ALAN SHEARER forged a reputation during his playing career for relishing a confrontation. A prolific striker that tended to intimidate opponents with his physical presence, strength and aggression.

But while his style of play and goalscoring prowess during ten years with Newcastle United has assured him of his place within the Geordie Hall of Fame, his reputation will no longer do as he attempts to steer his beloved, home team away from relegation strife.

He may not have been chased around the St James’ Park turf by Roy Keane or infuriated by a red card shown to him by Uriah Rennie on his managerial bow, but he was still left frustrated and emotional on a touchline he rarely occupied before retirement.

Smartly dressed in a grey suit and thin black tie, Shearer was the animated new-boy on the bench. He spent hardly any time inside the dug-out, trying to get as close to the action he possibly could, after starting the match doing his best to stay out of the fans’ eyes.

Head shakes, swear words and kicks of anger swooping through thin air. If he wasn’t already aware, keeping Newcastle up this season will be a minor miracle in itself.

While his assistant, Iain Dowie, spent the warm-up monitoring Chris Hughton’s techniques alongside coaches Colin Calderwood and Paul Barron, Shearer stayed under the Milburn Stand as excited supporters sang “Hey Alan Shearer” to the tune of DJ Otzi’s Hey Baby.

And even after delivering his final teamtalk, the legendary Magpies No 9 began his managerial reign in a similar manner to the way he spent much of his career – doing his best to keep out of the public eye.

He was always one for no fuss, no dramatics. On Saturday, after finally emerging from the tunnel three minutes before kick-off, there was an extreme modesty to his arrival.

With 20 or so photographers waiting for his appearance, along with the 50,000-plus Newcastle fans waiting to give him a storm of applause, he simply shook hands with Guus Hiddink before walking under the hood of the dug-outs.

Not a single wave to his followers, the followers that greeted his entrance with chants of ‘Alan Shearer’s Black and White army’ before the building atmosphere reached a peak.

If there was one mistake Shearer made on Saturday, it was a failure to acknowledge those that had come to worship him.

“I would never have gone out on to the pitch,” was his typically honest assessment.

“There’s been enough said, written and sung about myself, and now that has all gone we can concentrate on what we’re here for. I want to be here to save this football club.”

The point, though, is that had he taken to the field when everyone expected him to the noise levels would have reached greater decibels.

Instead, like Frank Lampard admitted afterwards, the arena famed for its passion failed to live up its billing.

It is true that a grand Shearer entrance would not have improved the confidence and quality within the Newcastle squad, but what it might have done is added an extra edge and put Chelsea on the back foot from the whistle.

Presented with the opportunity again he would probably still have opted for the same entrance – remember he once famously stated that he celebrated Blackburn’s Premiership title success by “creosoting the fence”.

His attempts to stay out of the limelight, however, did not last long, less than three minutes in fact, as he turned around in the technical area to shake his head at Jose Enrique’s failure to deal properly with a ball in the corner.

But he was barking orders from the line in a more diplomatic manner to that which he used to as a talismanic striker, tending to turn around and tell Dowie rather than criticise individuals.

“It’s very different. I said a few words to the linesman – you could probably hear them – but funnily enough he never said anything back to me,”

said Shearer. “I really enjoyed it, I really, really did, in spite of the result.

“The whole thing is just totally different. As a player you’d come in and just get yourself ready. Now I’m responsible for looking after 22 people and getting them ready.”

He might have enjoyed his managerial debut even more had Fabricio Coloccini not invited Nicolas Anelka to rob him of possession in the build up to Lampard’s opener ten minutes after half-time.

Or had the assistant referee not wrongly ruled that Ashley Cole had cleared off the line when Michael Owen’s deflected cross rolled in.

Instead the first of his eight matches in charge ended in defeat.

And rather than hearing more adulation directed towards him, it was the Chelsea fans that could be heard paying, in their own unique way, their own tribute to Shearer.

‘He’s taking you down, he’s taking you down, Alan Shearer is taking you down’, was the cry from the blue section of St James’, with Newcastle now three points adrift of safety.

Does he wish he could get his boots on again to help his hometown club climb away from trouble?

“Have you seen the speed at which John Terry or Michael Owen run away? And have you seen my knees?” he replied.

“But it’s very different, very frustrating.”

After kicking every ball and contesting most decisions from the touchline, Shearer will find it difficult to change his ways in the remaining matches of the season. If only he could select himself to lead the line, now that would be a story.