Jonjo Shelvey may lose Newcastle captaincy over Dele Alli stamp as Graeme Souness brands midfielder a ‘clown’
RAFA BENITEZ is considering stripping Jonjo Shelvey of the Newcastle captaincy following his stamp on Dele Alli.
Toon held Tottenham for the first 47 minutes but saw Dele and Ben Davies score after their skipper saw red.
Graeme Souness blamed Shelvey for the 2-0 defeat, before insisting: “He's gone from captain to clown in the space of ten seconds.”
And Benitez admitted he may be forced to take drastic action after the Magpies' chastening return to the Premier League.
He said: “We will see in the future. It is too early. He knows he has made a mistake and he apologised in the dressing room.
“I would also like to say that the tackle from behind from Harry Kane was worse, the rules are the rules, and we paid for that.
“I said it was worse because I had to change one player. Yes [it was a scissor challenge].
"Watching the replay again from the bench in front of the fourth official, it was a surprise.”
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But Spurs chief Mauricio Pochettino was quick to defend Harry Kane - and hailed Dele for keeping his cool.
He said: “No, I think it’s different. I saw the action. It was not the same as Shelvey. It was different.
"The ball was there, the ball was on the side, it was completely different and it’s not fair to say that it deserved the same punishment.
“Dele was calm, it was important because if you remember last season we talked about that, how we need to behave, improve and learn.
“He is so mature now and accepts what can happen on the pitch. He is so calm, is so brave and I think then he scored, a great goal and I’m very happy.
“The last time we played here, to change that memory, to change that emotion was important for us.
"For me, the most positive thing was to get three points and to start in that way for the season.”
