Alan Shearer and Chelsea legend Ruud Gullit have long since buried the hatchet after their infamous fallout at Newcastle.
But even Shearer's wife was taken aback to see the pair sharing a drink in a hotel bar following their well-documented disagreement. The Dutchman's decision to bench Shearer and fellow forward Duncan Ferguson for a 1999 derby against Sunderland sent shockwaves through Tyneside.
The subsequent 2-1 loss marked the end of Gullit's tenure as Newcastle boss, with the former AC Milan and Netherlands star stepping down shortly afterwards. While there was much talk of a 'power struggle' between Shearer and Gullit, the latter believes it was more a case of miscommunication.
"Alan and I became friends after that," said Gullit on Stick to Football. "Alan wanted to protect himself and he got the wrong information of what I wanted - because I wanted him. The only thing is, I don't know if he had the same thing with me, I don't know.
"He was very loyal to Kenny Dalglish, who coached there, so therefore it was not easy and, of course, the lesser players were close to him, because he had so much power – if you stuck to him, then you had a chance of play.
"I had this battle about how to handle this and eventually I couldn't win this battle. I didn't want to have a battle – but I wanted to do the same thing. Eventually, I saw that it was not working, and I went to the board, and said, 'Look, it's not working. I needed him [Shearer] in different ways."
Ruud Gullit and Alan Shearer on Match of the Day in August, 2014
Gullit and Shearer buried the hatchet after their Newcastle feud
On his chance reunion with Shearer, Gullit recalled: "Later, we were in Brazil, at the top of a hotel. We were laughing together, and his wife comes to us and says, 'You were the biggest enemy in our house and now you're sitting together, laughing! What is this?'"
Gullit had wanted to deploy Shearer as he had used Mark Hughes at Chelsea. He explained: "I was coach at Chelsea, 'Sparky', Mark Hughes, I said to him, 'You're now 34, within the 18-yard box, that is your territory. I don't want you to go outside, I don't want you to chase people, I want you to only stay in the 18-yard box'."
Mark Hughes at Chelsea
Gullit helped extend Mark Hughes' career (Image: Mike Cooper/Allsport)
"He said, 'But I'm used to running'. I said, 'No – that was when you were 26, now you're 34, I need you to be just there in that area, and I want you to save that energy'.
"When we trained and running, the others had to do 10, I said, 'After five, you go inside and have a massage'. Mark thanked me, at the end of his career, he could win a trophy and be important for us."