Source: Eurosport
Steep learning curve for Toon boss
Alan Shearer admits he has found himself thrust into a crash-course in management since taking over at Premier League strugglers Newcastle.
The 38-year-old former Magpies and England striker worked under a series of hugely experienced men during his playing career, and can call upon the expertise of the likes of Sir Bobby Robson, Terry Venables and Kenny Dalglish as he attempts to drag his home town club out of the relegation mire.
However, while he has drawn on the methods of some of those men during his first few weeks at the helm, he has revealed the ever-evolving nature of the game means he is having to learn on the job.
Shearer takes his side to Tottenham on Sunday desperate to emerge with a positive result to go with the hard-fought point they claimed at Stoke last weekend and keep their hopes of survival alive.
Asked if he has been able to use what he gleaned from his own managers in his preparations, he said: "Yes and no, really.
"You can look at different circumstances, what happened to you in your own career.
"But even in the three years I have been outside of the football club, football is changing all the time and personalities are changing.
"Whatever problems you face, you have to deal with them at that particular time.
"What was right 10 years ago might not be right now, so you are learning how to deal with different things."
Shearer has already discovered, if he did not already know it from past experience, that life in the manager's hot-seat at St James' Park is seldom straightforward.
He has already had to hold clear-the-air-talks with Nigeria striker Obafemi Martins over the groin injury which forced him to withdraw from the squad for the Stoke game at the last minute.
Shearer, of course, repeatedly played, especially during the latter days of his career, with niggling injuries - and at one point, a badly-broken nose - and rarely had any hesitation in putting his body on the line for the cause.
He will hope for much the same kind of response from Martins and the rest of his injured players as a difficult season reaches the point of no return.
The weight of expectation on Shearer's shoulders has been immense ever since he was parachuted into what has become a full-blown emergency, and while he endured much the same as a player, he acknowledges it has increased markedly.
He said: "Without a doubt, it has massively increased, but I have to say, I am thoroughly enjoying it, I really am.
"It's been a good week again, but it's now about getting something on Sunday, and that's the way it's going to be from now until the end of the season, getting this game out of the way and preparing for the next one.
"But this is the important one because it is the next one."
