‘Pathetic’ - Southampton man slammed by ex-Newcastle United and Liverpool stars after Fabian Schar incident

Schar was sent-off after Craig Pawson judged he had headbutted the Chilean international following an off-the-ball confrontation. After initially barging Schar in the back, Brereton Diaz was pushed over by the Magpies man, before falling theatrically to the floor after the pair squared up to each other.

Whilst opinion has been split on whether Schar should have been shown a red card or not, Brereton Diaz’s reaction to the incident has been widely slammed with pundits across the game labelling the fall as ‘pathetic’ and ‘embarrassing’.

Alan Shearer’s reaction

Newcastle United’s all-time record goalscorer, Alan Shearer, was also scathing in his criticism of Brereton Diaz - whilst also admitting that Schar deserved to be sent off for his role in the incident. Speaking on the Rest is Football podcast, Shearer said: “I mean, it’s pathetic behaviour from Brereton Diaz, isn’t it, in terms of the way he goes down. 

“But when you stick your head in, and both players did it, by the way, it was both Schar and him, both stuck their heads together, it was just the reaction of Brereton Diaz that got Schar the red card.

“When you do that, you can’t really complain, you are always going to get a red card, and he got it and made it really difficult for his teammates.”

Stephen Warnock’s reaction

Speaking on Sky Sports Ref Watch after Dermot Gallagher revealed his belief that the referee was given no option to send off Schar, Warnock described Brereton Diaz’s reaction as ‘embarrassing’: “I don’t like it at all,” Warnock said. 

“I don’t think it’s a red card. There’s not enough aggression in that. That was Brereton Diaz also putting his head in. Do you send both of them off? Brereton Diaz was embarrassing, that’s absolutely shocking doing that to a fellow pro, trying to get them sent off for something like that.

“If you headbutt someone properly, and it hurts you, then you go down. That hasn’t hurt him! It’s pathetic. But should Schar do it? It’s one of those situations but I really don’t think it should be (a sending off). Maybe the way the modern game is, I’m just stuck in my ways.”

Ally McCoist and Jeff Stelling’s reaction

Speaking on TalkSport about the incident, former Rangers and Sunderland striker McCoist said: “I can understand why the referee has sent him off. Brereton Diaz [reaction] was shocking, absolutely shocking going down like that. I find it embarrassing. All he’s doing there is attempting, and unfortunately succeeding, in getting a fellow professional sent off.”

Meanwhile, Stelling added: “That’s exactly what he did. If you look at it, ok Fabian Schar does move his head towards Brereton Diaz foolishly, but Ben Brereton Diaz does move his head towards Fabian Schar as well. If he’s going to send one off, he has to send them both off. He sent off Schar simply because Brereton Diaz, who I’ve got a lot of time for as a player by the way, decided to do his Tom Cruise fall to the floor and roll around ten times.”