Former Sunderland striker accuses Newcastle of a ‘lack of class’ after what they did on Saturday

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Newcastle United showed a ‘lack of class’ as they celebrated their derby win over Sunderland on Saturday.

That is the view of former Sunderland striker Marco Gabbiadini, who is not happy with what the Magpies players and staff did at the Stadium Of Light after the full time whistle.

It was a comfortable win for Eddie Howe’s side, who cruised to a 3-0 win against their rivals to advance in the FA Cup. They will take on Fulham in the fourth round at Craven Cottage.

There was massive joy at full time, as Newcastle celebrated a first Tyne-Wear derby win since 2011. The Magpies’ recent record in the fixture had been rotten, but they were able to come out on top on Saturday.

That was expected, given the fact it was a team from the Champions League against a team from the Championship.

But Newcastle still celebrated its importance, and they did so with the 6,000 Geordies who made the trip to Wearside.

After every win, Newcastle take a team photo in the dressing room, but they did something different on Saturday. They decided to take the photo on the pitch in front of the away end, with Jason Tindall the mastermind behind the operation.

Toon fans absolutely loved it, while it has not gone down well with others. One of those is former Sunderland forward Marco Gabbiadini, who clashed with ex-Toon defender John Anderson over the incident on BBC Newcastle on Monday night.

Marco Gabbiadini furious about Newcastle photo

Gabbiadini and Anderson discussed Newcastle’s team photo on BBC Newcastle, with the 55-year-old angry about the Magpies’ ‘lack of class’.

“It’s disrespectful,” he said.

“If a team came and did that to Newcastle or did it anywhere else in the league, you would not like that.

“That was poor. Tindall was waving everybody on. Even the staff, you could see they were like ‘do we go, don’t know about this’.

“Having your team photo for a flipping third round of the FA Cup tie showed a real lack of class after a really good performance and a good result. Go and do it in the dressing room like you normally do. It could have caused bother in the stands. I thought it was really poor.”

He added: “For the team and the management to go on the field and do that was a mistake. I doubt they will ever do it again.”

Newcastle did nothing wrong

I’m quite surprised by the reaction to the whole thing. Sunderland fans are right to be infuriated, but it is part and parcel of a local rivalry. It was hardly the crime of the century.

Sure, if Sunderland had done it to Newcastle it would have been annoying, but it would be something we just have to deal with.

Cries of over-celebrating are always ridiculous. At the end of the day, the aim of the game is to win. Yes, it was only an FA Cup third round game. Yes, it was only against a Championship side. But it was one of Newcastle’s biggest games in years and they won it.

The derbies are for the fans, and the team photo on the Stadium Of Light pitch recognised that.