Jamie O'Hara clarifies Dwight McNeil and Brennan Johnson comments after Everton swap deal
Jamie O'Hara finds himself in hot water after reacting to Everton swapping Dwight McNeil for Brennan Johnson.
The Toffees came to an agreement with Crystal Palace over the transfer formula, which has seen the ex-Burnley ace finally complete a move to Selhurst Park after a lack of game time under David Moyes.
In the winter transfer window, the 26-year-old winger was clearly mentally affected after a deal with the Eagles fell through in the final hours of deadline day.
Palace have found a deal at Hill Dickinson Stadium to complete McNeil's addition to their squad.
O'Hara, who is now a regular pundit on talkSPORT, took it upon himself to ridicule both the clubs and players after the swap deal was announced, saying "It's like, 'We'll give you cr*p, you give us cr*p back.'"
Now, the former English midfielder is trying to explain his statements, unsurprisingly without offering an apology.
What Jamie O'Hara is now saying about Everton transfer
Johnson has already reacted to O'Hara's comments, which he made during a show with Gabby Agbonlahor.
The talkSPORT pundit is claiming that people have taken his statements out of context.
O'Hara is now saying that he was just making a judgement on the Englishman and Welsh winger based on their stats from last season.
There's already a clear indication that McNeil was having his troubles off the pitch recently, and one can only wonder what effect such public statements can have, but expecting sensibility from a talkSPORT pundit might be too much to ask.
Writing on X on 12 August, O'Hara said: "This is the problem when you only listen to a clip and not the full story.
"We were talking about Brennan and McNeil's stats from last season, which were cr*p, not that they were bad players.
"I'm a fan of McNeil and also said Brennan has all the attributes, but he would admit his season was cr*p."
What Brennan Johnson deal tells us about David Moyes' plans
Anyone who saw McNeil regularly last season would know he wasn't given enough opportunities due to Iliman Ndiaye's excellent form on the right-wing.
After the English attacker suffered the transfer setback, Moyes handed him regular game time and he was able to make a consistent impact in games, despite his lack of goals and assists.
The Scottish manager will now be hoping Johnson can do the same and give the Toffees an edge coming off the bench or in the possible absence of Ndiaye.
With the Blues looking to get Jack Grealish back from Manchester City, Moyes certainly has some decent options to choose from out wide, with Tyler Dibling and Tyrique George providing much-needed youthful energy.