Tim Rich: The chants aimed at Andy Carroll with increasing viciousness were wrong; football has more than one greedy bastard.
Nevertheless, as someone who grew up in the Geordie heartland of the Team Valley, Carroll would have expected and understood the abuse doled out from the away end.
Had Alan Shearer moved to Liverpool, a transfer Gérard Houllier briefly flirted with, perhaps the young Carroll would have felt the same way.
No club reveres its centre-forwards more than Newcastle, and Carroll had turned his back on his birthright – the No 9 shirt, passed down through Gallacher to Milburn and Macdonald.
It would have hurt more that Liverpool did not even need him – they were 3-0 up when he came on – and the Newcastle manager, Alan Pardew, correctly observed that his impact had been "minimal".
The damage had been inflicted by Dirk Kuyt and Luis Suarez, part of a Liverpool strike force that cost £67m.
All Pardew could field were the anonymous figures of Peter Lovenkrands and Shola Ameobi, men who were only noticeable when they were substituted.
By the way Tim, Hughie Gallacher did NOT wear the No 9 shirt at Newcastle.
The number system was introduced in the late 1930's - not 1920's.
MAGPIES IN EUROPE
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