Andy Gray says...... Newcastle bidding for Wayne Rooney may have surprised many people but it did not surprise me - they need a long-term replacement for Alan Shearer and when a player like Wayne Rooney becomes available and you have the money in the bank, you'd be daft not to make an offer. They know Alan is retiring at the end of this season and there's no point wondering how to replace him when he's already gone - they need to plan now. You might say they've already got four strikers but Shearer's going and to all intents and purposes they don't have anybody to take his place. It's also a brilliant signal to the fans after the last couple of weeks that there is ambition at the club and that despite Jonathan Woodgate's exit, they're a buying, growing club rather than a dying, selling club. I've never doubted it because I think Newcastle is a fantastic club with all the ingredients for success, and if someone like Wayne Rooney could bring them success you can guarantee that he would go down in history as a true hero. The team that brings those fans silverware will be hero-worshipped. It's a shame for Alan that it probably won't be him who brings them that trophy because it would be a fitting end to a wonderful career. But time is running out for him as well as for Sir Bobby. Much has been made of the club announcing that Bobby will be leaving at the end of the season but they have clearly decided it's time for a new face and new ideas and legally-speaking, they needed to give Bobby his notice. Some have said it was cruel, but they needed to give him a year's notice and that's exactly what they did. It's just a shame for Bobby that his last year is being blighted by bitching and back-biting, with far too much talk of off-the-field events rather than football talk. That coupled with the Woodgate affair makes it look like it's a club in crisis. And that's unfair. The Woodgate thing was just a good piece of business - an offer that was literally too good to refuse for a player who simply hasn't played often enough. There's no doubt that when he's fit he's a quality player. But at both Leeds and Newcastle there was just no telling when he was going to be fit. And if that money pays for players who deliver trophies then the fans won't have anything to worry about - especially if some of that money goes on a no-nonsense defender who can do the basics of stopping strikers scoring, protecting his goalkeeper and just generally being a defender with no pretensions of being anything else. That's the player they need. One player who should be grateful that he's still at the club at all is Kieron Dyer - his behaviour has been unthinkable, and unforgiveable in many respects. He may have been booed by the Toon fans but he didn't get booed nearly enough as he should have done. He insulted the manager, his fellow players and most of all he insulted the 50-odd thousand people who turn up every week and pay his wages. He was wrong to refuse to play in a certain position and he was wrong to refuse the captain's armband. And this is coming from a player who would have played wherever and whenever he was asked by his manager. As every professional should. Kieron Dyer should wake up every morning and thank the lord for giving him the chance to play football for Newcastle and get paid millions of pounds to do so because there are thousands of Geordies who would give their right arm for the chance. And expect no payment. He should remember the next time he wants to be arrogant and disrespectful that he is a lucky boy. Let's just hope he's learned his lesson and knuckles down - because the Newcastle fans deserve more than a simple apology.
