and he gave alan shearer his first england cap in that time.st, passionate, about football, always wanting to talk about football, he would always sit and study videos, study of the teams, worked unbelievably hard as a manager, and one of the reasons why i admired him and liked him so much was that you never got any ball from him. he was straight down the middle and told it how it was. some people did not like that but i loved it and i certainly admired him. alan shearer with just one of dozens of fantastic tributes paid to graham taylor has died today aged 72. dimitri payet "wants to leave" west ham and is refusing to play for the club against crystal palace this saturday. payet enjoyed a sensational first season in the premier league helping the hammers to a seventh placed finish, but after a great summer with france, when they reached the european championship final. with the club struggling down in 13th he is now looking for a way out. we don't want to sell him. we've said hundreds of times that we don't wa nt to said hundreds of times that

and alan shearer has just tweeted to say: and alan shearer has just tweeted to let's speak now to onea boss, of course, andi former aston villa boss, of course, and i think it was at aston villa that you got to know him?|j and i think it was at aston villa that you got to know him? i knew him many, that you got to know him? i knew him any that you got to know him? i knew him many, many years before that. our careers took a similar path. i first met him on a coaching course when i was manager of kettering town and he had just about finished playing. he retired quite early from lincoln. the irony was, he recommended a player to me, he said he would be a very good player, john ward, and then he got of lincoln job and kept him. he kept the lad there and he did very well. over the years, i went to cambridge and we actually played in a game when they battered us played in a game when they battered us when i was manager of cambridge and he was manager of lincoln. somehow we held out and got a no score draw, which i think in the end cost them promotion. ironically enough, i got offered the wa

i think it is fair to say that former england captain alan shearer is not happy about it at all.appy about it at all. i think they are cheating the fans. newcastle fa ns are cheating the fans. newcastle fans travelled 250 master oxford expecting their team to win, and he puts out a weakened team. newcastle have one of the biggest and best teams in the championship, six points clear with a game in hand of third place, so it is very disappointing. not everyone is disappointed. despite 13 premier league clubs in the fourth round making 98 changes to their line—ups, it makes for a more other‘s competition, some think. every team is making changes, notjust the think. every team is making changes, not just the premier think. every team is making changes, notjust the premier league teams. i think it is making the fa cup better, once you get the fifth sixth round, a lot of clubs are playing at home to limit changes, but i think it has been fantastic for the cup that we have seen so many upsets. i am all for playing the kids. you can see phil neville's point of view, but many feel that th

alan shearer paying tribute to graham taylor who has died at the age of 72.is and debenhams all announced positive financial figures today. so what's been going on? our business correspondent emma simpson has been having a look. we did spend, this christmas. a bit more than last year. food did particularly well. tesco's sales were up today and other supermarkets have also had a good season. but fashion is more of a mixed bag. next had a poor christmas. the big surprises? marks & spencer. with the help of mrs claus, clothing sales grew for the first time in two years, up by more than 2%. a real present. it's brought down clothing prices. it has also focused on getting the price right the first time, so when you buy something, there's less risk of the price being reduced in a couple of weeks. on the whole, christmas turned out ok. but retailers are much more worried about what lies ahead. john lewis had a decent christmas. 40% of its sales were via the internet. with shopping habits changing fast, it says it needs to invest more online and prepare for the impac

alan shearer has treated this.e highest regard, the man who gave me my first england cap. and a tweet from peter crouch. so much respect for him, gave him my premiership debut and i will always be thankful. ashley young, very sad to hear the news. they watford legend and an absolute gentleman. that word gentleman appeared again as it will many times as we look back on the life of graham taylor whose death was announced in the last hour. we will return to that a little later on. let's get more now the snow and strong winds which are expected to cause disruption across much of the uk over the next few days. heathrow airport has cancelled 80 flights this afternoon amid warnings of blizzard conditions. heavy snow has already blanketed parts of northern ireland, with coleraine and ballymena among the towns worst hit. several tourist attractions have also been shut. snow showers and strong winds are being forecast for wales and parts of england. the met office has issued yellow be aware warnings for much of the country.

alan shearer who made his debut under taylor said he was com pletely his debut under taylor said he wastri payet has told slaven bilic he wants to lead —— leave the club. bilic insists he will not leave the club. and johanna konta looks to be replicating the form that took her to the semifinals of the australian open last year. she reached the final of the sydney open. i will be back with all of those stories at around half past. we continue with our main story, the death of graham taylor, with many paying tribute to the former england manager who has died at the age of 72. one man who knew him well was luther blissett. you were managed by him at watford. but what that experience like? what did he do for you? and my first meeting with graham taylor, i have said it once or twice before, it was when he first arrived at the club from lincoln and he used to meet every player and my meeting with him, he came in, sat down, and he said my name three times. he said, sign, you have got to be a star, but it turned out that he was the true star at the end of it. he made watford a family clu b end