Get yer Shearer bashing in before it's too late! Only 3 more guaranteed games!! Then he'll be gone from the international scene forever! Don't miss this opportunity!

Just browsing Monday morning's online Mirror. Loads of Shearer bashing. Who will they go after once he's gone? Those of you prone to high blood pressure, best not look. :-|

-- Anonymous, June 04, 2000

Answers

Hey Ciara....that's the British Press for you.........the biggest bunch of head-me-dead sh*ts that god ever put on this earth.

It's known as the tall poppy syndrome......feed them, make them grow, get them as big as you can, then chop then off at the knee.

B@ST@RDS

:0)

-- Anonymous, June 04, 2000

I dont think what they wrote was too bad though the headline 'Shearer will ruin our hopes' was ridiculous and wasnt appropriate for wat was written.

Beats me how they can critize him when they know the alternative strikers wont do any better- they know all too well, whos more likely to stick the ball in the net if the team creates a goal scoring opportunity.

-- Anonymous, June 04, 2000

Great stuff!.....it was Shearers fault Phillips didnt shine...breaking someones nose was the only sign of him being indifferent to the game...theres a few other good jokes in there too.

Trouble for Keegan as Shearer goes missing By Martin Lipton In times of need, teams look to captains for their example, for the focus and leadership to guide them through rough seas.

When the skipper's reaction to a performance that is falling apart around him is to shake his head, shrug his shoulders and stand waiting for somebody else to do his work for him, then one or two might start shouting 'Mayday!'

England were in need of guidance in the 2-1 win over Malta in Valletta. They got only the downside of Alan Shearer and with just a week to go before Kevin Keegan's side meet Portugal in Eindhoven, his captain's form must be the coach's biggest concern.

Shearer may affect a lack of concern about his six-game goal drought, pointing to the 12 games he had gone without scoring before Euro 96 and the manner he repaid Terry Venables' faith then.

But that was a different Shearer - four years younger, lacking the physical scars of two subsequent operations and with his international career still looking forwards rather than facing the final chapter.

When that version of Shearer did not get the ball, he would go looking for it. Now, aware that he has had to adapt his game to his body, the Newcastle man is left imploring others to do it for him.

Malta's collection of enthusiastic but limited part-timers should have presented the perfect opportunity for a player as streetwise as Shearer to add to his 28 England goals and give Keegan's side a morale-boosting launchpad for their Euro 2000 campaign.

Instead, Shearer was the embodiment of all England's worries.

At the back, they were undone time and again by simple diagonal balls, with goalkeeper Richard Wright as nervous as a newborn kitten, conceding two penalties with unnecessary dashes from his line, even if he redeemed himself by keeping out David Carabott's second legitimate spot-kick in injury-time.

In midfield, only Paul Scholes and the increasingly assured Nick Barmby were on the pace. Up front, Shearer's disaffected dis-play gave Kevin Phillips little chance to impress.

Malta's view of the England skipper was encapsulated by defender Brian Said, who remarked: 'Shearer was complaining and moaning all the time about getting no service. He wanted crosses whipped in from the wings but they just weren't coming.'

Shearer's frustrations were summed up by the unpleasant and needless elbow he appeared to thrust into the face of Darren Debono, which left the central defender with a smashed nose.

Yet, the onus must be on Shearer himself to get it right. It is not enough to shout and scream for the ball. He has to make himself more available by running into channels so he can be picked out.

There are plenty who believe Keegan has got it wrong by effectively guaranteeing Shearer a starting place at the tournament which will bring down the curtain on his international career.

Keegan says he will not hesitate to drop him and Shearer insisted: 'If anybody thinks I will get my place on sentiment alone, they don't know Kevin.'

But the reality is that the coach views Shearer as a talisman. That means Michael Owen, Robbie Fowler, Emile Heskey and Phillips are competing for one place, aware that if they fail alongside Shearer, it will not be the skipper who is made the fall-guy.

There is a reason for that. The statistics tell the story and you do not discard somebody who has scored 28 goals, including seven in nine major championship matches, until you have a proven, better alternative.

The trouble is that you cannot turn form on and off like a light bulb, certainly not at the highest level.

Unless you are right in every aspect, you will not deliver and over the next week, Keegan must find a way of helping Shearer recapture some of his zest. It is clear that Shearer would prefer to be partnered by Heskey.

Just as Duncan Ferguson takes so much of the physical pressure off Shearer at St James' Park, the Liverpool hulk demonstrated against Malta his capacity for absorbing the kicks and bruises when he replaced the skipper - who was unconcerned by his jarred knee.

Despite Heskey's reward of his first England goal to win the match, Keegan must decide if playing crash-bang-wallop will lead to success. The fact that Owen was the only unused outfield substitute in a match of a ridiculous 17 changes suggested that he will partner the captain next week.

One problem was that Shearer's apparent indifference - although the Debono incident proved he was not entirely unconcerned - spread through the ranks, a sign of disinterest that would not have encouraged unyielding faith the length and breadth of the country.

But it must be put into context. England went into Italia 90 on the back of a late, late equaliser by Steve Bull in Tunisia, while the last game before Euro 96 was the shocker against the Hong Kong Golden Select.

If England had taken the chances that fell to Shearer, Phillips, Barmby, Fowler, Scholes and Heskey, it might have papered over the evident cracks.

Perhaps it was better that they did not. This was an ineffective and unconvincing display that proved once and for all how important Tony Adams, incapacitated by a stomach bug, will be in the weeks to come.

While Shearer remains the captain, he is not the inspirational chief lieutenant that Adams becomes the instant he sets foot in the dressing-room.

When it comes to rattling cages, there is nobody better and it is hard to believe that England's performance would have been so impoverished with the Arsenal skipper in the middle of the back four.

Keegan was looking for a display full of positive intent, clever passing and movement, solidity at the back and a little swagger of unquestioned belief.

Instead, his side stared over the precipice of abject humiliation as they were caught up in the holiday crowd atmosphere.

It was simply not good enough. Keegan conceded that but he remains convinced that Adams will make all the difference. 'Tony is the key,' said Keegan.

'You want him there. It's not just England. If you look at Arsenal as well. When he's not been there, they've not got the same results. He's a leader, an organiser and a very experienced player.'

Adams' verbal leadership will be all-important at Euro 2000. Keegan added: 'In the dressing room before the Ukraine game I sat back and watched Tony spend two minutes on his own with Steve Gerrard. That was the best two minutes Steve will have in his life.

'He was telling him about the game at this level and that he should have no fears. It's much better coming from him than me.'

Keegan badly missed Adams, both on the pitch and in the dressing- room, as the shortcomings of the 4-4-2 system he will use next Monday were laid bare.

'We were too predictable on the ball at the back,' said the boss. 'Martin Keown and Phil Neville were on the ball a lot but neither really hurt anybody with that possession.

'The boys know I want somebody to come out with the ball. Tony did that against the Ukraine. He just came out five or 10 yards, which releases the inventive players in an area where they can cause a bit of damage.

'It's not enough at this level for somebody just to be a good defender. He has to be a very competent defender and be able to come out with it.'

Those words hint at good news for Sol Campbell, despite another below- par performance, and a place on the bench for Keown, who had waited eight years to score his second England goal.

Campbell has the ability to bring the ball out and benefits from Adams' advice in his ear - but he must start listening hard.

As Keegan conceded, similar lackadaisical displays in Euro 2000 would see his team 'picked off' and such weak defending would leave him 'distraught'.

At least Barmby is buzzing and further proof of the damage David Beckham's dead-ball delivery can pose gave Keegan something positive from the match.

But they were crumbs of comfort. If England are to make an impact, they must be right in every department and must score goals. Shearer remains the most likely source - but only if he is absolutely right.

-- Anonymous, June 04, 2000

Do they really think that Shearer was going to be busting a gut trying to impress against Malta. They are more stupid than most of us think.

Why he was selected I don't know. It's obvious he is going to start against Portugal, why risk it?

The bashers are out again and I can hardly stop laughing. As if Alan Shearer gives a toss what they or any other knockers write/think. They should know him better after the time he has been at the top. It amazes me that they really do seem to be clambering for that really last minute knock.

What are they going to do when he has gone and he is quietly knocking 30 goals in for the Toon every season. I can see it now, "Michael Owen in pride shocker. Club football took another stride forward yesterday when footballing sensation and only decent English Striker, revealed he wants to play for Liverpool only because England games don't mean anything to him."

They don't know their bread is buttered, these journalists!

-- Anonymous, June 05, 2000

The answer is, Shearer shouldn't play in Euro2000. Liverpool have 3 strikers who can get their knees kicked and it doesn't matter. We haven't. I wish the media would f...k off and die.

-- Anonymous, June 05, 2000

It's time for one corner of the media to take an unprcedented step before a major tournament.....get behind the England Captain.

They would stand alone and they could print more "we told you so" stories after the tournament than they would in a year!

-- Anonymous, June 05, 2000

Well if Alan's knee injury proves worse than initially suggested, these sad journos will ALL get their wishes coming true.
Tony Adams can Captain the side again, Heskey can partner YMO up front, and England will be back home on the first available plane.
They can then sprinkle their evil bile on KK! Tossers.

-- Anonymous, June 05, 2000

The above should have read "... these sad journos will get ALL their wishes coming true".

-- Anonymous, June 05, 2000

Hmm isn't it possible that after Euro 2000 they'll all still blame Shearer for deserting his country when it needed him most or some such crap!?!?

-- Anonymous, June 05, 2000

Strange then, how both of England's goals came from the Maltese 'keeper fumbling saves from Shearer shots...ooh, sorry, forgot that we're not allowed to see the good bits in our skipper's performance!

Gav, reckon you're right too. If I was bothered by cockney journos I'd take offence - instead I'll just sit back with a cold Stella and wait until August for Wor Al to blast 30 odd goals next season in black & white.

-- Anonymous, June 05, 2000

Forgot to mention an article in the Sunday Times yesterday by some comedian called Joe Lovejoy - clearly a World Class arrogant pillock - foisting his personal views of Englands team and formation for Euro2000 on the readership.
Full of humility, world-renowned footy tactician, Mr. Lovejoy, explains "Like Keegan, I am a 4-4-2 man" - oh well, say no more, that's it then!
"I suggest a minor modification to 4-3-2-1, Terry venables old Xmas Tree formation. This could provide the best of both worlds - a solid back four with a midfielder sweeping just ahead of them, and two banks for two working the flanks. .......... I would change at least half at least half the team Keegan has pencilled in for Eindhoven, including the Captain (!!)..........On the left of the middle three (?) it boils down to a choice between McManaman and Wise - the Hugh Grant of English football or the Bob Hoskins. (love it!)I would play Barmby and Paul Scholes, just behind the main striker, who should be not the fast-fading Shearer but Owen". etc. etc. ad nauseum.

Just what qualification - other than a sharp pencil - does this 'person' feel he has that qualifies him to foist this drivel on an unsuspecting readership? Why on earth does he think the readership gives a rats @rse what a totally unqualified bonehead thinks?

-- Anonymous, June 05, 2000

I'm sure I'm not the only one who is fast losing interest in Ingerland games and desperate for the real footy to start again in August!

-- Anonymous, June 05, 2000

I think the only Lovejoy he gets is totally self awarded...under the bedsheets...with a copy of Razzle.

That blerk actually wrote a hell of a lot in the 'paper' yesterday. Given the game ended at 5.00pm (GMT) or thereabouts, and if said Mr Self-LoveJoy stayed for the whole game, wrote it all afterwards, draft e-mailed to editor in time for 10.00pm 1st edition...that's an awful lot of writing to do in a short period of time. He must be a top journo!

That, or he wrote 85% of it beforehand and added the few paragraphs to detail his biased account. Nah, that can't be it...

-- Anonymous, June 05, 2000

Bobby

The bashing of Al is bad, but I think you are stretching it to say that England's goals on Saturday were the result of their goalie fumbling his shots. He wasn't even on the pitch when Heskey scored!

Beardo

-- Anonymous, June 05, 2000

Beardo - he was there in spirit (backtrack, backtrack)... :-)

-- Anonymous, June 05, 2000

And today, in 365's little muck-palace:

"Up front, Michael Owen and Alan Shearer are by far the most popular choices, with Saint Michael a shoe-in for 72% of bo-selectas. But would Shearer be pleased to be playing second fiddle with 61%? Aren't people nasty to the skipper?. Kevin Phillips came in a distant third with Robbie Fowler and Emile Heskey way behind. It looks pretty much that Keegan will start with Shearer and Owen, so he's all right by 365 readers on that front. "

So, despite their best efforts, the majority of people polled want Shearer to start, not just that they think Keegan will pick him, but that they want him to. Don't you just love the way they slap their thighs with the little joke at how some people have been rude about Shearer, ho ho ho ho. Obviously a response to several hundred e-mails telling them to treat him with a bit more respect and gratitude.

Still, isn't it nice to know that they after they have nailed their colours to the mast as Shearer haters and said that we will fail if he plays, when we win the tournament with Al as top scorers, these insignificant panty-waisters will be eating their livers and unable to join in teh celebrations?

-- Anonymous, June 07, 2000