'I was part of Alan Shearer's Newcastle team that was relegated – this is who is to blame'
Alan Shearer took on his dream of managing Newcastle United in desperate circumstances during the 2008/09 season but ultimately suffered heartbreak as the Magpies were sent down to the Championship
A former Newcastle striker has defender Alan Shearer’s managerial stint which saw the club relegated for the first time ever.
The Magpies had just eight games to save their season when they appointed legendary forward Shearer as their caretaker manager in 2009. Shearer, the club’s record goal-scorer and long-time captain, faced a monumental challenge in keeping his boyhood team afloat as they sat third from bottom.
A 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa on the final day of the season would seal the Toon’s fate, leaving them devastated as they dropped to the Championship. But Danish forward Peter Lovenkrands, who signed that January, insists it was the players not turning up which led to relegation, rather than any incompetence on Shearer’s part.
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Lovenkrands exclusively told Ladbrokes Fanzone: “Alan Shearer is a special guy and a legend. It’s funny when I signed for Rangers, I was negotiating with Newcastle…Bobby Robson said I would be playing up-front with Shearer.
"I ended up going to Rangers so coming back and having Alan as my manager was quite a cool moment. Of course we were relegated at that time which was tough because I thought he was a good manager.
“He was a great guy to work under and as a footballer, he knew what it was like and had a great understanding on how to manage players. He was intimidating but that’s just because of the respect we had for him, not because he was trying to be that way.
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"People wanted to work hard and do well for him. We did try as hard as we could. We had a lot of injuries but I feel we should have survived that year.
“That relegation wasn’t down to Alan, but down to us on the pitch. There were games that we threw away when we should have got the points. That was the lowest point of my career. It was a hard pill to swallow and a horrible experience to be a part of.”
Shearer was not granted the managerial position by owner Mike Ashley at the end of the season, having obtained just five points out of a possible 24. He was succeeded by Chris Hughton, under whom Lovenkrands scored 13 league goals to earn promotion back to the Premier League the following season.
The Dane added: “It was incredible how we dominated the Championship and bounced back straight up. I have to say though, the fans handled the situation really well. I was very worried about how they would react to me in the streets and stuff like that but I never heard anything but supportive comments. I didn’t expect that.
“I am not surprised he [Shearer] didn’t stay in management because I see how good he is as a pundit and I love listening to him and Ian Wright and others. You see how well he speaks, and he is excellent at what he does. Selfishly, I would rather have him doing the commentary as opposed to managing.”