Graeme Souness has called on former employers Newcastle to discard Jonjo Shelvey following the midfielder's dismissal for standing on Dele Alli in the Magpies' 2-0 defeat to Tottenham.
Shelvey seemed to be annoyed by Alli's refusal to hand over the ball and impetuously stood on the England midfielder's ankle in full view of Andre Marriner, who dished out a red card to the Newcastle captain three minutes into the second half.
It proved a turning point in the St James' Park clash, with Alli having the last laugh by opening the scoring just after the hour before Ben Davies' 70th-minute goal sealed a season-opening victory for Spurs.
Newcastle manager Rafael Benitez revealed Shelvey - who was banned for five games last season after being accused of making racist comments towards Wolves midfielder Romain Saiss - has apologised for his moment of madness but a string of his predecessors expressed their incredulity at the 25-year-old's actions.
Souness, Newcastle boss from 2004 to 2006, told Sky Sports: "He's gone from captain to clown in 10 seconds. He's annoyed because Alli has kept the ball. How stupid is that?
"I like Shelvey and he has something about him but you can't have anybody doing that at a football club. Nobody.
"That should be his last chance because you can't do that. They might get relegated by one or two points. It might not matter in the bigger picture but his team-mates have the right to be very angry."
Another former Newcastle boss Alan Pardew gave Shelvey his professional debut when the pair were at Charlton nearly a decade ago.
Pardew added: "You have to have chats with Jonjo and he has a very short fuse over tiny little incidents like that.
"That is the sort of thing that you have to ask him about in training on Monday - 'what are you doing? Why are you doing it? You are the captain of the football team and you have to set an example not just for your team-mates but for everyone watching around the world'."
Alan Shearer, Newcastle's record goal-scorer and former manager, did not hold back in his criticism of Shelvey, writing on Twitter: "That is just pathetic Jonjo Shelvey."
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