Newcastle players 'on their holidays', blasts club legend Shearer after another defeat



Newcastle United legend Alan Shearer has accused the club's players of giving up on this season after their 10th Premier League defeat this year.



Newcastle lost 4-0 to Manchester United at St James' Park on Saturday and it was a match which typified their 2014, a largely lacklustre display and a seeming absence of character.



Manager Alan Pardew has come in for a great deal of criticism, especially since his now infamous headbutt on David Meyler which earned him a three-match stadium ban and four-game touchline ban, but Shearer laid the blame squarely on the shoulders of the players.



Lost cause: Newcastle fans protested before the match against United against owner Mike Ashley

Passengers: Newcastle United defenders Fabricio Coloccini and Mike Williamson look on as Januzaj scores

On target: Juan Mata scored twice as Manchester United put four goals past a woeful Newcastle United

'Fans can forgive a defeat, but they cannot forgive a team that simply does not try and this one is on its holidays,' the 43-year-old said in The Sun.



'With no chance of going down or qualifying for Europe, they have simply given up.



'How can you do that when 52,000 come along to cheer you on?'



Shearer's damning words came after fans held a protest before Saturday's defeat by United as they questioned the way in which Mike Ashley is leading the club.

Their mood has not been helped by two Tyne-Wear derby defeats this season.



Pardew will be hoping that his side can get back to winning and finish the season on a high, with his own job in a perilous state following this slump and his ban.

End of the line: Alan Pardew was serving the second of his four touchline bans for a headbutt

Better days: Alan Shearer played 303 times for Newcastle and scored an incredible 148 goals for the Magpies

In the hot seat: Alan Shearer briefly managed Newcastle in 2009 before handing over the reigns to Pardew



