Source: Daily_Mail
Aston Villa 1 Newcastle 0: Toon's crying shame as Shearer sunk by deflected own goal
Grown men cried here at Villa Park yesterday. The kind of men who claimto bleed black and white. Short sleeves. Big tattoos. Hard as nails.
But their grief was not shared by the majority of players they hadtravelled down to support. The over-paid, over-rated collection ofmillionaires who appear to wear the same black and white shirts butonly for money and not for pride.
According to one report yesterday, 15 members of the squad Shearerinherited earn in excess of £50,000 a week. More than most of theirfans will earn in a year and something that should leave certainindividuals feeling utterly ashamed. Five home wins all season. One winin those final eight games under Shearer. A half-decent opening 15minutes aside, not a hint of effort yesterday.
No wonder Shearer delivered such a damning verdict to his players inthe dressing room. 'I've said to them I'm not sure everyone has playedto their maximum this season,' he said, and rightly so. Seven wins allseason is relegation form, messiah or no messiah.
'The simple fact is what's been inside the dressing room hasn't been good enough. And I include everyone in that,' he added.
'I'm not sure everyone has played to their maximum. People can havetheir opinions on who has played well and who hasn't. As a group, youget what you deserve. There's no hiding from that. You can blame,referees, decisions, chances. The simple fact is we deserve to go down.I have a tremendous relationship with the fans. The city centre was packed with black and white shirts. They love theirfootball, they love their football club and they have been badly letdown.'
