Speed Devastated
By Matthew Jones
August 29 2003
Midfielder Gary Speed has followed Skipper Alan Shearer's example, and has spoken out about how devastated he is at Newcastle United's Champions League Exit.
Along with Alan Shearer, Kieron Dyer and probably the rest of the Newcastle United squad and fans, midfielder Gary Speed has admitted that he is "devastated" at this week's Champions League exit to Partizan.
He said: "It was a sad night for the club and the fans but the bottom line is we didn't play well. A place in the UEFA Cup isn't that much consolation.
"The Champions League is the one we wanted to be in and what we've got to do now is try to get in there next year. Bobby Robson was just as devastated as the rest of us.
"We all know about the heartache Bobby has experienced with penalty shootouts in the past.
"But I've also never won a game in a penalty shootout and Alan Shearer said afterwards that he hadn't, either. We desperately need a home win to kick-start the season and get the crowd lifted - and we'll be going all out to do that against Birmingham at the weekend.
"It's going to be tough because Birmingham haven't had a bad start to the season."