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Toon fans demand Souness' removal
An estimated 6,000 Newcastle fans stayed in their seats at Wigan after watching their team's embarrassing exit from the Carling Cup to demand the removal of manager Graeme Souness.
The Toon's fitful season reached its nadir at the JJB Stadium as a weakened Wigan beat a full-strength Newcastle side who were flattered to only lose by a single goal, a penalty by David Connolly.
'Graeme Souness's future as Newcastle manager appears increasingly precarious after his 50m team of lavishly paid internationals were knocked out of the Carling Cup by a Wigan side made up of fringe players and reserves,' reports The Guardian.
But the most telling reaction was that of the travelling Toon supporters, the majority of which refused to leave at the final whistle before making clear their discontent. 'Souness out' was one of the few chants F365 can print without the use of asterisks.
'After 36 years of fruitless searching for silverware, Newcastle United's supporters have become used to feeling angry and depressed about letdowns. Few, though, have caused as much anger as this one,' noted The Independent.
'Newcastle looked devoid of ideas and, more alarmingly for their supporters and manager, passion,' the newspaper added after Wigan comprehensively outplayed their supposedly more illustrious opponents.
"It was a 1-0 hammering," commented Wigan's manager Paul Jewell.
"We were the best team from start to finish and played exceptionally well. I think we had 19 attempts on goal, that's the only disappointing thing that we didn't win the game by four or five goals. It should have been over at half-time but it's great to get a victory against a so-called top Newcastle side."
'So-called' indeed.
The abject, listless manner of Toon's defeat was made all the more unforgivable by the general belief that the Carling Cup represented the club's best chance this season of landing a piece of silverware for the first time in almost forty years.
A disillusioned Souness offered no excuses afterwards.
"This is the most angry I've been as Newcastle manager," Souness said afterwards. "Six or seven thousand people have travelled from Tyneside tonight to watch a game of football in which they thought we had a great chance of going through. We didn't do it for them.
"The one thing players should be able to guarantee is they will give 100 per cent every time they go out there, but in the first half we didn’t give that. The best team won, the best team should have won by half-time. Every single person who travelled from Tyneside tonight we have let down. I understand the fans’ reaction and can’t complain."
http://www.football365.com/news/story_170103.shtml |
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發表於 2005-12-1 19:33:26
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發表於 2005-12-1 19:47:44
well done
