BBC Sport

ROBSON'S SHEARER SALUTE

Thursday, 7 September, 2000

Alan Shearer wins a tribute from Robson as he hits landmark Bobby Robson saluted Alan Shearer after he scored his 200th league goal to help send Newcastle United top of the Premiership.

Shearer scored his first goal of the campaign from the penalty spot to set Newcastle on the way to a 2-0 success over Coventry at Highfield Road.

It was the first time that the club have led the Premiership since November 1996 during the Kevin Keegan era.

And it completed a memorable five days for the former England captain who celebrated the birth of his first son - Will - on Friday.

Newcastle manager Robson said: "To get to 200 goals is a phenomenal effort on his part but he also held the ball up well and had good movement.

"To get to 200 is a relief to him. He got his 300th in all competitions at St James' Park against Arsenal and got a thunderous ovation.

"Had he got the 200th league goal at Newcastle the ovation would have gone on for three minutes.

"It's a milestone. It's 20 goals a year for 10 years at the highest level - and you've got to remember he missed two full season with his cruciate injury and broken ankle."

Robson is refusing to get carried away with Newcastle's lofty standing in the table.

He said: "I am aware that we are top of the table but it doesn't mean anything at this stage.

"But I did say to the players today that if this was the last match of the season and we had to come to Coventry to win the championship, would you be able to win?

"That was the question I posed to my players and they all said `yes' - and I said `well that's what you've got to do'. I told them to use that philosophy and we were highly motivated.

"This time last year we had one point from seven games, now we have got nine from four matches so there is a marked improvement and we are heading in the right direction.

"We also have had a lot of injuries and we are managing to cope with those injuries."

Robson admitted: "I don't think it was a polished performance but it was an effective performance and the team functioned.

"We were a bit lucky early on when Craig Bellamy hit the bar for them and we could have conceded two goals in the first ten minutes from shaky defensive play.

"But we recovered and after that didn't really give much away and got a good ricochet for the second goal although Kieron Dyer worked like a dog to get the ricochet."

Coventry manager Gordon Strachan said: "It was a game were we didn't get the breaks. We had them when we won at Manchester City but not this time.

"We had more shots on target than in that game and the effort was spot on but our technical level was still not what we want it to be."