West Brom boss Steve Clarke has challenged Peter Odemwingie to air his grievances face-to-face – claiming the misbehaving striker’s conduct was overshadowing Albion’s ‘great season’.
Head coach Clarke faced questions about Odemwingie’s latest Twitter rant for the first time at Thursday’s pre-match press conference.
A clearly seething Clarke struggling to contain his rage during a feisty media call at Albion’s training ground.
Several times Clarke tried to bring to an end further questions about the 31-year-old striker.
However he continued to answer questions put to him by reporters.
When asked whether he had spoken to Odemwingie, Clarke snapped: “If he’s got something to say to me, then to come and say it to my face.
“I haven’t got anything to say to him. He’s the one who has the grievance not me.
“I’m not interested in what he said. The club will deal with that side.”
Clarke continued: “I understand there were some more comments on Twitter. I told Richard (Garlick, Albion’s sporting and technical director) and the club to deal with it in the manner they see fit.
“I’m just disappointed to spend so much time talking about one player when I’ve got a squad of players that have made a fantastic contribution this season.
“I’m fed up talking about one player.
“The biggest thing for me, and you can put this on the record, is that we spend so much time talking about Peter Odemwingie.
“All it does is it deflects everything from what this squad has achieved this season. It’s been a great season for West Bromwich Albion and that’s what we should be talking about – not Peter Odemwingie.
“That’s my view as a head coach. I want to talk about the rest of the players. Not one player.”
Odemwingie will be in the squad for Saturday’s trip to West Ham, although that doesn’t necessarily mean he will be included in the matchday 18.
Clarke continued: “At the moment, because of the size of the squad I’ve got, he has to be part of the squad. He is in the squad to travel.
“The dressing room here is good. They will sort out their own problems.”