London: Preston North End manager Graham Westley left his players bewildered after he sent a late-night text asking them to be prepared for a 9/11-style terror attack.
He said that their hotel is being targeted by al Qaeda before their crunch game with Yeovil, which they lost 2-1 on Saturday.
“In view of the must win game tomorrow beware of the low flying aircrafts as we are in a very high hotel which will be a target for al quaeda leaders (sic),” the Sun quoted his text message as saying.
“If we come under attack we must stick together and keep evolving as a team and bring pain on them. Make sure u have right footwear on incase of such events,” he said.
The bizarre message left the League One Club’s players confused.
“Nobody is quite sure what to make of it. They don’t know if it is meant as a joke or what,” a source said.
“It is a very odd thing to say. They can’t work the gaffer out - they all think he’s lost the plot,” the source added.
Last week Westley - who joined Preston from Stevenage earlier this month - dropped four players from the team in a 2 am text.
He apologised for delivering the news so late, claiming it had taken a long time to add all the players’ numbers to his phone’s address book.
“I have always communicated in different ways and I have no plans to stop,” he said.
ANI
First Published: Monday, January 30, 2012, 14:49