Shearer Better Than The Chronicle Makes Out
Asked if he had score a better goal in his career, he said "yes", and was a little lost for words when asked when and where.
Asked the same question by the Chronicle he said: "I don't know. Maybe? It was only my second attempt at scoring all afternoon and I was very happy that the ball went into the net."
But perhaps the newspaper was a little short of the mark when they reported: "Comparisons with Shearer, who scored a club record 206 goals in his 10 years at St James' Park, are inevitable, if a little unfair.
"The £15million man was already an established top-flight hitman when he took on the mantle of Jackie Milburn and Malcolm Macdonald, and did not have to adapt to a different style of football.
"His physicality made him a natural target man and although he was not blessed with blistering pace, his vision allowed him to find space in the box.
"Martins is diminutive by comparison, and while he possesses an astonishing leap and is adept in the air, it is his speed across the ground which is perhaps his main asset."
Shearer arrived at Newcastle WITH blistering pace, and you only have to look at the goals he scored AGAINST Newcastle in his early days, to see how easy he found it to leave defenders chasing his heels.
Shearer always said "I'm not a target man, I feed off those who are, that is my strength". And we saw that when he worked with Les Ferdinand and Duncan Ferguson.
It was that horror injury against Chelsea at Goodison Park in a pre-season friendly that ruined his pace, and I cannot name any other player who had to change his own game, with such success ... as Alan Shearer.
