Loyalty is a rare thing in English football and although English football
often shows a lot more honesty that it's European counterparts, loyalty has
not been displayed in abundance since the inception of the Premiership. With
the Bosman ruling influencing almost every players decision from a year
before his contract runs out, the incentive to move to a club paying the
best wages is huge. Manchester United though stand out as a club where
loyalty is paramount, preached by the manager and practiced by the majority
of the players. But does loyalty necessarily result in silverware with the
club you are loyal to? Certainly there is much to compare & contrast about
the loyalty shown by two of the Premierships top players, Roy Keane and Alan
Shearer.
Both Keane and Shearer have moved between Premiership clubs in their
careers with transfer fees amounting to over £20M Considering these moves
were before the top Premiership clubs began paying the mega-bucks now
associated with Premiership football, their transfer fees were a sign of
their worth long term. Both have suffered cruciate ligament injuries that
kept them out for more than a year at a time but as per their winning
mentality both spent those long lonely hours in the gym that restored them
to the great powerhouses they are. On the field they've clashed on numerous
occasions, the most notable was when Keane threw a punch at Shearer in the
Autumn of 2001 as United of the Newcastle variety beat Manchester United
4-3. Internationally both have excelled for their respective countries.
Keane, a born leader captained Ireland to some of their best displays, such
as the win over Holland in September 2001. Shearer led the line for his
country in glorious wins such as that over England's "old enemy" Germany in
Euro2000. At the end of the 2001-02 season Sky Sports ran a poll among all
of the players who had played in the first ten seasons of the Premier
League. Each player was asked who he thought had been the Premierships best
player since it was formed in 1992. Roy Keane's vote went to Alan Shearer.
Alan Shearer voted for Roy Keane.
As a player Keane freely admits that he does not possess the skills
of Zinedine Zidane or the trickery of players like Figo or Giggs. As a young
player with Rockmount & Cobh in Co. Cork he realised that he had to work
harder at his game than other players who had skill in abundance. The hard
work brought him to the attention of Brian Clough at Nottingham Forest and
after making his debut at Anfield, Keane served Forest very well, playing in
an FA Cup final and a League Cup final, unfortunately losing both. As Forest
suffered relegation in 1993 Keane was quick to point out how he felt the
club had not being helped by some of the players on Forest's books. He
commented how many of the players laughed & joked in the showers 15 minutes
after defeat to Sheffield United, the game that condemned Forest to life in
division 1. As a winner, Keane could not understand this. Fortunately for
him, by now he was hot property and although Blackburn & Arsenal both
offered him more money than Manchester United did, he moved to United for
footballing reasons and that will to win. Six thousand pounds a week and the
promise of winning silverware was enough to make him sign on for life at Old
Trafford. United got a bargain at £3.75M.
Alan Shearer first came to prominence at Southampton where his
goalscoring record made him a top transfer target for a number of
Premiership clubs. Alex Ferguson tried to sign him but Shearer chose to join
Kenny Dalglish & Blackburn Rovers in the summer of 1992. In his first season
Shearer showed why Blackburn had paid £3.3M to secure his services. Fifteen
goals in his first fourteen Premiership games was sheer class, but it would
be two seasons before Shearer would win his one & only Premiership medal of
his career. Blackburn did press United hard for the 1994 championship, at
one stage being 16 points behind, before cutting the gap to an uneasy margin
but United ran out double winners in the end. In 1995 though it was a
different story and after forging a lethal partnership with Chris Sutton,
Blackburn were crowned champions. A disappointing season in Europe followed,
and by the summer of 1996 Shearer was ready to leave Ewood Park. But what
club would be hanging his shirt on their home dressing room pegs the year
after?
Kevin Keegan is not noted for his brilliant signings and some of his
transfers were questionable to say the least. Selling 23 year old Andy Cole
and later buying 28 year old Les Ferdinand did not smack of wisdom, but the
capture of Shearer must go down as his greatest ever transfer. Newcastle
United has lost a massive lead in the 1996 title race & eventually lost to
Ferguson & United. Keegan decided to act as though he meant business and
although he paid a world record £15M for Shearer, few will argue as to the
players worth. The local lad was going home to his beloved following, but it
did not start as planned. Manchester United crushed Newcastle 4-0 in the
Charity shield and Shearer and Ferdinand struggled to adapt to their new
partnership. By the time the two sides met again in the Premiership, things
could not have been more different. Every Manchester United fan will
remember Shearer scoring in that 5-0 defeat and running towards the United
fans, goading them with an unfamiliar celebration. Shearer had the
opportunity to join United but decided to go home. At that point it was
looking a very wise decision.
Maybe in that 96/97 season the comparisons between Keane & Shearer
began to turn into contrasts. Ferguson led United to another title and Keane
won his third Premiership medal to go along with his two FA Cup medals.
Newcastle finished second and made it into the expanded Champions League.
The following season both sides ended up as runners up to Arsenal - United
in the Premiership and Newcastle United in the FA Cup. Newcastle seemed to
go from manager to manager with Keegan, Dalglish & Gullitt all trying their
hand at turning the Toon army into World beaters. While Ferguson was urging
Keane on in his re-habilitation that would see him spearhead a treble
campaign, Shearer was at war with Gullitt. As the two failed to get on,
inevitably Shearer was dropped. In turn this led to Newcastle sacking
Gullitt. When Manchester United met Newcastle in the 1999 FA Cup final, the
contrast between Keane & Shearer was at its most evident. Keane the player
who had decided to stay with United rather than take the lure of the lira or
pesetas that were on offer, led his side up the winners steps. Shearer led
the polite applause as Keane lifted the cup aloft.
In the years since then, Keane has gone on to greater glory while
the same problems have dogged Shearer's Newcastle career. Keane led United
to a 3-in-a-row of Premiership titles in 2001 along with another FA Cup in
2004. Shearer has played under another 2 managers since then at Newcastle -
Bobby Robson and Graeme Souness. After losing out to Arsenal in 2002 United
returned to their spot as champions in 2003 with Keane pivotal to that
success. In international terms, Shearer retired from the England set up
after Euro2000 aged just 30. Keane set his sights on the 2002 World Cup in
Japan & Korea, but never kicked a ball there after falling out with Mick
McCarthy. Since he moved to Blackburn, Alan Shearer has played for more than
ten different Managers at club & international level. Since he moved to
England, Roy Keane has played for just five, two at club level and three at
International level. Having worked with two of English football's greatest
Managers, one wonders did Keane have a huge advantage over Shearer in this
respect? Certainly the only Managers from Shearer's career that could even
think of being genuine rivals to Clough & Ferguson would be Dalglish & Bobby
Robson.
It could have all been so different for Alan Shearer's career had he
chosen Manchester United was back in the summer of 1992. Prior to that
Manchester United were crying out for a talisman, a player who could
guarantee 20 league goals a season, the genuine article in the finishing
stakes. Since then, Manchester United fans have been thrilled with the
legendary Cantona, Andy Cole, Dwight Yorke and the brilliant Ruud Van
Nistelrooy. And there's one player that may never have ended up at Old
Trafford had Ferguson landed Shearer in 1996. A player that cost a tenth of
Shearer's Newcastle fee, who was plucked from Norway and was top scorer in
his first season at United. A player who scored the winning goal on arguably
Ferguson & United's greatest night of all: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Keane and Shearer at this point are probably the two greatest
players seen in the Premiership in terms of their consistency year after
year. Shearer chose to show loyalty to his hometown club and one has to
admire that. Keane's loyalty to United has been unquestionable. Currently in
his twelfth season at Old Trafford the return on the investment in him mocks
the transfer fee paid for him. One wonders what Shearer, Keane & United
could have achieved together. Shearer's desire for goals blended with
Keane's hunger for success would have been a mouth-watering prospect. It's
just a pity, from Shearer's perspective at least, that for these 2 loyal
servants to Newcastle United & Manchester United, that the silverware all
went down the same route. Within the next two to three seasons Roy Keane
will retire with a glittering array of medals. This summer, Alan Shearer
intends to call full time on his career. He has one medal from a career in
which he gave so much. Manchester United fans will have little sympathy.
