Steve Bruce: "He's apologised to us as a club and as far as I'm concerned the matter's over.
"I've never seen or witnessed anything like that.
"There's no question that Alan's led with his head and he's obviously lost it.
"I'm sure Alan will regret it and he'll look at himself later on and think 'what the hell have I done?'
"I don't think I've ever seen a manager do anything like that.
"We're all in a state of shock. It's for Alan to live with and deal with the consequences.
"I'm sure he'll regret his actions for a long time. I would imagine Alan would be in serious trouble, serious trouble.'
"He's lucky that he didn't get one back! Then he would have been in serious trouble.
"A 25-year-old against a 50-year-old is a mismatch, isn't it?'
"He picked on the right player. Meyler didn't go down to milk it, and there a plenty of players in the Premier League who would have."