Chairman to spell it out for Toon brawlers

NEWCASTLE chairman Freddy Shepherd will summon Lee Bowyer and Kieron Dyer to his office this morning to deliver a final warning.

Shepherd has spent far too much time in recent years dealing with the misdemeanours of the likes of Dyer, Laurent Robert and repeat offender Craig Bellamy, but has never before been confronted by a situation such as the one he now has to resolve.

A crowd of 52,306 at St James’ Park on Saturday - and millions more on television since - witnessed arguably the blackest day in his club’s history when, with their side trailing 3-0 to Aston Villa, Bowyer and Dyer went toe-to-toe and punch-for-punch in a disgraceful bust-up.

Both were dismissed, both will miss the FA Cup semi-final clash with Manchester United on April 17 and both will know they have severely dented their club’s hopes of ending a 36-year wait for a trophy.

“We have our half-year results at 7.30am, so I will be at St James’ first thing,” said Shepherd. “After that, I will be speaking to Graeme Souness and the two players. I need to see them face to face.”

That will not be a pleasant experience. Dyer and Bowyer are unlikely to be sacked for their idiotic actions, but they will be told in no uncertain terms what is expected of them in their behaviour both on and off the pitch, and they will be handed a fine of two weeks’ wages.

The irony is that both have gone much of the way in recent months towards rebuilding their careers on Tyneside after difficult spells.

Neither needed what happened on Saturday, although the two men are close and Souness is confident there will be no lasting problem between them.

“It’s fine, it’s fine, there is not a problem between them,” he said. “There is not a problem between any of them. I have not witnessed it before, I have not witnessed it with this group before.”