... he insists he has a passion for his home-town football club. It is something we have never doubted. But Norman Wisdom is a life-long Newcastle fan, and hate to think HE was picking who comes to St James' Park in the January transfer window.
Shepherd: "I'm Fred the fan first, chairman second. I first started watching Newcastle as a kid on the Gallowgate End and I'll continue watching until the day I die.
"It's my club - and I mean that not as a chairman - but in the way every fan says it's his club. A lot of chairmen are passing through clubs but let me make one thing crystal clear. That's not me. I could never do what Ken Bates or Peter Ridsdale did and join another club's board if I ever left Newcastle. No chance whatsoever. It's in my blood. You can get rid of the wife or the bank manager, but a Geordie can never get rid of Newcastle.
"Considering the injuries we've had, Glenn has done a fantastic job. In fact, I doubt even Sir Alex Ferguson could have done a better one in the circumstances. You can only go to war with what you've got."