Pundit John Richardson believes that Cheick Tiote is proving to be a negative influence on the Newcastle United squad.

Newcastle have endured a terrible start to their campaign and it is clear to see that the Magpies are currently plagued with a host of problems on and off the pitch.

Many feel that there are some players in the Toon squad who are not committed to the club's cause and journalist Richardson believes that midfielder Tiote is one of them.

Speaking on Sky Sports' Sunday Supplement, Richardson said: "The (Newcastle) dressing room - basically I know there's a few bad eggs in there. Steve McClaren knows who they are, he wants to get them out, but it's harder to do that because they're on bloated wages. Basically there's a lot of poison there.

"Yes I do (know who the bad eggs are). Yes I can say who one of them is: one of them is Cheick Tiote. Tiote, who has supposedly been unfit all season. Newcastle keep sending him for checks and scans - nothing ever comes up.

"He's obviously not bothered, he doesn't want to play. There's other players there of the same ilk and until something happens the club is not going to move on."