On clean sheets: We can still make play-offs

We finally managed to keep our first clean sheet of the new millennium during last weekend's 0-0 draw at Halifax Town, which was more than deserved.

We've started looking a lot more solid at the back over the past five matches and have played much better as a team overall, which in all honesty should see us unbeaten in our last handful of League outings.

Now we need to show how much we've improved by winning our next two fixtures, both at Roots Hall, against Macclesfield Town tomorrow night and Exeter City on Tuesday evening.

We still have a slim chance of making the promotion play-offs, but that glimmer of hope will disappear unless we take maximum points from those games.

All our fans can rest assured that we haven't given up the ghost and we'll keep on plugging away until promotion is a mathematical impossibility.

With 13 games left, I think we need ten wins to give ourselves a chance.

On Shearer: Striker has blundered

I can't believe Alan Shearer has decided to turn his back on England and quit international football after Euro 2000.

Although I'm not in a position to tell him what to do - he has achieved more than I could ever dream of - I think he has made a wrong and selfish choice, which has left his country in the lurch.

He is one of our greatest strikers and it's a strange decision for a player who, at 29-years-old, should be hitting the peak of his career, not looking to wind down.

I mean it's not as if Shearer has decided to retire because of a lack of form - he's on fire at the moment and scoring goals for fun at Newcastle United.

I could understand him wanting to give it all up if he wasn't still able to perform at the highest level, but he is still capable of being one of the best forwards in the world.

Another thing I don't buy is his two main reasons for wanting to call it a day - spending more time with his family and for the benefit of Newcastle's future success.

When Shearer travels to other countries to play for England he probably has to leave his family for two or three days every couple of months or so to take part in a friendly or qualifying game.

As for Newcastle getting the best out of him because he has packed up international football, I don't think that is true either.

He may be getting time to recharge his batteries, but will he be so sharp? After all, he won't be testing himself against the world's best defenders any more.

Maybe Shearer's convinced himself that he isn't our number one striker any more, with the likes of Emile Heskey and Michael Owen pushing him hard for a place in the England attack.

But I don't believe that for one minute. I marked Shearer during my time with Norwich City and he is the best natural goalscorer in the game.

I think he is making a big mistake giving up this summer, and he would have been better off keeping his thoughts to himself until after the tournament.

On Tom McDonald: Creep Tom ruined his debut!

It was good to see another one of our youngsters - defender Tom McDonald - get his first-team chance at Halifax Town last Saturday.

He played the last ten-minutes in place of David Morley, not putting a foot wrong during a confident performance, which is a positive sign for the club's future.

Tom was so happy that he grabbed the team-coach microphone on the way home and gave a little speech, thanking all the lads for helping him through his first game.

But he ruined it all by lavishing praise on the gaffer Alan Little and his assistant Mick Gooding for giving him his big chance - proving a bit of creeping can get you anywhere - even in our first XI!

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.