An ex-Preston North End and Stockport County player turned manager has been sacked for making some horrific post-match comments.
English manager Stuart Baxter had been in charge of Indian Super League side Odisha, but now the club have got rid of him after he claimed his players must ‘rape or get raped to win a penalty’.
Stuart Baxter’s shocking outburst came when he conducted a post-match interview having seen his team fall to a 1-0 defeat to Jamshedpur.
The Wolverhampton born 67-year-old went on a bizarre rant and said: ‘You need decisions to go your way, and they didn’t. I don’t know when we are going to get a penalty. I think one of my players will have to rape someone or get raped himself if he was going to get a penalty.’
Baxter, who has previously managed South Africa and Finland, was initially condemned by Odisha for his remarks and subsequently removed from his position.
However, Baxter’s shocking interview, which was broadcast live on Star Sports, India’s biggest sports television network, caused a huge amount of outrage across the world.
Last year alone, the weekly viewership for Star Sports Hindi peaked at 1300 million, so you know for a fact a big number tuning in to hear Baxter’s words will no doubt have had a similar reaction to the many disgusted social media users online as footage went viral.
When the club became aware of what the manager had said, they issued a statement: ‘The club is appalled at the comments made by Head Coach, Stuart Baxter during the post-match interview today.
‘It is completely unacceptable whatever the context and does not reflect the values of the club.
‘We, at Odisha FC, unreservedly apologise and the club management will handle this matter internally.’
They followed up with: ‘Odisha FC has decided to terminate Head Coach, Stuart Baxter’s contract with immediate effect. The interim coach for the remainder of the season will be announced soon.’
The manager leaves the club at the bottom of the Indian Super League having picked up eight points from 14 games so far this season.
Baxter started the youth stage of his playing career at Championship side Preston North End, before playing for the first team between 1971 and 1975.
He then played for other British sides like Morecambe, Dundee United and Stockport before moving abroad to the likes of Sweden, Australia and the USA.
He took charge of England Under 19s in 2002 to 2004, followed by South Africa the next year and then again between 2017 and 2019.
Baxter took the job with Odisha last year, however after his latest outburst, he is now unemployed.
BAXTER’S CAREER:
Youth career
1971–1973 Preston North End
Senior career
1973–1975 – Preston North End – 41 games (1 goal)
1975 – Morecambe
1975 – Dundee United
1976–1977 – Stockport County – 4 games (1 goal)
1978–1979 – South Melbourne FC – 50 games (22 goals)
1980 – Landskrona BoIS – 26 games (1 goal)
1981 – Helsingborgs IF – 16 games (7 goals)
1982 – South Melbourne FC – 20 games (11 goals)
1983 – San Diego Sockers – 27 games (12 goals)
1983–1984 – Örebro SK – 41 games (19 goals)
Total – 226 games (97 goals)
Teams managed
1985 – Örebro SK
1986 – IF Skarp
1987 – Vitória Setubal
1988–1991 – Halmstads BK
1992–1994 – Sanfrecce Hiroshima
1995–1997 – Vissel Kobe
1998–2000 – AIK
2001 – Lyn
2002–2004 – England Under-19
2004–2005 – South Africa
2006 – Vissel Kobe
2006–2007 – Helsingborgs IF
2008–2010 – Finland
2012–2015 – Kaizer Chiefs
2015 – Gençlerbirliği
2016–2017 – SuperSport United
2017–2019 – South Africa
2020–2021 – Odisha
A young Stuart Baxter when he was a Preston North End player. pic.twitter.com/zBtuMw0nv1
— Lunga Biyela (@KingBiyela) September 8, 2014
Fans reacted after seeing that the ex-Preston North End and Stockport County player turned manager has been sacked for making some horrific post-match comments…
@Zaxxer26: Whatever happened, happened for the good
@anishbehera61: That statement from Stuart Baxter in post match presentation is very unfortunate.. We didn’t expect something like that from him.
@SKmtshali: I saw it coming
@imvicky0505: This was inevitable, after that reprehensive act by Mr. Baxter. He deserves this!
@TheBerks100: Finally. We fans deserve better.
@Gagashe_B: Joh Stuart wtf !! You deserve to be sacked & hope FIFA takes your license. No matter how angry one can be but we don’t utter such utterances most especially with so much rape issues in the world. Don’t come to SA please
@daniel_hewett16: Blimey, what kind of football does he play?
@BakuraOfKulElna: Deserves more than the sack.
@TiyaniDube3: No longer welcome in South Africa
@tmqakanya1: Very disappointing comments from coach Baxter one of the respected coach in the history of football in SA. Football is a game emotions but such comments are totally not acceptable. Its a disgrace and bad record in his profile for life now.
@TheyCallHimR: Oh dear, he should have known about the (appalling & embarrassing) rape statistics in India before making such a ignorant comment, in India
@McMtshali: Insane from Stuart Baxter, disgusting comments. Glad the club gave him the sack immediately.
@Samsandell3: Well that’s out the ordinary, I’ll give him that, very poor choice of words
@GiftSama: Stuart Baxter sounding like he’s off his meds ffs
You must be logged in to post a comment Login