Adrian Chiles has re-opened the row between Peter Odemwingie and West Bromwich Albion after ridiculing the controversial striker at the club’s official awards’ dinner last night.
The ITV Sport presenter was the host for the evening at the International Convention Centre in Birmingham in front of an 800-strong audience.
The 46-year-old, a diehard Baggies supporter, drew a mixed reaction from the assembled audience when he introduced a prize for the tweet of the year.
Odemwingie has made several outspoken comments during the season via social media on the back of an abortive attempt to secure a move to QPR in January.
Chiles said: ‘Our fourth award of the evening is ‘Tweet of the year.’
‘Oh, no, sorry, it’s ‘T**t of the year’ and the winner is Peter Odemwingie.’
The audience was split between laughter and embarrassment as the reality of what Chiles had said sunk home.
A club spokesman confirmed afterwards that the former One Show host had been given a script to follow and that he had veered from it.
Odemwingie has found it difficult to re-establish any rapport with the club’s fans following the incident as the transfer window closed in January.
Since then he has been fined for several outbursts on twitter and has struggled to re-capture a first-team spot.
He was not present to hear the offending remark. Sources close to Odemwingie suggested he was suffering from a common cold and had communicated his decision to stay at home.
However, feelings among the supporters continue to run high at the player’s perceived slight.
When the large screens showed individual player contributions to the Baggies’ season, Odemwingie’s name was greeted by significant booing from those present when a selection of video clips was run.
Ironically, with Marc-Antoine Fortune suspended for this weekend’s visit of Wigan Athletic to the Hawthorns, the forward may have been in line for a recall.
But Chiles’s comments have only served to highlight the schism between club and player and the former Nigeria forward, who still has one season left to run on his current contract, will need further reassurance to remain at the club following this embarrassment.
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