Post Liverpool: Kinnear on fans

With a stadium that was alarmingly full by our own standards at 5-1 down, Joe Kinnear has been quick to praise the fans who still sung, more about Sir Bobby Robson than anything else. Speaking to the press after the game, the gaffer said:

"The fans are not fooled easily and they know that we need strengthening after this game. They also know that we won`t be playing Liverpool every week or up against somebody like Steven Gerrard, one of the best players in the world, every game - he was head and shoulders above everybody else.

He got a standing ovation when he went off and that shows what a knowledgeable crowd the Geordie folk are. They have seen so many good players at this club in the past and I think they were spot on when they gave Gerrard an ovation and the rest of the Liverpool players at the end. To applaud them at the end was absolutely right. Our team fought against them but in the end couldn`t compete.

I am hurting as badly as they are. It was probably the darkest moment I`ve had to suffer, but I`ve got the say I thought the fans were sensational. They stayed with the players right to the death. It was a wicked result to go against us, but we`re literally threadbare with players."

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