Friends reunited?

Interesting to note that Derek Fazackerley has left his position as first team coach at Man City by mutual consent. With the new man in charge Mark Hughes busy installing his own backroom team, Faz was surplus to requirements at Eastlands and, as the BBC report not-so-subtly suggests, is now bound to be linked with a return to St James's Park and a reunion with old pals Kevin Keegan and Terry McDermott.

If he does pitch up on Tyneside to work on our defence, one player he'll be coaching will be Steven Taylor. After months of wrangling (and some slightly foolish comments in the press, mainly from his agent dad), the youngster has at last put pen to paper on a three year deal. Now that his future's settled, the club having shown significant faith in him, Taylor needs to knuckle down and work hard at moving up to the next level - which, in his case, means greater composure and playing with his head as well as his heart.

Of course, I'm duty bound to say something about the rumours that the bin Laden family's construction company is preparing a £300m bid for the club. Well, unlike Fat Fred, as chairman Osama bin Laden could at least be guaranteed to keep a low profile...