Newcastle United senior duo Jamaal Lascelles and Matt Ritchie were reportedly pulled apart in a furious dressing room bust-up last week, and fans have taken to Twitter to react to the news.
According to the Daily Mail, Ritchie took issue with Lascelles after he questioned manager Rafa Benitez’s tactics for the Chelsea loss at the weekend.
The newspaper claim that Lascelles then physically confronted Ritchie in the dressing room before teammates separated the duo, with Benitez sorting the issue afterwards as the players remain good friends.
Some Newcastle fans have reacted to the report on Twitter, with many dismissing the claims as clickbait and claiming that incidents like this happen all the time at Premier League clubs.
Nothing but Newcastle have rounded up some of the best tweets:
Happens most days at most clubs. I'd be more worried if there weren't busy ups. Two winners wanting to win, sold as a negative. Owt to sell paper's eh
— Me (@newcastlefan55) August 28, 2018
https://twitter.com/Hoojar1978/status/1034550444952088577
Craig this happens all the time, don’t make more out of it then it actually is. None story for me, have to agree with the other tweets
— Chris Cossey (@Cosseycj) August 28, 2018
Good. After the last one involving Lascelles and Diame we actually started to play well and win.
— Nathan₯ (@Draaaapes) August 28, 2018
Passion isn’t a bad thing. A better squad with no passion got us relegated. Ex pro’s always talk of bust ups – it’s part of wanting to win I guess?
— Matt Upton (@mattjupton) August 28, 2018
That's Ritchie having a blinder for rest of season #NUFC but on a serious note argument and fighting seems to follow Lascelles
— Antony Greenwood ⚫️⚪️ (@ant_g1) August 28, 2018
It was a storm in a tea cup & they're stirring because like Rafa they want Lascelles to leave Newcastle Utd too. Hatred towards our club is more blatant & pathetic. Craig says he's a fan yet makes out that Lascelles fell out with Rafa & he didn't though
— Ghosted G (@g_ghosted) August 28, 2018
No doubt they were both going for it in training, both passionate players which i don't mind.
— Simon Hardy (@simonhardy07) August 28, 2018
OPINION
Instead of being overly concerned by this report, these Newcastle fans seem convinced that this issue is nothing to worry about. As many do state, dressing room arguments are something that happen regularly at most Premier League clubs, and it is good to see passion among the squad. However, trouble does seem to follow Lascelles around, and whether that is his personality or his passion is still unclear. Benitez will surely have preferred to do without such a situation, despite the report claiming the two players remain friends, and these cracks will begin to widen soon if nothing is done about it. Newcastle need a harmonious dressing room if they are to make any improvement on their tenth-placed finish last season, and that does not look to be the case right now. A poor start to the season obviously does not help, and the prospect of a clash with defending champions Manchester City is set to make things even harder for the Magpies this weekend.
