Mat Ryan posted an apology to Brighton fans on Monday after comments in a recent interview about making a ‘massive step up’ to Arsenal.
Mat Ryan completed his loan move to Arsenal in January, and he quickly made his debut for the club against Aston Villa. Though he’s unlikely to play much more in the coming weeks, you can compare paysafecard betting sites to put money on the Gunners whether he’s in or not.
Speaking after initially completing his transfer, Mat Ryan unintentionally wound some Brighton fans up by suggesting he’d made a major step up by joining the Gunners.
“(When I joined) I had in my mind a little bit of a plan that I wanted to play a couple of seasons at Brighton and try and do well and hopefully be bought by a bigger club and keep progressing in my career,” Ryan said.
“Perhaps it didn’t work out in the way of playing two, three seasons and then being bought for a fee as. No.1 and going and playing. But one way or another I’ve obviously ended up in a massive step up from Brighton and to another level of football.”
After Instagram account TalkSeagulls posted a clip from the interview and a number of Brighton fans responded in anger, Ryan issued an apology in the comments.
“Hey mate, it’s been brought to my attention that there’s been a few people who’ve been upset/disappointed with some comments I’ve made in this interview and I want to apologise to anyone who has felt I’ve been disrespectful towards the club,” Ryan began.
“This was not and never will be my intention. I recognise how people could have interpreted that through those comments and moving forward I’ll be sure to pay extra attention as to how I refer to the club to not have the same outcome.
“The club (Brighton) will always have a special place in my heart as I said and I’ve got nothing but fond memories and wish all the best to you all for the remainder of the season and I’ll continue to support the club because of our experiences together.”
Obviously, I’m biased as an Arsenal fan, but Ryan doesn’t strike me as the type to deliberately wind his old supporters up. It seems like he’s just someone who speaks honestly, and perhaps without thinking too much about the implications in this case.
The goalkeeper has objectively made a step up with this loan move. Arsenal are higher in the table, playing in European competition and much the bigger club historically-speaking.
It’s just not the kind of thing you say out loud if you’ve played for Brighton. Ryan should have learned his lesson about that now, and can only hope the Brighton fans accept his apology.