I’ve been reading Alan Shearer’s ghosted autobiography, which was published in 1998, after his second season at Newcastle, and with Kenny Dalglish about to embark on his last few weeks as Manager. Like many such books, it is rather bland and diplomatic. Juicy revelations are somewhat thin on the ground, with, for example, the historic chinning of Keith Gillespie being a subject that is not-so-strangely absent.

Nevertheless, there are revelations here and there which make the effort worthwhile. In particular, I was interested in the accounts of his decisions to join first Southampton, then Blackburn, and then Newcastle. They shed light into his thinking and into the considerations that have shaped his life in football. The insight into his decision-making also led me to speculate as to how he will approach the decision that still lies ahead of him – will you manage Newcastle United?

On his decision to join Southampton as a teenager, Shearer debunks the myth that Newcastle were never interested in him, or that a crucial trial match was cocked up because he was put in goal – a story that is so established that I for one had accepted it as fact. In fact, he was only in goal for 15 minutes of one game, and was later offered a YTS apprenticeship by Newcastle on far better terms than Southampton’s.

He chose to join Southampton, because he preferred the coaching there and he liked the people. Given how his career developed, you’d have to say that this was a wise decision. Whilst still a young teenager at Southampton, he was given a lot of individual attention, which even included the first-team manager, Chris Nicholl, spending hours with him in the afternoons, working on his ball control. One could hardly imagine him getting the same treatment at a larger club such as Newcastle.

It comes across that, in his early years, Shearer was a promising player, but no prodigy of the Gascoigne variety. Although naturally strong, he was not a gifted ball player and needed to work very hard to reach the standard that he later achieved. It is a fair conclusion that the young Shearer recognised this, and took the pragmatic decision to join a smaller club where he would be more valued, and could receive the coaching that he needed.

From his account, the Blackburn decision was more straightforward in that they were, at the time, his only option. Man Utd and Newcastle were also interested, but Shearer was not made aware of this by Southampton. Blackburn’s was the highest bid, and Southampton did not want him to be tempted to hold out for another club. Again, when Shearer met the people from Blackburn, personal chemistry played a part in his decision. He found that he got on well with Dalglish, Harford, and Jack Walker, the club owner.

There’s no question that had Shearer dug his heels in, Southampton would have been forced to consider other offers. Given that he was the hottest property in British football at the time, the thought would have occurred to him that Man Utd might be interested, and there are ways and means within the game of establishing contacts through agents. Although, in his account, Blackburn was his only option, the situation was surely more complicated.

Again, however, given the way things panned out, you’d have to say he made the right choice. He had chosen to be a big fish in a slightly smaller pool, in a team that would very much play to his strengths. As with Southampton, he had shrewdly and realistically chosen the club that would better meet his needs, rather than the more glamorous option.

The later decision to leave Blackburn was prompted by the feeling that the club were no longer moving forward, with Dalglish kicked upstairs and Harford in a managerial, rather than coaching role. (Again, a good call on Shearer’s part) His options were the three biggest clubs in the country at the time – Man Utd, Liverpool and Newcastle.

This is the decision that, by his own admission, was the one that caused him most difficulty. Anyone who nurtures the thought that Shearer instantly leapt at the opportunity to join his home-town club would be disappointed by this book. He denies the story that he didn’t get on with Alex Ferguson during their meeting, and there is no question that the offer from Old Trafford was very tempting to him.

Shearer was not encouraged by his first meeting with Keegan, who proposed the unrealistic plan of playing him in a five pronged attack that included Ferdinand, Asprilla, Beardsley and Ginola. Despite the fact that Keegan had been a bit of a boyhood idol, at this stage, Shearer was determined to make a decision on strictly professional grounds, and that made Newcastle third choice at that stage.

Shearer’s decision was then complicated by a last-ditch attempt by Jack Walker to tempt him to stay at Blackburn. This involved not only a staggering financial package which dwarfed his other options, but also the astonishing proposal to move Ray Harford aside and make Shearer the player-manager at the age of 25. Shearer at first accepted the offer, but then began to develop doubts even as he was leaving Walker’s home.

The dilemma had by then become, in Shearer’s words, an ‘agonising’ one. It was perhaps good timing on Keegan’s part that the next phone call that Shearer received came from him. Keegan offered to change the proposed attacking system if it didn’t work, (yeah, some chance), and Shearer agreed to join. ‘I couldn’t believe that I had said it’, is Shearer’s interesting side comment.

Whether it was through Keegan’s legendary persuasiveness, or whether his call had come at a time when Shearer was weary of his own indecision, it’s hard to say, but the die was cast. Unlike previously, Shearer had been swayed by emotion rather than cool-headed professional considerations.

Given what’s happened subsequently, any objective judge would have to say that, in football terms, things didn’t work out either for Shearer or the club. He achieved legend status, but the success that we all craved has been elusive. As a character, I don’t think he’s the sort of man that looks back and tortures himself with what might have been, but the whole experience must have re-inforced his previous instinct to make future decisions with the head, and not the heart.

Shearer has made his interest in managing the club at some stage in the future very clear, but there is very little certainty about when he would like to take this step. His initial slowness in taking his coaching badges suggests that he never envisaged taking over as manager immediately after finishing as a player. He is eager to spend more time with his family, and in opting for the more leisurely life of a television pundit for the time being, he may have very mixed feelings about making the sort of sacrifices that management would entail.

At the same time, it is the Chairman’s dream to put him in the hot seat at some stage, and Shearer has evidently done nothing to discourage Shepherd from thinking in those terms. As long as the Chairman’s devotion is so reliable, there is no need for Shearer to do anything but keep his cards close to his chest.

My own feeling is that if Shearer does take over as Manager, it will be at a time and occasion that suits Alan Shearer, and not anyone else. He has shown a shrewd ability, at an early age, to suss out the decision and the opportunity that is best for him. He is a realistic thinker that can focus on his own goals and not get swept along by other people’s fantasies. He may not actually regret the one occasion when he broke that rule, but I don’t think he will be eager to repeat it.