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Press article:
Solano: Brawlers ruined everything - 06/04/2005
Nolberto Solano believes Newcastle have a mountain to climb if the club is to restore the team spirit and morale necessary to progress in either of this season's cup competitions.
The former United midfielder admitted he was horrified at the scenes which unfolded before him in the dying stages of Aston Villa's 3-0 win at St James's Park.
And Solano fears the Magpies' hopes of European qualification next season may have suffered a fatal blow during two minutes of madness on Tyneside.
"If you look at where the club is in the league right now, then it will be very difficult for them to make the top six," explained the Peruvian, who enjoyed the warm applause of Newcastle's supporters on an afternoon when there was little else for the home fans to clap.
"Winning the FA Cup or the Uefa Cup was their best route back into Europe but after what happened on Saturday I don't see that happening.
"It was awful watching two of my former team-mates fight on the pitch and it was a very sad day for Newcastle United.
"It is such a big club and the fans deserve so much more. I know how depressed they all felt after the final whistle.
"I don't know what's happened to the team spirit but it doesn't look good right now.
"The only way Newcastle will win anything this season is if the players work together and for each other. Instead they are fighting. Sporting Lisbon and Manchester United will have taken a great deal of confidence from what they saw on Saturday and it's such a shame."
Meanwhile, Alan Shearer yesterday tried to draw a line under the events of the weekend as Newcastle prepared for a fortnight which could shape their season.
The Magpies will play Sporting over two legs in the Uefa Cup quarter-final over the next two Thursdays before facing Manchester United in the FA Cup semi-final the following Sunday.
With three such crucial games on the horizon, Shearer is keen to put Saturday's incident between Lee Bowyer and Kieron Dyer to bed and focus on football once more. "It's been an interesting weekend," he admitted. "I think enough's been said and we just want to get on because we've got an important game against Sporting Lisbon."
Shearer, who had earlier fumed that Newcastle's name had once again been dragged through the dirt, bawled out both Dyer and Bowyer in the immediate aftermath of the depressing 3-0 defeat against Aston Villa.
But with Sporting due on Tyneside tomorrow, United's skipper is determined to focus on football and he is wary of the danger posed by the Portuguese conquerors of Middlesbrough.
"It's another massive occasion," he said. "It's a great chance for us to get one foot into the semi-finals by getting a good result that sets us up for the next leg. They're a very good side technically as they showed against Middlesbrough."
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