Source: SKY_Sports
Owen backs Shearer case
Outgoing Newcastle striker Michael Owen is backing former team-mate Alan Shearer to become permanent boss of the club.
Former England international Shearer took charge of the Magpies' final eight Premier League games but with just one win, he was unable to save them from the drop.
The 38-year-old partnered Owen at the Toon in the latter stages of his ten years at St James' Park and their relationship blossomed further when he returned to manage the former Liverpool striker.
Owen, who announced his inevitable departure from the club this week, has revealed he has seen enough from Shearer in his brief spell in charge to be convinced he is up to the task of bouncing them back into the Premier League.
"I would like to think that Alan would be given the job," said Owen at Andy Gray and Gary McAllister's golf day in aid of breast cancer.
"He is obviously a new manager learning his trade, but you have got to start somewhere and the indications from what I saw of him, he is going to be top manager in the years to come.
"He is obviously Newcastle through and through, and that's important to the people of Newcastle.
"It's a club that not many people would understand, I would suggest, but he certainly understands it.
"He has certainly got the right credentials and I can't see any reason why he shouldn't be given the manager's job."
Shearer held talks with club owner Mike Ashley and managing director Derek Llambias after the club's slide into the Championship on the final day of last season, but uncertainty over the future ownership of the club has halted progress.
Ashley is currently seeking to sell the club and has reported interest from at least four potential buyers.
However, the prospective owners have insisted they want to select a new manager on their own terms, hence leaving Shearer and the fans in the dark.
