Lifelong fan and Newcastle legend Alan Shearer has been confirmed as manager for the final 8 Premiership matches as the man who scored 206 goals in 404 appearances tries to save the north east club from Relegation.

Via FIFA

Explaining how he got the job, ex-England striker Shearer, speaking after Newcastle announced his appointment, said: “I got a call over the weekend off Derek Llambias [managing director] and Mike Ashley [owner] and I went round for a chat.

“They kindly asked if I would take charge for the remaining eight games and I asked for a little time to think and spoke to a few people,” said Shearer. “It’s a club I love and I, just like many thousands of people, desperately don’t want the club to go down and I will do everything I can to try to prevent that.

“I believe I can help it, along with the players. There is a nucleus here that can get this club out of trouble,” he said. “They are very good players lacking confidence and it’s up to me and the staff to get the best out of them.”

Shearer, who has completed all but one of his coaching badges and is still to gain his FIFA Pro Licence, has brought in former Southampton team-mate and ex-Queens Park Rangers’ manager Iain Dowie to assist him and will hold his first training session soon. He insisted he was just concentrating on the short-term goal of securing Newcastle’s top-flight status: “This is for an eight-game spell, I’m looking no further than that,” Shearer said.

“Joe Kinnear is in the job at the moment and recovering well from his operation. I’m here for eight games and eight games only and [I aim] to try to keep this team in the Premier League,” he added.

Shearer’s appointment was confirmed by Newcastle soon after they’d announced that executive director Dennis Wise had left the club. Former Chelsea and England midfielder Wise was reviled by fans for, as they saw it, forcing out popular manager Kevin Keegan in September in a row over transfer policy.

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