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Joleon Lescott has defended his Tweet of a Mercedes sports car after Aston Villa's 0-6 loss to Liverpool as "not the biggest crime that a footballer has ever committed" and says one fan threatened on social media: "I'll carve you a new scar in your forehead" after the match.
Lescott was giving an interview to The Times published this morning and insisted again that the photo was an accidental Tweet, and that he had the picture because another player sent him a picture of the car he was thinking of buying.
He revealed that he although he offered to leave the club last month, he also refused interest from LA Galaxy due to not wanting to "jump ship" with a chance of the club escaping relegation. He also said he intends to stay if Villa go down.
— Joleon Lescott (@JoleonLescott) February 14, 2016
— Joleon Lescott (@JoleonLescott) February 14, 2016
These were the Tweets that Lescott sent after last Sunday's thrashing at Villa Park which then led to a series of arguments with fans on Twitter and Instagram, in which Lescott told the fan who had sent the message about the scar "I'd love you to come down [to the training ground]."
He talked to Henry Winter about how he received the scar as a child when he was struck by a car and how his mother avoids going to certain games to avoid hearing the abuse aimed at him.
He also defended manager Rémi Garde, mentioning his efforts to create a "non-French-speaking environment" and owner Randy Lerner as "very calm, a very nice man."
Let us know what you think below - should Villa fans be abusing the players on social media? And do we want Lescott to stay if we go down?