Jermaine Jenas has revealed Sir Bobby Robson's fury after Newcastle United were thrashed at home by eventual champions Manchester United. The Magpies had an outside chance of mounting a title challenge when they hosted the Red Devils on April 12, 2003.
Jenas gave Newcastle the dream start with a long-range screamer, but a hat-trick from Paul Scholes and strikes from Ryan Giggs, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, and Ruud van Nistelrooy ensured the visitors earned a crushing 6-2 win. Shola Ameobi grabbed a late consolation, and the Magpies would go on to finish third.
Jenas has revealed Newcastle did not train on the following Monday, but were instead put through a painful examination of the humbling defeat. The BBC Sport pundit insists Sir Bobby's scrutiny of every moment of the contest ensured there was 'nowhere to hide' for anyone in the dressing room.
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Jenas told Vibe with Five: "We had it against this lot [points at Rio Ferdinand] when I was playing at Newcastle in a game at St James' Park. This was a Newcastle team that at the time was finishing in the Champions League positions, we finished third and fourth in the couple of years I was up there.
"We had a good team, these lot turned up and I scored that first goal. We went one-nil up, St James' Park absolutely lights up. It was 6-2 in the end, they absolutely dealt with us.
"On the Monday morning, Sir Bobby Robson got us in and we didn't even train on that Monday. We went straight into the meeting room, and we had this massive kind of cinema screen. He made us sit and watch from minute one to minute 94.
"There might be moments where if I've pressed him and Scholesy has popped it around me and no-one has come with me, he'd have his electric pen out and say 'what are you doing? He was on you, 'what are you doing there? What's going through your mind'?
"There was nowhere to hide. That is in your mind for the next training session, the next game, you don't want to be that guy. You don't want to be that guy getting the laser pen, and the whole team can see you've given in.
"He was doing it at 5-1 by the way, where we've all done it as players. He's highlighting those moments, going you've given up, you've given up. You don't forget it as a player, it's the worst feeling that you've let your team-mates down."
Scholes proved to be the standout played on that day at St James' Park, netting a first-half double before completing his hat-trick shortly after the break. Jenas believes the Red Devils legend's display was a riposte to a confident if ill-judged claim from team-mate Kieron Dyer ahead of kick-off.
Jenas added: "That was Kieron's fault, Kieron was talking in the papers about he was going to take Scholes' place in the England team. It was not ideal and we let him know."
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