Shearer’s task will be to spend wisely and change history

May 26 2009 by Mark Douglas, The Journal

Alan Shearer will have plenty on his ‘to do’ list if he accepts the challenge of leading Newcastle back to the Premier League. Mark Douglas reports

United must address that now, and cleanse themselves of their delusions of grandeur. The pain of relegation may still be hurting but United are now a Championship club – and they must begin to act like one immediately.

There should be no sentences that start “We should be beating teams like these” when Scunthorpe, Plymouth and Barnsley roll up to St James’s Park, and no players should be allowed to coast along like they have this season.

Shearer told the players a fortnight ago that there will be no more taking the water out of the city or the football club and whoever is in charge must ensure it does not happen again. Financially, the changes are a necessity. At a generous estimate, the £80m wage bill must be cut in half and even then it will require Mike Ashley putting his hand in his pocket to balance the books.

The days of marquee signings like Michael Owen and Shearer are gone. In their place, United must recruit a mixture of Championship specialists and young, hungry players with ability but also the desire to prove themselves. St James’s Park is a stage like no other – most players currently plying their trade in the second tier would jump at the chance to join the club and make their name at the biggest club in the division.

Doncaster’s energetic midfielder Brian Stock, the excellent Swansea striker Jason Scotland, Swindon’s outrageously talented forward Simon Cox – these are the sort of names that United should be looking at, rather than clapped-out internationals winding down towards retirement. Life in the second tier will be difficult. Whoever ends up wearing the black-and-white stripes next season will have a target etched on their foreheads and the club will be the prize scalp of the Championship.

But with hard work and application, the club can begin to climb back from its current predicament. Shearer knows as well as anyone, the job he does will be determined by the players he buys.