So far this season the Toon isn’t doing as well as we’d expected. This isn’t new. According to a table published by nufc.com, we’ve never really had a crackerjack start in the Premiership since Kevin Keegan was the manager in the mid 90’s. Even under Sir Bobby, it was often not until December that we started moving inexorably up the table and into contention for the top five. Is this season to be any different? Hard to say at the moment. Already there have been too many injuries – not to mention of course the biggest injury of them all – Michael Owen, whom we really can’t expect to see until the end of the season – if at all. Unfortunately that will be far too late to guarantee any achievements we might be looking forward to. And we didn’t exactly come off with star-quality players in the transfer hustings during the summer. We don’t have a lot of depth in the squad.

When teams aren’t doing too well there’s always speculation about managerial changes. Already the knives seem to have been sharpened for Alan Pardew at West Ham – despite the good form of the club in recent years. And for Stuart Pearce too at Man City, despite the enthusiasm he brought to his club last year. Our own Glenn Roeder hasn’t been immune to such comments either. Each match now is claimed as the “make or break” for the manager.

Last season Glenn Roeder got assistance from Alan Shearer in the manager’s seat. At the time there was intense speculation, indeed expectation, that Shearer would eventually return as fulltime manager. With the Toon’s current form, there’s perhaps even fervent hope that Big Al will be jumping in pretty soon to sweep away those storm clouds over the Gallowgate end. But will he?

He gave ten years of his footballing career to the Toon. He gave up any medals, cups, trophies, and awards that he might have got if he’d gone to certain other clubs (who shall remain nameless). He came to Newcastle because these are his streets. And quite simply, he’s like that. He is a loyal Geordie for whom playing for his home team was more important to him than having to buy more display cabinets for his loot. He got more appreciation and satisfaction from 52,000 Geordies yelling his name than wanting his picture in Hello magazine. But it did have its toll. He was bruised, battered, kicked, and sneered at. But he’s a tough lad and he accepted it because his principal joy in life (when he wasn’t doing metal working) was the passion he had for the game. Does this passion also extend to management. We’ll have to see.

He has earned the break he is taking. He is excellently fitted to be a television commentator; he writes columns for newspapers; he raises funds for charitable organisations; he is a drawing card at celebrity events and awards. He is reaping the rewards of a life he donated to the game on behalf of his country and his Club. With the present vicissitudes of life at St James Park, is he in his right mind to think of returning so soon to be manager? On what terms would he want to come back? Just to retain the Toon in the Premiership? Hardly – that’s not a challenge for a driven man like Shearer. Would he want to, at the very least, win the Premiership? Definitely. Would he be satisfied with an FA Cup win, given that that alluded him twice at Wembley? As a distant second best, yes. What he would more likely lust after would be continual success in Europe. When Sir Bobby started getting us back into Europe, Shearer commented that “Once is not enough.” We had to be able to keep coming back year after year against top notch European teams in order to get our players accustomed to this kind of competition and thus to develop their skills. In turn this would attract top class players towards Newcastle.

Shearer is a canny lad. He’s addicted to work, effort and success. But he’s no fool. He’s not going to want to get into the manager’s seat until he has some idea of where the Club stands and where it’s going. Will there be a takeover? Will there be a change around the Directors’ table? Will there be the appropriate financial and philosophical support for him as a determined manager. He won’t want to preside over a team that’s relegated. What if he fails to get us into the top five? Will he be satisfied with mediocre annual performances in the table? He doesn’t need the money. The only challenge he will really be satisfied with is for him to transform Newcastle into a perennial top five team.

The last time a sea change occurred at St James’ Park was when Kevin Keegan took over a struggling team in the mid 90’s. It was a surprise as he had done very little during his retirement from football. But the Premiership then was a new venture. Sir John Hall gave him full backing. There were few foreign players. Keegan’s attacking, crowd-pleasing style was a superb innovation. The driving forces in today’s Premiership are all about money, success, and profit. Perhaps the right moment for Alan Shearer’s arrival on stage hasn’t arrived yet. Perhaps, even, he’s too smart a person to take up such an offer.