Was it the incident in a toilet that tore them apart?

Regardless of the upturned noses of the executives sitting around him, Mike Ashley has always insisted on wearing a Newcastle club strip to games (and in true Geordie fashion, he doesn’t even think about putting a jacket on when it gets chilly).

He chose to have Alan Smith’s squad number on the back, because he shows ‘great passion and determination’. But now he’s old news - last weekend, Ashley chose to wear a new shirt with ‘King Kev 1’ emblazoned on the back. It’s like Ashley has got himself a new puppy, and the old faithful family Labrador now has to eat his dinner outside alone. Not to mention face a couple of slugs from the local vet’s sleeping pistol.

If only Smith hadn’t shown such ‘great passion and determination’ in a hotel toilet, maybe Big Mike would still love him…