Newcastle fear worst as Uefa charges Shearer

Alan Shearer could miss as many as four of Newcastle United's remaining five fixtures in the second phase of the Champions' League if he is found guilty of violent conduct after appearing to elbow Fabio Cannavaro during Wednesday's 4-1 defeat to Internazionale at St James' Park.

Uefa, the European game's ruling body, yesterday announced that Shearer had been charged on the basis of video evidence. The tape will be studied by its Control and Disciplinary Commission, with a verdict expected this afternoon. Should it go against the former England captain, he faces a ban of between two and four matches.

The referee, Stéphane Bré, had already sent off Craig Bellamy in the sixth minute, a punishment likely to be compounded by a suspension of at least three games. Bré, a French policeman, missed Shearer's clash with Cannavaro as they jostled while awaiting a Newcastle free-kick during the first half. The incident did not feature in his report.

Newcastle have already been penalised once by Uefa this autumn following trial by video. Bellamy was caught on camera butting the Dynamo Kiev player Tiberiu Ghioane and was suspended for three games.

Shearer argued after the match that he was trying to free himself from Cannavaro's grip, saying: "Their player was holding me and wouldn't let go. I had to try to get away."

Uefa may consider a lighter sentence for Shearer, perhaps of two matches, should it decide that there was provocation by Cannavaro. By the same token, Bellamy, as a repeat offender, may be hit with a four-game ban. Either way, Newcastle will probably be without both first-choice strikers when their Champions' League campaign resumes in Barcelona on 10 December.

Bellamy, however, will be entitled to wonder whether Sir Bobby Robson was guilty of double standards when the Newcastle manager made his respective assessments of the Welshman's misdemeanour and Shearer's action.

Robson condemned the 23-year-old Bellamy as "irresponsible and unprofessional" for incurring a red card when Newcastle already trailed to Domenico Morfeo's 65-second goal. But he appeared to excuse Shearer's rush of blood that could have left his team further depleted.

"Alan was being manhandled in the penalty area, and he just said: 'I'm not having it'," Robson said, going on to ask how many fouls Cannavaro had committed on Shearer.

Robson's energies must now be employed in improving his side's defensive capabilities before they take on a Barcelona outfit who have won seven successive Champions' League matches. From the moment Inter exploited Nikos Dabizas's rash judgement in the prelude to the first goal, the lack of leadership and authority which was evident in Newcastle's five-goal defeat by Manchester United again reared its head.

The 69-year-old Magpies' manager tends to be keener on investing in ball-playing talent than on finding defenders. Buying the raw Titus Bramble, for example, did not really address his team's Achilles' heel. Unless or until he enhances his options at the back, the answer may be to adjust the balance of a midfield which is weighted in favour of attacking bravado.

That said, Robson's post-match performance made him Newcastle's man of the night. He inferred that his "magnificent" 10 men had been a match for Inter. With the trip to his old Catalan stamping ground looming, it was canny psychology.

Meanwhile, his Inter counterpart, Hector Cuper, wore a vindicated expression. Criticised by his president, Massimo Moratti, for resting key players in last weekend's derby defeat to Milan, Cuper restored Javier Zanetti and Hernan Crespo. In tandem with the outstanding Turkish midfielder, Emre Belozoglu, both were hugely influential in a victory which marked the Nerazzurri as potential winners of a trophy they last claimed in 1965.