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Bobby Robson - "Geremi old", Shearer for job


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Good read this.

 

Shearer factor won’t go away, so why not offer him the job?

 

Sir Bobby Robson

Life is never dull at Newcastle. If I was shocked at the departure of Sam Allardyce, it was nothing compared to yesterday's startling news that Harry Redknapp had decided to stay at Portsmouth.

 

I had assumed he was on his way. Owner Mike Ashley now has a simple but important decision to make. Does he turn to local legend Alan Shearer, even though he is untested, or choose a man with experience, a safer option, such as Mark Hughes,Gerard Houllier or Martin Jol?

 

Ninety-nine times out of 100, I would call for experience.Newcastle would normally be too big for a first-timer. But Shearer is different. He has the status and charisma of few other personalities in this country.

 

In the last few days Bayern Munich have chosen Jurgen Klinsmann, who has never been in charge of a club, to be their next manager simply because of his aura in the game. And if I was the Newcastle board this week, I would hand the keys to the manager's office to Alan Shearer and tell him: "Get us back in the Champions League where we belong."

 

I know Shearer hasn't been a manager before. But he is a unique case because of his standing in the city and the force of his personality. It's not his fault but whoever takes the job will have his ghost on their shoulder because of the strength of feeling towards him in the North-East.

 

Until he becomes manager, the Shearer factor won't go away. So why not silence everybody now? He is available, lives in the town and is an iconic figure. He doesn't have managerial experience but he does have plenty of big-match experience.

 

If he comes out and says he wants the job, Newcastle should give him a chance. They cannot afford to be turned down again by someone like Hughes.

 

Shearer is also what Newcastle need right now. I've seen the team play many times this season and they are lacking confidence and courage on the ball.

 

Shearer will provide that with his presence in the dressing room. The players will respond to him because of who he is and what he has done for the club.

 

And after the turmoil of recent seasons, Shearer will go back to basics. He believes football is essentially a simple game. I expect he'd consider a lot of Sam's backroom staff as over-complicating things and, having spoken to Damien Duff last week, a few of the players would welcome getting back to the football.

 

I know most Geordie fans would like Kevin Keegan to come back so Alan could learn from him. But I don't see Shearer as anyone's No 2. If anybody came in, he would have to help Shearer rather than the other way round. Make Shearer boss or there is no point in having him.

 

As I said, I was stunned by Harry's decision to stay put. I know contentment is important and Harry is happy walking his dogs on the south coast whenever he wants, but if there is a job worth disrupting your life for, it's at Newcastle.

 

I hope he doesn't regret his decision because the power of 52,000 Geordies roaring you on is immense. He has done a splendid job at Portsmouth but you can't really compare it to being at Newcastle and I wonder if he'll get another chance at a big club. I believe Sam Allardyce's track record at Bolton was good enough to warrant giving him more time. But you can't blame Mr Ashley for making his decision. He inherited Sam, and when you invest £250 million in a club, you deserve a manager of your choosing.

 

Besides the style of football which was alien to a lot of Newcastle fans, Sam's big downfall was his buying record. No manager gets it right all the time but Sam signed nine players and only two — Abdoulaye Faye and Habib Beye — could be considered successes. That's not a great percentage. Jose Mourinho told me last season that Geremi's legs had effectively gone. "Mister, he plays like a 40-year-old. He can not run any more. He will not play for me in important matches again," was Jose's typically forthright response.

 

Naturally, I was alarmed to read that Newcastle wanted to sign Geremi. I passed on my information to someone at the club (this was before Mike Ashley took over) but Geremi still ended up signing. In fact, Sam made him captain.

 

Whoever comes in now must wheel and deal in this transfer window. You need 18-20 top players in your squad these days. Duff, Steven Taylor, James Milner, Charles N'Zogbia and two class goalkeepers — Shay Given and Steve Harper — are certainly good enough.

 

Michael Owen would join that group if he could get back to what he was. Beye, Emre and Nicky Butt are also adequate but they are not enough.

 

David Rozenhal and Jose Enrique cost £10m between them and there is also Claudio Cacapa but the best defender is still a home-grown boy Taylor. Alan Smith and Joey Barton don't have the guile of Emre or steadiness of Butt. Up front,Oba Martins has good pace but not much footballing nous. Mark Viduka will look a maestro one day and make you want to tear your hair out the next.

 

Newcastle need new recruits. But, please, no more players Jose considers to have the legs of a 40-year-old.

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/columnists/columnists.html?in_article_id=507925&in_page_id=1951&ito=newsnow

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Guest Knightrider

The club would do well to enlist Sir Bobby as an adviser or just to talk to over the phone about things. I feel he could help us a lot in that sense.

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but the best defender is still a home-grown boy Taylor

 

Jesus, not like Sir Bobby to be so wide of the mark.

 

Aye wasn't sure about his analysis of the squad at the end there, but on the whole it was a good article. I miss the guy.

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What about Sir Bobby as care taker until the end of the season?

 

Howay man. He still talks sense but Bobby is a very old and ill man.

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With him in tow, we might unearth the next Gavilan or Fumaca.

 

  Your kind of fans are the reason why we are here in this postion. I can't belive people still complain about his few mistakes after what we saw since his departure.

 

I'm only joking.  :iamatwat:

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With him in tow, we might unearth the next Gavilan or Fumaca.

 

   Your kind of fans are the reason why we are here in this postion. I can't belive people still complain about his few mistakes after what we saw since his departure.

 

I hope you're ashamed, SSR.

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Lets not over sentamentalise things too much folks. SBR gave us 2 very good seasons and one decent one, but he was far from flawless and also made a lot of mistakes.

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Lets not over sentamentalise things too much folks. SBR gave us 2 very good seasons and one decent one, but he was far from flawless and also made a lot of mistakes.

 

Only two? do you have alzhimer or .. he have three solid seasons on top of that on his first season we went all the way to FA cup Semi Final and played the best of games at Wembly against Chelsea. Bobby is a legend and we should respect that.

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