Shearer, the born-and-bred Newcastle fan who ended up scoring more goals than any other player for his hometown club.
That's the problem with Newcastle United: A self-styled 'massive' club with nothing but dust and cobwebs in their trophy cabinet.
When things go wrong, as they have a habit of doing at Newcastle, they tend to look within their ranks for one of their own -- somebody who bleeds black-and-white and Shearer is just the latest to fit that bill. Sir Bobby Robson and Keegan have both answered the call before being chewed up and spat out by the Geordie monster. Robson was actually sacked after guiding the club to fifth position in the Premier League in 2004. But if Shearer can lead Newcastle to fifth from bottom this season, he will quite rightly be regarded as a hero.
Newcastle and Ashley are relying on Shearer's presence alone to inspire them to safety, but the Premier League is too tough a league and there is too much money at stake for survival to be based simply on a man's aura. But that's what they go for at Newcastle and, until Frank Lampard scored for Chelsea eleven minutes into the second-half on Saturday, the dream of Shearer leading Newcastle to a first-day win was still alive.
Blinded by the hope of a Shearer miracle, the fans and Ashley must have forgotten that the same players who have played under two managers already this season and left the club marooned in the bottom three were the very same ones that Shearer had to call upon. They haven't been good enough for Keegan and they haven't been good enough for Joe Kinnear, who continues to recover from triple heart bypass surgery. So why should Shearer, a managerial novice with nothing but a glorious playing career to fall back on, do any better at motivating them?
Bolton manager Gary Megson, who played for Newcastle during the 1980s, admits, though, that the football rule-book is often turned on its head and replaced by sentimentalism at St James' Park.
"Doing this kind of thing hasn't always worked, but at Newcastle, it can do," he said. "The atmosphere that surrounds a club when it is not doing has dissipated at Newcastle now that Alan Shearer is there.
"Simply because of Alan's return, the glass will now be viewed as half-full rather than half-empty in Newcastle. It's a really big thing for them -- a fantastic thing -- because it will galvanise the whole area rather than just the club."
Sam Allardyce is another who knows too well what can happen at Newcastle. Sacked after just seven months in charge there last season, the Blackburn manager paid the price for not being 'one of us' at the club.
He also failed to deliver the cavalier football that Newcastle fans love. Allardyce's previously successful style of play was despised because they want stylish football first, results second at Newcastle. That kind of outlook is a recipe for footballing disaster, but that's Newcastle for you.
"Appointing Alan Shearer is a ploy to try to spur the club on to get out of trouble," Allardyce claims. "As the status of Alan at Newcastle is legendary, it will lift everybody at that football club.
"Alan will obviously be hoping his appointment does spur the players on to do better, but as a short-term fix, he has almost been brought in as a troubleshooter. ... It will be easier for him because of his status. The support from all at Newcastle will be 1,000% given their admiration for him."
But can it work and save Newcastle? The club now sit three points from safety and with a daunting trip to Stoke to look forward to next Saturday.
Trips to Tottenham, Liverpool and Aston Villa also look like ready-made defeats between now and the end of the season, so survival will rest on what Newcastle do against Stoke and in home games against Portsmouth, Middlesbrough and Fulham. To be sure of safety, Shearer must guide his players to at least four victories -- and Newcastle have so far managed just six from 31 league games all season.
Newcastle relegated? Unless they get their act together quickly, there will be no escape.
"We haven't got a lot of time, we know that." Shearer said after the Chelsea defeat. "But I think we will get there."
Only if you get your boots back on, Alan, get back on the pitch.
