Newcastle have fined Laurent Robert two weeks’ wages for his verbal tirade at manager Graeme Souness – even though he will shortly be leaving the club to join Portsmouth.
The French told The Sun that Newcastle would have won the 2005 Uefa Cup “if Souness had the intelligence to see what was going on”.
“If he keeps going like he has, he’ll get fired and deserve it,” he added.
But, Robert remains on the Newcastle payroll and they have fined him “for a breach of club discipline”.
Robert was dropped for the UEFA Cup quarter final tie against Sporting Lisbon and he believes that Souness was being vindictive.
“He put kids in the team and left me on the bench to annoy me. He’s just a child,” Robert added.
“He made a personal matter out of our disagreement and, by punishing me, he punished the whole team.
“I’m sure Alan Shearer told Souness he had to play me – but nothing happened.
“He will get nowhere screaming at players and slamming doors.”
Robert also revealed that he was not the only player to be unhappy with life under Souness.
“Other members of the team aren’t happy with him, though they don’t have the courage to speak out. But I’ve never been afraid of anyone,” he said.
“We finished last season so badly that, towards the end, I just laughed at him.
“And I can see only a lot more pain for the players, the fans and the chairman while he remains manager.”
