Can he turn it around? I doubt it! (Alan Shearer)

Member Name: Beanie8844

Product:	Alan Shearer
Date:	01/05/09 (166 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: a great player, still unproven as a manager

Disadvantages: taken on a job too big for him early in his managerial career

Alan Shearers record as a top flight striker cannot be sniffed at. He was a loyal servant to all three clubs he played for and scored important goals for them all. He started his career at Southampton, before moving onto Blackburn Rovers and finally Newcastle United where he developed 'legendary' status and broke long standing goal scoring records. He is now officially retired from playing and finished with career stats of 283 goals in 529 appearances, including 30 goals for England.

Since he retired, Shearer was constantly hounded by speculation that he was going to enter management, but he rebuffed claims time and time again, stating that he wanted to spend time with the family and continue his punditry work for the BBC. However, I was left absolutely stunned when Joe Kinnear fell ill and Shearer was hired as the man to keep the club in the premiership. For me the timing was all wrong and there was far to much Shearer could lose compared to gain. Shearer recently stated that the club needed to win their three final home games to have a chance of staying in the league, but they could only manage a 0-0 draw against Portsmouth. Newcastle are without a win in nine games and have a very tricky run in:

- Liverpool (away)
- Middlesbrough (home)
- Fulham (home)
- Aston Villa (away)

Looking at these fixtures you could only realistically see them winning against Middlesbrough and Fulham at best, but these won't be easy games as Middlesbrough are in the relegation dogfight team and Fulham are a much improved side under Roy Hodgson. Surely they are going to get stuffed at Anfield and probably at Villa too. Plus, they're three points from safety. I just can't see them doing it.

What astounds me about the whole situation is the mere fact that Shearer decided to take the job when he did. Newcastle is the club where he is treated as a hero, why would he go back and risk everything when the odds are staked so highly against him? He has no managerial experience whatsoever and he has jumped headfirst into one of the toughest jobs in football, it's madness in my eyes. The only thing I can think of is that even if they do go down, the club wouldn't sack him because of who he is, so he'll be given the opportunity to start a fresh in the championship. It all seems rather odd to me though as surely the club would have been better off going for an experienced manager.

I wish Alan all the best, but I personally think he's bitten off more than he can chew so early in his managerial career.

Thanks for reading, feel free to comment.

Summary: all the best Alan, but it's a huge job