Shearer - Barton deserved to go

Alan Shearer had no sympathy for Joey Barton who was sent off in Newcastle's 3-0 defeat at Liverpool. Barton, who made his return from a five-month lay-off in Sunday's fixture, received a red card for a reckless two-footed challenge on Xabi Alonso that saw the Spaniard stretchered off with a leg injury. The Reds eased to victory thanks to goals from Yossi Benayoun, Dirk Kuyt and Lucas Leiva to pile more misery on the Magpies, who remain three points adrift of safety and now they look set to be without Barton for the remainder of the season. The midfielder's violent tackle looks certain to rule him out of the Newcastle's three remaining Premier League fixtures and temporary boss Shearer will fine the 26-year-old. "He deserved to be sent off, he has let himself and the club down," said Shearer, who also admitted "we will do what we have to do" regarding a club fine. "He was not unlucky, the referee was spot-on. There was no need for him to do that in such a position." And Shearer pulled no punches with his assessment of Newcastle's performance. He said: "We were lucky to keep it down to three, how many times did they hit the bar? "I was disappointed with the manner of the goals. The first was offside and the second and third were from set-pieces. If you give players things to do at set-pieces and they do not pick up their man, it is very disappointing." Shearer was goaded by the Kop with "You should have stayed on the telly" chants, and the former England captain took it on the chin by strolling to the touch-line with a smile on his face. He added: "I wondered if I should have laughed or cried, so I decided to laugh. "But our fate was not going to be decided here. This is a very difficult place to get anything. Our fate will be decided by our two home games with the next one against Middlesbrough probably the biggest game this club has had for a very long time."

Source: SKY_Sports