Wayne Shaw’s decision to eat a pie on the bench in the second half of Sutton United’s FA Cup tie may have earned him further column inches but his manager was far from impressed.
Television cameras showed images of the 46-year-old, 20 stone Sutton reserve goalkeeper tucking into a snack after manager Paul Doswell had made his three substitutions in his side’s 2-0 defeat to Arsenal.
It subsequently emerged that a bookmaker who had sponsored the National League side’s shirts for the match had been offering odds of 8-1 that Shaw, who had also been pictured in the bar at half-time, would snack on a pie on Monday evening.
Whilst Doswell was not sure whether the stunt had been premeditated he was far from impressed with his reserve goalkeeper’s antics.
“I would assume so,” he said when asked whether the pie-eating was a PR stunt. “I think Wayne has become this global superstar on the back of being 23 stone. He’s made that a chance to make some more media coverage off the back of it.
“The reality is I don’t know, but it wouldn’t surprise me. I don’t think it shows us in the best light.”
Goals from Lucas Perez and Theo Walcott secured victory for Arsenal, who will host fellow National League side Lincoln City in the quarter-finals.
