Pro12 badly needs a lift as rugby’s sleepy season kicks in

John Carver, the latest in a long line of men to be handed the ticking time bomb that is the job of manager at Newcastle United, has been fielding questions about his players’ choice of footwear for some weeks now.

It was Phil Neville who suggested that maybe the Toon lads had already rescued the flip flops from the recesses of their wardrobes given they were marooned in that most ‘meh’ of places: mid-table. With little tangible to aim for and nothing of note to fear, the suggestion was that beachwear was the current attire of choice in the north-east.

Carver expressed his annoyance at that idea after last week’s Tyne-Wear derby loss to Sunderland at the Stadium of Light, pointing out by way of explanation that the 35 points which his side had accumulated thus far was not exactly the kind of total that would let a man in his position sleep soundly in his bed at night.