Shearer answers Toon SOS

01 April 2009 19:28
Alan Shearer will be officially unveiled as Newcastle's new manager on Thursday and has eight games to save his beloved Magpies. Owner Mike Ashley has made his final throw of the dice by bringing in the Toon Army legend as the St James' Park outfit battle to retain their top-flight status. Shearer, the club's all-time leading goalscorer, hung up his boots in the summer of 2006 having plundered 206 goals in 404 appearances during a 10-year stay with his hometown club. Despite having no managerial experience, Ashley is banking on Shearer's headline-grabbing appointment providing the necessary impetus to an expensively-assembled squad which is drifting towards the Championship. With manager Joe Kinnear still recovering from major heart surgery, managerial duties have been taken on by Chris Hughton and Colin Calderwood, but they have been able to secure just one victory in six matches. Kinnear continues to be held in high regard by Ashley and his services are expected to be retained, with a director of football role one mooted possibility for the man who stepped into the breach left by Kevin Keegan's resignation earlier in the season. The 38-year-old Shearer has already started putting together his backroom staff, with former Oldham, Crystal Palace, Charlton, Coventry and QPR boss Iain Dowie due to be named as his right-hand man. Former England international Shearer's first game in charge is Saturday's St James' Park showdown with high-flying Chelsea before an equally testing trip to fellow strugglers Stoke City the following Saturday. The Magpies' remaining encounters are equally unforgiving, with trips to Liverpool, Aston Villa and Tottenham to come plus home meetings with Portsmouth, Middlesbrough and Fulham. Newcastle currently occupy the final relegation place in the Premier League table, two points adrift of safety, but with the lower reaches of the table tightly packed they are just five away from Bolton in 12th. Shearer played at the highest level throughout his career, but the only major silverware he secured during his 18 years in the game with Southampton, Blackburn, the Magpies and England was the 1995 Premier League crown. Should he succeed during his eight-game stint with Newcastle then Shearer's already legendary status will be elevated even further. Failure does not even bear thinking about for Magpies fans.

Source: SKY_Sports