- A Spurs fan claimed James Maddison was taking the piss by going to darts.
- Maddison came on as a substitute during Spurs’ draw against Wolves on Sunday.
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James Maddison has responded to a Tottenham fan who criticized him for watching the World Darts Championship at Alexandra Palace, just hours after Spurs’ disappointing 2-2 draw against Wolves on Sunday.
The midfielder, who started on the bench at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium before coming on as a substitute, was spotted at the Ally Pally with Spurs teammate Brennan Johnson during Gerwyn Price’s last 16 clash against Jonny Clayton.
The 2-2 draw, which saw Ange Postecoglou’s side drop to 11th in the Premier League standings, capped a dismal December for Tottenham, who suffered a third game without a win.
Maddison’s appearance at the Ally Pally irritated some Spurs fans given the disappointing run of form, with one supporter branding the decision to watch the darts with Johnson “unacceptable”.
‘Are you taking the p***? The way we are and you throw the darts? Unacceptable,” one angry Tottenham fan posted on Instagram on Sunday.
Maddison quickly responded 12 minutes later and said, “Shut up, Wally.” The England star signed off his response with a laughing emoji.
James Maddison has responded to a Tottenham fan who criticized him for watching the World Darts Championship at Alexandra Palace after Spurs’ 2-2 draw against Wolves on Sunday.
The England star started on the bench before coming on as a substitute during Sunday’s clash.
He was accompanied by Spurs teammate Brennan Johnson, who scored during the game.
Price’s victory at Alexandra Palace came just 12 minutes from Spurs’ stadium in north London.
Tottenham came back from 1-0 down to lead the clash against Wolves 2-1 until the 87th minute, before Jorgen Strand Larsen equalized to move the visitors two points above the relegation zone.
Johnson put Ange Postecoglou’s team ahead on the stroke of half-time, scoring from close range in the third minute of extra time.
With the draw, Spurs remain 11 points behind London rival Chelsea in fourth place, which occupies the last guaranteed Champions League qualification spot.
After Sunday’s result, Tottenham is now closer to Leicester in the relegation zone (10 points) than to Chelsea.
The Australian coach regretted his team’s performance and admitted that the result “hurts a lot.”
‘It hurts me because I am ultimately responsible. I am the person in charge. So, of course, it hurts,” he said.
‘When I see how hard they try, it hurts me even more because you want them to get a reward and I think they deserved a reward for their efforts even though they were dipping into their energy reserves.
The midfielder called the fan a ‘wally’ for criticizing his decision to go to darts
The Spurs pair saw Gerwyn Price (left) triumph over Jonny Clayton (right) in the last 16.
Maddison, a huge fan of the sport, regularly celebrates darts when he scores.
‘I wanted them to get a reward for their efforts. So of course it hurts. It hurts immensely.
“At the same time, it’s my responsibility to know where we are now and it’s my responsibility to try to get us out of there.”
Spurs will face in-form Newcastle in their next Premier League match on January 4, before a big two-leg Carabao Cup semi-final against Liverpool.
Despite his team’s poor form of late, Postecoglou still hopes to guide Tottenham to their first trophy since 2008 by lifting the Carabao Cup in March’s final.