Moncur: Luque Can Punch Me

By Nick Raynor
August 29 2006

Newcastle United legend Bob Moncur has told Albert Luque to show some passion when pulling on the black and white shirt.

The £9.5 million signing has been disappointing on Tyneside since joining from Deportivo La Coruna; being accused of not showing effort or passion.

 

Moncur, the last living captain who lifted a major trophy for Newcastle, has told the Spaniard that he can come and punch him in the nose, because at least it would be showing some passion.

 

This comes after a poor performance by Luque in Newcastle’s 2-0 defeat against Villa, where he came on as a sub and looked uninterested.

 

Moncur said:

 

"He can even come and punch me in the nose if he wants - at least then he will be showing a bit of passion.

 

"That is what the Geordie crowd are asking for.

 

"The thousands of Geordies who travelled to Villa on Sunday must have been thinking `what the heck is going on here?'

 

"The Newcastle fans are a knowledgable crowd, and although they can sometimes sympathise when a player does not always have stacks of ability, one thing they will not accept is the wrong attitude which, in this case, is showing a lack of passion in a United shirt.

 

"A lot of people who have been in football for many, many years have told me that Luque is a good player, and I have seen the stats from his time in Spain too. People such as Graham Taylor and former Arsenal and England striker Alan Smith have said he has got the capabilities.

 

“That might be the case, but when are we going to see it?"

 

Moncur continued to say that he was not out to insult Luque, and that he hopes the Spaniard proves him wrong and displays the talent he has.

 

Moncur continued:

 

"I would be delighted, totally delighted if Albert proves me wrong.

 

"Let's get one thing straight - the Newcastle fans spent a full day travelling to Villa and a lot of their hard-earned money too, so for Luque to simply jog round and go through the motions isn't acceptable.

 

"It galls me to see when players aren't doing their best - you have to show some kind of passion when you play for Newcastle, even if you don't have the ability.

 

"When I looked at some of the merit marks they were low, but were they low enough?

 

"There are thousands of Geordies out there who could have put more effort in than Luque.

 

Moncur then spared a thought for Michael Chopra, who have 100%, even in the reserves, but could not break into the first team.

 

Chopra decided to leave the club he loved for Cardiff in search for first team football, and must de devastated at the striker shortage in Newcastle now.

 

Moncur said:

 

"When you look at people like Michael Chopra, who I feel left against the manager's wishes in search of first-team football at Cardiff, he must be gutted to see the current striking situation.

 

"One thing that Chopra had in abundance was passion for the club and he always ran his heart out.

 

"I'm sure that the Toon Army would soon get behind Luque if he started showing more willingness for the cause too."