Anthony Gordon missed a penalty in Saturday’s Premier League match between his former club Everton and Newcastle United at Goodison Park.
Jamie Carragher has criticised Everton for appearing to belittle former player Anthony Gordon during Saturday’s 0-0 draw against Newcastle United at Goodison Park. Gordon missed a wonderful opportunity to secure three points for the Magpies when his first-half penalty was saved by Jordan Pickford.
The 23-year-old was coming to Goodison Park for the third time since joining Newcastle for £45 million in January 2023. Gordon, an England international, made 78 appearances for the Blues after signing as an 11-year-old after being released by Liverpool, where he played youth football.
However, he left Everton in contentious circumstances last January. Just months after helping the club avoid relegation, he requested a transfer and allegedly refused to attend training.
Less than 24 hours after Gordon’s penalty was saved, Everton published a tweet on X – formerly Twitter – that appeared to insult him. The club shared a video of his failed penalty with audio effects on their social media site.
The post occurred after a fan asked the account to replay Gordon’s missed penalty, but this time with the buzzer sounds made famous on the 90s quiz program Family Fortunes, which welcomed fans who failed to score in the half-time ‘Hit the Bar’ challenge.
Ex-Liverpool defender Carragher didn’t see the funny side of the Blues’ post, though. He said: “Local lad who came through your academy… Helped keep you up under [Frank] Lampard, wanted out because the club was a shambles on & off the pitch & who you then sold for 40m. The Peoples club!”
The 46-year-old wasn’t the only high-profile figure left unimpressed with Everton’s social media post as the club’s one-time medical director Dan Donachie labelled the post as “disgraceful”. “Classy @Everton post this about a young man who spent around 10 years of his life with the club, he wrote on X. “No wonder. Disgraceful.”
Eddie Howe complimented Gordon, who was the subject of a summer bid from Liverpool, for how he handled the setback and the task of returning to Goodison. “Naturally he will be disappointed, but [that was] a much better performance from him than here last year, I thought he dealt with the occasion well,” according to the Newcastle manager.
“I thought he handled that disappointment really well as I know from personal experience not – missing a penalty but making a mistake – the moment goes against you and plays on your mind. It can affect you negatively.
“He really learned from last season’s game and international experience. There was a lot of pressure on him in that moment – anybody can miss a penalty. We absolutely support him and he’s been incredible for us, and tactically he gave them a problem.”
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