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‘Negativity’, ‘lumping the ball up’: Alan Shearer previously tore into reported Newcastle managerial target
A manager reportedly on the radar of Newcastle United was previously slated by Magpies legend Alan Shearer during his time coaching in England.
that Newcastle have shortlisted Andre Villas-Boas for the role of head coach at St James’ Park.
The 42-year-old has previously managed both Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea, clocking up 120 matches as a manager in English football.
Villas-Boas’ time in the Premier League wasn’t exactly the most fruitful but he had done well at Porto before arriving on these shores and has since done well in France and Russia.
After winning a league title with Zenit Saint Petersburg and a brief spell in charge of Chinese Super League side Shanghai SIPG, Villas-Boas is currently impressing in the dugout at Marseille.
With Newcastle on the brink of a potentially very lucrative takeover, the rumour mill has gone into overdrive in terms of potential Tyneside targets.
Were Villas-Boas to join, he’ll hopefully have come a long way from displays such as Tottenham’s disappointing with Norwich in September 2012, which yielded their worst start to a season for four years.
“A Spurs team that played with so much width and imagination last season just seemed to be lumping the ball up to Jermain Defoe,” Shearer wrote in The Sun, as quoted by . “And he’s no target man.
“If you are going to do that you surely play Emmanuel Adebayor – not start with him on the bench. Last season we were thrilled by Gareth Bale rampaging down the wing.
“Yet on Saturday both he and Aaron Lennon on the opposite flank were starved of the ball… there seemed to be a negativity which Spurs fans never experienced under Harry Redknapp.”
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Villas-Boas may not have impressed in the Premier League, but since then he has done superbly at Zenit and Marseille, whilst having done just as well at Porto, so several years on from his fruitless stints in England, he is now more experienced, wise, and successful.
Would he be a good fit for Newcastle? As a tactician and strong man-manager, not to mention his high profile, he would certainly be a good shout for the taking the reins of a Magpies side with a huge budget and gunning for the upper echelons of the league and, further down the line, Europe.
But with the likes of Mauricio Pochettino, Rafael Benitez, Lucien Favre and Massimiliano Allegri also believed to be in the running, not to mention Bruce is very much still in the dugout so there’s that bridge to have to cross first, the Newcastle managerial saga will surely rumble on for a while longer.