Robson Denies Toon Attack

By Carys Baptist
May 11 2004

Sir Bobby Robson claimed yesterday that he would never publicly criticise the supporters of Newcastle United – or any other club.!

Sir Bobby Robson claimed yesterday that he would never publicly criticise the supporters of Newcastle United – or any other club.

"I would never criticise them, never. How could I, when I am one of them myself? When the team loses a game or isn't doing as well as it could be, then it hurts me as much as anybody and possibly more."

At the weekend television cameras rolled as the Newcastle manager apparently condemned the criticisms of fans unhappy about the performance of late.

Rumours have been flying as to whether the Geordie manager will survive another season at the Toon after the media frenzy surrounding his outburst.

However even if the Boss were to comment on the level of determination and make his point clear to the fans surely this is showing how passionate he feels about the game and the club he is managing?

"What frustrates me is that every time we don't win, people suggest we haven't fought hard enough, that we haven't had enough drive or tenacity, but that's not fair on the players," said Bobby.

“We scored a great goal against Wolves and could have scored a few more and although it wasn't a brilliant performance, if we had taken our chances it would have been a different script."

Despite the draw at wolves and dropping a vital two points Sir Bobby is looking forward to the last two games in which Newcastle HAVE to win both games to grab the fourth spot and a place in the Champions league.

"We're called Newcastle United and that's how we should be - United. We have to stick together."

Sir Bobby Robson has admitted that his side haven’t excelled themselves this season but also is unhappy about the amount of injuries he has had to contend with in what has been a difficult season at SJP. With Newcastle performing well at home and gaining minimum points away.

And the fans as well as the players love and admire the skilled manager – surely that will be enough to keep him…