Kyle Walker is “Not a Good Leader” Despite Pep Guardiola & Manchester City’s Captaincy Stand, Says Shebahn Aherne

Manchester City’s Kyle Walker publicly apologized to his pregnant ex-wife Annie Kilner for fathering two children outside of their marriage. Walker’s revelation immediately sparked controversy, inviting tremendous backlash from fans for his conduct. Despite the vitriol, Pep Guardiola made it clear that he won’t strip the 33-year-old of the club’s captaincy. Like many City fans, renowned sports broadcaster Shebahn Aherne is unhappy with Guardiola for retaining Walker as the captaincy. She insists coaches should ‘take into consideration‘ whether their captains are good leaders ‘off the pitch‘ as well.

Kyle Walker’s club teammates voted him as the captain last summer after former skipper Ilkay Gundogan left for FC Barcelona. In light of the recent controversy, Guardiola said that his players still want Walker to lead them.

Kyle Walker’s ‘role model’ image is in question with Guardiola being dragged into the mess too

Kyle Walker’s captaincy retention was the talking point in a recent talkSPORT episode. Shebahn Aherne and fellow co-hosts opined that Walker has made his mark as a captain on the pitch. “But should we be focussing more as role models off the pitch?”, said Aherne. Ally McCoist then asked Aherne if she wanted him banned from Manchester City. “I don’t think he should be banned from playing. I think it’s not as clearly apologized. I think it is so much worse than that. And I think an example should be made of players. “, she added.

“What does Pep do? Does he give him the captaincy again? He is not a good leader. It is not a good example,” Aherne concluded. Anyhow, her comments don’t come as a surprise, as most fans and media have been similarly hostile to Kyle Walker for his conduct. However, Guardiola has seemingly got his back, saying he will keep a tight lip about his players’ personal affairs. Here’s the Spanish boss’ verdict on the club captain’s recent debacle.

Walker’s apology for his ‘idiot decisions’ and Guardiola’s response

“What I’ve done is horrible, and I take full responsibility. I made idiot choices and idiot decisions. The only person to blame is me. I have roles and responsibilities that I’m aware of and I’ve made stupid choices,” Kyle Walker told The Sun. He added that he had not spoken of this to Guardiola because he did not want the boss to think he was mentally struggling. Nonetheless, the coach offered full support to the veteran full-back.

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When the press asked Pep Guardiola to respond to Kyle Walker’s infidelity, he said, “I’m not going to talk about that. Not at all. I support him and Annie and don’t talk one word about personal issues of my players.” Besides, the boss also added that it is not solely his decision to retain the 5x-Premier League winner’s captaincy.

He said, “it’s a decision for the team and not mine.” What are your thoughts about this? Tell us in the comments below.

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