ball coming into our box. We also try to avoid giving away fouls in games – not just this one as we play against Zaha.” ROY HODGSON has claimed Premier League stars like Wilf Zaha have to be “super human” to rise above provocation from opposition fans.
The Ivory Coast star is set to receive his usual hot reception at Vicarage Road tomorrow in his longrunning feud with Watford supporters.
The Crystal Palace hero has been a target since winning the decisive penalty in the 2013 play-off finals against the Hornets – and has been booked for diving in his last two visits to the Hertfordshire club.
Club mascot Harry the Hornet even mockingly dived at the Palace player’s feet in 2016 and after April’s match he claimed there was agenda against him to get him banned.
Then manager Sam Allardyce was incensed by the actions of mascot Harry the Hornet two years ago and Hodgson said: “If you’re asking me whether Harry the Hornet, who I presume is the mascot, should dive in that way, I think it’s disgraceful because that’s not what football matches are about.
“And certainly if it’s provoking the crowd into looking for something that’s not there, it should be stopped.
“I would be very disappointed if the Crystal Palace mascot was doing something like that to provoke the crowd against an opponent. And if I found out about it, I would stop it.”
Hodgson (above) admitted the threat of Zaha makes him a natural target for opposition fans, adding: “Wilf is a very dangerous opponent and presumably the fans of those clubs will do everything they can to nullify that threat and get whatever advantage they can. “He is not the only centre-forward who is a target for people who want to put him off his game by winding him up in some way. We try to nullify that situation by encouraging him to put that behind him and do his talking on the pitch and not to be put off by psychological tactics.
“We have made some strides but nowhere near as much as we would be hoping to do.
“When you’re being kicked or fouled and, in your eyes, not being protected enough or getting the freekicks you want, would I also perhaps rail against it? We’re talking human nature.
“We often hear about Pep Guardiola talking about his players like Sterling, Sane and Silva who go into these areas.
“Unfortunately we need angels in the sense that we might react the same in their situation.
“But we have to say, ‘You are not allowed to do it, you have to be super human, accept it, take it and get on with it and if you react, you are the one they are going to complain about, not the one who has kicked you.’
“You can only hope that referees are strong enough in those situations.”