Alan Shearer’s short-term appointment as Newcastle manager brings with it a number of questions. Firstly, will he be good enough? After all, he has no experience as a coach and is taking on a difficult task, but track record is not important. We won’t find out how good a manager he is until he takes on a permanent managerial post and with only eight games to go this season, the lift he will give the Toon’s beleaguered squad will be enough to keep them up. The squad are good enough, the support is good enough and although he will play Chelsea, Liverpool and Aston Villa in those eight games, there are enough winnable games to avoid relegation. In this sense, the odds are stacked in his favour – as Paul Hayward wrote in today’s Guardian, Middlesborough and West Brown are likely to fall to the Championship and there are plenty of clubs above who are faltering. Hull, for example, have only won one Premiership game since Phil Brown’s half-time centre circle rollicking on Boxing Day. Stoke, despite an impressive home record, are still to win away and look to be struggling to beat the drop. Shearer’s heroic status will surely bring a renewed optimism and results to match.

Secondly, how instrumental was he in Dennis Wise’s departure? Very, you would think. Timing is everything and it is not difficult to make a link between Wise’s departure yesterday and Shearer’s arrival today. Shearer has been critical in the past about Wise’s role as executive director and may well have made it a condition for his return to Newcastle. Iain Dowie has been brought in as his assistant, an experienced coach who will do the leg work in training leaving Shearer to do the analysis, just not on the sofa this time.

Finally, will he stay any longer than those eight games? It looks unlikely if this afternoon’s press conference is anything to go by. Shearer was adamant he will leave after this season and with Joe Kinnear still in the picture, do not expect Shearer to be the manager there after. There’s little doubt that there will be a clamour for Shearer to stay, but he looks content for now to return to the BBC next season. But then again, Guus Hiddink appears to be softening towards a longer contract at Chelsea…