Former Newcastle manager Kevin Keegan believes midfielder Joey Barton has made a big mistake by criticising the club's fans.
Summer signing Barton recently branded Newcastle supporters "vicious" and claimed to have been "shocked" by the abuse aimed at manager Sam Allardyce and the team.
Keegan, who enjoyed a fine relationship with the fans during his spell as Magpies boss, told setantasports.com: "I think Joey was wrong to say that.
"There's a lot of things you should do and there's a lot of things they shouldn't.
"The one thing you should never do is criticise the fans. You should never bite the hand that feeds you.
"The fans are not stupid, they are a lot cleverer than they're given credit for. Fans are the barometer of a club."
Keegan was manager at St James' Park from 1992-97 and was Barton's manager during his spell at Manchester City.
