Shear lunacy

I won't say much about Newcastle other than to point out how ridiculous it proved appointing Alan Shearer as caretaker manager.

Shearer may well have been regarded as a "Messiah" (just like Keegan, and Ant and Dec according to a banner at Villa Park yesterday) but on a reported £250,000 a game he represented hopeless value for money. Mike Ashley is known for blowing money - he has lost millions on trips to casinos. But he will have lost even more, thanks to his biggest gamble of them all.

It takes years for people to be top class managers. Martin O'Neill, whose Villa side ultimately relegated Newcastle, spent eight years managing Grantham Town, Shepshed Charterhouse and Wycombe Wanderers before getting his first "big" job at Norwich City in 1995.

You can't stick in an unknown at such a crucial change. Ashley and Newcastle have paid a massive price for living in a fairytale world.