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FourFourTwo
FourFourTwo
Sport
Matthew Ketchell

‘Leaving Alan Shearer out was f**king ridiculous, so I told Ruud Gullit. I went in early and gave it to him’ Duncan Ferguson recalls his showdown with Newcastle United’s manager the morning after the club's derby defeat to Sunderland in the rain

Alan Shearer Ruud Gullit Duncan Ferguson Newcastle Newcastle United Sunderland EPL FourFourTwo
Newcastle 1-2 Sunderland, Premier league match at St James Park, Wednesday 25th August 1999. Alan Shearer & Duncan Ferguson. Watching match from bench with an inset picture of Ruud Gullit in the rain.

Perhaps the writing was on the wall the day before the 1999/00 Tyne-Wear derby.

At Newcastle United’s Chester-le-Street training base then manager Ruud Gullit called for an 11v11 match, which customarily featured the XI he intended to pick the following day vs the Reserve team.

Incredibly, both Alan Shearer, ranked at no.4 in FourFourTwo's list of the greatest Premier League players of all time, and Duncan Ferguson were picked for the reserve side, indicating Gullit intended to leave both out of their home game vs arch rivals Sunderland.

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