God knows tonight is prob one of the biggest games at St James’ Park for a long time. According to the paper yesterday, Shearer has met with “Monday… Tuesday… Habib Beye”, Obafemi Martins and Mark Viduka to tell them they have a huge future in the remainder of the season, and lets hope little Micky Owen decides to put a decent shift in. I’m VERY nervous about tonight’s game
Manager Alan Shearer has conceded that Monday’s home showdown with Portsmouth is one of the biggest games of his Newcastle career.
The Magpies are 19th in the Premier League – four points from safety but with a game in hand on most rivals.
“It’s my biggest game for a long, long time. We all know the stakes, so we need three points. It sounds easy but it won’t be,” said the former striker.
“We all know the importance of it. Now we just need to go out and do it.”
In a 10-year playing career with hometown club Newcastle stretching from 1996 to 2006, Shearer played in two FA Cup finals, a Uefa Cup semi-final and numerous Champions League ties against the likes of Inter Milan and Barcelona.
His fourth game as manager is against a Portsmouth side who sit five places and seven points above them in 14th place and the 38-year-old has targeted the match as the first of three wins he believes the Magpies need to secure their safety.
“I think nine points could just be enough, looking at other teams’ fixtures,” he stated.
“I might be wrong but I’m asking the players to win their three home games, starting with Monday against Portsmouth.”
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