Why Alan Shearer’s Newcastle Appointment Actually Makes Sense

So Alan Shearer really is taking over at Newcastle and it’s not all a big April Fools’ joke. Or if it is, then they’re taking it extremely far by putting the man in charge for the last eight games of the season.

Shearer and his first-team coach/assistant Iain Dowie were confirmed at a press conference earlier today. He’s apparently getting £100,000 per game, plus a nice little bonus if Newcastle stay up. Although, as the man himself says “The big bonus for me will be keeping this club in the Premier League, that’s the big bonus.”

Big question is: Can he do it?

And the only realistic answer is: We don’t know yet.

Newcastle are currently 18th in the Prem, which puts the club underneath the dreaded dotted line, two points away from Shearer’s other former club Blackburn. If the season ended today, the Toon Army would be relegated.

And they play Chelsea this weekend, so it’s a tough ask. But here’s why it might work:

Shearer might not be much of a manager. He could very well be the new Bryan Robson, because legendary players with no managerial experience are almost guaranteed to disappoint in the long-term.

But in the short-term? They’re magic. The one (and maybe only) thing a big name player brings to the dugout is buzz. An optimistic atmosphere and the promise of possibilities. Inevitably that has a positive short-term effect.

That buzz fades once everyone is settled in, which is usually when the problems start. Think Roy Keane’s magnificent early days at Sunderland vs his not so magnificent later days. But in this very specific case, the short term buzz – for eight games only – is exactly what Newcastle needs to get out of trouble.

Here are those games:

vs Chelsea (h)
vs Stoke (a)
vs Spurs (a)
vs Portsmouth (h)
vs Liverpool (a)
vs Middlesbrough (h)
vs Fulham (h)
vs Villa (a)

For more on this – including the long-awaited exit of Dennis Wise – click on over to Newcastle Offside.

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Category: World Football