Newcastle United legend Lee Clark has lept to the defence of Paul Pogba over his public spat with Graeme Souness.
Former European Cup winner and Liverpool captain Souness has been a long-time critic of Manchester United midfielder Pogba.
But when speaking with his club's podcast last week, Pogba sparked controversy when declaring he had not heard of the Scot nor had any idea of what he had achieved in his career. The comments generated a backlash from Souness' peers in the football media, along with the Scot himself.
But Clark, who was managed by Souness at Newcastle, jumped to the defence of Pogba, insisting it was understandable if the World Cup winner had no idea about the Liverpool legend's achievements both as a player and manager.
Writing in his column for Tribalfootball.com, former Huddersfield manager Clark recalled a spell he had with Newcastle last season coaching the U23s and discovering none of the young lads he was training had actually heard of him!
Clark wrote: "It is typical of the young modern player with the comeback that Paul made, saying he didn't know who Graeme was. I think that was a little bit below the belt, but I do know there's lots of players in the modern day, and this isn't them being arrogant or ignorant, who actually don't know players of my era, never mind Graeme's era.
"I remember going into Newcastle last season just to help take a training session with the U23 group, and as I got introduced, a couple of players didn't know who I was. And I played over 260 odd times for the football club and only played my last game in 2006!"
On Souness' approach to Pogba, Clark has urged the Frenchman to heed what the former Liverpool manager says.
He added: "He has been aggressive in terms of his criticism towards Paul Pogba, but I'm sure Paul himself would not be happy with how he has performed on his return to the Premier League with Manchester United in terms of his consistency. I think there have been flashes of what he is about and if you dissect what Graeme is saying, it is that Paul has all the tools to become the one of the best, if not the best midfield player in the world."
