Gary Neville reckons Bruno Fernandes' long-winded apology for missing a penalty against Aston Villa was "embarrassing".
The Manchester United star blazed a stoppage time spot-kick into the Old Trafford stand as his side slipped to a 1-0 Premier League defeat on Saturday.
A usually clinical Fernandes retained penalty duty ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo but failed to even hit the target after match winner Kortney Hause handled in the box.
The United midfielder then issued a lengthy statement on social media in the aftermath but the message has left club legend Neville exasperated.
The Sky Sports pundit held a Twitter Q&A on Monday and was asked whether players, such as Fernandes, should be apologising online for mistakes on the pitch.
And he insists the Portuguese star should sack his PR team and "speak with some authenticity."
Neville said: "It’s embarrassing! They need to sack their PR people, speak with some authenticity and get on with it. I’m going to go big on this in the next few weeks. They’ve all got these comms managers, that are creating personalities that don’t exist!"
He then added: "The apology culture that’s engulfing football would be ok if it came from a genuine place . However more often than not it’s a smokescreen and diversion tactic designed to mask a crap performance by experts!! Lose a game = crisis comms meet! How do we spin this one our way?"
Fernandes had addressed his 5.8 million Instagram followers on Sunday.
He wrote: "Nobody is more frustrated and disappointed than me for missing the penalty and the consequent defeat.
"I’ve always assumed my responsibilities and I’ve always embraced them under pressure in moments like this. Today, I failed. But I took a step forward and faced the challenge with the same ambition and responsibility as when, on the many other occasions, the ball ended up in the net.
"Criticism and contrasting opinions are a big part of football. I’ve learned to live with it, even using them to drive me on, and I consider it all a very important part of my commitment to never stop trying to improve and to become the best player I can possibly be, for me and the team.
"Today I once again took the responsibility given to me almost since I joined United and I will take it again without any fear or dread whenever called upon.
"The most important thing for me is to win together and I’ll always do everything I can to help my teammates and the club to be the best we can be."
