Agent plays down Maccarone rant

Massimo Maccarone's agent has cast serious doubt on the personal nature of a reported attack by the former Middlesbrough player on Steve McClaren and Gareth Southgate.

Reports emerged soon after his move to Serie A outfit Siena, after five years at the Riverside Stadium, of a stinging attack by the player on both his former bosses, with the criticism going well beyond the normal levels of abuse from players disgruntled at being omitted from the side.

But Maccarone's agent Paolo Fabbri played down the reports and said: "I am really doubtful whether Massimo would be so rude as to criticise Steve McClaren and Gareth Southgate in this way."

He added: "Yes, he was very upset not to play more often, any player would be, and yes, he might have specific points to make about McClaren and Southgate on a technical level - but I do not believe his frustrations go beyond that.

"When he knows what is being said in his name, I am sure Massimo will be pretty upset because it is just not his style to be so rude and make comments of such a personal nature."

Maccarone was quoted on La Gazzetta dello Sport's official website, www.gazzetta.it, as saying: "The 'magnificent' McClaren is surely the most hypocritical and false person I have had the misfortune of meeting.

"He disgusted me by leaving me on the bench for the 2004 League Cup final after having told everyone I was his number one and he was counting on me. At the end all he could do was mutter 'I know, I know'. Only in England can someone with such evident limits become the head of the national team."

On Southgate, Maccarone claimed: "When he was a player all he did was tell me I had to resist McClaren's mistreatment. He had promised me he would give me a run of six to eight games. He never kept it (the promise).

"Maybe that's the English way of doing things but for me a promise is a promise."

But on Boro supremo Steve Gibson he insisted: "He's the best chairman in the Premier League."