Who would be the better choice for the Blackburn job? Now that Alan Shearer has politely excused himself and eased back into his relaxed BBC career, it looks to be a two-horse race between the young and talented Paul Guv’nor Ince and the old hand Sam Allardyce. Ince has done a brilliant job at MK Dons, but has he got it in him to jump two divisions? On the other hand, Allardyce’s last attempt at management showed all the attacking panache and dynamism of a Douglas Bader and Ironside strikeforce.

“Blackburn Rovers appeared to be facing a choice of the untested and the unpopular last night after Alan Shearer ruled himself out of the race to succeed Mark Hughes as the club’s manager. Chief executive, John Williams, must now decide whether to approach MK Dons for permission to speak to Paul Ince – he had not as of yesterday afternoon – or proceed with Sam Allardyce, installed last night as bookies’ favourite. (Independent)”

So which would be preferable?

Well, maybe not the fans favourite but he’s currently at the top of bookmakers’ lists. While Blackburn might talk of not rushing to appoint a replacement for Mark Hughes, the truth is that they can’t leave it very long at all, especially with player contracts to sort out and potential new signings to be lined up. The Guardian report that a shortlist is being drawn up at Ewood Park and, if the odds are anything to go by, this includes Shearer, Allardyce, Ince and Henk Ten Cate.

The Blackburn chairman, John Williams, hopes to conclude the search within the next 10 days, a timescale that would promote the prospects of the club-less Shearer, Allardyce and McClaren, given that Ten Cate is close to joining Panathinaikos. “We have received expressions of interest from a broad spectrum of interesting candidates; English and foreign, experienced and less experienced, and we are delighted with the calibre and the range,” Williams said yesterday. “I said at the outset, I’d like to get the new man in place within a fortnight and that is what we are aiming towards. Hopefully we’ll have made an appointment by the end of the week, or certainly early next week.”

Whoever takes over will have a tough act to follow, with Hughes dragging the club away from the relegation zone since he took over and making them into a top-half Premier League club. If his successor achieves a top ten finish next season, he’ll have done very well.

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I thought this was the season that Liverpool finally cast off their bridesmaid’s dress and went head-to-head with the Chelseas and Manchester United’s of this world for the Premier League title. Did I get that wrong? After all, early victories against the Premier League giants that are Aston Villa, Derby and Sunderland saw the likes of Alan Shearer declare that the Reds would go close this year and I don’t think he was talking about fourth place!

Pool fans might argue that with their team only eleven points off the Premier League, they have closed the gap between them and the other members of the ‘Big Four’. Others would argue that the Merseyside club continue to lack the consistency over the course of a season, despite lavish signings in the summer. Javier Mascherano is ever the optimist however, with the Daily Mail reporting that he’s optimistic ahead of next season.

“The last two months were very good for Liverpool in the Premier and Champions League but we need to repeat this from the beginning of next season.

“We are a young team but have experienced players as well and we showed our character against Chelsea. We played at the same level as Chelsea. We need to improve and keep playing this way. We have shown we have the quality to win titles.”

Yes yes young Javier, it’s all very well playing decent football when the pressure is off and you can express yourself out on the pitch. What will Liverpool be like once they’re actually in the heat of a title race, especially as they consistently fail to beat Chelsea and Manchester United every season? The jury is out on the scousers and fourth place looks like their customary spot for the time being.

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Here’s something to cheer everyone up. The goon that is Ian Wright has officially left the BBC, leaving us (relatively) free of inane comments during televised England and FA Cup matches. To be fair, he stuck it out for a number of years with little to no talent, struggling to put a coherent sentence together and banging on about his son, Shaun Wright-Phillips. The Daily Telegraph confirm this excellent news – now they just need to ship Lineker out.

“Times are changing,” said Wright. “I don’t know how long young people are going to want to sit down and watch that same old ‘jacket, shirt and tie’ format.”

“Fans want people who are dressed like them. They’ve got no one to relate to on TV and that’s why I’ve said to them I don’t want to do the England games any more.

“I feel like I’m just there as a comedy jester to break the ice with Alan Shearer and Alan Hansen who just do run-of-the-mill things. I can’t do that anymore. People want something different.”

Wright is now going to present Gladiators on Sky One, the very bastion of credibility. John Fashanu had the awooga shout, what will Ian Wright’s trademark be? Perhaps most viewers would prefer it if he said very little at all.

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The Daily Mail reckons (three words that will have readers wincing) that there is still a chance that Alan Shearer could still come to Newcastle United and work under Kevin Keegan. According to the Daily Mail Keegan has left the door wide open for Al, Keegan said:

‘I’ve definitely not given up on it, what we have agreed is that he is going to come in training with us to start off with and then we are going to revisit it later when the commitments that he’s made to other people are no longer in place.

‘The door is left absolutely wide open. It’s up to Alan and me to come up with the right solution for him coming in here. I’ve left the door wide open because I respect him and know that he would bring something to the party.

‘He’s now got a bit of time to think about it and he will think about it deeply. As he always has done in his life, he will come up with the right decision. I’ve definitely not given up on it and Alan’s not said anything to my knowledge that suggests he doesn’t want to do it. I think deep down he does.’

As for one-handed celebration-meister Alan Shearer, he is leaving things wide open after turning down the opportunity to go to Southampton, Shearer said:

‘I’m going to be very busy for the next six or seven months. I’ve got my BBC commitments and my charity work. I’m also working on getting my Uefa Pro licence. I wish Southampton all the best.’

So will recruiting Alan Shearer mark an upsurge in Newcastle’s fortunes?

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Surely nobody saw this one coming? Kevin Keegan has only just reported that Alan Shearer doesn’t see himself as a Newcastle number two (look how long it took Gordon Brown to get the top job), although the Yorkshire Evening Post have just broken the news that Dennis Wise could be about to team up with the ‘messiah’ at St James’ Park!

The Premiership club are understood to have offered Wise a position within Kevin Keegan’s regime, and sources on Tyneside suggest Newcastle officials are confident of completing a deal subject to agreeing compensation with Leeds.

However, it appears that Wise would become a director of football rather than an assistant manager at this most ‘special’ of clubs. Are Leeds about to lose their manager to a Premier League club after already seeing assistant manager Gus Poyet leave Elland Road to team up with Juande Ramos at White Hart Lane?

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The Daily Mail is cutting through all the chuntering waffle about the Toon job like a machete; they are claiming to have an “Exclusive” – namely that Alan Shearer is going to be offered the job. A pitiful excuse for an “Exclusive” if you ask us…
With Redknapp deciding to stay in his current post, and Hughes doing likewise, Newcastle chiefs are set to try and woo Shearer away from his coddled duvet cover pundit life.
And according to Mail journo’s, an unnamed source linked closely to the Toon directors has given them some new information, that:

“The directors are looking closely at the situation but his appointment would appeal to fans.

“One of the main reasons that Michael Owen is at Newcastle is because of Shearer’s influence. He will attact big-name players,” said the source, who did not wish to be identified.

“Alan Shearer is still very much a part of the directors’ plans.”

But will Alan Shearer be even less keen to take the Newcastle job now that ‘Arry and Mark Hughes turned it down. There is a precedent for this, a few years back, Everton legend Andy Gray was offered the Toffee’s managerial hotseat – and he turned them down flat…Why would Shearer exchange the doss-life as a pundit for the poison St James’ chalice?

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So Big Sam Allardyce has finally been sacked by Newcastle United, and the whole of the UK can breathe a sigh of relief and wait with baited breath for the next press-led torch burning, pitchfork wielding, managerial witchunt (our money is on Rafa)…
In the meantime, the non-thinking man’s newspaper, The Sun has offered up a couple of options to take the St James’ hotseat. First up is Big Alan Shearer, he of the one handed snooze inducing goal celebration, and someone who is more Geordie that a black and white episode of Byker Grove.
The Sun claims that once they heard about Allardyce’s sacking:

“Toon fans immediately called for their hero Shearer to save the club — but owner Mike Ashley may never put the call in to Barbados, where the former England striker is on holiday.

“Ashley and his influential chum, former Spurs director Paul Kelmsley, are both big admirers of Portsmouth boss Redknapp.”

The BBC, meanwhile, thinks that Shearer will turn down the opportunity anyway, they report that:

“Sources close to Alan Shearer have confirmed to the BBC on Wednesday evening that he is extremely unlikely to be the next manager of Newcastle.

“Shearer says he is currently very happy with his job on Match of the Day.”

So it looks like although Shearer may be the fans favourite but he’d prefers the relaxed life of a mediocre pundit, so the money men seem to have taken a fancy to ‘Appy ‘Arry Redknapp – and the bookies seem to agree, slashing Redknapp’s odds and making him favourite to take over at Newcastle…So who do you think would be a better manager at St James’; Redknapp or Shearer?

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