Steve Clarke has branded the insult Adrian Chiles aimed at Peter Odemwingie at West Bromwich Albion's awards dinner as "stupid" and "ridiculous". The Albion head coach said that the ITV presenter, who was hosting Sunday night's event and is a lifelong fan of the club, was "out of order" for calling Odemwingie a "twat" when attempting to make a joke at the expense of the controversial striker.

Announcing an award for "Tweet of the year", Chiles said: "Oh, no, sorry, it's 'Twat of the year', and the winner is Peter Odemwingie." Odemwingie, whose relationship with Albion broke down after he failed to force through a move to Queens Park Rangers in January and subsequently criticised the club in a series of outbursts on Twitter, was not present at the awards evening, after Clarke gave him permission to stay away. The 31-year-old is, however, known to be upset by Chiles's comments.

Clarke has yet to discuss the incident with Odemwingie, who has not played for Albion since 30 March, when he came on as a substitute in the defeat at West Ham, but he made it clear that he felt Chiles had overstepped the mark and said that someone with the broadcaster's experience "should know better". "It was out of order," Clarke said. "It was a ridiculous comment to make. I didn't like it. I didn't say anything about it at the time but I'm saying it now – it was a stupid comment. It was out of place – it was a West Bromwich Albion awards night. There was no place for that kind of comment. It was a throwaway line from somebody who should know better. Peter's one of my players. I've said it all season, I protect my players fiercely; that's why I didn't like it. There wasn't time to saying anything [about it] on the night."

Clarke said that it would be down to the club whether Chiles, who has not been available for comment, was invited back to host the event again next year. The Albion coach said that he understood why Odemwingie had no desire to be present on Sunday. "Peter had permission from me not to go to the event. I think he was concerned that if you go to an event like that, then it's to celebrate the season. If somebody comes out with a wrong comment or something that's not right, then it can work against you. Peter didn't want to go. I respect that."

Clarke said he was not aware if Odemwingie had decided to make a formal complaint about Chiles. "I don't know if Peter has made any representation to the club," he said. "He wants the chance to play and that opportunity will come again before the end of the season. Peter's not been frozen out, I don't do that to my players. My relationship with Peter and the rest of the players is good."

In a separate development unrelated to the fallout from Chiles's faux pas, Gordon Taylor, the chief executive of the Professional Footballers' Association, on Thursday met Odemwingie, Mark Jenkins, the Albion chief executive, and Richard Garlick, the club's sporting and technical director, to discuss the internal disciplinary action taken against the player, which included a six-figure fine, following remarks he made on Twitter.