The Times June 06, 2006

Shearer well suited for role as poacher turned gamekeeper

By George Caulkin

Our correspondent learns that the former Newcastle United and England striker has big plans to occupy him during retirement INSTEAD of sharpening his studs this summer, Alan Shearer will be honing his wit. For the first time since his emergence as a pencil-thin teenager with TNT in his boots, the greatest English goalscorer of his generation can speak his mind rather than torture his body, as retirement takes him from the rigours of pre-season to the television studio.

As a leading member of the BBC’s World Cup panel, Shearer will be present in Germany. If Sven-Göran Eriksson had been appeased a few years ago, he might, even now, have been there as a player — albeit one with battered legs, limited movement and a hairline receding faster than the head coach — but his authority will still be felt.

After his emotional, scarf-twirling farewell to Newcastle United — when tears welled in the eyes of a man once widely thought to have been hewn from granite — Shearer has been on a residential course in Largs, Scotland, to acquire his Uefa A coaching licence. When he watches England’s progress, it will, almost certainly, be as a future manager. He remains bullish about his nation’s prospects, albeit with a caveat.

“I’ve been sure England are going to win the World Cup for the last 18 months,” he said, “but that was before the injuries. Everything hinges around Michael Owen and Wayne Rooney — but if those two are fit, we have a fantastic chance of winning.” His team to watch? “England.”

Shearer is not rushing to engage in the clamour surrounding Peter Crouch, who scored three times against Jamaica last Saturday but, absurdly, wasted a penalty. “Sometimes you don’t know what you are going to get from Peter Crouch,” he said. “He produces moments of magic, but then he can misplace the simplest of passes.

“You want to tell him to get the ball down and do the simple thing and I wasn’t happy with his penalty. It was a chance for his hat-trick in a game before the World Cup and he tried to dink it in. You have to be a special player to be able to do that — and I don’t think he is at that stage yet.” Freed from the shackles of the Barclays Premiership, Captain Creosote may be loosening up.

Few will empathise more readily with the pressure and expectation heaped on David Beckham and Co over the next few weeks. A veteran of 63 caps and 30 international goals, Shearer, 35, experienced only one World Cup finals, in 1998, but his finest time — five goals in as many games during Euro 96 — was preceded by a scoring drought lasting almost two years.

“Everyone handles criticism in their own way,” he said. “For some, it will affect their play. Some won’t give a damn because they don’t read it or listen to it. Some, it will spur them on — in a weird sort of way, they’ll enjoy it. I think I was in that category, where the more I was criticised, the more I wanted to prove people wrong.

“Whether we like it or not, centre forwards are in the business of scoring goals and we get judged on that — wrongly in my opinion, because there’s a lot more to it. Up to Euro 96, I wasn’t scoring. I put my head on the block by saying ‘judge me when it really matters in competition and if I haven’t scored then, I don’t deserve to be in the team’. Thankfully, it worked. If it hadn’t, I might not have played for England again.”

There was no silverware with England and, in spite of holding together his home-town club, none for Newcastle, but as he prepares for a new, less public life involving Christmas, his children’s birthdays, banditry on the golf course and even skiing, there is no envy or bitterness, either. He still talks about England as “we”, as in, “we’ve got the potential to do something very exciting”.

“I have no regrets whatsoever, and everyone has to believe that,” he said. “I have been happy in my life and my family have been very happy, which is obviously important. I have lived my dream, which is playing for my club, where I was brought up, I’ve worn the shirt I’ve always wanted to wear and I’ve scored goals in front of the Geordie public.

“I’ve done everything I’ve wanted to do. All right, I haven’t lifted a trophy, but I know full well that if you give your all — if you haven’t won anything, that’s fine. I can put my head on the pillow at night and say I’ve worked my b******* off to try and get where I’ve wanted to go. I’ve achieved some great things and I am happy.”

Thinking forward: the world according to Shearer

ON MICHAEL OWEN
“He’s a great goalscorer and if you give him chances at any level, whether it is for club or country, he will score. Michael is very confident he is over his injury so he will certainly be going to the World Cup fresh, and that can only be a good thing for England.”

ON ROONEY
“I hope he is able to play some part because when he is fit he is certainly one of the best three players in the world — there is no doubt in my mind. He can handle the big stage — in fact he thrives on it. I think we can win it without him but it will not be easy.”

ON CROUCH
“Crouch is the sort of player defenders do not like to play against — he is a real handful. There are not many international defenders who will have played against a player like him. If you give him the right service, he adds another dimension.”

ON WALCOTT
“Walcott’s selection was a big surprise and I must admit I have not seen anything of him other than with Southampton in the Championship. To pick someone who has not even played in the Premiership is a big gamble for Eriksson to make but hopefully it will pay off.”