Jonjo Shelvey has been heavily criticised by fans and pundits alike for his stamp on Dele Alli on Sunday afternoon.
The midfielder was shown a straight red for the incident which happened shortly after half-time in Newcastle’s Premier League return at home to Tottenham. At the time, it had been goalless at St James Park but Spurs were able to capitalise on their numerical advantage, eventually winning the game 2-0.
Graeme Souness was one of many to condemn Shelvey. On punditry duty for Sky Sports, he said the 25-year-old had gone from ‘captain to clown in 10 seconds’.
“He’s annoyed because Alli has kept the ball. How stupid is that?” Souness asked.
In the wake of Souness’ criticism, many football fans have been sharing footage of 64-year-old in action for Rangers against Steaua Bucharest in 1988. Souness can be seen going over the ball, stamping on Gheorghe Rotariu’s leg in the European Cup clash.
Originally shared by Daniel Harris on Sunday evening, many football fans have retweeted the footage, suggesting Souness had been hypocritical.
if Jonjo Shelvey's going to tread on Dele Alli, "how can you even consider having him in your team?" wonders Graeme Souness. pic.twitter.com/JOCSz5VPTc
— Daniel Harris (@DanielHarris) August 13, 2017
Souness coming out saying we need to ditch Shelvey for his red card, hang on what were you renowned for Graeme? #PotKettle #nufc
— Liam Crawford CRÄWF™ (@geordiecrawf) August 14, 2017
https://twitter.com/markcoughlan5/status/896796864602943488
Since the incident, it’s emerged that Shelvey is seeing a psychologist in a bid to try and control his temper on the pitch. Speaking to the Daily Mail, he explained that he has been working with a specialist since last year.
