Shearer Meets Lascelles MOTD: The Premier League Show

For almost 90 years,

this iconic feat of engineering has

been bringing the people

of Tyneside together.

Little more than a mile up

the road, at St James' Park,

Newcastle United Football Club has

been doing that for even longer.

The cathedral on the hill is

the destination to which the truly

devoted have flocked for well

over a century.

Tonight, Newcastle captains past

and present come together,

when Alan Shearer meets

Jamaal Lascelles, and former

Magpie Rob Lee and journalist

Simon Bird will help us see things

in black and white.

Also on the show, we'll explore

the origins of Harry Kane,

reflect on the past seven days

in the Premier League,

and comedian Matt Forde

endures a stat attack.

We will start with Jamaal Lascelles

death amongst those impressed is a

certain Alan Shearer. So we got the

two together for a little Toon talk.

COMMENTATOR: Brilliant challenge!

Take your time, we're freezing here!

Sorry about that.

How was training?

All right, standard, yeah. Bet this

rings back a few memories?

It does,

yeah. How are you?

All right.

Shall

we get his moustache on here?!

Keep

it out of the camera!

Are you all

right? Nice to see you. Are you

happy at Newcastle, you settled in

very well as a maid wasn't an easy

start for you?

No, in my first year

there was a lot of ups and downs.

Everything here has been positive

Jamaal Lascelles on his first

Premier League start! I've had to

work hard, coming up through

Nottingham Forest and Stevenage -

that was a massive learning curve

for me.

In what way?

Becoming a man,

going from U21s football at Forest

going to a League One team with big

men, and it's about winning and

losing.

Half-time change, 45 minutes

for Jamaal Lascelles...

Southampton

away, you were quite...

It's not

acceptable, as individuals, as a

team we were quite poor, actually.

It's just not good enough.

Do you

think Rafa might have looked at that

and thought, I'm going to give him a

chance as captain, do you think that

helped you?

It was definitely a

turning point for me because before

that I was in and out of the team.

At Southampton I said what I had to

say and after that we went on a

pretty good run.

The youngest

captain in the Premier League - how

does that sound?

It does sound crazy

when you put it like that but I

don't really see it like that. I am

23 but the manager trusts me, I've

got good people around me. There is

the pressure but because of

everybody around me...

Jamaal

Lascelles is hugged by everybody in

Black and Whites!

We're not Man

City, we're not Chelsea, we know

that but we will work the whole

game. That's the way we're going to

have to get results, by working

hard.

Football is a job you have to

go out and enjoy it. Do you enjoy

defending?

I love it, I love coming

into training every morning and

seeing the boys, I think it's the

best job in the world.

I was lucky

enough to play here at Newcastle for

ten years, and six or seven of those

years were as captain - it's an

amazing feeling when you walk out

here with the armband on at St

James' Park.

Every time you step out

there you get goose bumps. It's

crazy. I saw the banner and I

thought, there is no way that's me.

Tell us about Rafa. When we see him

on the touchline, he's screaming.

He

will be doing that on the touchline

but I guarantee is the calmest

person in the stadium. Every single

day we're doing tactical and

technical work, he's a

perfectionist. He will stop us and

correct us and advise us. I think

I've improved so much because of

him, not just football-wise but also

man management, being a better

captain and leader. I appreciate

everything he's done.

He's a worker,

he wants to improve and learn. He's

rushing in a nice way the others and

he's someone you can talk and

explain things very well as in his

English is better than my English!

He has the character and personality

to tell people what he thinks they

have to do.

He's not afraid to do

that?

No. Sometimes you have to tell

him about the way to approach, but I

prefer someone that is honest and is

clear and I think that the rest of

them, they appreciate that.

Does he

treat you any different to the other

players?

Yeah, yesterday I did not

really train because I was in the

office the whole session. He told me

to act a certain way and keep the

boys was at if. He might be, like,

you might not be able to do that to

him because of his character... So

he's telling me how to speak to

people.

What did he say to you when

you had the training ground bust up,

then?

Jonjo Shelvey wears a cast to

protect a broken finger while

intervening in a spat between Jamaal

Lascelles and Mohamed Diame.

He's

seen worse.

But as captain you are

entitled to do that?

Of course,

that's my job. If it gets to blows,

it hurts to blows, but I've got to

do my job.

You've represented

England in the same team as Eric

Dier, Harry Kane - can you see

yourself making the next step and

getting into the full England team?

Would be nice to get a call-up, but

there's a lot of competition and

players already selected in my

position. So I will try and let my

football do the talking. Keep

getting good results and doing well

for the team.

Tammy Abraham! Cleared

off the line magnificently by Jamaal

Lascelles, the Newcastle United

captain!

For me it's about staying

consistent.

Jamaal Lascelles, at

both ends of the ground!

You've just

signed a long-term contract - that

also sends a message that you are

here to stay and you like what

you're seeing?

Yeah, I love it up

here and I give my all for this

shirt. This club is a top club, and

even if the results sometimes don't

go our way, it's important that we

try our best and definitely this

group of boys does that.

An FA Cup

run would be nice. I was lucky

enough to play in a couple of finals

here with Newcastle, and we had

thousands lining the street when we

were beaten. I want to be alive when

Newcastle win a trophy, so if you

wouldn't mind, way you give it your

best shot in the FA Cup, please?

We

will try our best, no matter what

game!

That interview was conducted

before the Bournemouth match in

which Jamaal got injured. He has

been so influential so hopefully he

will not take too long to recover?

Yeah, he's been a fantastic defender

this year, he's shown real

leadership and Rafa is building the

defence around him.

Not just us but

also Rafa is developing him as a

person. When you hear Jamaal saying

what Rafa does with him, learning

how to be a leader, teaching him the

nuances as well, about the different

people and characters, which is

refreshing to hear?

It is, and Rafa

is very, very good at that. It is

part of a, knowing which players you

can tell off and which need an arm

around their shoulders. It has taken

a while because at the start he was

not in the team all the time but

now, he's the one who has a go at

the players even if he's not playing

well. But this is what you have to

do if and Newcastle do need a

leader. So it is fantastic if he

comes up and starts leading the

club.

In the last couple of matches

things have been going really well.

It is amazing when you're in a

bubble like Newcastle, a one club

city, how quickly things can swing.

We were at the foundation dinner

last night and Rafa's plea to the

fans, stay together as a man we need

that.

The last two games they have

lost 1-0 and if they had won them

both they would have gone forth.

Margins are so fine this year. He

was defending himself the other week

saying that he wanted a boring -- he

wasn't a boring coach, he was just

really well-organised. That's what

is going to get them through the

season and keep them in the Premier

League next year. And that's what

Newcastle have got to do this year.

They're not going to be a Kevin

Keegan attacking team.

Not yet! The

other uncertain situation going on

off the pitch is the sale of the

club. Mike Ashley has been saying he

wants to sell for quite a while. The

noises were that were speeding up,

which would also create uncertainty,

and January is coming up fast?

I

can't see it being sold by January.

If it is sold by the end of the

season, to the right people, I would

be pleased. I have got a tough

run-up to Christmas. I don't want to

be pessimistic but we have got some

big games coming up as well as

Bournemouth and Burnley.

What is the

word on the street about the sale?

Well, we're hearing that there are

positive signs behind the scenes but

it is all very secret. Will the new

bidder come up with £300 million to

buy the club? The fans are hoping

that there will be a big injection

of cash into the club. I think Rafa

himself is actually working off two

different transfer lists, one with

lots of money, one with very little.

It would be a rush to get it through

for January. We do not know who is

behind the bid or what their

ambitions will be. Lots of questions

to be answered.

And we can't answer

any of them really today!

We can't!

It would be nice to see someone come

in and grab the club from the bottom

to the top, the academy to the top,

the potential is ridiculous. 52,000

turn up every single week, whether

they get relegated or not. You walk

round the town, you've got old

ladies with shirts on, the kids, its

huge potential for somebody to buy

this club.

And Alan Shearer has

been a busy man of late,

for this Sunday at 10.30pm

on BBC One, you can watch his

documentary exploring the possible

links between football

and dementia.

Let's catch up with what else has

been going on in the past week. Van

La Parra... Finds the back of the

net! For West Brom, nine top-flight

games without a victory.

To go such

a long time without winning a game,

things conspire against you at

times.

COMMENTATOR: That's a great

delivery... And Murray scores!

Mo

Salah... Drove it well! Mo Salah's

second and Liverpool's fourth on

another dark day for Slaven Bilic

and West Ham!

In football the

pressure mounts, and in this moment

it is big. We'll see what they are

going to do.

Good ball, good header,

good goal! Morata scores for

Chelsea, as Manchester United are

beaten for only the second time in

the league this season.

That's goal

number 50 for them this season! And

for long periods Manchester City

were the better side.

We are so, so

pleased.

Everton now have the chance

to turn a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2

lead in added time... It's 3-2 to

Everton! Incredible turnaround! Can

Tom Cleverley do it? No, he can't,

he has missed!

I stood there for two

weeks is the proudest man in the

world, and nobody can take that

away.

Shearer

As a friend I'm pleased.

Pleased for him, and knowing him,

what he has been going through for

the last couple of years.

David Moyes has been appointed at

the West Ham manager.

I think I have to do that and show

it.

Sometimes you have to repair things.

Maybe I have a little bit to repair.

So another one goes. And quickly,

Slaven Bilic has been replaced by

David Moyes. It is interesting to

hear what he and Mike were saying

about his friend about he was

relieved for his friend as the

stress and the remember was getting

to him. But it does seem that there

is an earlier cull than ever before

with managers is that a strategic

thing with the owners?

I think that

they panic, the owners. If you have

pour or Fife games and no win it is

ten games, in all. It is real

pressure on the managers tor the

Premier League teams to survive.

You were not impressed with the

acquisitions?

I think that the

management is kept or lost by who

they bye. The question is who are

buying the players? The players he

bought or he has sanctioned to bye

have not been great. -- buy have not

been great.

And David Moyes, will

the West Ham fans take to him?

At

the moment on social media, no.

I think he will do well.

He has a six-month contract.

Whether they give him money to

strengthen in January, I'm not sure.

He has to organise them well.

He is

coming in with baggage.

He was at Sunderland.

That was a

tough job to have.

Right from the start he was

negative. He was trying to be honest

two games in last year, that they

were in a relegation fight and would

be for the entire season. He was

trying to call it as it was. I think

for West Ham, he has to inject a lot

more positivity if he can.

A few of the clubs are not having a

good time. West Brom. Three wins at

the end of March. Tony Pulis has

been getting stick from the end of

last season?

I think he is one of

those but any club in trouble would

employ him to get out of trouble.

But the fans want to see different

football. They want to see the team

progress. That is where Tony Pulis

is. The fans are getting fed up with

the way that they play and the

negativity of not scoring goals and

seeing exciting football. I played

in Keegan's team, we just tried to

score as many goals as possible. But

I look at the Premier League and

everybody, even the top teams are

getting draws.

Not what Pep Guardiola is doing? He

is more Keeganesque!

He is great to

watch.

As a neutral. But you turn on the

telly to watch them. That is the

difference between watching them and

Chelsea or Manchester United. He

goes out and let's the players play.

He goes out and let's

the players play.

Last month, Harry Kane

was named on the shortlist

for the Ballon D'Or -

reward for a stellar year for club

and country that has

so far produced 45 goals.

Where will his incredible story head

next, you might wonder?

But what about where it all began?

I wouldn't say I could see what was

happening to him happening to him

but you always thought that this boy

has a chance.

With Harry, humanity

is first. He is always looking to

improve.

He is always driven.

The first memory of Harry, we did a

trial for ridgeway. We got a few

boys turning up.

Everyone's lined up. I ask have we

got a goalkeeper to do shooting.

This little boy puts his hand up to

go in goal. He is tipping it around

the post. A couple over. Tipping it

over the bar. I think this is great.

This is good. We have a goalkeeper.

It is good to get a goalkeeper at a

young age. And then this woman comes

up to me and says he is not a

goalkeeper. So I said we would put

him on the pitch and the rest, as

they say, is history.

I met Harry at school. Years back. I

loved playing with him. He knew

where I was, I knew where he was.

He could hit the boy, even as a 10

and an 11-year-old. Always getting

goals.

He could play. He would go

through.

He's had a coup of seasons and then

the scouts turn up. Arsenal takes in

a couple of boys. He was signed U9

at Arsenal.

I met Harry at Arsenal

in the academy. He was a competent

goalkeeper. But his real desire was

to score goals. I'm convinced the

reason he is a clinical striker, is

he know what is the goalkeeper

doesn't like. He shoots early before

the goalkeeper is set. He shoots

around players, through the legs.

All the things that a goalkeeper

hates.

At times I believed he was the

second top scorer behind Benik

Afobe, then they decided at 11 years

of age that they didn't want him.

I

thought that we encountered as young

people and that adversity shaped us

for life. I believe that made Harry

more driven and determined to make

it when he left.

He has so much belief in himself.

That comes out even now.

First memories back in year seven,

he was extremely talented player.

As a student conhen suss, and not

just in PE but subjects across the

board. He is a very, very dedicated

boy. The school was invited to open

the David Beckham a Academy as he

was the past student at our school.

They asked us to select the top boy

footballer, Harry was selected. We

have a great photograph of two

England captains from the same

school.

We loved Beckham. At the World Cup.

It was Beckham with the mohican. We

loved it. At the time, he was

spotted by Spurs and Watford. Played

against Spurs, scored a hat-trick,

Tottenham decided this was the boy

for us. .

Harry was the first on the

pitch and the last to leave the

training facility. He has the very

maximum out of the qualities he had.

He loved football 24/7. You get to

15, 16, there are girls, drinks,

partying, Harry would be jogging,

running around the park.

You told him once and he put the

messages on board and put the work

in and he continues to do that now.

Our paths cross and he spoke about

occasions in the previous campaign

where he had a left footed

opportunity and he turned it down,

and he's the type that would have

been probably the following day,

gone back out tonne the training

pitch to practice.

Look at the goal he scored at

Huddersfield.

Harry is first class because of his

genes, and then the person that he

is, you have to thank his mum, dad

and family. He is not only a

world-class footballer but a

world-class human being.

On the playing everyone wanted to be

Harry Kane and now all the kids want

to be Harry Kane.

He is certainly something of a

darling.

It could have been so different.

Full back and in goal. Maybe the

experience on his football journey

made him this likeable and

infectious character. I know that

journalists admire and respect him.

He is a really approachable guy.

He is so approachable. Swagger on

the pitch. Disease the business

there but off the pitch so

unaffected by the position he is in.

He is England's leading striker.

On the pitch you spotted him early,

Rob?

Yes, I remember seeing him

scoring some unbelievable goals. I

rang Alan Shearer up and I said that

there was a kid, apart from not

being bald, that was the nearest

thing I had seen to Alan Shearer. I

think Alan is worried, as if he

stays fit and stays in the Premier

League, his record is in trouble.

When it comes to statistics, the

Harry Kane numbers stack up well but

are the statistics and analysis

taking over football?

Matt Forde has found himself

living in a world of heat

maps and expected goals,

and he's not entirely happy.

According to my calculation,

Manchester City average 18.9 shots

per game, 65% possession, oh, God,

statistics! I thought that I enjoyed

football for the reason that

everyone else did. Great goals...

A

sensational goal!

Breathtaking

skill...

It was spectacular but not

going anywhere!

I'm ruining these

jeans. Meeting in the pub at

11.00am, and missing the kick-off at

3.30pm. Just me! Statistics take the

joy out of life. Football like most

things does not need to be analysed.

I want a cup of tea, I don't need to

know how long the tea is brewed for,

the tea leaf quality and the fat in

the milk? Well, maybe, as I'm on a

diet but apart from that, it does

not need analysis.

Forde brings the tea to the counter,

poured in the hot water, and now

look at his face, the milk, is it

semi-skimmed? He's not sure, the

question for me, if he is on a diet,

why is he going for the pastries?!

Now, Forde has gone for the brownie.

He is strong, he is well-built. I'm

happy with that, he doesn't need to

go back for more. He does. I'm

surprised. He told me he was on a

diet. He has walked away. Two is

enough. But he is moonwalking back

for a third tart! He didn't need it.

A moment on the lips, a lifetime on

the hips.

The problem is that everyone is an

expert. Some people are better at

crossing the road than others. What

is an expected goal sat? I don't

know. It is the unexpected goals

that I care about. Mario Balotelli

only had one assisted goal in his

entire career.

It's Sergio Aguero.

Statistics were invented in 1992.

But football got on fine before

then. Look at Nottingham Forest, the

European Cup twice back to back. No

statistics or analysis then.

It's the difference between talking

about it and discussing it with your

mates and arguing about it in the

pub than being lectured in your

home, your armchair, about what you

should be seeing, thinking, and all

of that.

Spot on, Brian. At relevant today as

he ever was.

I suggest you shut up and show more

football.

I suggest you shut up

and show more football.

Good advice then, good advice now.

That's all for this week -

thank you to Rob and to Simon.

If you missed anything then

don't forget the show

is available on iPlayer,

and next Thursday we'll be

in the capital for a north

London derby special.

Now, with England playing Germany

tomorrow night we thought we'd leave

you with this tribute to some

of the Germans who have

graced the Premier League.

So from Newcastle,

Auf Wiedersehen pets.

So from Newcastle,

Auf Wiedersehen Pet.

It's in! It's a ripper! That's

fantastic! What a save.