Apparently he is suffering from tendonitis - out for 2-4 weeks.

-- Anonymous, December 02, 2000

Answers

B***er

-- Anonymous, December 02, 2000

He should have been rested before it became a bigger problem :-(

Still, his absence tends to force the rest of the team to battle harder cause the easy hoof-it-to-Shearer option no longer exists. Also read in the Journal that Cort expects to be back for Spurs.

-- Anonymous, December 02, 2000

Two weeks out looks like wishfull thinking, Latest is it's likey to be over a month. Both Cort and Shearer could make a return in the 3rd round of the FA cup.

It's been revealed that Alan Shearer has tendonitis and may well be out of action for the whole of December. Hopefully he could return in a FORTNIGHT to face Bradford at home but it is likely that he will miss the Xmas games against, Derby, Leeds , Man U and Spurs. Indeed his first game back could well be in the FA cup third round on January 6th. It is unlikely that Robson will be given the funds to bring in another striker . Especially as with the funds available all Newcastle could hope for would be a player of Cordone's ability. It is much more likely that Ameobi and Coppinger will come in for the injured Shearer. There are even suggestions that Michael Chopra could come into the frame.

Another blow to Bobby Robson will be the fact that Alain Goma , who he had hoped to sell will also be out for atleast 3 weeks with a re - occurrence of his calf injury. The pressure will now be on Freddie Shepherd to find the funds for another Central defender, with Sun Jihai the likely target, although Coventrys out of favour Colin Hendrys name has been mentioned in recent days. A move for Hendry would probably be preferred by the Newcastle board who see Hughes and Caldwell as the long term Newcastle central partnership aided by Nicos Dabizas who could return in February. The last thing they want is another foreign mercenary coming in on a long term contract who they can't dispose of if he should fail. A short term fix such as the ageing Hendry would be a much better proposition.

A left sided midfielder is also a must. Stephen Glass just dosen't seem to fit in with Bobby Robson's plans and there are suggestions that Lee Clarke could make a return to United.

-- Anonymous, December 02, 2000

Hi Rik, is this in italics for a reason? Is it a quote?

Hughes/Caldwell? Chopra?

-- Anonymous, December 02, 2000

Hey Yomper! How's it hangin'? I reckon it must be a quote - there's nee spoolin' mistooks so it can't be original. Now we'll see what ythe club is made of if Shearer is out for 4 weeks. Why the hell wasn't he rested earlier???

-- Anonymous, December 02, 2000

He may not have admitted there was a real problem, you know what a bull headed bugger he sounds like. Anyway, I'm a fan but it could be time to blood some youth - and don't forget what happened to ManUre when old HiKarate Cantonaaaaaaaahhh!!!! left. Cole blossomed (annoyingly as prior to that I thought he'd been a great bit of biz, don't gloat LR, it's sunday...). Perhaps a change of playing style might do us some good.

-- Anonymous, December 02, 2000

Hendry would be a good stopgap, much like Gallagher (who has been excellent when he has played). We have Hughes, Beharral, Dabizas and possibly Goma if he is keen. It would be silly to shell out millions due to an extreme run of bad luck due to injury. Unless, of course, the sale of any of the above is planned. It would be nice to see Marcia back in the frame as well. (That's a metaphor - I wasn't on about a Zimmer frame)

And I haven't even mentioned the amazing Bartinho - Is it a Right Back?, Is it a Left Back? Is it a Central Defender? The man who can leap tall buildings in a single bound, can stand in for any of the above mentioned personnel, with gusto (always assuming that the opposition aren't carrying Kryptonite).

On the striker front, IF the big target man is sought then a similar short term solution could be considered. A guy nearer the end of his career than the beginning who would cost an appropriate amount - a sort of Brian Deane type figure, say, Sir Les, Dion (HE'S BEHIND YOU!) Dublin - there must be others of this ilk, there's no knowing if these 2 are available. A short term solution would be appropriate IF the likes of Ameobi/Chopra/Coppinger are thought to be capable of making the grade.

Too many imponderables for me. Bobby has the all the information and hopefully all the answers.

-- Anonymous, December 02, 2000

Hi there Jonno, I have to say that I do wonder if the reserves are not good enough for first team football the why do we have them? Play the younger strikers, see how they get on. The exception to this would be Hendry as I think an old head alongside Caldwell would be good. Having said that, I wouldn't mind seeing both Calwells together for psychological reasons it would be something.

-- Anonymous, December 02, 2000

Hi TM - Good to hear from you.

>>>> I do wonder if the reserves are not good enough for first team football the why do we have them?

Now there's a novel idea TM .... :-)

-- Anonymous, December 02, 2000

I take it that its knee tendonitis Shearer is suffering from?? Thats wat he had at the end of last season+into Euro 2000????

No worries- he cud do with a rest+hopefully only positive things will come from giving other strikers experience in the PL. Unfortunately i cant see Cordone becoming anything apart from a supersub- hes looked good a few times when hes come on late but his lack of breaking into anything reminiscent of running and his lack of awareness of team mates does not bode well ;-( LuaX2 Im convinced will come good for us!!

-- Anonymous, December 02, 2000

Hasn't Shearer also been playing with an injury,lately?

What a class, responsible, team working attitude, very impressive. My sincere respect Mr Shearer. What guts, leadership, self esteem, bravery, selflessness.

My respect also goes to Barton, Lee, Given and Solano 100%ers with talent, the blend you need to win things.

Are you reading Goma, Cort and Marcelino - you feckin tarts.

P.S. Marce(Sid the sexist)lino FUCK OFF

-- Anonymous, December 02, 2000

Sure it's brave of Shearer to keep playing through the pain. He will always do that if given the chance. I'm just upset that he was given the chance and is going to be out longer as a result. Reports that he was having trouble moving normally last Saturday should have alerted the staff to strap him to the treatment table if that's what it took to keep him from trying to play. 30yr old bodies don't bounce back as quickly as 20yr old ones, much as the mind wants to say otherwise. Still it is a good chance for the younger ones like Coppinger and Ameobi. Step up and show us what you can do boys!

-- Anonymous, December 02, 2000

The misuse of such a valuable asset as Alan, by both Club and country makes me sick. This all started in the summer with England sticking needles in his knee to get to play in a series of meaningless friendlies before the Euro2000 games.
He didn't play in the pre-season games because of the same problem. However, rather than protect our only decent, fit striker by resting him from the five Worthless Cup games, he's played in every one of them - including Wednesday's game when he clearly wasn't fit, and after being clearly unfit in the PL game only three days earlier.
And don't give me all that cr@p about him being a surly bugger who insists on playing.

According to the normally unreliable Sunday Sun, he's seeing an orthopaedic surgeon on Monday about a possible operation on his knee, so we now face a repeat of the farcical period under TSM when we went for many weeks without a single recognised front-line stiker.
What a buggars muddle (again)!!

BTW, The S/Sun also reckon Goma has torn his calf muscle, and that he also faces a lengthy spell out. Despite the criticism levelled at him, it looks like Goma was actually correct in assessing the state of his calf injury, and the Club's medical advisors wrong, yet again.

-- Anonymous, December 03, 2000

I am abolsutely f....g furious about this. A back injury , an ankle injuury and a knee injury and we are letting him get battered weekly by fecking great big thugs. Oh, and giving him CORTISONE injections. Jesus, he'll be lucky to walk in middle age let alone manage a football club. What are we playing at? We can also give up the pretence of being ambitious - we played with no proper forwards on Saturday. It's normally the likes of Coventry and Leicester who end up playing Matt Elliott up front when injury strikes.

-- Anonymous, December 04, 2000

It has to be tim eto give Ameobi, Lua-Lua and Coppinger a chance up front. They know their game and at least they know how to put the ball in the back of the net. Lua-Lua's pace and trickery could give the ageing Arse defence a problem.

What was Cordone like when he went onto the left wing on Saturday? When he first arrived there was some speculation that he would be the answer to the left wing problem, seems to be able to cross a ball pretty well.

-- Anonymous, December 04, 2000

I think it is time to give the young 'uns a chance. Who knows what they will be able to do given some good service. Copps and Amoebi (?) up front maybe. It's not as if they would be going in without any knowledge. These lads play in the reserves every week, the reserves are full of players a) trying to get some first team action b) first team players coming back from injury. Not such a sub standard level. These kids have nothing to loose in gettin' stuck in and showing a lack of respect to senior professionals. Ameobi shocked the hell out of dennis wise when he played against him. They should go out there and ruffle some feathers. I remember a certain seventeen year old scoring a hatrick on his debut.

-- Anonymous, December 04, 2000

Does anyone know whether the knee that is presently troubling AS is the same knee on which he had the cruciate ligament reconstruction?

The thing that is reallytroubling me is that this "tendonitis" problem might be a problem associated with the cruciate repair. If so, this could prove to be a really major, potentially career-threatening, problem.

Someone please tell me it's the other knee!!

-- Anonymous, December 05, 2000

That crossed my mind, too, Clarky. Not to be too materialistic about it as I'd prefer Al to the money but how much is he insured for and is his dodgy knee covered?

-- Anonymous, December 05, 2000

No real idea Dougal. The insured value could be based on either "replacement cost" or Balance Sheet 'value'.

As I understand it, the original "cost" (ie transfer fee) is depreciated over the life of the players's contract - so the Balance Sheet value will diminish year on year accordingly.

Al's been with us for about 4 years, so if the insurance value is based on the Balance Sheet value, it may not be very much, say £3-4 million. However, if it's based on replacement cost - which would be far more sensible, if far more costly - then he could be insured for say £10-15million.

Actually, this is a totally unhelpful analysis, a complete waste of my time producing it, and yours in reading it ...........................!!!

-- Anonymous, December 05, 2000

What, exactly, is tendon-din-itis ? Is it a damage thing or an inflammation thing ?

-- Anonymous, December 05, 2000

At your service:

Achilles tendonitis is a painful and often debilitating inflammation of the Achilles tendon, also called the heel cord. This large tendon is an extension of the two calf muscles; it runs down the back of the lower leg and attaches to the heel bone or calcaneus. Because it directly connects the strong leg muscles to the foot, the Achilles tendon gives us the ability to rise up on our toes, facilitating the movement that initiates the act of walking.

Et voila

-- Anonymous, December 05, 2000

I thought Shearer's case was related to the tendons in the knee?

-- Anonymous, December 05, 2000

MAGPIES DENY SHEARER SURGERY

Newcastle United have dismissed reports that skipper Alan Shearer is to undergo an exploratory operation on his knee injury. It was claimed that Shearer was booked in to have keyhole surgery after a recurrence of the bout of tendonitis which hampered him during England's Euro 2000 campaign and kept him out of his club's 1- 1 draw at Aston Villa on Saturday. The 30-year-old former England international was due to have a scan on the knee today to assess the extent of the problem, but the club vehemently denied that he is to have an operation which could sideline him for up to a month. "Alan is undergoing a scan today and it has been falsely reported that he is having keyhole surgery," said a club spokesman. "He is having a scan and the injury will be monitored daily after that." Shearer himself is determined not to miss a single game if at all possible, and having spent more time than he would have liked on the operating table during his career, he will be desperate to avoid another lay-off, albeit a much shorter one than those which have previously sidelined him. He has battled on for several weeks with the problem, as well as back and hamstring strains, and that has clearly limited him. Manager Bobby Robson would ideally like to rest one of his key players to allow the problem to solve itself, but with Carl Cort and Kevin Gallacher both on the casualty list, he has few options. Argentinian Daniel Cordone and Kieron Dyer were handed the task of leading the attack at Villa Park, and while Robson admires both men, they do not have the physical attributes and talismanic stature of Shearer. With the Newcastle board reluctant to release further cash as the future of the transfer market comes under scrutiny, the manager is likely to have to make do with what he has, and he will be keeping his fingers crossed that his captain, whose absence at the weekend was his first under Robson, will be given a clean bill of health.

-- Anonymous, December 05, 2000

Thankyou SD. Sounds to me like it's something he'll never be shot of. Welcome to the ranks of the physically doddering, Mr Shearer.

-- Anonymous, December 05, 2000

What the hell is up with Gallagher anyway? He's another one who never seems to be available when he's needed.

-- Anonymous, December 05, 2000

Just what we don't want to hear, from FAPremier.com tonight

SHEARER'S 12-WEEK ABSENCE FEAR

Newcastle ace Alan Shearer could be out for 12 weeks if a steroid injection in his damaged knee fails to clear up tendinitis.

The former England captain sees a specialist on Tuesday after missing Newcastle's last two games - including their 5-0 hammering at Arsenal - and manager Bobby Robson said: "If the injection doesn't clear it up he'll need either a long rest, or an operation.

"He's had two such injections already, the last one after the European Championships and although he missed pre-season training we were hopeful it had done the trick again. But the problem has flared up again and he can't keep going on like that. He's no better than he was last week.

"The specialist will put the steroid in again on Tuesday and we'll see if it clears things up. But if it flares again it will be the last time he'll have the injection. If he has to have surgery it will mean 12 weeks before he's playing again, but we've got to do the right thing."

-- Anonymous, December 09, 2000

Hmmm.....sounds like the injection would only be a temporary fix anyhow and we could be destined to lose him later in the season if not forever. Maybe better to have the op now and get it over with. At least there'd be some chance of him getting back by April to finish out the season.

-- Anonymous, December 09, 2000

despite yesterday's result i think this will be a good thing in the long run. It's about time we got over this 'one man team' insecurity complex that the players seem to have. It's also about time the 'more experienced professionals' got their act together and started looking over their shoulders and helping each and every younger player at the club instead of picking up their weekly wage and swanning off to play golf with each other every sunday. Something is rotten in the of Newcastle United. Barton's 'guts or glory' routine doesn't convince me. Neither does Gary Speed's 'we'll be alright' attitude. Shearer should start realising that he's not superhuman and untouchable and those who want away should find themselves clubs asap. As Buff said in another thread: Rob Lee, thanks but you're only to be used sparingly. The youngster's don't seem to be getting the support they need: in inspiration, advice, tactics or technique. Why? We love this club and we're not stupid - we know who's 'up for it' and who isn't. Stand up and be counted each and every one.

-- Anonymous, December 10, 2000

Thing is those who are consistently up for it are the likes of Lee, Speed, Barton. Plus the younger players like Hughes, Griffin, Caldwell, LuaLua. Problem is Hughes is probably the only one of the lot showing consistently good form. The other youngsters need time and experience. The experienced ones can no longer carry the team on their own, much as their hearts may be in it.

We know Marcelino, Goma and Domi want away. Sell. Who knows what's going on with Glass. If he's not considered good enough to hold down a starting spot consistently, get rid. Not sure what to do about Dyer. He's got the talent when he can be @rsed to show it, or when able to show it. My feeling is if we get a high enough offer for him, he should go too. Dyer for a fit Bridges? Yes, please. It seems like Dyer is a luxury player we just can't afford right now. UNLESS he changes his attitude and starts battling alongside his teammates. Consistently. Or we miraculously come up with a team built around his talents.

The most frustrating thing is not knowing who's fit from week to week to try to pick a team from. It wouldn't surprise me if we do see the tea lady running out before the season is over. ;-)

-- Anonymous, December 10, 2000

Ciara, if Aggie the tea lady runs out, it will be interesting to note if both Clarky and Screacherman have her in their GMT Team Pick !!!

-- Anonymous, December 10, 2000

Too subtle for me Buff - I'm just a thick Geordie, man!

-- Anonymous, December 10, 2000

Ssshhhh, Buff. Screacher's probably run off to phone Bobby about it already! ;-)

-- Anonymous, December 10, 2000