Newcastle United legend Alan Shearer was left absolutely raving over the members of the Toon Army who had made the journey down to the south coast for the club’s away clash with Southampton on Saturday.
The Magpies played out a 0-0 bore draw with the Saints at St Mary’s Stadium to leave Rafael Benitez and his men without a win in the Premier League this season, with the away support making one of their longest journeys of the season with a 300 mile one way trip.
Shearer took to Twitter to herald the support from his old club, insisting that the likes of Benitez would be hugely appreciative of their efforts.
Writing on his personal Twitter account, he said: “Well done to the thousands of NUFC fans who travelled over 300 miles on a freezing cold day to Southampton FC . I’m sure the players and coaching staff appreciate your brilliant effort.”
Opinion
There will be very few Newcastle fans who made the journey down to Southampton who will feel their efforts were worth it, for it was a pitiful performance from both sides and might well have sent many of those with an early start on Saturday into a mid-afternoon nap. The players might not have lived up to expectation with their performance and so it appears as though Shearer is doing what he can to lift spirits, for things are not looking good on Tyneside right now. They looked bereft of ideas against Southampton and could well have played another 90 minutes and still failed to find the net – and when you are playing against one of your rivals for relegation that is a serious concern which needs to be addressed. The Toon Army will follow their club across the length and breadth of the country but when they are rewarded with such lacklustre football, they need what they can to keep their spirits up.