King Kenny deposed

Oh dear. Poor old King Kenny, eh? Turns out John Henry and Fenway Sports Group are republicans.

Everyone in the media has professed shock at the sacking - I find it hard to fathom why. Former Toon managerial misery-guts Dalglish stepped into the breach during Liverpool's hour of need last season, steering them away from trouble and then following up that rescue mission with the capture of the League Cup and FA Cup final losers medals. But this campaign's eighth-placed finish was embarrassing, his signings have generally proven to be expensive flops (namely north-east trio Rocky, Stewart Downing and Jordan Henderson - how the latter has been included in Roy Hodgson's standby list for Euro 2012 I have no idea...) and his surly, spiky demeanour in interviews and contemptible public defence of Luis Suarez's actions were unacceptable.

Also being told to do one from a north-west club famous for playing in red is Little Saint Mick, now 32 and soon to be released upon expiry of his contract after three years at Old Trafford - or, to be more precise, in the Old Trafford treatment room... Owen's stats at Man Utd, in terms of appearances made, were even worse (relatively speaking) than in his four-year stint on Tyneside - but I suppose the signing represented less of a risk for Taggart because they weren't paying him a king's ransom and had factored his regular non-appearance into the terms of the contract. If only we'd done likewise.