3. Boumsong Told Him And Bowyer To Fight In The Changing Room
Dyer also lifted the lid on what happened between the on-pitch fight and the forced press conference apology. The pair apparently hadn't cooled off by the time they hit the dressing rooms, and had to be man-handled by the club's "two massive masseurs" (an odd contradiction in terms) and separated them as Dyer plotted how to get his revenge:
I was thinking how I could get to him. Then we heard the final whistle. Boumsong came in and said, If you want to fight, fight now. I was wanting to fight and get the revenge."
That sort of brilliant decision-making from the Frenchman proves exactly why he was so good at defending... But at least he didn't threaten to fight both players - the approach manager Graeme Souness took to scaring the players sensible, as Shearer went instead with the disappointed angle:
Then Souness came in and said, If you want to fight Ill beat both of you. Al came in and I never saw him lose it like that he went mad and called us selfish and a disgrace. He knew wed have a three-match suspension and miss the FA Cup semi-final that was coming up.