After being dropped for ‘a breach of club discipline’, the winger must face the same questions about respect and self-awareness

For the biggest game in Manchester City’s history, Jack Grealish was given a starting berth while Phil Foden, Julián Alvarez and Riyad Mahrez were on the bench. Grealish played the full 90 minutes of the Champions League triumph against Inter because Pep Guardiola had the greatest faith in the attacking midfielder, but three years on he is at risk of being yesterday’s man.

That trust dwindled, not helped by injuries, and Grealish made only 17 Premier League starts over the next two seasons under Guardiola. City wanted him to leave in the summer of 2025, and Everton provided the solution, taking him on loan and borrowing him again for this season. Six Everton appearances into this campaign he was left out of the squad for Thursday’s Carabao Cup win against Newcastle after missing training on Monday. Everton went public with the fact that there had been “a breach of club discipline”.

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While it is customary for fans of top-flight clubs with delusions of grandeur to cope with Fizzy Cup exits by pretending the competition is beneath them, this is no longer an option that is open to supporters of Newcastle United. Winning the trophy sponsored by a low-calorie, fruit-flavoured energy drink brand from Thailand may only rank fifth in the domestic pecking order behind the Premier League, FA Cup and both transfer windows, but nobody will ever forget how much it meant to hundreds of thousands of overjoyed Geordies when their team did exactly that the season before last to end a trophy drought dating back to the Jurassic era. And with a quarter-final trip to the tough-tackling League Two bullyboys of Fleetwood up for grabs during their match against serial trophy-dodgers Everton last night, the travelling Toon Army must have fancied their chances of being in the shake-up again.

I clearly remember the first time I laughed out hard and loud, as a 12-year-old, reading Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K Jerome. Tonight, 50 years later, after a stretch of horrendous bad years and months (and for my mental health, I exclude the struggles of Tottenham), I read the Football Daily column. Its is often quite witty, but this time, reading about some penalty kick gone awry … I know, I have a simplistic sense of humour, but I laughed so hard and cried at the same time, that my family wondered what happened. Thanks for a cathartic experience. Words” – L Json.

As a Spurs supporter who saw my first game at White Hart Lane when I was five years old – almost eight decades ago – I can only express my relief that attention has drifted away from the continual ridicule of my team. The fact that a certain club that should return to south of the Thames managed to lose at Highbury (ironically), that lot from down Kings Road and Manchester United are all hogging the headlines for all the wrong reasons just makes life sweeter. It’s time for my second nap of the day now, so I’ll sign off” – Stewart McGuinness.

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Bruno Fernandes owes Manchester United a performance, Mathys Tel has arrived at Spurs and Liverpool are improving

• Premier League top scorers

Michael Carrick and Bruno Fernandes held clear-the-air talks this week. Fernandes was an unused substitute against Bournemouth after criticising Carrick’s tactics during the Champions League defeat at Como but it seems the situation has been resolved – for now. Dropping Fernandes did not do United any good against Bournemouth, who ran riot at Old Trafford, and the captain is expected to return to the starting lineup for the trip to Chelsea. If that happens, he owes Carrick a performance. Fernandes has been poor this season and it is time he did his talking on the pitch. Jacob Steinberg

Chelsea v Manchester United, Saturday 12.30pm (all times GMT)

Manchester City v Brighton, Saturday 3pm

The biggest night in Everton’s season started with a big call from David Moyes and demanded a big performance from his players. With the exception of Jack Grealish, they did not let him down. A quarter-final at Fleetwood Town is their prize after a clinical, committed display shattered Newcastle’s hopes of lifting the Carabao Cup for a second time in three seasons.

Newcastle dominated spells of the fourth round tie and the stats – registering 28 shots to Everton’s 11, although only nine visiting attempts were on target – but individual defensive errors and an ineffective attack proved a ruinous combination. Matthias Jaissle denied his team are a soft touch, despite persuasive evidence to the contrary, yet called Newcastle “naive” and the defeat, in front of almost 8,000 of their fans, “shocking”. Andy Burnham was among the many Evertonians in attendance grateful for Newcastle’s generosity.