He chose Blackburn ahead of Man Utd because Dalglish and Walker sold him what they were planning to do where as Man Utd never quite did that and to be fair, he made what looked like the right decision at that time because not only were Blackburn challenging, they would later go on to win the title from Man Utd. I think most accepted, unless Blackburn could sustain their succes, he was always too big a fish for them and that eventually he'd move, I think at least in Shearer's mind that was always the case anyway. Even while at Blackburn he said in an interview (the season he was injured, our first in the Premiership), that his dream was to play for Newcastle before he retired which pissed off a few Blackburn fans at the time especially as we were coming fresh onto the scene. I personally think that was Shearer letting the powers be at St. James' Park that he wants to come back home sooner rather than later, when he's done at Blackburn, in an ideal world anyway.
Had NUFC not been challenging at the time (i.e. stuck in a division below or fighting to stay up ever season), he'd have joined Man Utd without doubt and probably tried to come to us in his 30s as was always his dream to pull on the shirt, but everything at that time was perfect for him, we could afford to pay a player of his quality the wages he demanded, we had a great squad, top manager, were genuine challengers and looked like winning trophies season in season out, him being a Geordie was the icing on the cake and made it all too easy for him to snub Man Utd again.
I'm not surprised Man Utd still regret the fact he snubbed them though because had he joined them, even signing after Blackburn, they'd have won much more than they did and wouldn't have spent all that money they have done on trying to find that right leader of the line, something like £70m by my reckoning over the years as Shearer would have lead that line for 10 years or so like he lead ours.
I liken it to the regret of SBR not taking over KK here at Newcastle or Schmeichel being in goal THAT day which still plays on wor minds.
On reflection joining NUFC proved a mistake for Shearer in my opinion (certainly professionaly) but by the same token, what he got personally from wearing the shirt he had always dreamed about, breaking the club's goalscoring record and as he put it himself just living the dream, proved far more valuable to him as an individual than trophies or awards ever could and that's what a lot of Man Utd fans can't understand but if you were from this region, you would. To a Geordie playing for the club is the biggest reward of all, nothing would ever top that, not Championship medals for Man Utd or playing in a European Cup final. That devotion to the club is what gives us our gates to be honest, not trophies or the promise of them and its the same for lads good enough to play football in our city, they don't dream about winning trophies, they dream about playing for Newcastle, probably because they've accepted the Toon and trophies isn't gonna happen
When Shearer came back to Newcastle while a Blackburn player to visit friends and family, he would drive around the newly revamped St. James' Park a few times and those childhood dreams of his were right there in front of him, and something when offered, he couldn't say no to as had he, even with medals thrown in, I think he'd have truly regretted it, not playing for Newcastle at some stage of his career.
Fergie to this day is still pissed at not getting Shearer and too rights because had he, well, just how much more unstoppable would they have been? They already had three great leaders in Fergie himself, Schmeichel and Keane, imagine another up front, and then there is the goals, the ability to perform consistently without an arm around the shoulder or a kick up the arse, to any manager he and his type are the perfect footballers and pretty much priceless.
God, I'm fucking glad we've had 10 years of him.
I wouldn't swap those 10 years for any trophy, if I'm being truthful. No doubt statements like that will rankle with some Toon fans like but we got a lot for our money.
i'm sure you could have said all that in a pargraph or two instead of an 800 word op-ed
I could, but why should I? I like to write down my thoughts in length, if I have a bit to say on the subject which I clearly did. No problem is there?
No problem at all as long as you realise that nobody actually reads it all. So in answer the the "why should I" question: because people might be more inclined to read your posts. I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one that scrolls straight past your snoozefests.
I don't write for the benefit of others though Gemmill, and don't really care if people read what I write or not, believe it or not I actually enjoy writing all that long winded shite, when I was at school and we were all asked to write a short story for homework, I brought back a full book's worth - I've always been like that. I'm the same when I write e-mails, ask poor Phil who had to read through thousands of them the poor bloke. Brevity has never been my strong point. Better still, ask the guy who works for Loerrach Zeitung
But the point in a forum is to get your point across, and to get people to read it. If you're writing for yourself and no one is reading it, why put it on the internet?
I'm getting my point across, whether people read it or not however is up to them, I don't really think about it, even if that is the point of a forum. I prefer to respond to others' points of view anyway, rather than respond to responses to my own points of view. Anyway I'm sure some do read what I write, and the main point of a forum surely is debate, and to be fair, is that not what we are doing, despite you never having read my post?
I honestly don't see the big issue here, it does irk me somewhat that people keep mentioning the lengths of my posts though. There are no rules to how many words someone can write in a single post is there and really, no-one is forcing anyone to read anything are they, so I don't see the big fuss. And it isn't as if every post of mine is huge. There are lots of people on here who post bigger posts than me or equally big posts.
Even that post was too long.
This better?
much better
honestly mate, less is more on a forum. i don't think too many people find the prospect of reading 800+ words on a computer screen that appealing.
