When The Chronicle reported in July 2009 that Newcastle's careless contract negotiating skills had left them in a position where they were being forced to pay players who had already left the club a massive amount in wages, the harshest revelation was that Brazilian centre-back Cacapa was still being paid a massive £40,000 a week for the luxury of not being a Newcastle player. Not only was the revelation that he was being paid not to play a shock, but so too was the fact that he was on that high a wage in the first place. if there is one player above all else who typifies exactly why Sam Allardyce should not be allowed to sign anyone ever again it is Cacapa: the former Lyon captain might have looked a reasonable punt on a free, but at 31-years-old he wasn't the kind of player who should have been given £40,000 a week ever. The fact that he turned out to be an abject disappointment just reinforces the error Allardyce made - he might have played 29 games for the Toon over two seasons, but he will be remembered mostly as a bench-warmer who we were all told was a big deal.
