SHEARER ADMITS TO BEING OFFERED CARDIFF JOB

In his column in The Sun newspaper Alan Shearer gives his view on Solskjaer taking the Cardiff City job and how he was offered the job himself but turned it down after certain things that were offered were taken away at the last minute.


OLE GUNNAR SOLSKJAER got his Cardiff reign off to a dream start in the FA Cup this weekend.

But he would not have even been in the dugout at Newcastle had he listened to many in the game.

Former players and managers were lining up to urge Ole to give the Bluebirds job a wide berth.

But I was not one of them.

Yes, owner Vincent Tan is different — and that’s being polite.

If it is true he sent down tactics to Malky Mackay during games, then that is total madness.

And to appoint a work experience kid as head of recruitment, who then could not get a visa, is utterly bizarre.

But in a stupid sort of way, all the ridiculous goings-on have actually helped Ole, because the problems Malky faced were put out in the public domain.

Ole will have been astute enough to get all his questions answered and get his ducks in order before agreeing to take the job.

But what will really help him the most is that he is the owner’s No 1 choice.

He basically could have written his own rules because Cardiff wanted him that much.

And it means Ole actually now holds all the aces — more so than any other Premier League boss at this moment in time.

He is never ever going to be in a stronger position than he has been in the past week.

And, if the owner sticks to every promise, then I don’t envisage there being many problems. I had the opportunity to go to Cardiff under the previous owner before Malky.

But I chose not to because of things that were offered and then taken away at the last minute.

Despite that, I would have told Ole to take this job because it is such a great opportunity for him.

I don’t think it is a risk for him at all — he has come from managing Molde, who only finished sixth in the Norwegian League last season.

He wanted to move on to bigger and better things and he has now gone to a massive football club with a huge passionate fan base.

He is taking over a decent team with some good players.

And he has a wealthy owner behind him who looks like he is going to give him some money.

Likewise, I don’t think Ole is a risk at all for Cardiff.

He has a reputation of being this baby-faced guy but there is a mentally tough side to him as well.

I remember once playing against him at Old Trafford with Newcastle.

Rob Lee was through one-on-one with the goalkeeper and Ole was the first back and hacked him down and got sent off.

That tells you he is happy to take one for the team.

People say he has only managed in Norway but experience doesn’t guarantee you anything.

We have seen many experienced managers go into football clubs and mess things up.

I am actually really pleased that young guys like Ole and Tim Sherwood, my old Blackburn captain, have been given a chance in the Premier League. It doesn’t matter where you start out as a boss, it is all about your personality.

You can do all your coaching badges but they don’t teach you how to deal with a player who refuses to play or is late for training.

The part you need to get right is the man-management side of things and how you handle the different situations thrown at you.

I only did it for eight weeks but the more experienced guys will tell you exactly the same thing.

It is difficult to compare my spell as Newcastle manager with what Ole might face at Cardiff because, in fairness to my employer Mike Ashley, he never stuck his nose in at all. I spoke to Mike a couple of times before I got the job and then after we got relegated — and that was it.

But what I would say is, these guys are spending their own money on that particular club so they are entitled to have their say.

I do agree Malky was treated shabbily — but the new owner came in and he wasn’t his man.

And when you enter the crazy world of management, I’m not sure you can have too many complaints.

Would Cardiff be in the Premier League were it not for Vincent Tan? Probably not.

There will always be players who come in and play football but to get in the Premier League you need to spend big dough. People ask what Ole needs to do to maintain a healthy relationship with Tan.

The answer is very simple — he needs to win games, just like he did at St James’ Park on Saturday.

He needs to keep them in the Premier League and, with the money he has been promised, I think he will.

The one thing I would warn Ole about, however, is that he had better hope another owner doesn’t take over in a year’s time because he might then suffer the same fate as Malky.

But if he does then, hey, you’re the one who decided to enter the crazy world of management.

I wonder what he means

Does he mean now, or before Malky was offered the job, as our chairman has stated to the world's press at Ole's appointment "there was only ever one man in line for the job and he is sat here now"

Does he mean now, or before Malky was offered the job, as our chairman has stated to the world's press at Ole's appointment "there was only ever one man in line for the job and he is sat here now"

If you read the article he says it was before Malky under the previous owner.

Does he mean now, or before Malky was offered the job, as our chairman has stated to the world's press at Ole's appointment "there was only ever one man in line for the job and he is sat here now"

If you read the article he says it was before Malky under the previous owner.

My cock up

I wonder what he means

he means he was offered the job before MM. Pretty good read that to be fair

Thanks for posting Jules. Really good read and a much more insightful commentary from Shearer than I would have expected.

I had the opportunity to go to Cardiff under the previous owner before Malky.

But I chose not to because of things that were offered and then taken away at the last minute.

I have pulled this quote out so everyone is aware that Alan Shearer was offered the job BEFORE Malky got it.

I had the opportunity to go to Cardiff under the previous owner before Malky.

But I chose not to because of things that were offered and then taken away at the last minute.

I have pulled this quote out so everyone is aware that Alan Shearer was offered the job BEFORE Malky got it.

But Carl, the regular snipers said we were talking bollocks/rubbish and the real snipers mb said we lied

Good read, but he doesn't appear to realize that VT was pulling the strings when he was offered the job.

I had the opportunity to go to Cardiff under the previous owner before Malky.

But I chose not to because of things that were offered and then taken away at the last minute.

I have pulled this quote out so everyone is aware that Alan Shearer was offered the job BEFORE Malky got it.

But Carl, the regular snipers said we were talking bollocks/rubbish and the real snipers mb said we lied

Very true but I don't worry about what others say

I had the opportunity to go to Cardiff under the previous owner before Malky.

But I chose not to because of things that were offered and then taken away at the last minute.

I have pulled this quote out so everyone is aware that Alan Shearer was offered the job BEFORE Malky got it.

But Carl, the regular snipers said we were talking bollocks/rubbish and the real snipers mb said we lied

Very true but I don't worry about what others say

I'm sure he came out at the time and confirmed he had been in talks but decided not to take it.

I had the opportunity to go to Cardiff under the previous owner before Malky.

But I chose not to because of things that were offered and then taken away at the last minute.

I have pulled this quote out so everyone is aware that Alan Shearer was offered the job BEFORE Malky got it.

But Carl, the regular snipers said we were talking bollocks/rubbish and the real snipers mb said we lied

Very true but I don't worry about what others say

I'm sure he came out at the time and confirmed he had been in talks but decided not to take it.

Possibly did, no reason not to have.

Am I seeing right did he call us a massive club.