Robert affair behind us - Shepherd

NEWCASTLE UNITED chairman Freddy Shepherd has declared that the affair involving alleged comments from French winger Laurent Robert is behind them and that he is looking forward to seeing the player perform at his best on the pitch.

The Magpies chief described how he formally took internal action against the former Paris Saint Germain ace for comments the player was thought to have made last week.

"We all want to see Laurent Robert showing what he can do on the field and putting what happened last week firmly behind him," said Shepherd.

"Laurent spoke out in the press and said certain things that should never have been said.

"He has now been severely censured with a letter from me.

"I have told him clearly that what he did was unprofessional and disrespectful towards his manager and colleagues and that there must be no repeat."

Robert's alleged comments pointed an accusing finger at the Newcastle coaching staff by claiming the players are baffled at the positions they are asked to perform in by manager Sir Bobby Robson this season.

The fall-out from Robert's alleged comments has forced the midfielder to stop taking interviews on his official website until December, claiming the English press had twisted around his comments from that source.

"I had an appointment with the chairman of Newcastle (Shepherd), (Sir) Bobby Robson and (agent) Pape Diouf, to meet them," Robert said in statement on his official website.

"As you know, I have had many problems with the English press.

"With the situation becoming intolerable, both for me and for the club, we decided to join together to do something about it and we made the following decision - I will not give any more interviews on my site until December.

"The English journalists said that they took all their information off my internet site, which is completely false.

"I have not spoken any more on my site for ten days, especially after being fined more than ‚é¼55,000 (£38,000) for last week's events.

"By making this decision, the journalists will not be able to hide any more behind my site. They will have to assume what they write.

"I am really sorry to have to act this way but you will understand that I must protect myself at the moment.

"It is necessary to be focused to play and the journalists went too far.

Despite banning himself from making statements on his website until December, Robert will continue to answer questions from fans on his website's fan forum.