Ian Wright has brilliant response to Northern Irish coach who said women footballers get too emotional

Northern Ireland coach Kenny Shiels has come under fire for his controversial comments about women's football - and Ian Wright responded in the best way.

Last night, Northern Ireland hosted England where Shiels' side conceded five goals (four in the second half) with the game ending in a 5-0 defeat, meaning they didn't manage to qualify for the Women's World Cup next year.

But the match itself has since been overshadowed by Shiels' post-match comments regarding their loss.

"I felt they [England] were struggling a wee bit at times to open us up until the psychology of going 2-0 up in the women's game," the 65-year-old said.

"I'm sure you will have noticed if you go through the patterns - when a team concedes a goal, they concede a second one in a very, very short space of time.

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"Right through the whole spectrum of the women's game, because girls and women are more emotional than men. So, they take a goal going in not very well."

"When we went 1-0 down we tried to slow it down to give them time to get that emotional imbalance out of their heads.

"That’s an issue we have. Not just in Northern Ireland but all of the countries in the world. I shouldn’t have told you that," he added.

Now, former Arsenal and England player Ian Wright has taken to Twitter to slam Shiels for his remarks and declared the Northern Ireland gaffer was "talking foolishness."

He added: "Talking about emotional women! Didn't that man see how many times I was crying on the PITCH! kmt."

Well, if Shiels hadn't Wright was kind enough to provide some photographic evidence of himself welling up on the pitch as a young Arsenal player.

Wright's response has garnered a lot of love from fans who appreciate him calling out Shiels by highlighting the fact that male footballers get just as emotional.

It's not just Wright who has slammed Shiels' comments, former England Women goalkeeper Siobhan Chamberlain has described also them as "bizarre."

Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, she said: "I think we all know - and we get it drilled into us as footballers - the five minutes after you concede a goal, the five minutes after you score a goal across the board, not just in women's football, in men's football as well, you're more likely to concede a goal, you're more likely to potentially go on to score again."

"When you give post-match news conferences when you're feeling emotional after a big game, it's important to make sure that you are speaking sensibly and are aware of the message that your words can carry."

Shiels previously managed Scottish side Kilmarnock in 2012 and won the Scottish Cup during his time and in 2018 led Derry City to the League of Ireland Cup as well as managing a number of Northern Irish clubs during his 30-year career.

Since he became Northern Ireland women's manager back in 2019, Shiels led the side to qualify for their first major tournament - the Euros.

After achieving this milestone, he was interviewed where ironically he himself appeared emotional and described their qualification as "the best ever sporting achievement for Northern Ireland, and for the UK actually."

"I look at my staff and there are grown men crying and I am nearly in bits myself, but it is down to the girls at the end of the day. When I came in in 2019 the girls were traumatised and I was the new face. I might have helped a little bit but they were self-driven and they took it on," BBC reported at the time.

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