Are there any Alan Shearers left?

[Andy Jaye]

I thought I'd take a run at this football blog stuff, but as I'm coming off the subs bench for a first ever run out then try to allow me some bedding in time before you reach for the red card pls.

I guess the thing that is bugging me most about the beautiful game at the moment is the players.
In light of Tony Adams and Big Phil both being handed their P45s in recent days it would be easy and tempting to lament the quickfire nature of some of these club owners. But in reality Adams has had the worst start in Pompey's history and Big Phil just wasn't playing football the way Roman likes and it is now well known that to keep that job there is only one man who needs to be kept happy. I'd love to wax lyrical about the merits of both of these football men and how the premiership will be less entertaining without them, but I suspect the papers will be running things like this in the coming days, so instead I'd like to get a few things off my chest about players!

I've been following football avidly for over 2 decades and even I can name huge numbers of players who used to love playing for their clubs. Those of us under 50 will have no doubt have had the lecture about how players from the good old days used to all be from the region they were playing for, along with the obvious reminders of local pride, how players used to be tougher etc etc. The reality these days is that football is massive business, even in this current economic climate Sky TV has seen retaining TV rites as a vital investment no matter how much it costs them. The fact is that footballers these days are a huge part of that money machine, and don't they know it.

Newcastle United fans were very aware that Alan Shearer was being rewarded very nicely for his service to their club. However, they were also aware that he 'loved' the club and no amount of money from Sir Alex or anyone else would lure him away. What I'm worried about today is that I can't really think of many more Alan Shearers left in the current premiership. Shay Given has proven that he has a price, I know he is top quality and supposedly 'deserves' a better level of football than he was getting at St James' (although Man City is very much a team in its infancy and can't win away from home), but if he really loved the club he would have accepted the mega bucks deal he was offered to stay (that would have kept him on professionally until he was 39 then an offer to join the coaching staff, a job for life)! I appreciate some will say he wants to win something, and I can understand that, but if you love a club and you see that your departure will damage it in a difficult time, surely the solution is to see out the season and help avoid the drop, then reassess? I've been pondering which players really 'love' the club they play for and I'm talking Premiership teams here, I know things are different when less skill/money is involved. I had thought that Kevin Nolan fell into the category of loving Bolton but seemingly it took him almost an entire 5 minutes when the Geordies came calling. Frank Lampard recently admitted to very seriously considering leaving the Bridge last summer. It will be interesting to see if Lampard and Terry are still playing for Chelsea next season, depending on the manager. I expect by now you are thinking of throwing Gerrard into the ring for this one. Admittedly Sir Alex recently said he knew he'd never be able to sign Stevie G, but I think that is more because he simply can't stand Man U. Gerrard is a loyal Liverpool lad, fulfilling his dream, maybe he is an Alan Shearer, but I still can't help wonder that even he has his price, after all, Owen left the mighty reds when Madrid picked up the phone.

I was horrified when I read at the weekend that Steve Bennett has had players asking him to book them so they can have time off. This proves just how much players are in it for themselves, not wearing the shirt with pride and honour. As a fan it has got me closely looking at every card my players pick up and any associated ramifications (namely do they get time out as a result), not a happy state of mind.

Perhaps modern football loyalty could happen between player and manager. Drogba is long expected to link up once more with Jose when the time is right, I suspect Wenger will always have a father-like hold over Henry and one or two others, and Big Sam seems to have a connection with El Hadge, a fine pair. The reality of all of this is that modern footballers, managers, and owners are transitory, thanks to money. We, the loyal fan, are the only constant in this faithful dream of ours, we're the ones who it will really affect if the team is relegated, or wins something, or beats the local rivals, because it is in our blood and in our breeding. And actually that's kinda hard to take, if my team do go down I can't just pick another team to support until they come back up, it just doesn't work like that. Football isn't our livelihood, but our passion. We don't support individuals; we support a badge, a strip, a region, fellow fans who share the highs and lows.
I'm a good fan, but sadly I don't get any reward for that. Peter Kenyon won't be picking up the phone asking me to come and support his club for a huge sign on fee and some foreign training camp when the schedule permits, Shame.

[Hedge]

I think I'd have to agree on majority but there are still a few players that are Shearer in essence - Ledley King, Jamie Carragher for example. You mention Terry and Lampard - they''ve been tempted away many a time but have stayed.... admittedly the crazy wage money was probably the deal breaker over loyalty though. Isn't the main reason for the situation that most of the top flight's players are not local? Spain, Egypt, Ireland, the united states..... All of these players play for the money, a lot play for the love of the game, but there are not that many who are playing for their locality.

[doctor_millhouse]

I am a Wycombe Wanderers fan and was unlucky enough to have seen Tony Adams' first spell in change of a real football team. He was dreadful. Managed to carefully negotiate us down into the bottom tier of professional football and we have still not yet made it back up again.

Pompey Fans... you have got off lightly....

[Andy Jaye]

Good points Hedge - I hear you when you say that the players not being local is probably the kicker. My beef really is that as a fan you want the best players to really want to play for you, and then you want them to love your club the way you do. But the sad reality is that when it comes to work, we all have a price - love however is something a little harder to attain!

I have read in many a red-top that Berbatov's 18th birthday present from his Mum was a Newcastle United top with Shearer on the back. But who does he play for now... Enough said.

Dr M, I must say that as a neutral I feel disappointed that Tony hasn't succeeded with Pompey. He seems like a genuinely decent man. I spoke to someone who played with him back in the day who told me he felt Tony's main problem as a manager is ''over communication'' - he talks for too long to his players and they switch off and don't get the point. Wenger famously only talks to the players for a maximum of 6 minutes each, as their concentration fails after that... maybe if Tony had spoken with more focus and in much shorter bursts he would still be in charge!