Alan Shearer has always been his own man, yet as he embarks on the biggest challenge of his football career, he will borrow the methods of two England managers to in an effort to save Newcastle from relegation.

The 38-year-old former England striker will be named as the new boss at St James' Park today and take over a team who are struggling for both form and confidence.

Geordie Shearer, who scored 148 goals in 303 league appearances for his local team, will have to call upon all his experience for both club and country if he is to rescue Newcastle, who are currently third bottom of the Premier League and two points from safety.

Shearer is taking his UEFA pro-licence but believes the man-management demonstrated by current England boss Fabio Capello and Terry Venables, who led his country to the semi-finals of Euro 96, are the key to him succeeding on Tyneside.

Shearer believes Capello has worked wonders for the national team, in particular with the way he has finally found the key to unlock Wayne Rooney's genius for England - just as Venables once did for him.

Shearer famously went into Euro 96 on a run of no goals in 12 games for his country, a run that spanned almost two years.

But a quiet word from Venables transformed his England career and saw him finish the tournament as top scorer.

Now history is repeating itself as Manchester United frontman Rooney, who went an incredible 40 months and 22 games without scoring a competitive goal for England after Euro 2004, faces Ukraine tonight on a run of seven goals in his last four internationals - five of them in World Cup qualifiers.

Capello's high-discipline regime and inspirational management have clearly been part of the solution and Shearer sees similarities between Don Fabio and El Tel - even if it's hard to spot on the surface. Speaking before the news broke that he was taking over on Tyneside, Shearer said: "Looking from the outside it looks like two totally different characters.

"But it just shows there's no right and no wrong way because he's clearly made a big impact, especially on Wayne Rooney.

"Terry was a great, great coach and I don't think you'll find many people with a bad word to say about his ability to get the best out of players.

"Fabio looks as though he has the same talent even though he does it his way, with fear and respect because of what he's achieved. And, of course, because he's not afraid to leave anyone out.

"Terry had it because he was a great man-manager, he got on with the players and they wanted to play for him. It's probably two totally different combinations but similar ways in the end."

One only has to glance at the statistics to see that Capello's way is working for Rooney, who wins his 50th cap for his country tonight.

Certainly under Capello the striker has played more often in his favoured free role but Shearer believes good management and genuine talent is the real key.

"I know more than anyone what man-management can do for you," he said. "Just before the Euro 96 tournament I hadn't scored for 12 games and everyone was asking why I was in the team.

"But about a month before the tournament Terry said to me: 'You will be starting in Euro 96, you will be my No1 centre forward and the rest is up to you'.

"I just thought that was fantastic. Terry knew he would get something extra from me by doing that.

"After what he said to me, at a time when I was struggling for confidence, I could say to myself: 'Hang on, this guy has real belief in me'.

"It made me grow an extra inch or two. I was thinking: 'He believes in me and I don't want to let this bloke down here'. And it worked."

Only Rooney knows if Capello has used similar tactics but Shearer is backing the Italian to get to the heart of what makes Rooney tick.

He added: "Look, he's won trophies so he's obviously very good at what he does. He's obviously a very good coach and very good at working with his players.

"He knows Wayne is a key player for England and a special talent. He's been criticised in the past for not scoring as many goals as he should but he's doing that now - and he also brings workrate, he brings commitment, he brings assists.

"He was always going to score goals for England because he is too good a player not to. Fabio has seen that - and, to be honest, he has not only helped Wayne, he has helped the rest of the England team too."

Rooney has always been a goal threat for his club, of course, so perhaps Capello's secret has been to create familiar tactics for his star striker. But Shearer is wary of such a comparison.

"I don't like trying to compare England with United because they do things a totally different way," he said.

"With United, Wayne can do virtually anything he wants along that front line but with England he has to be more regimented.

"He has more freedom at United because they have Ronaldo, they have Tevez, they have Berbatov. And all those three can play on the right, left or through the middle. We haven't got that mix with England but Fabio is getting the best from him all the same."

The only question now, of course, is can Capello guide Rooney and Co to long-overdue World Cup glory?

"So far he has done a really good job and if the players respect him - which I think they do - we can go a long way," said Shearer.

"If we can beat Ukraine we'll be nearly there - it would be five wins in a row and we've already sent out a dominant message with the results we've had. So I'd be amazed if we didn't qualify with the ability we've got in that team. Whether we can go on to win things is a different matter. But the signs are encouraging."

As for Rooney, he will complete a half-century of caps at the age of just 23 and, in current form, his potential seems almost boundless.

"It's great to see him get his 50th and who knows what he can go on to achieve," said Shearer. "To talk about him beating records is premature but nothing would surprise me because of the natural ability Wayne has.

"He can be a talisman for England."