Throughout the summer Newcastle fans expected Ashley to bite the bullet and bring in Shearer, but the Toon owner even offered the job to Joe Kinnear on a THREE YEAR deal.
Former Southampton hero Matt Le Tissier revealed that Big Al was ready to turn his back on Toon and become Southampton boss.
Matt Le Tissier: "We spoke to Alan, Kevin, Ian Dowie and Gordon Strachan and not all were keen. Gordon wanted to rest after leaving Celtic.
"But Alan and Kevin were both keen and if we had succeeded in our bid who knows what would have happened?"