Former Leeds United striker Noel Whelan has reacted to the rumours that Newcastle United legend Alan Shearer has been offered the manager’s position at St. James’ Park by the Bellagraph Nova (BN) Group if their takeover goes through.
Indeed, the consortium, which consists of the businesswoman Evangeline Shen as well as the Singaporean cousins Terence and Nelson Loh, have reportedly offered Shearer the chance to succeed Steve Bruce as manager in the North East, or any other role he would like, should their £280 million bid get accepted by Mike Ashley.
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However, speaking to Football Insider, Whelan is not sure if this would be a wise move by the Tyneside club:
“I think they’d get away with it because he is a club legend. But would he be the right man for the job? In my opinion, no.
“I think Steve Bruce has done a fantastic job under really difficult circumstances. He should be given the opportunity to carry that on now that they Saudi consortium aren’t taking over.”
Indeed, Shearer has had a go at managing his beloved Magpies before, albeit in a very brief spell. He took charge of the Toon for just eight games at the end of the 2008/09 season in which they managed to pick up just one win, drawing two matches and losing the other five, with just four goals scored and 10 conceded, according to Transfermarkt.
Unfortunately, Shearer could not keep NUFC up as they were relegated from the Premier League to the Championship on just 34 points, one point away from safety.
Given that this was his only spell in management and it ended up in relegation, perhaps he is not the best candidate to take charge of Newcastle.
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Whelan argues that Bruce should keep his job anyway, which is perhaps understandable given that he led the Magpies to a rather comfortable 13th place in the top flight in his debut campaign as well as an FA Cup quarter-final against Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.
Geordies, should Bruce keep his job regardless of a takeover? Comment below!
