‘It would hurt me if this club was in Championship’
Apr 3 2009 by Luke Edwards, The Journal
ALAN Shearer admits he was as surprised as anyone when Newcastle United’s managing director Derek Llambias contacted him last week to ask whether he would be willing to takeover as manager until the end of the season.
It was an offer, though, he could not turn down because of the disastrous consequences for the club if it was relegated to the Championship.
“I probably wouldn’t have done this for any other club at this stage,” said Shearer. “I’ve done it because I love this football club and I realise they are in a very, very bad position and I have been given an opportunity to do something about it.
“I never thought they would ask me, to be honest. I thought with Joe (Kinnear), the results to begin with were decent, then they tailed off and things were not great, but I never turned around to say ‘I hope they ask me’.
“When they did, everything was right. All the questions I asked, I got the right answers and that will continue. People know it would hurt and devastate me if this club was playing Championship football next season. I think the fans know me as well as anyone does and I think they know they will get 100%, 24 hours a day over the next eight weeks, or however long it is.
“I hope that will be good enough, I really do, because it would sadden me and the thousands and thousands of people who support this club if they were in the Championship.
“They don’t deserve that, they deserve better.”
Shearer has openly criticised the United hierarchy in the past, most notably regarding Dennis Wise’s presence as an executive director (football) above the team manager, but he is adamant everyone has to move on from previous grievances if the club is going to survive.
He said: “I think the powers have admitted mistakes have been made and we would all agree with that, but it is important that whatever mistakes have been made, they are gone, we can’t do anything about it.
“We are third-bottom of the league. Whether that is because of bad luck, bad play, low confidence, refereeing decisions, it doesn’t matter. It has gone, it is history, we can’t do anything about it, but we can do something about it as of now for the remaining eight games – and we intend to.”
