No list of Newcastle's managerial fallings-out would be complete with the addition of Ruud Gullit and Alan Shearer - a duel in which the 206-goal Magpies striker inevitably came out on top of. As has already been discussed, Gullit wanted to remove the experienced "old guard" at St James' Park and replace them with alternatives - but picking a fight with Shearer proved to be his undoing. Gullit originally rated Shearer but came to believe he had become "too comfortable" at St James' Park - and that the England captain was not pulling his weight for the side. Shearer had a large presence in the dressing room, though, and Gullit did not calculate how difficult a fight this one would be to win. Having dropped Shearer to the bench for the 2-1 home derby loss to Sunderland after weeks of goading his top striker, Gullit resigned the following day once the fans turned their back on him - with many afterwards referring to the team sheet the manager picked that day as his "own suicide note". Amusingly, Shearer and Gullit now appear regularly on BBC's Match of the Day - with the former goading the latter in recent weeks about his treatment at the club.
NUFC editor for WhatCulture.com/NUFC. History graduate (University of Edinburgh) and NCTJ-trained journalist. I love sports, hopelessly following Newcastle United and Newcastle Falcons. My pastimes include watching and attending sports matches religiously, reading spy books and sampling ales.
