Cameron Jerome has aimed a brutal attack on Sunderland after scoring in MK Dons' 2-1 win over the Black Cats.
The 34-year-old equalised four minutes after Max Power's opener for Sunderland on Saturday before Scott Fraser's penalty shortly after half-time gave MK Dons the victory.
It was the Black Cats' third defeat in a row in all competitions, although the loss brought to an end a three-match unbeaten streak in League One.
Defeat saw Phil Parkinson's side remain sixth as they failed to take advantage of teams above them not playing.
Post-match, Jerome posted criticism of Sunderland on social media in a now-deleted tweet.
He said: "Don't often tweet but let me throw something out there!!
"Maybe a nibble, maybe tongue in cheek. Poor, poor side with average players for the league.
"It's time to accept you're now a bang average League One team now.
"Glory days have gone. Let it go Sunderland."
The tweet, which was posted at 1.27 on Sunday morning, has since been deleted, but not before Sunderland fans were able to see it.
It prompted plenty of reaction on social media, with some even claiming Sunderland's players need to use it as motivation going forward.
"Cameron Jerome shouldn't have deleted his tweet," one commented.
"If our players had anything about them, absolutely anything at all, they'd use this to fire themselves up.
"They should look at this before every game and prove a point."
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Jerome's boss Russell Martin took a more diplomatic approach to assessing the game and Sunderland's chances this season.
Expressing his delight at MK's victory, Martin predicted the Black Cats to be challenging at the end of the season.
"I feel so proud of everyone involved today," he said. "It's a bit of an affirmation that the culture we're trying to bring in is working.
"In the second half, on the ball it was one of the worst performances we've had, but off it the best, for sure.
"Incredible attention to detail, aggression, intensity to protect what we had. I just want to thank the players, the staff and the players who weren't on the pitch, they guys who couldn't be here, because they all play their part.
"I'm relieved that we've won away from home and we don't have to answer that question any more, and I'm delighted we've done it at a place which is extremely hard to come, where they've got a brilliant home record and they'll be right up there.
"It's shown today we can compete with anyone on our day, and the players need to believe that.
"If any of them needed convincing of that then today is that day."
