Speaking to The Athletic, Alan Shearer has revealed that he was offered the chance to remain in football management with Cardiff City back in 2011.
This was two years on from his first stint in the dugout with Newcastle United – which ended in tears via relegation in 2009 – and he reveals here how talks with the Welsh side put him off a return to coaching.
Shearer explains how it was harder and harder to get back in the longer he was out, but admits that talks with Cardiff immediately made him aware just how much the goalposts could change in this industry – before he was even in the job!
Here’s what he told The Athletic in his debut interview after joining their ranks as a columnist:
“I got offered the Cardiff job (in 2011),”
“But every time I spoke to them, things had changed. I thought, ‘Jesus, I’m not even in the job yet and things keep changing.’
“There were one or two other opportunities, but the longer you’re out, the harder it is to get back in.
“I started to realise that maybe it wasn’t meant to be, so it became all about the punditry.”
So, it seems his bad experience at Newcastle, those frustrating talks at Cardiff and a few years out of the game ultimately put Shearer off – paving the way for his move into punditry via Match of the Day.
I can’t see him returning to management or coaching any time soon, sadly.
He’s a regular on Match of the Day and now writes for the BBC and The Athletic, giving him a route into football without the stress of getting results week in week out!
Follow us on Twitter (@NUFCBlogcouk) and on Facebook HERE
