Former Newcastle United striker Michael Chopra has slammed his former side in a bizarre interview.
After coming through the youth ranks, Chopra spent six professional years at St James’ Park. The striker then went on to represent a plethora of sides across England, including rivals Sunderland.
Now 35 and retired, the former Magpies forward has hit out at the current state of affairs on Tyneside, claiming that he has spoken to several first-team members at the club who ‘don’t know their jobs’ under Steve Bruce.
Talking to talkSPORT, cited by The Shields Gazette, Chopra said:
I’ve spoken to some senior players at the club – I won’t mention their names – and under Benitez everything was drilled into them on the training pitch: the team shape, how they were going to play – every day.
Bruce has come in, and some of the players don’t know their jobs – they’re not really working on their shape.
When asked about the performance against Norwich, Chopra said:
The attitude from the players was disgusting. Once the first goal went in, some of them dropped their heads. You’re expecting to go to Norwich and at least to try get a point – or three points.
They are a newly-promoted team who have come into the Premier League, and you’d expect Newcastle to be doing better than how they did.
Following his outburst, these Newcastle fans were quick to slam their former striker.
Twitter: @milesstarforth Sounds like someone trying to be controversial to stay relevant. He’d been forgotten about until ve… https://t.co/1DdKd60Mw7 (@johnnyains)
Twitter: Just me who couldn’t care what chopra has to say? #nufc (@JordNufcmorris)
Twitter: @NUFC360 @MichaelChopra How has Michael Chopra all of a sudden became a reference of knowledge on Newcastle or the… https://t.co/y214RXmOvC (@Spencerdowney)
Read Newcastle verdict
Although things are far from perfect at St James’ Park, I wouldn’t read too much into Chopra’s recent comments.
The former striker, as one fan mentioned, could be aiming to stay relevant by claiming to have some inside information, which appears to have worked, with many now talking about his bold comments.
Even if several Newcastle players are upset about current proceedings, why would they confide in Chopra? It all seems rather bizarre to us.
