Souness lambasts 'selfish' Robert
Furious Newcastle manager Graeme Souness today blasted back at Frenchman Laurent Robert over his latest outburst on the eve of the club’s UEFA Cup quarter-final clash with Sporting Lisbon.
The 29-year-old winger, who has been dragged off in each of his last three games for the club after disappointing displays, voiced both his opinion that the team is not as strong as it was 12 months ago and his frustration at being repeatedly substituted as the Magpies prepared to jet out to Portugal.
However, after hearing of his comments, Souness issued a withering response.
“Once again, we have had to take our eyes off the ball because of the selfish attitude of one of our own players,” he said.
“We have been sidetracked by a selfish player at a time when this club is playing its two most important games for 35 years, and that is totally unacceptable, not only for the management team of Newcastle United and its players, but also the supporters.
“These two games are not about Laurent Robert, they are not about Alan Shearer or Graeme Souness either, they are about the cause, and that cause is Newcastle United.”
Turning to Robert’s most recent contributions on the pitch and particularly in the 1-0 defeat at Tottenham on Sunday, Souness added: “When Laurent Robert plays like that, he always seems to blame someone else. I mean, was it my fault he played so poorly at Spurs?
“What Laurent Robert has to do is to look at himself first and if he is not playing well, he should try harder.”
Robert was unlikely to start tonight’s game anyway, but his comments make his absence a racing certainty and have seemingly scotched any lingering hopes he had of winning a new contract when his current deal expires at the end of next season.
Souness has admitted in the past that he enjoys a love-hate relationship with the former Paris St Germain star, although the balance appears to have tilted heavily in one direction once again.
The Frenchman’s outspoken attack came after he was asked how the team going into tonight’s game compared to the one which lost to Marseille at the semi-final stage last season.
“Are we better this year than last year? No, I don’t think so,” he said. “Are we the same? No, probably worse.
“I don’t think we are playing as well this season as last. We have not played well in the last three games. We have been very, very bad. We were awful against Aston Villa and we lost at Tottenham and we were not good playing football.
“It is difficult to explain why we are playing so badly, but we have to get out of it quickly.”
