John Giles believes Paul Scholes' response to the spitting incident between Manchester United and Newcastle last night was 'dreadful'.
United defender Jonny Evans and the Magpies' striker Papiss Cisse are accused of spitting at each other.
After the incident, ex-Reds midfielder Scholes defended Evans, saying "I think Jonny is spitting on the floor. I know Jonny, he's not that type of person".
John branded the spitting incident "disgusting" but tonight he also told Off The Ball that he was disappointed by Scholes' and Steve McManaman's responses on TV.
"First of all, it's really poor form, spitting. But I thought the response from Scholes and McManaman was dreadful," he said, before reading out the two pundits' quotes.
"These are supposed to be independent panellists. You can't say 'I know Jonny well and I know he wouldn't do that'. That's not the game. I'm a panellist and you have to be totally neutral and this is a serious situation. I think both of them were spitting at each other."
Di Maria in action EPA/PETER POWELL
John also turned his attention to Man United's form on the field and believes Angel Di Maria "looks confused" about his role in Louis van Gaal's team.
"I think the manager has confused him. He's certainly playing with a total lack of confidence and we know he's a better player than that," said John, adding that the same problem applies to Adnan Januzaj.
He also gave his take on Everton's freefall down the table and whether Ross Barkley is also being confused about his role on the pitch, while he does not think changing the system is the main reason why Liverpool have bounced back.
John also gave his take on the "excitable" antics of Tim Sherwood on the sidelines and thinks the new Aston Villa manager "talks too much".
John also spoke about former Tottenham and Derby County great Dave Mackay, who passed away at the age of 80 this week.
"Dave Mackay only got 22 caps for Scotland which is an absolute outrage," he said, and referencing his first hand view of a clash between Mackay and his former Leeds team-mate Billy Bremner, he added: "At that time, Billy was a regular in the Scottish team and I think Dave Mackay resented Billy and saw him as a bit of an upstart. Billy idolised Dave Mackay and there's no way that [Billy] targeted his leg."
John also felt that Mackay could be a "bit of bully" on the pitch, but also praised his abilities.
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