August 8th... Newcastle 0 Referee 1 report by Rik

If there was ever a case for bringing a game into disrepute, then this would have to go to the perpetrator of the incident in the 70th minute of today's game. I have never, in my 30 odd years of watching football seen such a disreputable act as the one that i witnessed yesterday. It was a shameful act that should not go unpunished.

I am of course referring to the official ,One Mr Uriah Rennie who had decided prior to the game that he would make a name for himself by claiming the scalp of of big name football player. Alan Shearer was his victim, felled down in one quick swoop by the red card brandishing antics of this so called unbiased match official. This premeditated shameful act should be stamped out and stamped out quickly or the game as we know it will be ruined . Uriah Rennie should be given a Red Card, and not be allowed to referee another game for the rest of the season.

 Yes I am mad, I am ,bitter, frustrated, livid, annoyed and angry to the point that even now 24 hours after the game I want to go out and cause GBH on an unsuspecting telephone box.

The day had started so well, the atmosphere within the ground before the game was as good as it gets. There was a strange site of seeing a mobile crane perched precariously on top of the remains of the Milburn stand, (more pictures here) How anyone had driven it up there was a mystery that needs answering. Another change other than the roof being removed and the Meccano like framework now towering in front of us was the NEW TUNE. For years we have had Mark Knofler's "local hero" as our theme tune (as heard on Riksplace) , now we had something that sounded like it came from an old spice advert, WHY???? I don't like it, I bet it's unlucky.

  The team selection by Gullit was virtually as expected with all three new defenders taking up there positions in a 4 - 4 - 2 formation :-

Harper

Barton ...... Goma ... Marcelino .. Domi

Solano ..... Dumas....Speed ... Serrant

Shearer ...... ketsbaia

Dyer was named on the bench along with Maric, Perez, Charvet and for the first time young striker Robinson.

If Dyer had been fit then I am sure that he would have started the game. The only puzzle seemed to be Serrant. He has been given his chance due to the long injury to Stephen Glass. He is our only option on the left of midfield which is a very sad situation to be in. It clearly was our weak point in the first half. Everything was going down the right with Barton and Solano combining well . The defence looked a little shakey, or I should say Marcelino looked a little shakey in defence. Goma was sound and Domi was also defending well although he could not get forward in the first half due to the player in front of him looking decidedly dodgy in the early stages (RUUD we NEED another left winger).

 Dumas was surprisingly comfortable in the unfamiliar role in the centre of midfield. If I were to chose one from Speed or Dumas, although it's early days I would be inclined to go for Dumas. Further forward Kets looked very lively and Shearer was having a difficult task as he was closely marked by Calderwood. The first half saw Newcastle more dominant than Villa without creating many chances at goal. Goma came closest when a header from a set piece bounced off the top of the bar.

At the other end Harper pulled off a magnificent save from former Newcastle player, Alan Thompson's 20 yard free kick. Ruud should stop worrying about A top goalkeeper to accompany the two fine keepers that we have, (Given not Perez being the other) I would have thought that bringing in a youngster such as Glyn Thompson from Shrewsbury would have been a shrewd move, but it now looks like Man U will be beating us to this one. Newcastle should instead splash out on another left winger, have i mentioned that already?, sorry but it needs to be addressed, Serrant just isn't good enough.

The second half saw Marcelino replace by Dumas in the back four, The replacement in midfield was the new super kid, the next Peter Beardsley, the "new Paul Gascoigne", our next "Local hero", Kieron Dyer made his entry. Immediately it was obvious that this lad has something special. He seemed to bring out the best in others around him, Solano, Ketsbaia and Domi all looked like new players in the second half. It was surly just a matter of time until Newcastle took the lead.

Then the moment that changed the game, the moment of madness by the incompetent official that saw Alan Shearer sent off literally for nothing. NO ONE, other than the referee could see anything wrong with Shearers challenge. He was simply backing into Calderwood, whilst receiving a clearance from Harper. The ref Blew his whistle and a moment of silence fell on St James' park. Shearer on his 100th outing was to be sent off for the first time in his career for NOTHING. Ok so you hear it all the time, but this time it was true, he did nothing, The referee was either taking a bung or wanted to make the headlines.

The crowd was furious and so were the players. It was shearer disbelief by all around. Julian Jochims goal came just 4 minutes later, it was inevitable that this should happen, either the players weren't concentrating or there is some kind of curse, who's to say but we certainly didn't deserve to lose this game. Lose though we did, despite the efforts of Maric and Robinson who made his debut, the toons fortunes could not be saved.The last 20 minutes was full of boos, jeers and whistles by the astonished toon Army directed at a man that used to be respected as a decent and fair official. His reputation will be severely tarnished by this incident. As the final whistle went Ruud Gullit rushed onto the pitch to add his views to Rennie. he spoke for all of us when he gave Rennie a piece of his mind.

No doubt Mr Gullit will get a telling off and a fine for his outburst at the end of the game and the real perpetrator of bringing the game into disrepute will get off scott free

"We was robbed" and I'm still angry, VERY ANGRY.

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