4 mins: Whelan header 0-1

14 mins: Dabizas 1-1

42 mins: Shearer shot 2-1

43 mins: Speed 3-1

Half time: Coventry City 1 Newcastle 3

58 mins: Glass solo effort 4-1

90 mins: Shearer shot 5-1

Full time: Coventry City 1 Newcastle 5

Ruud Gullit said:
 
To follow

Gordon Strachan:

To follow
 

Guardian match report:

Gordon Strachan may have sensed this was not going to be his day when a power failure at home ruined his early-morning plans. A few hours later his Coventry players proved a real turn-off as Ruud Gullit's call for "sexy football" took on a new dimension.

Coventry were stripped bare and cruelly exposed, with Alan Shearer underlining the fact that, while he remains a Newcastle player, nobody will be able to question his commitment and enthusiasm. The England captain is still not sure what the future holds but, if he is allowed to leave St James' Park as part of the manager Gullit's proposed redevelopment, then the queue for his signature is likely to stretch the length of the Tyne.

Shearer bases his uncertainty on whether Newcastle can satisfy his ambitions. He points out that, although the club have finished runners-up in the Premiership and the FA Cup during his two seasons at St James' Park, people remember only winners.

"All I have to show for 10 years as a footballer is a championship medal I won at Blackburn. I treasure it but it is not enough. In football nothing means as much as your team being No. 1 and that is what I want Newcastle to be."

If the past week can be used as a yardstick, then the omens are good: three wins and 11 goals, five of them to Shearer. But Gullit refuses to be side-tracked by the hype surrounding the striker.

He declared: "Alan played well because the team played well but it is not about just one man. I was more pleased with my defenders than my strikers against Coventry, because we have been sloppy in that department in the past. On this occasion they were very disciplined."

Strachan must be yearning for such discipline. His season of hope is fast becoming one of despair, and it will continue to do so until his defenders adopt a more authoritative and professional approach.

Jean-Guy Wallemme was the chief offender, presenting Newcastle with three of their goals. He did not watch his country's World Cup victory in the summer as a protest against the France manager Aime Jacquet's decision not to select anybody from the champions Lens, the central defender's former club.

If he refused to watch television on that occasion, then Saturday evening's Match of the Day would have definitely been off limits. Yet it all began so rosily for the Sky Blues as Noel Whelan - fit again after suffering head and chest injuries in a fracas at a party - headed them in front after only four minutes. That was to be the hosts' only moment of satisfaction, however, on an otherwise miserable afternoon.

Nikos Dabizas equalised, then Shearer, Gary Speed, Stephen Glass and Shearer again left Magnus Hedman in a state of shock with their finely executed goals. The bemused goalkeeper reflected: "It is the first time in my life I have conceded five goals in a match, and I am not happy."

Biffa