Joe Kinnear plans to start his reign at crisis club Newcastle by telling his struggling stars to stop sulking. Kinnear, 61, was in the stands at St. James’ Park on Saturday as his new team slumped to a fifth successive defeat, 2-1 at Blackburn, to remain rooted in the relegation zone. Kinnear, who was appointed as interim manager on Friday and officially takes charge today, was shocked by Newcastle’s woeful defending which allowed Christopher Samba and Roque Santa Cruz to head the visitors into a 2-0 lead with just 41 minutes gone.
The former Nottingham Forest and Wimbledon boss, who had addressed the players before kick-off, had some choice words for them at the break, and that seemed to do the trick as they turned in a much-improved, second-half display. However, Michael Owen’s 49th-minute penalty — his fifth goal in seven games — was the only tangible reward and Kinnear knows he has a major task on his hands in training today.
“We needed to stop feeling sorry for ourselves,” he said. “We need to get rid of all the issues that are going on — Is the club being sold? Are we bringing back Kevin Keegan? — until it actually happens.”
“We need to focus on playing football, it’s as simple as that. And they need to play football well. But what has not helped matters, I am told, is that six or seven of the best players are missing,” he said.
“On the good side, with the international break coming up we could have four or five of them back. We need to be more vocal in the dressing room, we need more input. It’s something that I have always had throughout my career, feedback from players, players who show emotion, players who want to win, players who have things to say,” he said.
Soccer officials yesterday offered “full support and assistance” to the Iranian team in Australia for the AFC Women’s Asian Cup after the US and Israel launched massive attacks on their homeland. Iran’s 26-strong squad arrived on the Gold Coast days before the strikes on Saturday killed supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as Washington and Tel Aviv seek to topple the Islamic republic. They are due to open their tournament today against South Korea. The AFC in a statement said it “continues to closely monitor the recent developments in the Middle East during this challenging period.” “The AFC’s foremost priority remains the welfare, safety and
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