Source: Telegraph
Alan Shearer to shuffle pack at Newcastle
The Newcastle manager watched in horror as the Argentine erred badly during the 2-0 defeat by Chelsea on Saturday and will omit the defender this weekend if reinforcements become available.
Shearer will leave out Coloccini – an ever-present in the Newcastle back-four since his £10 million transfer from Deportivo La Coruna last summer – if Steven Taylor and Sebastien Bassong recover from injuries in time for the visit to the Britannia Stadium.
Coloccini's shortcomings against Chelsea were magnified by the display of Habib Beye who was drafted in from right-back due to Taylor and Bassong's fitness problems and was an instant hit with Shearer.
"Habib Beye was magnificent," Shearer said on Monday. "When you consider how long he's been out injured, for him to come through and play centre-half the way he did was very, very good.
"I have played against him so I know his quality. I reminded him of that.
I also said if Sebastien Bassong wasn't playing, we might need him at centre-half. I asked him – how many times have you played there?'
"He told me he had played against me for Marseille and I said: that's why I' m asking you! But I thought he was brilliant." Now Shearer will wait on Bassong and Taylor who are recovering from, respectively, groin and ankle problems.
"We'll look at what we've got," Shearer added. "We might have one or two back from injury, but we don't know that yet.
"Bassong was nearly there. It would have been a bit of a risk to play him, hence the reason he didn't play.
"By being sensible and not playing him we're hoping he'll be available for Saturday.
Taylor's a little bit further behind but we're still hopeful he'll be OK.
"Shearer also has doubts over Danish forward winger Peter Lovenkrands, admitted to hospital after leaving the Chelsea game on a stretcher with breathing difficulties.
"He got a severe knock on his back, and he couldn't breathe properly," Shearer added. "They gave him oxygen and he went off to hospital. He got out of hospital that night, and he's now on the mend."
