The former Liverpool defender said of Mario Balotelli: "I wouldn't have him in my team.
"He is too disruptive to the younger players.
"Yes he is a character, but character's belong with mid-table clubs, and that is probably where he should be ... not with Manchester City."
Former Newcastle striker Alan Shearer was just as damning: "I only hope the penny drop with him and when he is 30 he isn't looking back on his career and saying 'I blew it!'.
"Because he is wasting it right now."