Shearer to watch Magpies from studio not the dugout

Round up

Alan Shearer had been expected to take over as manager (REUTERS)

The managerial fiasco at Newcastle United continued yesterday when Alan Shearer confirmed his intention to take his place as a BBC pundit at Saturday's Championship match between West Bromwich Albion and the Magpies.

Shearer took charge of Newcastle for the last eight games of last season, replacing Joe Kinnear as he recovered from heart surgery, but he failed to stop Newcastle falling out of the Premier League for the first time in 16 years.

"At this moment I'll be talking about the match which is live on television," Shearer said. "Of course, things can change but I've heard nothing from anybody at Newcastle. I've another year of my BBC contract and obviously I've got to think about the future."

On the pitch, Newcastle continued their stuttering preparations for the Championship with a 1-1 draw at Dundee United yesterday. Andy Carroll opened the scoring for the visitors after an hour, before a late David Goodwillie penalty ensured parity for the Scottish side. A minute's applause for former Magpies manager Sir Bobby Robson preceded kick-off.

Elsewhere yesterday, Everton were held to a 2-2 draw by Coventry at the Ricoh Arena. The Toffees, without injured defender and Manchester City target Joleon Lescott, led twice through goals from Tim Cahill and Jose Baxter, with the Sky Blues equalising through Michael Doyle and Aron Gunnarsson.

Tottenham Hotspur ended their Asia tour with a 2-0 defeat to South China in Hong Kong, Chan Siu Ki and a debatable Li Haiqiang penalty deciding matters. Newly promoted Birmingham easily overcame Cheltenham, first-half strikes from Garry O'Connor, Sebastian Larsson and Kevin Phillips and a late Albert Fataki goal securing a 4-0 win.

David Beckham began winning back LA Galaxy supporters, the England midfielder opening the scoring with a fine free-kick in a friendly against Barcelona, before goals from Pedro Rodriguez and Jeffren Suarez gave the European champions a 2-1 win in front of 93,137 fans at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.