I think he definitely was a bit unprofessional here. The pressure cooker got to him by him own admission, and that’s fair enough. Only the most confident and even arrogant players, whether they are nice or not, can succeed here.
He always says that VdS is the only one he’s kept in contact with since he left though, so that comment was clearly coming from a mentor’s point of view.
Great guy, Foster. Hope Watford come back up too. Good club with irritating owners (it’s like they prefer 50 managers a season and a complete lack of stability).