Studs Up

If there’s one thing Newcastle and their fans love, its a good, solid unveiling. Football itself sees men acting like children on and off the pitch, but something about the Geordie’s genuine, unadultered fandom at these things is pretty eye-catching.

Sure, even Damien Duff got a parade, but it’s probably a little more meaningful when its one of their seemingly endless supply of legendary players returning to save the club from one thing or another.

Unlike Keegan’s second appointment, Newcastle are actually in need of an all-motivational-no-tactics style of manager. 8 games is not going to be enough for a tactician to get going, but the fans will now have renewed energy and excitement and it’ll quickly translate to the players. An absolute last throw of the dice, but for once I reckon Ashley has got it right.

I don’t think many people outside of St. James’ Park ever thought Shearer was much of a managerial prospect for the long term, so ol’ Fat Mike is playing it smart by betting that he’ll get 8 games worth of honeymoon period.