Crystal Palace boss Roy Hodgson has warned the club’s mascot Harry the Hornet against his disrespectful taunts to Wilfried Zaha. Crystal Palace mascot Harry the Hornet has often mocked Zaha by diving in front of him. In the past, Zaha received bookings for simulation a few times.
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.That’s not what football matches are about. If it’s provoking the crowd into looking for something that is not there then it should be stopped.”
The former England and Switzerland manager added, “Wilf Zaha does not dive for penalties. He gets knocked over sometimes. Sometimes he gets unbalanced without it necessarily being a penalty because he runs with such speed and he has such agility with the ball. I would be very disappointed if a 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.”
Former Palace boss Sam Allardyce was also critical of the Crystal Palace mascot’s diving when he was in charge.
Crystal Palace play their next Premier League fixture against Watford tomorrow.
