Wednesday Football
16 January 2008
by Jerrad Peters
Shearer admits interest in Toon job
If he hadn’t known already, Mike Ashley certainly understands now. While owning a football club might make you a demigod in some towns, it means nothing of the kind in Newcastle. In Newcastle, the fans run the show. And while Premier League rivals make executive decisions in posh boardroom chambers, the future and direction of Newcastle United is determined in pubs and on call-in shows.
Rarely has the chasm between ownership and supportership been as evident as during the current managerial search. Each has their own candidate. Ashley and chairman Chris Mort are touting former France captain and established manager Didier Deschamps. In fact, they are interviewing him this afternoon. The fans’ choice, on the other hand, is Alan Shearer. Exactly who gets the job will be a good indication of where the real influence lies on Tyneside.
Here’s hoping that they get Deschamps. The 39-year-old is experienced, accomplished, and qualified in every sense of the word. As a player, he won Ligue 1 titles with Marseille from 1991 to 1993, Serie A championships with Juventus in 1995, 1997, and 1998, the Champions’ League in both 1993 and 1996, EURO 2000, and, of course, the World Cup in 1998 with France. And in a brief, albeit successful, seven seasons as a manager, he led Monaco to the 2004 Champions’ League Final in Gelsenkirchen and took relegated to Juventus back to Serie A last spring. Deschamps, clearly, is an up-and-comer.
Shearer, meanwhile, won a single Premier League title in 1995. And it was at Blackburn Rovers. At Newcastle, he won exactly nothing. And he has yet to manage a single match with any club at any level. That’s not to say that he wouldn’t make an immediate impact at St. James’ Park. His status at the club would see to that. However, given Newcastle’s big-club aspirations, Deschamps would be far more likely to deliver results than would Shearer.
Now, I’ve stated previously that, in the interests of stability, Shearer would be the better choice. The man is worshipped at the club – so much so that he would be sure to last at least three or four years in the job. At the moment, that’s exactly what Newcastle need. They’ve played musical-chairs for over ten years to no effect. Unless they can build a squad under the leadership of a single regime, they will never be more than solidly mid-table.
Ashley, as it turns out, had already ruled Shearer out from day one. The former striker admitted as much upon returning from vacation.
“A couple of days after Sam Allardyce got the sack,” he stated, “I got a call from the club to say they were looking for an experienced manager – which ruled me out.”
That is, it ruled him out so long as he stayed quiet. But either the allure of the job or the adoration of the fans was enough to sway his complacency. Yesterday, the 37-year-old had changed his tune.
“There are plenty of people who have taken on big jobs in their first managerial role,” he commented, “and made sure they had qualified, experienced people around them.” He continued, “What I can say is that if you want someone to galvanize the dressing room, get them organized and playing, then, yes, I think I could do that.”
With Shearer’s hat now clearly in the ring, the ball is in Ashley’s court. Will he stick to his guns in the face of enormous pressure from within the club and appoint Deschamps; or will he cave to the clamoring masses and hire Shearer? I’d go with the latter for the stability factor; but a good part of me hopes that the owner will tap Deschamps for the job. Wouldn’t it be nice to finally see the Newcastle owner defy the selfish hoards of deluded supporters? One can only hope. Comedy, it seems, is the only element of consistency at Newcastle United.
Salesman Drogba pitching to Barcelona
Didier Drogba has made his intentions abundantly clear. The Cote d’Ivoire striker is obviously unhappy at Chelsea. He admitted as much in the wake of Jose Mourinho’s departure. And while he will see out the season at Stamford Bridge, the 29-year-old is already busy selling himself to Europe’s big clubs. At the head of his list – Barcelona.
With the Catalan giants likely to show both Deco and Ronaldinho the door in the summer, chairman Juan Laporta will be hoping to add new, quality blood as quickly as possible. He may see Drogba as a good fit. Barcelona striker Samuel Eto’o already does.
“Dider knew all about Chelsea trying to sign me,” stated the Cameroon international. “I’d love to partner him up front. He’s unique. There’s nobody in the world plays like him.”
Drogba, meanwhile, echoed Eto’o’s sentiments. He said, “If any striker in the world were offered the chance to play next to Samuel, he’d tell you that would be inspirational.”
Chelsea’s acquisition of Nicolas Anelka has been viewed, in large part, as an insurance policy in the event that Drogba bolts the club in July.
In/out
Manchester City will make every attempt to sign Lucas Podolski before the transfer window closes in a fortnight. The 22-year-old Bayern Munich striker is firmly entrenched as the club’s number-three striker at the moment – behind Luca Toni and Miroslav Klose. And after a starring performance for Germany in the 2006 World Cup, his patience with riding the pine is becoming exhausted. Mindful of this, City manager Sven-Goran Eriksson has dispatched Tord Grip to Bavaria for discussions with the player.
Tottenham Hotspur expect to have Fred under wraps by the weekend. The Olympique Lyonnais striker, like Podolski at Bayern, is behind both Hatem Ben Arfa and Karim Benzema in manager Alain Perrin’s pecking order. Yesterday, the Brazilian declared that he had rejected a move to Paris Saint-Germain in the hope of finalizing a deal with Spurs. Lyon’s valuation of 9M-pounds is thought to be quite rich; but Spurs football director Damien Comolli will have further discussions with the 24-year-old this afternoon.
Birmingham City are closing-in on a loan deal for Mauro Zarate. The 20-year-old Argentine, currently at Qatari side Al-Sadd, scored for his country against the Czech Republic en route to lifting the Under-20 World Cup in Canada this past summer.
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