When Sir Bobby Robson was sacked as manager of Newcastle United in August 2004 it was the classic case of a football club losing all perspective. In that time no fewer than seven managers have been in charge at Tyneside.
The erosion of a football club that once upon a time stood shoulder to shoulder with Manchester United has been slow, vivid and has many talking points, yet who could have predicted this?
Listening to folk from Tyneside, tribesman from the corners of the world would think Shearer and Keegan were the names of gods. Keegan, who has notable achievements to his name has never proven himself to be world class and yet their were times when Newcastle could have attracted managers of this status. It must never go unsaid that he is also a man who left Manchester City, Fulham, Newcastle United (twice) and England. Clearly, Newcastle should not have sought after the services of Keegan a second time.
So what of Alan Shearer? Nobody can really say much about his coaching ability other than he is unproven. He commands the respect of fans but they don’t play. The only rationale for Mike Ashley to make him coach was to resuscitate Newcastle. It didn’t happen and it was never going to happen. This is real life, not some cheap 1980s Hollywood film.
The silver lining in this very dark cloud is that maybe the club will finally realise that nostalgia and emotion can only lead to the abandonment of reason.
