There is much to admire about Alan Shearer's career. A championship winner, all-time record goal scorer for Newcastle United and in the Premier League, captained his country with pride and led a squeaky clean, fence-creasoting type of life off the pitch.
Shearer could never be described as a media darling, but he certainly knows which side of the tracks to stay on. The nicey smiley banter from the Match of the Day studio has done little to alter this perception.
Almost like the lad at school that leaves the scene just before the teachers come, Shearer has managed to maintain the persona he always intended. Just the son of a sheet-metal worker from Gosforth.
But perhaps the fascination with this image has invariably hamstrung Shearer's achievements?
Amongst an array of commendable personal honours, there lies a solitary League Winners medal in his trophy cabinet. Claimed at the age of 24, following 3 seasons with unglamorous Blackburn Rovers where he ammassed 93 goals in 123 games.
The most prolific striker of our generation was easily Europe's most coveted striker, and another 37 goals in the 1995/96 season followed by 6 at Euro96 did not temper interest.
Juventus, Barcelona and Manchester United all entered the frame for his signature when time came to uproot from Lancashire, but his decision to return to his beloved hometown Newcastle came more from sentiment and family values, than from any self-centred desire for success.
True, Newcastle were on the crest of a wave. Kevin Keegan's side captured the imagination of the public with their foot loose and fancy free attacking football which led them to two consecutive top-six spots.
Shearer may have seen himself as the final piece in the jigsaw. The spearhead of a title charge, the local lad banging in the goals, lifting the trophy on the Town Hall steps infront of thousands of adoring Geordies.
But he's an intelligent bloke. You don't need to look back through many Rothman's year books to work out League Titles don't happen when you are managed by a tactically inept bottler with a dodgy defence.
He should have also twigged on that Newcastle's upsurge was due to Sir John Hall's generosity, and a strong fan base from the North-East and the North-East alone. Such credentials were never going to see them stave off the super-powers of Barcelona, Juventus and Manchester United.
Keegan came and went, so to did a variety of managers, new dawns, hollywood signings and inevitably any chances of tangiable success.
Shearer remained. Ignorance is bliss, and the loyalty to his club is one up for the purists, especially when he broke Jackie Milburn's goalscoring record infront of the Gallowgate.
However, boots hung-up, Shearer could not have been satisfied with what he reaped from his career, and in moments of solace he must wonder what he could have achieved had his path been trod elsewhere.
Like many, many footballers, an undoubted talent was not lavished with the glory of the silverware it deserved. Unlike many, many footballers, Shearer's chances were not ruined by injury, agents, commercialism or fame. His was composed and pre-meditated.
Ten seasons he donned the famous black and white striped shirt. Chances of another league championship diminished with each passing year.
Yet Shearer never sought pastures new, and a revived bid for honours.
Contentment prevailed over greed. An acceptance of fate.
And so now, Shearer the manager. Newcastle are on their knees. Relegation is somewhere between possibility and probability, with an unenviable set of fixtures, and Joe Kinnear laid up with a dicky ticker.
Only one man for the job, surely?
Except, where's Super Al been until now?
The job came up full time pre-season 2007. Having had a years sabbatical since retirement, the Geordie faithful cried out but Al said he wasn't ready.
Enter and exit Sam Allardyce and the managers seat is vacant once more, but Al reckons he still isn't up to the job so Mike Ashley gives the fans the next best thing: Kevin Keegan.
That ended in tears, and once again Al spurned the wishes of his idolising fans by distancing himself from the job. Still not ready one presumes.
So, following a Kinnear-Hughton combo of near disastrous consequences, Al is now ready take the reigns. Having honed his managerial skills via the Match of the Day studio, various golf courses, gala dinners and beach holidays, Shearer must now believe he possesses the necessary capabilities to steer a team away from what would be a near apocalyptic relegation.
Having declined the offer previously, what has made Shearer accept this time around? Not including the £100,000 per match?
Desperation. From all parties. Ashley, the fans and Shearer. He knows he could not shy away from the club in its hour of need. Despite his inexperience he is the only man capable of taking on the position at this time. The only man able to galvanise and unite when it matters most.
But could Shearer really not have stepped into the breach before this? Rode with the wind and seen how it went? Would Newcastle have been in any worse a position now had he taken over at any point before?
Old sparring partner Roy Keane wasn't afraid to have a go just down the road at Sunderland. Shearer's foe Ruud Gullit walked straight into management at Chelsea and led them to an FA Cup. The list is endless.
Yet with all the timing of a back post arrival, Shearer appears right on cue. White Horse moored in his parking bay. He knows even relegation would not tarnish his reputation.
Worse case, they go down and he starts afresh from the haven of the Championship.
If they stay up, he's even more reveered in those parts, giving him the power to dictate the club from top to bottom, on his terms, and more than likely, with a healthy transfer budget.
Either way, Shearer - the messiah - has managed to engineer himself another win-win situation where the sun always shines around Shearer Towers
If he can calculate tactics and substitutions as methodically as he has his career path, Newcastle are in safe hands.
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