FORMER MANCHESTER UNITED and Tottenham forward Dimitar Berbatov has interviewed himself on Facebook to vent his frustration at being criticised for a lack of commitment to his new club Poak.
The Bulgarian was left on the bench for the 1-0 derby defeat to rivals AEK Athens at the weekend and was then sent-off just 17 minutes after coming on.
The 34-year-old hit out at an opponent with an elbow after he claimed to be held in the box and was promptly shown a red card.
And in an extraordinary retaliation to criticism from fans and media, Berbatov hit back in bizarre fashion by publishing a 539 word interview with himself on Facebook.
That’s right, the striker held an interview with his alter ego, journalist Dimitar Berbatov and it’s predictably brilliant.
Journalist Dimitar Berbatov: Hi, How are you feeling..
Dimitar Berbatov: Hi. I am fine but disappointed. We lost against AEK, and i receive a red card.
JDB: Do you think it was a red card?
DB: Yes. Player from AEK was holding and preventing me from position myself better in the box and this, and the fact, i was angry and nervous, make me hit him.
JDB: But this is not a reason to hit someone! Many football players get held during games.
DB: Yes. This is true. That is way i say again, this is not something that resonate well with the way i see and play football, but everyone can lose his balance and do something stupid during a game.
JDB: Why was you so nervous and angry?
DB: Because of the fact that i was watching the game, and even that AEK was not the better team, they still score a goal. Because i was not playing and i could do nothing to help. This was a derby and i come here to play exactly in this kind of games, where my quality and experience can help the team, and not for me to stay on the bench and do nothing. But the opposite happened.
JDB: And you are disappointed because of this?
DB: Yes. When i don’t play, i can’t be happy. The problem is that, in this case i took it out on the colleague from the other team. And i am not one of this players looking for a conflict, this is a well known fact, but in this case the opposite happened, for which i am sorry.
JDB: And now?
DB: Now i carry the consequences from my action. 3 games ban. And because of this i say sorry to the team!
JDB: Some media says you don’t want to play for PAOK any more?
DB: This is why i am giving interview to you, and not to people who are coming up with stupid things like this..This is not true, and with this kind of talks some people are trying to harm the team. Or for people to say: “Look at him, he don’t wanna play any more and this is way he get a red card.” Which of course is not true. And the truth is this. I still feel joy when i play football. I want to play. When this is not happening i am angry and disappointed. There is no way to feel joy from the fact that i am not playing, and they are paying me good money amid all that is happening in Greece. And i can help PAOK on the pitch, with my football quality i have and demonstrate through my career. When this is not happening, i am disappointed and you can see it. With me, if the passion for football decrease and i stop to get angry, stop yelling and gesticulate on the pitch, then i don’t care for the football or the team i am playing for. The passion is gone. But this is not the case yet. PAOK is my team now, and i fight for my team, even if this means a red card sometimes.
