Alan Shearer Announcement Could Be Imminent
It has taken more than two weeks of frustrating delay tactics, but there might just be some light at the end of the tunnel regarding Alan Shearer's appointment as Newcastle United's manager.
Then again, we've been here before haven't we? We were supposed to be getting a decision back from the banks two weeks ago and then, nothing, diddly squat, just rumours, hushed briefings from sources and insiders.
This time, though, it does feel a little different. The takeover process appears to be gathering momentum judging by Derek Llambias comments in The Journal and Shearer himself has been told that is likely to be a big week in terms of both his and Newcastle United future.
On the face of things, how people who do not even own the club yet could appoint a manager seems difficult to comprehend, but that does not mean it won't happen.
If you think about it, Manchester City signed Robinho from Manchester City before the oil-rich Sheikhs had taken control of the club and that meant splashing out £30m on the Brazilian.
The point is, even though nothing was signed, sealed and delivered it was only a matter of time until it was and that was enough for the new owners to start making firm decisions.
This is crunch time for the array of "interested parties" who have claimed they want to buy the club. Prove they have the money by the end of play on Tuesday and they will be given the chance to look through the books. Fail to do so and they will have to look elsewhere for some free publicity.
When Mike Ashley has that list of serious bidders he can ask them about the Shearer situation. As far as I know, all of the main players want Shearer as manager should they be successful in buying the club so there is nothing to prevent Ashley from ending the weeks of uncertainty and making Shearer boss.
That is definitely the best outcome for the long term health of the club. As things stand, there is nothing to even attach a football club to. A group of players who are all up for sale, no manager, no pre-season friendlies, no clue as to how the Magpies are ever going to get back into the Premier League.
At least if Shearer is manager there is something to cling to. He might prove to be a poor manager, a pale imitation of the brilliance of the player, but at least he gives the club something.
He gives them leadership and he gives them a figurehead. He gives them a star name and he gives them pulling power in the transfer market, the sort of pulling power no other Championship club will have. He also gives them hope, hope that someone who understands the club and genuinely feels for it is in a position of power.
If Shearer turns out to be a bad manager, that is risk I think is worth taking at the moment because who else is there to rebuild the club and restore the bond between those who are employed by it and those who follow it?
Ipswich Town may have Roy Keane, but his reputation has suffered a little after the Sunderland experience, most notably among players who will have heard plenty of stories about his erratic behaviour behind the scenes.
Shearer doesn't have that stain on his managerial history book. He still has kudos, charisma and mystery - and if you are a young striker who else would you rather play for?
If you have the choice between playing for Shearer in a team which, despite all its troubles, remains among the favourites to win promotion in the Championship or for a team in the Premier League which is favourite to come down, who would you sign for?
It's certainly a dilemma, a dilemma that probably wouldn't exist without Shearer at the helm.
This has gone on too long, it needs to be resolved and it needs to be resolved quickly. The Championship fixtures are released on Wednesday, hopefully we will have an announcement about Shearer before the end of the week. Then perhaps we can start to look forward rather than back...
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Luke Edwards - is Chief Sports Writer of The Journal and uses his blog to give a unique and entertaining insight into events at Newcastle United and Sunderland.
2 things.
1. Liar Llambias didn't get his name because he's a baby sheep!
2. ""We will not be making any decision on THE TOOTH FAIRY as manager, that is not up to us, that is down to the groups who are buying the club.
"If they want to appoint him, then it's up to them. We will speak to them about it. If they do want ELVIS then something could be done in the next few days. That's where we are at this stage and everything is ongoing."
In essence what I'm sayig is, since MA and DL have NO CHOICE in who the next people pick, it doesn't matter what they say. It doesn't make it so!
I thought his name was Derek! Yet, you are ignoring the fact Shearer has also been told a significant breakthrough could happen on Thursday and that wasn't by Llambias or Ashley.
Blimey, there is the first sign of movement in weeks and all some people and the people behind certain websites can do is whineand moan that it isn't the precise, exact piece of good news they wanted. The fact is, Shearer's appointment seems a lot closer after this development than it did before it and that is at least a small ray of sunshine isn't it Richard?
NUFC vs Shamrock Rovers preseason friendly June 12th Tallaght,Dublin Ireland. Who is organising the friendlies Lee - I have a contact with Shamrock Rovers (Irish football club) and NUFC approached them for this preseason friendly????
Luke. "Management Decision Soon" would be more accurate.
Lets assume there are 4 groups wishing to buy and two have said 100% that they want AS but the other two haven't commented on it. Is Lambias today in a position to say 100% that Shearer is going to be appointed? No. Because you don't know who is going to be the buyer. I'm not saying it won't be Shearer, I'm just saying you've put the cart before the horse with headlines like "Alan Shearer could be NUFC manager soon" when you could insert just about any name you want and have equal credibility right now. But then again, you do have papers to sell in the mornings and "Houghton could be NUFC Manager Soon" doesn't sell as many.....
should read july 12th above-sorry!!
Indeed it doesn't and youy read the article obviously. I just think you're being overly-critical of a decent story, whatever way you look at. It's the first sign of any breakthrough we've had for weeks.
As for the pre-season friendlies, it will probably be a club secretary sorting it out. They know they will need to play someone don't they.
Good story it may well be.
The truth , it also may well be... but we have been let down so often over the years can you blame people for being cynical about anything that Ashley and that other cockney spiv says.
that much is obvious,but surely an incoming manager should have some input into the friendlies?
I'm sure that the people who told us "the banks will give a decision by friday" thought that they were writing a decent story.
I'm certain the peopel who gace us the "breakthrough" that the disaster waiting to happen (Sheps) going through the books last week thought that it was a decent story (granted not the Journal). But now we're told by Llambias that no one can see the "Data Room" untill tomorrow. But if that's the case then (shock horror) someone in the media has been lying haven't they? (or more likely just ignoring the facts to sell a paper). So one of those "breakthroughs" isn't so decent after all.
Again I'm not saying it won't happen, but I won't be counting anything untill Sunday dinner has been plucked, stuffed and roasted.
To Richard. If you do not believe an honest, credible and well connected journalist like luke, they just log off and peddle your conspiracy theories about reporters just trying to sell papers and making stuff up eolsewhere. You are naive. People in charge of clubs, and most other businesses, lie, and tell half truths. Journalists appear to try and see through that for us readers. You have to have trust in what Luke writes. He is far better connected that you are, so his opinion counts.
I take it you will having chicken then Richard? I agree with you in many ways, I don't believe anything until it actually happens where takeover stories are concerned, but this has all come from good sources directly connected to the takeover talks and the managerial appointment. We have to take Llambias' comments at face value, particularly as he was actually putting his name to them rather than just another anonymous source! Let's just hope this is the beginning of the end, I really hope it is for the reasons I've already stated. And BlobRichards is right, I don't make up stories to try and sell newspapers.
I take it you will having chicken then Richard? I agree with you in many ways, I don't believe anything until it actually happens where takeover stories are concerned, but this has all come from good sources directly connected to the takeover talks and the managerial appointment. We have to take Llambias' comments at face value, particularly as he was actually putting his name to them rather than just another anonymous source! Let's just hope this is the beginning of the end, I really hope it is for the reasons I've already stated. And BlobRichards is right, I don't make up stories to try and sell newspapers.
The fact of the matter is nobody knows for certain who is going to be owning the club on the first game of the season currently!
No one knows for certain who will be the Manager on the first game of the season.
Ashley and Llambyarse can not be trusted in anything they say so i just took his comments with a pinch of salt!!
If i was a betting man, Big Al will be the next Manager..........But the owners of the club???? No idea...nobody has, it aint worth debating over currently, lets just wait and see, lets face it, they cant be any worse than the bunch that own the club now!! Can they...
Richard - you're way off beam. Luke has bags of integrity.
Of all the local journos that pass comment on NUFC, Luke has CONSISTENTLY been the ONLY ONE on the money, both in terms of factual accuracy and reading the mood of the fans.
His oppos have resorted to anti-Cockney nonsense once too often to be taken credibly. Luke's slightly more detached view - because he is a Cockney, probably! - has enabled him to report on events more thoughtfully.
I agree 100% with what he's written above; Shearer could be a bloody disaster, but he is the right choice, right now because he would:
1. AUTOMATICALLY reinstall some pride among the fans, reconnecting the club again to its grass roots
2. Make us an attractive proposition to potential signings - especially talented young strikers - because he is still an icon in the game
3. Have any chance of hanging on to our best players - love them or loathe them, the senior pros have spoken in glowing terms about the impact he had in the short time he was there.
And the sooner the club has leadership and direction, the better.
Ashley and Llambias never had any intention of appointing Alan Shearer as manager. They brought him in when everything else had failed and now that the club has been relegated, they keep him hanging on. If I was Alan Shearer, I'd tell them to stuff it.
No journalist worth his salt should ever again believe a word of what they say.
In all my years of supporting Newcastle, and I got back to the early 1950's, I have never, ever seen a chairman show less interest in the club than that shown by Llambias, or any of the other people appointed by Ashley to sit in the boardroom.
Let somebody take over the club and appoint a manager then (Shearer or whoever). You cannot expect Ashley to appoint Shearer and then sell the club (wrong way of doing things) and haven't we done enough of that lately. Give them a break, let them sell the club for a very decent price and let the new people appoint a manager and hopefully this can be a new start to a new beginning where the club is run properly.
Come On People
Phil Wood has it spot on. Its pretty basic business sense - you dont appoint a new manager the day before you are selling the club.
Even if you have 10 people wanting to buy the club and they want Shearer - you dont appoint him until you have some kind of commitment from the successful bidder that they are going to meet the price, and that the terms and conditions are acceptable to both.
I think we read too much into these comments.
When Lliambas says that its going to be a "Big Week" at Newcastle it probably menas he expects to get his hire car back.
I just hope they've sold up before July 1st, thus encouraging fans to renew season tickets. I got my renewal forms yesterday, but I can't decide what to do.
This all sounds the same as September when Ashley vowed to sell, but ultimately kept control. I fear he might do the same again.
Some reports have linked Freddie Shepherd with a return too. That would be even worse than keeping the current bunch and that is said in full agreement with Jaktar's comments about the board!
If Shearer is the man for the job as manager (I assume he will be appointed in due course), will he insist on playing the same kind of football that only got us 1 win in our last 8 games, or will he bring an attractive brand to SJP? Will we be leaving the ground purring about the performances, or will we be leaving under a cloud like so many other times last season? I'd be interested to hear your comments, Luke.
I just hope they've sold up before July 1st, thus encouraging fans to renew season tickets. I got my renewal forms yesterday, but I can't decide what to do.
This all sounds the same as September when Ashley vowed to sell, but ultimately kept control. I fear he might do the same again.
Some reports have linked Freddie Shepherd with a return too. That would be even worse than keeping the current bunch and that is said in full agreement with Jaktar's comments about the board!
If Shearer is the man for the job as manager (I assume he will be appointed in due course), will he insist on playing the same kind of football that only got us 1 win in our last 8 games, or will he bring an attractive brand to SJP? Will we be leaving the ground purring about the performances, or will we be leaving under a cloud like so many other times last season? I'd be interested to hear your comments, Luke.
I can only assume/hope that Newcastle played so directly last season because Shearer knew they didn't have any pace or creativity in midfield. Presuming he gets the job and has the time to bring new players in that will hopefully change next season. As for his appointment, let's see what happens over the next few days....
BREAKING NEWS: Shearer is going to announce that he will register himself as soon as he becomes manager. Toon fans can expect to see him making some 5 or 10 minute cameo appearances just after he takes charge in about January 2010.
Luke et al, The SJP saga is borrrrrrring and you should start finding some new angles to talk about because you have become borrrrrrring too!!!!!!!
BREAKING NEWS: Shearer is going to announce that he will register himself as soon as he becomes manager. Toon fans can expect to see him making some 5 or 10 minute cameo appearances just after he takes charge in about January 2010.
Luke et al, The SJP saga is borrrrrrring and you should start finding some new angles to talk about because you have become borrrrrrring too!!!!!!!
I have written to Derek Llambias and requested that the renewal date of July 1st be extended because we don't know who's going to be running, managing or playing for the club come August 8th, so to demand payment this early is unfair.
It mightn't make any difference, I might not even get a response, but it is worth a try....
I urge every other season ticket holder to do the same. We might not be getting answers, so we're sure as hell not parting with our cash til we do.
It could be that Ashley & Co will pocket all monies received from season ticket revenue before doing one, so let's try and buy some time and invest in our club's future, rather than lining some Cockney Wide Boys pockets.
No offence, Luke. :-)