Newcastle United's Ruud Gullit axed Alan Shearer before Sunderland defeat and paid with his job Gullit had rated Shearer highly before he became his manager, but he did not feel the No 9 was living up to his, or anyone else's expectations. The Dutchman believed the England captain commanded too much respect based on reputation rather than deeds. At the age of 29, Shearer was deemed undroppable. Gullit disagreed and left his star player on the bench alongside an equally disgruntled Duncan Ferguson. In their place, he picked an unknown youngster, Paul Robinson, to lead the line. "When we got Newcastle's team news I didn't need to give a team talk," said Sunderland manager Peter Reid. He'd left their two best players on the bench and we were delighted. It did wonders for the lads. Played in torrential rain, Kieron Dyer, who Gullit had signed for £6 million from Ipswich a few weeks earlier, opened the scoring with his first goal for the club. It had been a difficult introduction, as Dyer recalled: "My most vivid memory was the day before in training when the bibs were given out," he said. The bibs were worn by players who weren't in the starting XI so they could play against the first team in the shape of the opposition. Duncan got his first. I thought, 'ouch" and then Alan was given one. We were all stunned, it was crazy, but the thing that struck me was how well Alan, the England captain, took being dropped for the biggest game of the season. He's a local lad too and he was being told he wasn't going to play against Sunderland. He didn't show a thing. Most players would have exploded. He trained superbly. Duncan and Alan battered us in the game, even though they were in the reserves. I could also see it from Ruud's point of view. He was the manager, his neck was on the block and he knew Alan didn't like him. He didn't trust him. Alan always gave 100 per cent when he played for Newcastle, he did in that training session, but you can see why Ruud made the decision he did. Despite Newcastle's encouraging start, things turned sour in the second half. As the playing conditions worsened, Robinson was replaced by Ferguson, shortly after which Niall Quinn equalised. Minutes after Newcastle fans had chanted Shearer's name, prompting Gullit to throw him on with 18 minutes remaining, Kevin Phillips scored Sunderland's winner. Shearer could not save the game and had no desire to save a manager who had tried to humiliate him. In his post-match press conference, Gullit spitefully suggested the match had been lost because he had brought Ferguson and Shearer on. "We were winning before that," he told unimpressed reporters. Shearer was furious, but remained controlled. Ferguson was less restrained. The Scotsman is said to have kicked the manager's door off its hinges at the training ground the following morning. Gullit, though, already knew he was defeated and handed in his resignation to chairman Freddie Shepherd. He made no mention of his row with the strikers in his resignation letter, claiming he was tired of living in a city where his "private life has been invaded in a bad way." He added: "I know there are still a lot of people who want me to stay, and there are a lot of people who want me to go, but I think that the moment has come to resign." It was not a subject he would avoid for long. "As everybody knows, I don't think that Alan did his best when I was coach here," he said. Therefore, if he didn't play well, then I had to substitute him. Reid may have been surprised by his team selection, but he felt Gullit knew he had lost more than just the game afterwards. What neither knew at that time, was that the defeat would spark a remarkable revival in Newcastle United's fortunes because of the man who replaced the former European Footballer of the Year as manager, Sir Bobby Robson. "Even when they went ahead, we felt confident," added Reid. The rain was terrible. I can remember Freddie Fletcher [Newcastle's chief executive] coming down from the stands in the second half trying to get the fourth official to call the game off, and me telling him where to go in my usual polite fashion. I've been involved in a lot of derbies in my career but none of them can match this one for intensity. It's an expression of the rivalry between two cities which is hundreds of years old. I didn't know it at the time, but that result led to Newcastle's regeneration. Gullit lost his job, Bobby Robson came in as his replacement and they were playing in the Champions League a few years later. Newcastle fans should thank me.