John Giles believes that Granit Xhaka’s explanation for his taunting of the Arsenal fans last weekend is ‘self-serving’ and that his behaviour was poor.

Giles was speaking to Richie McCormack on Off The Ball this evening, in response to Xhaka’s high-profile spat with his own fans during the match against Crystal Palace.

Xhaka statement

Xhaka released a statement this evening in response to the situation:

 "After taking some time to reflect on what happened on Sunday afternoon, I would like to give you an explanation rather than just a quick response.

"The scenes that took place around my substitution have moved me deeply. I love this club and always give 100% on and off the pitch.

"My feeling of not being understood by fans, and repeated abusive comments at matches and in social media over the last weeks and months have me deeply.

"People have said things like "We will break your legs", "Kill your wife" and "Wish that your daughter gets cancer".

"That has stirred me up and I reached boiling point when I felt the rejection in the stadium on Sunday.

"In this situation, I let myself be carried away and reacted in a way that disrespected the group of fans that support our club, our team and myself with positive energy.

"That has not been my intention and I'm sorry if that's what people thought.

"My wish is that we get back to a place of mutual respect, remembering why we fell in love with this game in the first place.

"Let's move forward positively together. Granit."

Giles response

But that wasn’t cutting the ice with Giles, who believes that footballers need to be able to put aside the brickbats from supporters.

“It’s a bit self-serving, if you ask me,” said Giles of Xhaka’s comments.

“When you’re a professional footballer, you are not lauded every week.

“When you are a professional footballer, you will get louts who will do that – but it doesn’t give you licence to be walking off, taking your jersey off and telling the supporters to ‘fuck off’.

“You can walk off the pitch with your own dignity and make a statement afterwards saying that it is very cruel what people do.”

Giles also believes that Xhaka's disciplinary record hints at a player more prone to emotional outbursts.

"I think the apology is a bit iffy, to be honest.

"I would prefer him to say: 'what I did was wrong - end of story.'"

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