da betsul： If Alan Shearer’s heartbeat remains too active to be considered the god of Newcastle United Football Club, he is at the very least the club’s representative on earth – the pope of Tyneside if you will – blessed with the unique opportunity to profess the word of the lord on a weekly basis through his punditry slot on Match of the Day.
da lvbet： Yet, with countless comrades of the Toon Army all ears to his every syllable, the Magpies legend’s arbitrary gospel is causing more harm than good, as the club he loves desperately clings onto their Premier League status in the face of relentless supporter disillusionment.
Don’t get me wrong, there are clear problems at Newcastle and their current league standing of 19th is just the tip of the iceberg. It’s a club that no longer represents its local community, no longer performs to the levels one with such a copious and militant fanbase should and has continued to prioritise financial over footballing gain. Shearer has unequivocally reminded everybody of that, Toon Army or otherwise, every seven days without fail not only this season but for the past few years.
Yet, I do believe Steve McClaren – who may not even be in the job by the time this article is published – has attempted to move the club in the right direction. Local talent continues to evade the Tynesiders but home-grown stars Jonjo Shelvey and Andros Townsend, two exciting players who fit the club’s traditional philosophy of attacking football, represent the next-best alternative and the sheer fact he’s convinced Mike Ashley to part with his precious money – the North East outfit out-spent the entire Bundesliga during the January transfer window – is a noteworthy achievement in itself.
Of course, any good work attributed to McClaren is being undone by Newcastle’s poor performances in the Premier League. The Magpies should be obtaining better results, but it’s difficult to change the mentality of a squad that’s coasted for so long and McClaren’s inaugural campaign at St. James’ Park was always going to be one of relegation-flirting upheaval.
Some may deem that unacceptable for a club of Newcastle’s stature – the greatest player in their history certainly seems to think so – but the plights of the current campaign are an inevitable part of the rebuilding process. Of course, relegation would seriously disrupt those plans, but the majority of damage was done before McClaren arrived.
Nonetheless, Shearer’s weekly critiques never look beyond the current season and never consider the pragmatism of the situation, putting every Newcastle defeat, whether disappointing or inevitable, whether by a one-goal margin or five, into the same context of where the club once were, where they should be and how the players are continually letting the supporters down.
Perhaps he has a point. But Shearer’s words carry immeasurable weight throughout the Newcastle community and they’ve only further provoked an already prickly fan base. It’s not as if Niall Quinn gets the opportunity to blast Sunderland after every defeat; it’s not as if the BBC hand Darren Huckerby a soapbox every Saturday night to criticise Alex Neil’s tactics.
Make no mistake, I’m not suggesting Shearer is trying to deliberately undermine McClaren or the club he cherishes – in many ways, I’m not sure he truly appreciates the power he has. There’s also a recurring superficiality to the former striker’s punditry, a common occurrence amongst MOTD analysts, that makes it all the more dangerous; rather than exploring the finer details of a poor Magpies result, the hows, whos and whys, Shearer simply lists pejorative adjectives in two-minute bursts until he runs out of oxygen.
Once again, I’m sure many Newcastle fans feel the same and angst towards the Ashley regime remains organic. Shearer’s not manufactured that ill-feeling in any way and his weekly rants reflect the attitudes of Newcastle supporters as a collective. But Magpies fans have grown increasingly demanding and fickle under Ashley, understandably, and further riling them up has only contributed to the toxicity surrounding the club.
Newcastle now have nine games left to save their season and positivity in such situations is key. Nobody ever survived relegation by continuously wallowing in their own shortcomings. With that in mind, and considering the power Shearer’s words can have, it would be great to see him talking optimistically about Newcastle for once – regardless of who is at the helm – on the next instalment of Match of the Day.
If Shearer can have the same effect focusing on the positives as he does the negatives, he could have a huge impact on Newcastle turning their disappointing campaign around.
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