10 Surprising Revelations About Newcastle Players You'd Never Believe

8. Alan Shearer Is "Hilarious"

The common perception about Newcastle's record goalscorer is that while he was undoubtedly lethal in front of the posts, the man is as dull as dishwater as exemplified by the barrage of criticism he picked up during his debut season on 'Match of the Day'. It doesn't help, of course, that his nickname on Tyneside is apparently 'Mary Poppins', with former Newcastle chairman Freddy Shepherd having claimed he was ordained with that title because he was 'boring'. Former Toon team-mate Rob Lee, however, paints a different picture of the former £15 million no.9, likening him to the eccentric Paul Gascoigne.

''Geordies are very much the same type of people. When he's with his family and friends he's a joker and, it may seem strange to say, but he's like Gazza. He doesn't show it and has learnt to control himself in front of the media as he knows whatever he says will be interpreted in different ways by different parts of the media. Put him with his friends and family and they'll tell you he's a nightmare and a prankster. He can take a joke and dish it out but when the serious stuff starts, he wants people to do it correctly and wants the team to play well. He's a very funny man would you believe - no-one does.'' - Rob Lee, April 2006.

Premier League centre-halves were certainly the butt of his jokes throughout the couple of goal-laden decades he spent in the top-flight. However, the irony was probably not lost on Tyneside's greatest 'prankster' that his ultimately failed appointment as Magpie boss was on April Fool's Day five years ago, as he led the sinking ship into the abyss of the Championship.