Rich Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 Shearer. No contest. Even when his powers were failing, he was still such a presence. Maybe even too much of one at times. Owen... even after four years I still don't really feel like he's truly part of the club. This, exactly. If Shearer had been in a better team in his later days he would have still scored shedloads. Immense footballer. If anything it was "painful" watching him playing with shite like Michael Chopra and Amdy Faye and under managers like Souness. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorkie Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 I still think in 04/05 he was a bloody good player, and people have touched on that... still a good player, playing with shite. I can still remember a couple of fantastic performances - the one at home to Man Utd (lost 3-1) springs to mind. When he mugged Wes Brown on the touchline, ran 30 yards and buried it - great goal that. And i know it was usually inferior opposition, but he was pretty lethal in Europe aswell. He carried us through that UEFA Cup run under Souness. Picked off the likes of Sakhnin, Tblisi, Heerenveen, Panionios when the rest of our team plodded their way along. Miss him loads. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRon Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 Shearer without a shadow of a doubt. I'd say his best seasons for us were 01/02, 02/03 and 03/04, not including his first season. His performances were top notch, he banged the goals in and he was a joy to watch. When did people notice his performances declining? I have to say towards the end of the 03/04 season I noticed he was really struggling in some games. I remember having the conversation with my mates. Everyone said the same but we all thought he was just knackered and in need of a rest. Of course he put in some very good performances at the end of that season as well, but it was a sign of things to come because the Shearer of the following two seasons wasn't the same player. I just find it weird how he all of a sudden he went from the goal machine to the player he ended up being. It seemed to happen quite quickly really because he was banging the goals in then he just stopped. I wouldn't say it's weird at all. Not when you realise that our best player of the time went out on loan to Celtic and then was sold to Blackburn. Exactly. He missed his mate buzzing about and creating space for him to do his stuff in. No co-incidence at all imo. Considering Shearer and his mate Souness were both mostly responsible for forcing his "mate" out of the club it probably served him right. As for the debate...both were legends and the best strikers of their era. Unfortunately when they moved to Newcastle they were past their best IMO or at least near enough the end of their sell by dates. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorkie Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 Shearer picked the team did he? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
M4 Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 Interesting reading. Had thought about this particular question a few times, never got round to making the thread. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRon Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 Shearer picked the team did he? Shearer picked sides and he picked Souness. If you were around or have any recollection of that period you'll know that anyway. Souness loved Shearer and vice versa, Bellamy wanted to play alongside Kluivert. A lot of bad blood was created as a result. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorkie Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 Tron... Shearer was a bastard to work with, i don't know that for sure (and neither do you), but i can imagine it was the case. It was the thoroughly incompetent management that couldn't handle it. Shearer was an important player but he wasn't imperative to the first team, or he shouldn't have been. Sir Bob recognised that; didn't focus on him in pre-season and dropped him for the Villa game. Bobby had his head screwed on the right way. Souness? Pfft. He loved Shearer too much, couldn't recognise how it was detrimental to the side's development (like the majority of his tactics/selections). Souness was to blame for Bellamy going, no one else like. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jungle Barry Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 Crystal Palace away november 2004, Bellamy and Kluivert up front we won 2-1 and the pair of them were class. Kluivert scored a quality backheel. Thought after that we may give Shearer a breather more often but never happened sadly. Nothing against shearer like, the mans a legend. If Souness etc hadn't flogged him to death and used him sparingly he probably would've got even more goals. Wish we still had him. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
M4 Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 Random: One of my favourite Shearer memories of 04/05 is that goal he set up for Kluivert minutes into the Cup game vs Spurs. Apart from the fact I was there, it was a great moment. People were saying the 2 probably didn't get along that much and were in competition for the same spot but their joint celebration was class. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorkie Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 Kluivert vs Chelsea and Kluivert vs Spurs were just about the best moments of that season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mistle17 Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 Shearer, for me. Owen is still a top striker when hes fit and ready to go....but that is a major factor why Big Al would get the nod from me. Owen's finishing is lethal- quite as good as Shearer's imo- and he offers good movement and is one of the best strikers I've ever seen at dropping into space in and round the penalty box and has such a fantastic sense of positioning. He always knows where to be at the right time......an invaluable assest for a striker. Plus Owen is canny in the air... But Shearer offered us more than great physical attributes. His way of leading the team was brilliant, he was like the manager on the pitch. Al's hold up play was second to none and offered us a target. If Shearer got a chance then he'd more than likely burry it.... As for Shearer's decline- Well, imo it kicked in when Souness took over. He got progressively worse over the time Souness was here. The way Shearer was, he would work his socks off for the team every match- he loves Newcastle United, nothing else is acceptable- but with him being on the wrong side of 30, he just couldnt play every game at such a high and demanding level. In terms of injuries he didn't suffer a whole lot, but he was just jaded in nearly all of our matches....you could see he was knackered. If Souness used Shearer in the right way, then he would've been much better for us that season. That was the worst season I'd ever seen Alan play- yet he was one of the best players in our team which said it all. And as many have stated, the loss of Bellamy was a huge blow to his game as he then had to do much more of the chasing down and just general donkey work. That took its toll on him, imo. That 04/05 season was just horrible. Everything about it was just so shit. Apart from the FA Cup wins over Chelsea and Spurs, I hated everything about it. Another thing that didn't help was the way we went out to Sporting Lisbon. Even Souness said that he'd never seen a man like Shearer so low after a match, he said he was just demoralised. And then going out of the FA Cup Semi's to Man Utd (of all teams) a few days later really didnt help. I think that really effected Shearer. As for his form in his last season (05/06), I thought it was more or less the same to what it was the previous season, but when Roeder took over he regained and captured some of his old tricks and started scoring more goals. I went to see Newcastle Vs Wigan that season at SJP (3-1 to the Toon! ) and Shearer was class. A cut above the rest, like. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronaldo Posted February 20, 2009 Share Posted February 20, 2009 Shearer, just. But the fact he didn't manage a single premiership away goal in 2005 speaks volumes about his decline. Owen brings the entire club morale down, Shearer to some extent kept it up, which is why he gets the nod. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
M4 Posted February 20, 2009 Share Posted February 20, 2009 But the fact he didn't manage a single premiership away goal in 2005 speaks volumes about his decline. Not that I disagree about his decline, but I can't work out what stat or year you maybe meant there (because he got a few Prem away goals in 05) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gazza ladra Posted February 20, 2009 Share Posted February 20, 2009 What is this a joke? Shearer. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrmojorisin75 Posted February 20, 2009 Share Posted February 20, 2009 What is this a joke? Shearer. this Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest teepee Posted February 20, 2009 Share Posted February 20, 2009 shearer - his physical presence and leadership qualities were still immense even if he didn't score as many. also he still attracted a lot of attention from defenders, which freed up space for other players. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest timmy boy Posted February 20, 2009 Share Posted February 20, 2009 Shearer, just. But the fact he didn't manage a single premiership away goal in 2005 speaks volumes about his decline. Owen brings the entire club morale down, Shearer to some extent kept it up, which is why he gets the nod. He scored at Man City, which was his 250 premiership goal, a free kick at Blackburn,a goal at West Brom and he scored in the 4-2 win at West Ham when Owen scored a hat trick all in 2005. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
maze Posted February 20, 2009 Share Posted February 20, 2009 Shearer by a mile. Who the fuck is this Owen guy? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cronky Posted February 20, 2009 Share Posted February 20, 2009 I find it a tough call, because for different reasons, I'd hesitate to call either of them an asset at those points in time. Each of them had something to offer, but should have been squad players, not automatic first-team choices. The way in which their reputations and status interfered with team selection and team building was / is the real problem. Particularly in Shearer's case. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronaldo Posted February 20, 2009 Share Posted February 20, 2009 But the fact he didn't manage a single premiership away goal in 2005 speaks volumes about his decline. Not that I disagree about his decline, but I can't work out what stat or year you maybe meant there (because he got a few Prem away goals in 05) sorry, my fault. It was 2004 in which he failed to score away from home in the premiership Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest timmy boy Posted February 20, 2009 Share Posted February 20, 2009 But the fact he didn't manage a single premiership away goal in 2005 speaks volumes about his decline. Not that I disagree about his decline, but I can't work out what stat or year you maybe meant there (because he got a few Prem away goals in 05) sorry, my fault. It was 2004 in which he failed to score away from home in the premiership Apart from the penalty at Boro Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thespence Posted February 20, 2009 Share Posted February 20, 2009 Shearer, just. But the fact he didn't manage a single premiership away goal in 2005 speaks volumes about his decline. Owen brings the entire club morale down, Shearer to some extent kept it up, which is why he gets the nod. Would you put Xisco above "Post 2004 Shearer or present day Owen"? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronaldo Posted February 20, 2009 Share Posted February 20, 2009 aye Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronaldo Posted February 20, 2009 Share Posted February 20, 2009 I find it a tough call, because for different reasons, I'd hesitate to call either of them an asset at those points in time. Each of them had something to offer, but should have been squad players, not automatic first-team choices. The way in which their reputations and status interfered with team selection and team building was / is the real problem. Particularly in Shearer's case. very good post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mistle17 Posted February 20, 2009 Share Posted February 20, 2009 I think Micheal Owen has got way too much stick on here, tbh. Yes, he has an infuriating time staying fit and is quite a greedy player when it comes to money. But pretty much every goal he's scored for us has been very valuable. He was fantastic last season when he was able to stay fit and has done Ok this season considering his injuries. Yes, he does go missing in games sometimes, but you always know that if you have Micheal Owen in your team there's a good chance you'll be able to knick a goal. Personally I'd love him to stay with us but with his injuries and huge salary, maybe it is time for him to move on at the end of the season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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