Newcastle boss John Carver has accused defender Mike Williamson of deliberately getting sent off in the 3-0 defeat at Leicester.
It was the eighth defeat in a row for Newcastle who were drawn closer to the bottom three with Aston Villa and Sunderland also picking up full points.
Carver stepped up to replace Alan Pardew when he moved to Crystal Palace but after today’s match agreed with supporters who accused the players of being cowards.
More seriously his allegation against Williamson is bound to attract the authorities while the Newcastle boss attempts to lift his players into finding a win from their three remaining matches.
“I thought he meant it,” Carver said in his post-match press conference about Williamson’s red card. “When the ball went onto that left-hand side, my first reaction, five yards before making the tackle was, ‘Don’t do it’ – and he did it.
“Vardy was off the pitch, Willo was off the pitch, the ball was off the pitch. There was no need to do it. I am not accepting that, especially in the situation we are in.”
Asked why Williamson might have done something like that on purpose, Carver said: “I don’t really know. It was just my thought when it happened. I thought he meant that and I have told him so. I have actually said this to his face.”
Newcastle fans again turned on their players with local man Carver unable to find an argument in to back his players
He added: “I can’t disagree with them. I know some of them went over at full-time and the fans had a go, and more or less said, ‘We don’t want to see you’.
“If I was sitting in the stand with them I would be doing the same thing. We are a soft touch. We are a soft touch when the ball comes into the box because we are not prepared to put our heads on it.
“We can talk and talk – We need to grow up and we need to accept it. The ones that don’t want to grow up and accept it can stay at home.”
