The shadow of Shearer... he'll take the Newcastle job one day, but when?

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For the first time in his life, the former Newcastle captain has been able to say what he likes. Unguarded and honest, Shearer has even been accused by Newcastle supporters of being a closet Sunderland fan.

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Why would Shearer want to give up the comfort and warmth of the BBC studios to manage his troubled club? Alan Shearer will be manager of Newcastle United one day. Just not yet. He's not ready and neither is the club.

If owner Mike Ashley is looking to deliver a manager who can genuinely excite Newcastle supporters again and raise the euphoria levels, he need look no further than the talismanic club record goalscorer.

If one figure cost Sam Allardyce his job, it was not the £27million which appears to have been squandered in the transfer market. It was the 49,948 attendance for Birmingham's visit before Christmas.

St James' Park is supposed to be full every Saturday, but home fans were voting with their feet and finding alternative entertainment. No one told Ashley that would happen.

The appointment of Shearer would probably fill St James' for Press conference day and guarantee sell-out crowds for years. It would also raise the spirits of one or two lost souls in the dressing room, particularly among those who played alongside him.

But while Ashley is not an experienced football man, he is not daft. He would not hand control of one of his sports firms to an undergraduate who would not get past the interview stage on The Apprentice. And he will not do the same with his football club.

He knows, once the euphoria has died down, Shearer would face the same monumental problems which have proved insurmountable for eight managers in 12 years. Problems which look a lot easier to fix from a TV studio.

If eight men with varying levels of experience and appeal could not cope with Geordie expectations over the last decade or so, what chance a manager in his first post?

Shearer knows all this. He played under all of those managers, with the exception of Allardyce, and he enjoyed, endured, nurtured and gave up on personal relationships with them for the sake of his club. And he scored goals for them along the way.

The Toon Army adored him for it and they bought the No 9 shirt in their thousands to prove it. But Shearer has not gained his full coaching qualifications for top flight management yet and he wants those before he is ready to step up to the front line.

He also knows his relationship with his adoring Tyneside public changes the moment he plants his behind on the manager's chair.

He only has to ask old friend Gareth Southgate how quickly the North East public can turn once a game or two has been lost and a few passes have gone astray. There is no sympathy even if you have worn the captain's armband with pride and distinction for their club.

Shearer's entire working life has been methodical and considered, even down to the lucrative Beeb contract and the testimonial game in front of a sell-out crowd.

The opponents, the kick-off with his knee in a brace, the winning penalty, the farewell with his family and the post-match interviews with Ant and Dec, all choreographed and perfect. These are memories he will not want to tarnish.

Ashley has rightly decided he needs a manager with years of Barclays Premier League experience, who is hungry to take on a big club, who can move them forward in his own style and with his own players, ignoring the ghost of Kevin Keegan and the shadow of Alan Shearer.

He has actually just sacked such a man, but then he did not appoint Allardyce in the first place and, consequently, unless he had won matches and won them with style, Allardyce was always under pressure and facing the exit.

The sad fact is, he could not do either.

This is the first major decision facing Ashley and chairman Chris Mort since their shock arrival in the summer. The Newcastle public expects. They just shouldn't expect Ashley and Mort to deliver Shearer. Not yet.