We have been blessed with some top notch strikers in the North-east over the years but I am picking 2 from ours and 2 from Newcastle's recent past. SHEARER----------------SUPER KEV--------------CISSIE-------------BENT My question is, if you could have one in your team now, without their past loyalties and at the hight of their prowess, who would it be and why. Place them in 1 to 4 and I know its difficult but lets see if we can do it without our red and white or black and white specs on. Mine would be, 1. Shearer because he would bring us the goals we need along with the leader I feel we need. Love him or hate him he scored goals and drove the team on. 2. SKP for his goals, passion and all out 110% committment. 3. Cissie, I was devisted when we did not get him and he is showing why. 4. Bent, nothing to do with how he left, I would have him back but think the other three offer more to the team. So, give me your 1-2-3-4
Can't argue with that. Same order for me. I think Cisse and Bent are very similar in what they bring to the yeam (goals) but Cisse can score from anywhere whereas Bent is a poacher
Is go same as you Syd. Personally cant stand Shearer as a person - met him once - but he was an excellent player. Kev was fantastic but I think niall made him the player he was to some extent.
Not being biased. 1. SKP gave more to the team than Shearer. 2.Shearer could be lazy and selfish if things weren't going his way. 3. Cisse cracking 1st season hope he can keep it up if he fan could very well be number 1 in a couple of seasons. 4. Bent as Shearer with slightly less goals.
I love the typo on Cisse Syd, and i'm gonna give you credit for a bit of mischief Cisse, he is unbelievable. I said when Bent left he is the closest to Bent in Europe and we must sign him, I was wrong, he is light years ahead of Bent, for the above mentioned fact he scores from anywhere. This was a catastrophic **** up by all concerned, however, I digress. The order is right for me Shearer & Phillips. I will be surprised if Shearers goals record is ever beaten (althiugh if the money leaves the league and standards drop, it's possible), and the reason Phillips in 2nd in line is not just to have an SAFC player, it's because his all round game was head and shoulders above all, including Shearer. Bent & Cisse are goal-getters, Shearer & Phillips were goal-scoring footballers, if you get me.
Shearer - NUFC + Premier League all time top scorer, need I say more? Cisse - Quick, strong and a goal machine... all round world class player. Bent - Decent goal poacher with good pace and hold up play, just edges KP. Phillips - Decent striker, did brilliant in the 2nd tier with Sunderland but had a big chance at Villa and didn't really cut it. Still amazing he's playing for Blackpool at 38 though, all credit to him for that.
1. Shearer - not really a debate for me. Just a cut above and to be honest there is huge chasm between him and those mentioned. 2. Phillips - Very good striker not quite top class but still had an excellent all round game 3. Cisse - Can't rank him Als class yet but looks superb. I think its very likely in time he'll move past Phillips but at this stage he's proven himself over 12 games. Could he surpass even Shearer? Maybe but there is a long way to go. 4. Bent - Not a massive fan. Very one dimensional and quite easy to mark out of a game. Undoubtedly johnny on the spot but not a great team player.
In defence of Phillips (cos I can understand the point), I think his loyalty to Sunderland is all that stopped him hitting the real heights, he should have left us after our second season in the Premier, and he would have went to a much grander club than Southampton. The entire squad was tarnished, some unfairly, Phillips was always more than just a goalscorer.
He had a go at Villa though and scored few goals... seems like the level Shearer and Cisse play at and even Bent was a little too much for KP.
Oh aye timing is everything. If he'd gone to a bigger he'd have improved as well. They nearly all do. As Is ay I rate him highly and think he was a good all round footballer. He had what I always term as natural footballing ability. i.e. he didn't have to think about his touch etc. He was very unfortunate to be around at a time when England was awash with top class strikers. Shearer the best of them but you also had Cole, Sheringham, Ferdinand, Owen, Fowler etc. I think the issue why I struggle to class him as top class is that he only had one heavy scoring season in the top flight. Again it could have been different with the right move, who knows.
Meant to be unbiased ......... Philips won the European golden boot award while playing in the Premises with Sunderland.
That's unfair tho mate, it's totally overlooking the fact that Phillips was the best all round player of the lot. Villa didn't scout him right, they thought he was a poacher, now Kev could poach, but he was at his best receiving the ball 40-50 yards out. Shearer & Phillips could have won England a tourney, I have little doubt about that.
That's fair, but he did get 13 the following season, despite injuries, thereafter Brad Pitt couldn't have scored in Benwell with the support he had!
As long as we had Giggs, but I see your point, many players get branded flops when the system doesn't play to their strengths.
Phillips was a good header of the ball, but he wasn't an aerial threat as such, Shearer would have complimented that. Shearer was good back to goal, and short lay offs, whereas Phillips was 2 steps ahead with great vision, that would have complimented Shearer. Both could score from range, and both were on the spot as well. It would have been brilliant.
