Newcastle United captain Fabricio Coloccini has called for his team-mates to ‘wake up’, and secure Premier League safety, after slumping to an eighth successive defeat at the weekend.
With growing relegation fears, Newcastle traveled to the King Power Stadium on Saturday knowing a win would all but confirm their participation in the Premier League next season. Yet, their performance was that of a side with nothing left to play for.
Within thirty-two seconds of kick-off, Newcastle were left in complete disarray after Leonardo Ulloa had put the Foxes ahead. However, instead of berating his team-mates for their dismal start, Coloccini trudged back towards the half-way line with his head down and in complete silence – much to the frustration of the Geordie faithful. Many fans have since called for the Argentine to be stripped of the captaincy for the final three games of the season in favour of a stronger character who cares more for the club.
In response to the fans’ criticism, Fabricio said: “We haven’t given in, it would be wrong to say that. It’s not true that we don’t care.”
“Sometimes you can have bad times, but it’s not because you don’t care. We are trying everything to win. The most important thing here is the club and the supporters. We are playing for them, and we should be better than we are.
“We all have to understand that our position is serious. We have to wake up because we are in a fight. We are not thinking about the manager and the future, we are just thinking about the present and we have to be better. We are looking for one win.”
Whether Coloccini will captain Newcastle for the remainder of the season is currently unclear, amid a report by The Telegraph suggesting he and Tim Krul had a bust up on the team coach on Saturday. They claim the pair were involved in a heated row because Krul was furious with the defending and lack of leadership from Coloccini.
