Southgate gives Sam backing

Boro boss urges Shearer to rule himself out of Toon job

Last updated: 31st December 2007   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Southgate gives Sam backing

Allardyce: Support from rival Southgate

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Middlesbrough boss Gareth Southgate has urged Alan Shearer to rule out an interest in the Newcastle job to ease the pressure on Sam Allardyce.

Former Newcastle striker Shearer has been touted as a possible successor to under-fire Allardyce at St James' Park.

Shearer has not commented on the matter but Boro boss Southgate wants him to speak out.

"Sam is a very experienced manager and I think he will be able to guide them through the times they are having at the moment. I am sure he could do with Alan coming out and saying, 'I'm not interested,"' Southgate told The Times.

"I don't know if it piles extra pressure on him with Alan not saying anything.

"All I do know is that Newcastle are higher in the table than they were this time last year, and I am sure they will end up finishing higher than they did last season. For any manager, it takes time to change a club around, and I am sure Sam will sort it out."

Daily Telegraph columnist Alan Hansen believes the former England striker would give the club back their "self-respect" and argued the timing would be right for Shearer to take on the job if it became available.

Expectations

"If Shearer was ever to manage Newcastle, there will never be a better time to do so because expectations have never been lower," former Liverpool defender Hansen said.

"When Graeme Souness succeeded Robson, success was measured by Newcastle re-qualifying for the Champions League.

"The difference between the task Alan Shearer might face and the ones (Kenny) Dalglish and Souness encountered is that now nobody would expect Newcastle to compete for a top-four place.

"If Alan pushed the club into sixth or seventh, that would be considered a real achievement compared to the mess they are surrounded by now.

"And, perhaps more critically than anything else, because of who he is and what he represents to Tyneside, Alan Shearer will be given time, which is something far too few Newcastle managers have had.

"Whether Alan wants the job is up to him and whether he is offered it is up to the board.

"But he is an intelligent football man who knows that managing Newcastle will not be about qualifying for the Champions League or winning FA Cups. It will be about giving Newcastle United some self-respect."

Comments (13)

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T Mcgregor (Newcastle United fan) says...

Shearer? What and risk relegation AND the defacing of the local hero. Come on you lot, check yourselves. Big Sam needs 3 years and if you cant see yourself being able to wait that long then your watching the wrong sport. No tem has ever being turned around in half a season.

Posted 04:45 1st January 2008

Andy Pringle (Newcastle United fan) says...

Big Sam has not done himself any favours by picking an inconsistant defence each week and putting Nzogbia in at left back.....he is an out and out winger!!!! Duff and the rest of the Chelsea rejects will not prosper at Newcastle because for some reason faith has decreed that any talented player that joins Newcastle United will lose their form and hunger for the game inside a year either that or a long term injury is imminent!!! Newcastle United is a team that is going to take more big money and more advisory staff for Big Sam.....there is no need to get rid of a man that eventually will get this club some of the success that it craves. Half a season is not enough time to perform miracles.....let him have a year and a half...no one will do better than he with the team that he has....not even Sir Alex!!!

Posted 03:28 1st January 2008

Ben Nicholls (Newcastle United fan) says...

Come on! Lets get a reality check... If we sack Big Sam nobody will want to manage Newcastle because they will be inheriting a bad team and no manager will want to tarnish there record not even alan shearer. Only money will bring in a brilliant manager and that could lead the club into debt which is the last thing we need. Give Sam time...

Posted 20:03 31st December 2007

Phil Gray (Newcastle United fan) says...

I think our fans need a reality check... Come on and face it, we are a mid table team and we have been for a long while now, i think people need to realise this when they keep saying we are a massive club.. Come on!!!! lets face it, if as the past shows, we sack yet another manager and replace him with Shearer, what happens when he is in the same situation as Big Sam is now next season for example? Do we turn on our local Hero like we do everyone else? lets face we need stablity and growth and we need to give sam time for that, yes i don't agree with all his methods, but who else has the experience or who else is availiabe? Wake up guys and lets give sam at least 18mths and lets get behind the team we all bleed Black and White! Now Show your true GEORDIE PRIDE in the stands and on the sreets and get behind our club... TOON ARMY!!!!!!

Posted 13:55 31st December 2007

John Tees says...

Big Sam was never ever the man for Newcastle. When appointed I kept hearing the words "successful manager". Indeed. Successful at what? He never won a thing as player or manager. Ok, so he eventually (notice the word), got Bolton to the upper reaches of the Prem & lost a Cup Final, but is that success? Is that what the Toon Army are desperate for? Will finishing 6th or 7th be representative of Success for the Newcastle faithful? I somehow don't think so. Maybe Sam's appointment was Shepherds last laugh? He was the wrong man for the job, simple as that. A Club the size of Newcastle United need a world class manager; a manager with experience, drive & ambition.

Posted 12:52 31st December 2007

Alex Whitehead (newcastle fan) says...

Allardyce has already had seven months to prove himself at Necastle United and he is simply not up to the job. Alan Shearer would be a fantastic replacement as he would bring passion back into the team. Yes i agree newcastle fans are too demanding, but sitting in eleventh in the table is not good enough at this stage of the season for a club of newcastle's size and the fans are right to voice an opinion. There is just no passion, self-respect or commitment in the newcastle team. Bring on SHEARER!!!

Posted 11:43 31st December 2007

Ian Gilmore (Newcastle United fan) says...

Although I agree with many of the fans on Tyneside regarding bewidering tactics and the teams that Big Sam puts out I still beleive he is the right man for the job.He needs time,great teams do not become great overnight.Certain sections of the fans and media need to get off his back.I do not think great managers like Sir Alex Ferguson or Arsene Wenger would like to read in the papers everyday that they have 2 or 3 games to turn things around or they would be out,they would probably shrug their shoulders and walk.This club has never been the same since the sacking of Sir Bobby Rodson.Big Sam inherited a big mess when he came to the club,he needs the backing of the board and the fans for at least 2 seasons.With nothing having been acheived for so many years it is not going to happen overnight and changing the manager is not going to bring instant success.

Posted 11:25 31st December 2007

Rob Dunn (Newcastle United fan) says...

I agree, we need to give Big Sam a chance, he's only had half a season. Maybe he needs to develop tactics which get the best out of owen & martins, we need them scoring! I think we also need to bring in an attacking midfielder, all our central midfielder are too defensive and go across the line or backwards. We need to give Sam the chance to get his squad together. What If Shearer comes in now with no managerial experience and doesn't do a good job and leaves the club after 6 months or a year, then thats ruined his chances of being 'the great Newcastle manager' he wants to be. Come on Big Sam!!!

Posted 11:05 31st December 2007

Dom Hobdell says...

I agree, Sam should be given more time. However, from watching how the team perform under him and his constant comments of 'we did everything right but' we do far from 'everything' right. We are not a team who you look at and think 'that's a well worked move, good passing, good movement and good finishing.' The results we have achieved have been more from battling hard than outplaying our opponents and with the quality of players we have, you would like to see this change! I don't think Alan Shearer has proved himself as a manager yet to be given the task of a club like Newcastle.

Posted 11:00 31st December 2007

Steve Johnson (Newcastle United fan) says...

Newcastle fans, a reality check please! We do not have a great football team! We haven't done for years and changing the manager yet again won't give us one! We really need to lay off big Sam, we're 11th in the table (which isn't hugely bad), as long as we finish in a higher position to last year, well then it's progress! If that happens every year, as fans that's all we can ask for. Remember, Sam made wholesale defensive changes at the start if the season, so we have to expect that the first half of the season was going to be a little rocky. Defensively we're starting to look a little better, and with the return of Michael Owen, things could start to look up. If we finish in 8th position, that would be REAL PROGRESS! Come on guys, Big Sam has to be given at least 18 months. Newcastle's managerial position is fast becoming a poisoned chalice and it has to stop.

Posted 10:54 31st December 2007

Roland Blaney says...

Mr Hansen should stop 'sponsoring' his mate who is unproven as yet at management level, and let Mr Allardyce get on with making a 'pigs ear' of it, or working with the team to get out of the present run of poor performances, and then see where they are at the end of the season. If Mr Shearer is as intelligent as they say he is, he will know he may not (yet) have the 'magic wand' to fix things.

Posted 10:40 31st December 2007

Erevan Ilesere (Newcastle United fan) says...

For goodness sake, stop this rubbish. Give Sam a chance, otherwise we will never move anywhere. Chopping and changing as often as has gone on in the past has ruined the team. Lets get a settled, safe foundation and move on from there. Keep up with the chopping and changing and we may as well change the team strip to red/ white and join them on the up and down bandwagon. Chill out, stop reading the media as gospel truth. Give Sam the chance he deserves.

Posted 07:55 31st December 2007

David Cuthbert says...

While Allardyce has been in post for only a matter of months it is apparent he is not the man for my club. At best the jury is still out on his acquisitions & he appears to have no faith in Enriques. Individually the players are more than good enough for the Premier League but there is no blend in the team. The tactics are too negative, the selections at times bewildering and there seems to be no plan B once the match is underway. Shearer is the populist choice but has no coaching pedigree let alone managerial experience. What he would bring is a different personality to a club which has lost heart & soul under the current regime. The key to turning this around lies in the selection of the coaching team. The current crop are a huge disappointment. Shearer would need to be ruthless and weed out the deadwood not only on the field but in the locker room. He would also need some experience alongside him. As the owners didn't hire Allardyce I can see them bringing this to an end sooner rather than later.

Posted 07:17 31st December 2007
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