We all love Alan Shearer.....BUT....

[ghostrider]

Does anyone think he may have had too much influence over the club and sort of creating obstacles for new managers and even players, as well as the hierarchy due to us fans holding onto him for too long as an idol in playing terms?

It seems that Bobby Robson said Shearer betrayed him and Ruud Gullit said he couldn't make any real inroads because he was basically undermined by the overall adherence to Shearers influence by all and sundry, type of thing.

I know it's so easy for us all to argue cases for people like Shearer against any outsider and it's natural for us to sort of "guard our own" type of thing...but let's all try and look at it all from a neutral perspective...as best we can... and give our thoughts on what we think should have happened or could have happened with respect to the overall club if things were allowed to be different.

I mean, we all knew Shearer was running on half empty with his injuries and age. I think we all knew he was past his sell by date in terms of playing for us....but the Geordie fight and loyalty in him, plus the natural idolisation of him, warped our minds in favour of him. It did for me at the time, I admit it....but in hindsight I actually know that we held on too long in the playing stakes with him.

I just wonder if we as fans seem to, at times, do more harm to the team mindset and managerial/owner mindset when basically putting a protective fan blanket around players like Shearer which sort of makes it impossible for managers and owners, plus team players to actually make their own judgement for the betterment of the club due to a one man (in this case) influence of the time and his vociferous backing of the fans and the city.

I'd appreciate a balanced thought on it because this isn't about having a dig at Shearers amazing career and loyalty to the club and efforts he put in because without question, fit or unfit...injured or not...he gave 100% for the cause.

However, the issue arises of being....was it allowed to go on for far too long at the detriment of the progression of the club?

I suppose the biggest problem we all have as fans is, we have to wait for years and years to actually gain some kind of inner insight into this type of stuff and can only try to best guess any scenarios based on mainly an outside the window looking in type mindset, which can paint half a picture but never align the storyline to it, in most cases.

Anyway It'll be interesting to see people's views on it from their own personal thoughts on those times.

[usedtobeshearer]

No, sorry.

Shearer was special. In my opinion he retired at exactly the right time. He wasn't competing for the golden boot anymore but he was still doing a decent job as a target man. He still scored 10 prem goals in his last season...better than many current strikers supposed to be in their prime!

I haven't seen anything that suggests shearer turned on Bobby. ..any links? As for gullit, well he was an imbecile...dropped both shearer and Ferguson then blamed them when we lost.

He wasn't only a world class striker he was a leader on and off the pitch.

We were nothing other than blessed to have had shearer at our club and for as long as we did.

[ex_pat_magpie]

No, sorry.

Shearer was special. In my opinion he retired at exactly the right time. He wasn't competing for the golden boot anymore but he was still doing a decent job as a target man. He still scored 10 prem goals in his last season...better than many current strikers supposed to be in their prime!

I haven't seen anything that suggests shearer turned on Bobby. ..any links? As for gullit, well he was an imbecile...dropped both shearer and Ferguson then blamed them when we lost.

He wasn't only a world class striker he was a leader on and off the pitch.

We were nothing other than blessed to have had shearer at our club and for as long as we did.

Exactly this and remember those goals were scored at a very decent one out of three games.

How many of today's strikers will manage that at his age.

[HughieG]

When I watch Kane he reminds of Shearer. He's about the only British striker who is at or close to Shearer's level in his prime.

Shearer had influence on the dressing room, for sure. At any club, too much influence can be both good and bad. Maybe it hindered the team's progress, but in Shearer's case I don't really see how. He wasn't a Neymar/Ronaldo type that demanded special conditions from what I know. On the contrary, keeping him for a long time meant that he was able to help Bellamy and other younger players becoming better footballers.

[Zippity]

No, sorry.

Shearer was special. In my opinion he retired at exactly the right time. He wasn't competing for the golden boot anymore but he was still doing a decent job as a target man. He still scored 10 prem goals in his last season...better than many current strikers supposed to be in their prime!

I haven't seen anything that suggests shearer turned on Bobby. ..any links? As for gullit, well he was an imbecile...dropped both shearer and Ferguson then blamed them when we lost.

He wasn't only a world class striker he was a leader on and off the pitch.

We were nothing other than blessed to have had shearer at our club and for as long as we did.

Aye, this.

Gullit was a fucking moron who, in trying to prove that one man wasn't bigger than the club, dropped our best player to make his point...thereby confirming that he actually thought he was bigger than the club.

In truth, I hadn't heard the bit about Sir Bobby feeling betrayed by Shearer but when you look into it, there are no quotes and it has more to do with his sadness at the way the Club handled his departure (shameful the way Shepherd treated him).

Personally, I don't think him playing for us even when on the (natural) decline was to our detriment at all. To be honest, I think having Shearer in the team enhanced and improved us-any team with Shearer in was greater than the sum of his parts.

[Jammy89]

No, sorry.

Shearer was special. In my opinion he retired at exactly the right time. He wasn't competing for the golden boot anymore but he was still doing a decent job as a target man. He still scored 10 prem goals in his last season...better than many current strikers supposed to be in their prime!

I haven't seen anything that suggests shearer turned on Bobby. ..any links? As for gullit, well he was an imbecile...dropped both shearer and Ferguson then blamed them when we lost.

He wasn't only a world class striker he was a leader on and off the pitch.

We were nothing other than blessed to have had shearer at our club and for as long as we did.

Exactly this.

Had we lost Shearer earlier i think we'd of faded earlier.

He drove us on and demanded more from the players, nothing wrong with that at all. Lascelles demands more from those around him and look how much better we are when he's in the side.

[ronandtet]

He's arrogant but I suppose he,s entitled to be

[ghostrider]

Fair enough replies as it stands because I think most of us (newcastle fans) saw Shearer as nothing less than the die for the cause stalwart of this football club.
I also appreciate that most people disliked Gullit...especially more so by what he did with Shearer and Ferguson, plus Rob Lee (iirc).

However, I remember the ***y football mindset that came with him and his attitude of trying to change things at the club.
He simply made the massive mistake of messing with the fans favourites and especially Shearer.

Not the best way to endear yourself to the fans, I agree.

It's just that everything isn't generally the picture that we all tend to think is the finished piece.
Like Hughie mentioning Shearer bringing on the younger players and making them better.
I think Robson mentioned it about him saying something like....Alan might be better off taking on media duties instead of coaching duties. Or something to that effect.

It seemed like a dig among a few digs to be fair...but maybe it's being interpreted wrongly. I don't know.

[trinitoon]

I'm sad that he didn't have the conditions to develop into our manager. Of course, being a great player doesn't translate into being even a good manager. But I enjoyed his straight talking in conferences and seeing him on the sidelines. Maybe in another lifetime he'll prefer the sharp end to the MOTD sofa.

[Jammy89]

Fair enough replies as it stands because I think most of us (newcastle fans) saw Shearer as nothing less than the die for the cause stalwart of this football club.
I also appreciate that most people disliked Gullit...especially more so by what he did with Shearer and Ferguson, plus Rob Lee (iirc).

However, I remember the ***y football mindset that came with him and his attitude of trying to change things at the club.
He simply made the massive mistake of messing with the fans favourites and especially Shearer.

Not the best way to endear yourself to the fans, I agree.

It's just that everything isn't generally the picture that we all tend to think is the finished piece.
Like Hughie mentioning Shearer bringing on the younger players and making them better.
I think Robson mentioned it about him saying something like....Alan might be better off taking on media duties instead of coaching duties. Or something to that effect.

It seemed like a dig among a few digs to be fair...but maybe it's being interpreted wrongly. I don't know.

Gullit's ***y football could have worked but he needed the players on side. Instead he tried to stamp down on the big names to show what a man he was - would never have worked.

Had he got results needed etc. then tried it - maybe might have work, i doubt it personally but he did it from a complete position of weakness.