Rob Lee has questioned Newcastle United captain Fabricio Coloccini's leadership credentials.

The Argentine defender was part of the Magpies side that were hammered 5-1 by Chelsea on Sunday, raising further questions about his performances this season.

Coloccini has been at St James' Park since 2008 and captain since the summer of 2011 but former midfielder Lee is clearly not a fan as evidenced by the following comments.

"Just because he [Coloccini] is captain doesn't make him a leader, as far as I'm aware and seen, he's not a leader and never has been," said Lee who appeared more than 300 times for the Toon between 1992 and 2002.

"I think there's different types of leaders, I played for many. Tony Adams was a shouter, so was Alan Shearer and Peter Beardsley who led by example, and they would shout out at anybody.

"I've said for a while that Newcastle lack leaders and it's been a problem for quite some time.

"Leaders, even if they're not playing well, dig out other people and encourage others but we don't have any of those.

"We hope that maybe [Jonjo] Shelvey can do that but it's a long term thing. We need all the players to go out and give 100 per cent but in some games we're just not getting that."