SUNDERLAND MANAGER MARTIN O’NEILL has slammed his club’s own fans after they aimed sick chants at Newcastle defender Steven Taylor during Sunday’s 1-1 draw.
Taylor had angered Sunderland fans earlier in the week by claiming none of O’Neill’s squad were good enough to get into the Newcastle team, but the Black Cats boss admitted the supporters who chanted ‘Steven Taylor, we wish you were dead’ had gone too far.
“I didn’t know that,” O’Neill said when asked about the taunts. “That would be poor, in very poor taste, if that’s the case. I would be disappointed to have heard that.”
Taylor suffered a barrage of abuse whenever he warmed-up before eventually coming on as a late substitute at the Stadium of Light, while there was also an allegation that the Magpies’ Senegal striker Demba Ba was racially abused by a Sunderland fan during a typically stormy Tyne-Wear derby.
A Northumbria Police spokesman said: “There was one report of racist language having been used by a supporter in one area of the stadium – enquiries into this report are ongoing.”
The problems at the Stadium of Light came with football already reeling from a string of ugly incidents in recent weeks.
Serbian fans chanted racist abuse at England Under-21 players during a match that ended in a mass brawl between players and coaches from both sides, while Sheffield Wednesday goalkeeper Chris Kirkland was attacked by a Leeds fan who ran onto the pitch in celebration of his side’s goal in Friday’s clash at Hillsborough.
There has also been more fall-out from the John Terry racist row this weekend as several players refused to support the Kick It Out anti-racism campaign.
Terry is serving a four-match ban after being found guilty by the Football Association of racially abusing QPR defender Anton Ferdinand during a match last year.
But Ferdinand and his brother Rio, who plays for Manchester United, believe equality group Kick It Out should have done more to pressure the FA into giving Terry a harsher punishment and they showed their frustration by refusing to wear the organisation’s anti-racism t-shirts before their club’s matches this weekend.
