Alan Shearer admits Newcastle's crucial clash with Aston Villa is bigger than any cup final.
The 38-year-old will send his side out at Villa Park on Sunday knowing even victory may not be enough to keep them in the Barclays Premier League on what could be a dark day for his home-town club.
Shearer said: "It's bigger than a cup final, a hell of a lot bigger than a cup final."
"The question has been asked on four or five occasions over the last four or five games, 'Is this the biggest game of your career?', and I keep answering, 'Yes, because it's the next one'.
"But we know what's at stake, we know what's riding on it and I am pretty confident we can go there and give our great fans something to shout about, I really am."
A draw for Newcastle, coupled with defeat for Hull at home to Manchester United, would keep the Magpies in the top flight, and while Shearer is fully expecting more twists and turns, he is convinced they can survive.
He said: "I am totally convinced we will get out of it, yes, and I think more importantly, so are my players.
"I asked them to forget last weekend's result, whether we thought we played well or whether we thought we played badly or had good decisions, bad decisions.
"That's gone, we can't change that. What we can change is this weekend and I believe if we go there and win, it will be a very very good day for us."




Comment 6 - 25 of 25
oh dear,its gran.
ime al a tither,tomorrow,yes,tomorrow,will they,wont they,goodness me,my hand is shaking,give me a moment to steady myself,ile just take a quick sip,barley wine,mmmmmmmmm thats better.ime feeling a little worried about my boys,cameron and connolly,sort of has a ring to it,dont you think,cameron and connolly,i bet they are on edge,i will advise them not to eat too much for breakfast,just in case they throw up.ooh!i do worry about them.the strain,ooh,the aftermath!how will they cope,i suspect they will drop in at the local,i fear the shock will be just too much for them,whoops phones ringing,"hang on"........................its kevin,yes kevin,bad news ime afraid he says that its impossible for newcy to win without him,oh my goodness how can i tell that to the boys.anyway i hope hes wrong,someones at the door,ihave to go,all the best,....................Gran
comment 4connolly,
what form you talking about then john,no form.
how ironic you now wish,no pray on your bended knees, that manu thrash hull,but you somehow cant express it,can you.
i for one pray on my bended knees"god forgive me"manu lose,and ime a manu fan,how ironic is that then.
but i doubt it very much,manu could put out the under nines,and still give hull a run for their money,so, you might just get lucky,oh and you will be gratefull to manu for your survival,choke choke choke,or find some weird excuse that you beat manu,even though you never played them.anyway hull is better than necastle,dont you think.!!
gran,
i suppose you will be wishing manchester united a win,sunday,have i got that right"you want manchester united to win".
gran,
oh dear1,!
cameron is upset cos his pal connolly is upset,isnt that touching,ille just stop for a moment and catch a deep breathe ah!!!!!!!!!!!thats better.i suspect they have something going between them,cameron is insisting privacy on an open site,they dont like their views being challenged.
Its interesting that the view point has changed,
at first you were all enthusing that toon could not go down,now yes now,you are discussing how much support you might have in the championship,and its not sunday yet,is it.do i detect a wee bit of inconfidence,of course i feel you are preparing yourselves for the shock of life in the championship.
but have heart,i for one am still confident,now thats true support.
up the toon.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!gran
John, ignore him . . pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeese!!!!!!!!
Multiple ID's sure sign of a stirrer and provocoteur!!!
Do not give it any satisfaction; trust me, the way to hurt it's kind is to simply ignore.
Please do not engage, okay pal?
barry.groves, I'll take your comment 11 as a duck cause you were F****d small balls.
barry.groves, do you dress up as a 72 year old woman and work night shift by any chance
hello conolly,this is gran,
you state"the best supported relegated team,and to boot you will be the best supported club outside,yes outside of the premiership.well! john dear another first for newcastle no thats 2 firsts for newcastle,my my arent we doing well,so its not all doom and gloom.by the way john i have a surprise for,ime now a fan,yes a fan of toon,yet another first,arent you pleased.!!!!!!!!!
hello twig this is granny,
ime a new supporter but not from the football sense,ime only interested in the fans and the goings on at the club.
whilst i feel for your sentiment about going down,and you know i can almost sense the tears in your eyes the heartbreak,Oh! it does get to me,but your comment about wishing another club to go down instead,isnt that a teedy bit selfish,how do you think their supporters will feel,surely you could not wish this on another set of loyal supporters ,and of course our friend David Wood does not appear to like rich cockney,s either,take your tissues on sunday,i shall be observeing with the utmost interest,take heart luvvy.Gran
twig i think you're both right and wrong(if poss), let me explain!!
The supporters will be needed immeasurably if we go down yes, but, the owner and board will then become infinetly more important because its up to them wether or not they invest and try to bounce straight back.
Just look at Leeds and Man City a few years back,big crowds don't guarantee an immediate return.
I will always support newcastle but unfortuntley the club's whole future rests in the hand of a cockney businessman who, so far, hasn't exactly endeared himself to the faithful.
I firmly believe Shearer is right on this occasion. Toon WILL win at Villa, and Hull will only draw with Man. Utd. Boro. will at best draw at West Ham and Sunderland will lose to Chelsea. Have faith Geordie fans, you will survive!
am a villa fan, typical villa will let newcastle win, villa just cant handle the big matches!! o neill come on buy 4 good players, get rid ur mate has been heskey and you will finish top for, u need a new goal keeper, brad freidel, is past it, he doesnt organise or talk to his defence, players like shorey, reo coker, wouldn t even get in a championship team, then you got lazy albanghor(wateva), he s good but very lazy at times, gone way too big headed, he's thinks he is good as ronaldo(man u) and he aint yet, can be, villa only has one decent striker carew, a team can not last on one striker,
o neill cant handle the big names, this is where he has always failed.
too many villa players play with no pride, i only see barry and milner who play with heart and pride.
Twig, It's nothing to be too proud of but we have had the highest average attendance of any relegated club ever and if we go down we will probibly be the best supported club ever outside the premiership and I think you have just about summed up what most of us feel.
I am a loyal Newcastle fan but to be honest i do not expect us to stay up now. They left it too late to get Shearer in how can anyoone turn a club round in 8 games in his first managerial role? I will be bitterly dissappointed if we go down however that will not stop the love i have for the club and i hope that every other supporter feels the same as if we do go down we will need the fans more than ever! I would very much love to see Hull or Sunderland go down instead of us but i think getting a draw or a win at Aston Villa is a big ask given our form/ general performances this season! How does everyone else feel about this?
hey up john conolly,
"ime a 72yrs old granny,and still working,your language on this site has been appalling,can you not put your point across without abuse,ime sure your a capable young man,to put your mind at rest nobody wants to see newcastle united go down,youve missed the point as usual,its all about the circumstances surrounding this club,its entertainment at its best and puts a new and entertaining slant which other people like myself can enjoy,perhaps in your mind we do not have the right,silly man it could be any club couldnt it".!!!!!newcastle have my support,keep up the good entertainment.
impactclean, stalker
impactclean, I cant argue with that, I would love my team to stay up and someone else to go down? Are their any other strange things happening on your planet.
hey up john conolly star!!!!!
"whats wrong with working at night,eh,What drivel do you have for us today,iwonder".!!!
he,up john conolly.
you dont want toon to go down,but you will be over the moon if someone else goes down.
mind blowing fool.
impactclean, what are you doing getting into bed at 10:56 am, get a job you lazy b*****d.
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