A fine mess

I wonder whether Jose Enrique regrets Sunday night's anti-Jabba Twitter rant, now that his paymaster has hit him with a fine of two weeks' wages (£100,000 to you and me)? Probably not - it'll just have hardened the Spaniard's resolve to escape from Tyneside. It would be interesting to know whether Wayne Routledge also got a ticking off for claiming his wantaway team-mate had "hit the nail on the head".

Having given Enrique a stern talking to, Alan Pardew pontificated on the dangers of Twitter in the manner of a sinister Thought Policeman: "I'm all for people expressing themselves - they just have to be very careful". If the club is trying to control the social networking activities of the players, then it's got its work cut out given the number of them who are now active on Twitter. It'd be a challenge to gag or muzzle ASBO, let alone any of the youngsters...

Meanwhile, the Sun also reheated the old news of an interest in Man City's Wayne Bridge as Enrique's replacement, and suggested that we fancy pairing someone with Good Touch For A Big Man with, er, Big Lad.