Alan Pardew likened returning Newcastle defender Fabricio Coloccini to England's World Cup-winning captain, Bobby Moore, after the Argentina international helped his side secure a 1-1 draw away to rivals Sunderland.
The Magpies took an early lead at the Stadium of Light through Yohan Cabaye and, despite Cheikh Tiote's first-half sending-off, continued to dominate proceedings until the Black Cats equalised late in the game.
Coloccini was the away side's star performer until his withdrawal in the 79th minute and Pardew believes that Newcastle could have held on for the win had his skipper remained on the field.
"It would have been one of the greatest victories had we held on because 60 minutes is a long time with 10 men but towards the end of the game we started to tire and there were just too many crosses coming in," the Magpies manager told reporters after the game.
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"Everyone has a right to free speech - just like you can't coerce anyone into shaking hands, you can't make somebody wear a T-shirt - although I do personally believe that joining in with the campaign is the best way forward.
"And then for all these players to get together and put what it is they want down on paper so we together as a union - all the players, one with another - can make those changes and move forward.
"There are two sides to this one," Carlisle continued.
"First of all, Sir Alex Ferguson is continual in his unwavering support for the Kick It Out campaign, which is commendable and what we all want to see, but you can't vilify or coerce any individual for making a stand.
"This shouldn't be seen as an element of control or defiance - just like Sir Alex Ferguson said when he was talking about [fellow boycotter] Jason Roberts in his first interview, he doesn't know the reasons why this stand is being made and what we should do first of all is hear those reasons and listen to them and take them on board.
"Sir Alex Ferguson said he was embarrassed and that is because of the statement he had made but Brian McDermott and Alan Pardew, these guys said they had entered into dialogue with their players and listened to the reasons for them making their stand.
"So I would sincerely hope that Sir Alex Ferguson now speaks with Rio Ferdinand and asks him why he wanted to make that stand and hopefully supports the position he is in and it isn't seen as a player-against-manager situation."