Kieron Dyer and the other members of the Newcastle Four sent home from their training camp in Marbella yesterday are said to be furious at the punishment they have received for missing out on a dinner in honour of Sir John Hall, the club's president.
The four (Dyer, Craig Bellamy, Carl Cort and Andy Griffin) were sent home and fined two weeks wages for their trouble yesterday. Someone named as a close friend of one of the four said yesterday: "They are very angry about the way the club have handled this. It is all a storm in a teacup and the punishment is way over the top for what actually happened."
What actually happened remains a debated point with the same 'close friend' claiming they merely missed the meal after losing track of time and spent the time watching boats sail in and enjoying a quiet drink. Elsewhere, in the Guardian's Fiver news service for example, there are suggestions of other improprieties: "Getting lashed in a bar before involving themselves in a messy punch-up."