Rain stops play against Fiorentina to further dampen Newcastle United's spirits

By Luke Edwards6:17PM BST 06 Aug 2011Comments It was another unwanted setback for Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew, who has been plagued by problems this summer, most notably criticism from two of his players - Jose Enrique and Joey Barton about the club's lack of ambition in the transfer market. Newcastle's first friendly at Darlington was soured by crowd trouble, while three players, including Barton and new signing Yohan Cabaye were denied visas to join a tour of America, which also drew criticism because of a crazy schedule of nine flights in just 10 days. 'It's frustrating but there isn't a lot you can do about the weather,' said Pardew. 'The rain just wouldn't stop and we were worried about injuries. 'There was a tackle on Cabaye out there which had my heart in my mouth. It was the right decision to call it off.' On a more positive note, there was no sign of any mass support for the transfer-listed Barton following his Twitter attack last weekend, or any suggestion of a protest against the board. Related Articles

Source: Telegraph