THERE were unhappy, moaning tattoo-bellied fans a-plenty across the Toon today in 1999 when Ruud Gullit made the ultimate Newcastle United faux pas: dropping Alan Shearer for the Tyne-Wear derby.

Whilst it might not get the same headlines as the Manchester or Merseyside derbies, Newcastle’s rivalry with Sunderland is an intense affair, with the two cities lying just ten miles apart in this football-mad part of the world.

Ruud Gullit had been brought to St James’ in 1998 and his promise of ‘sexy football’ was exactly what the demanding Toon Army wanted to see after Kenny Dalglish had broken up much of Kevin Keegan’s title-contending side. His first move was another popular one, getting rid of the French striker and apostrophe enthusiast Stéphane Guivarc’h. His first big-money signing was the decidedly un-sexy Duncan Ferguson, and an inconsistent first season resulted in the Magpies making the FA Cup Final where they would go down to Manchester United 2-0.

This would prove to be the apex of Gullit’s spell in the north-east, as the fans turned on him at the start of the next season after spats between Gullit and local heroes Alan Shearer and Rob Lee emerged. Lee, the man who Kevin Keegan described as both his best ever ‘pound for pound’ signing was not even given a squad number.

These tensions came to a head just five games into the 1999/00 season when Peter Reid brought the Black Cats into town. Gullit was playing the big-man and left out the Geordie Messiah, much to the distain of their fans.



For a while it looked like the gamble would pay off, as Kieron Dyer, the man who took Rob Lee’s number seven shirt off him, put the Magpies in the lead until second half goals from ‘Super’ Kevin Phillips and his strike partner Niall ‘Disco Pants’ Quinn gave the Mackems a memorable victory and cheered up Peter Reid no end.

After three days of being on the receiving end of the Toon Army’s ire, Gullit did the honourable thing and fell on his sword to leave Newcastle looking for yet another manager. This time the club would embark on one of their more sensible moves, brining in Sir Bobby Robson who managed six years in the job.

Gullit, meanwhile, is on the dole again, as he parted company with LA Galaxy last week, among rumours that he was not seeing eye-to-eye with his star player David Beckham. Sound familiar?

If you thought that being a football manager was the thing Gullit is worst at then think again – check out this little pop ditty that sees him join the pantheon of Messers Waddle and Hoddle in the annals of football-novelty-record shame. If your eardrums survive that then check out what else happened today and come back tomorrow for more of the same.

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