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A Newcastle supporter walks past a poster of Alan Shearer - Source: Reuters -
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When Alan Shearer signed for Newcastle United 13 years ago thousands of joyous Geordies turned out to welcome the local boy back to his hometown club, dreaming of the goals and the silverware to follow.
Shearer did not disappoint in terms of goals, going on to score a record 206 in 404 games, but the club's chronic under-achievement continued and he returns as manager with eight games to salvage their place among England's elite.
The announcement on Thursday that the former England front man will take charge until the end of the season will raise morale among the club's long-suffering fans who have endured yet another season of trauma and ridicule.
They love greeting a so-called returning Messiah and in Shearer they will feel they have been handed a dream ticket.
The only trouble is, as Kevin Keegan discovered in his second spell in charge, turning the north-east club back into a force in English football is a challenge fraught with danger and disappointment, as figures like Kenny Dalglish, Ruud Gullit, Graeme Souness and Bobby Robson, another Geordie, have found.
Shearer has baulked at the chance to join Newcastle's coaching staff before, most recently when Keegan returned as manager in 2008, although he did have a brief spell assisting Glenn Roeder in 2006.
A shrewd operator, Shearer obviously decided that the safety of television punditry rather than the real-life drama of St James' Park was a better option.
Born just a stone's throw from the ground, the former Southampton and Blackburn Rovers striker was tipped as a future manager of Newcastle long before he hung up his boots in 2006.
Hot seat
That he has finally answered the club's distress call is surprising.
Newcastle are third from bottom, two points shy of the safety line, and have a difficult run-in starting at home against Chelsea on Sunday..
Shearer will have to make an instant impact and with no managerial experience the odds are stacked against him.
After Keegan's shock resignation in September, club owner Mike Ashley became a figure of hate among diehard fans.
He then tried, unsuccessfully, to sell the club.
Joe Kinnear was brought out of the football wilderness to steady the ship but after a modest impact he suffered health problems and underwent triple heart bypass surgery in February.
Since then assistant coach Chris Hughton has been in the hot seat as the club lurch towards the relegation trapdoor.
Add to that a crippling injury list and the fact that Shearer's former England team mate Michael Owen is struggling for form, and the relegation alarm bells, with the financial meltdown that could induce, are ringing loud.
At least the appointment of Shearer, a man who commands huge respect on and off the field, will galvanise the club and raise the decibel levels at home games for the two vital months that remain of the season. It will also boost Ashley's popularity.
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Add a Comment:
Post new commentMazy8 said on 2009-04-01 @ 15:41 NZDT: Report abusive post
haha surely this is a April Fools windup?? it would be good for the toon if it wasn't tho! my friends are hopeful bahaha
RedLady said on 2009-04-01 @ 12:42 NZDT: Report abusive post
To steal one fella's comment off of a recent football phone in Kinnear, Ashley and now Shearer are just rearranging the deck chairs on the black n white titanic... Saying that, Shearer is an all round nice bloke, and for all those loyal Toon fans I would like to see him do well, but Chelski, Tottenham and Liverpool is a tough ask for any manager.....but as thing have gone this year once a new manager comes in a side seems to win (Spurs, Pompey, Chelsea ect..)
RickyBeee said on 2009-04-01 @ 12:30 NZDT: Report abusive post
Surely he's next in an honourable line of ex-England captains turned terrible managers... The pretty-bad: Ray Wilkins, Stuart Pearce (hurts to say it), Terry Butcher, Paul Ince, Billy Wright, Bobby Moore, Kevin Keegan (a bit unfair?). The absolutely abysmal: Bryan Robson, David Platt, Peter Shilton, Tony Adams, Alan Ball The best of a very bad bunch is Gerry Francis for chrissake. He hasn't got much to beat but i confidently predict he'll be settling into a group with Robbo & Platt