Row over Shearer knee operation

13 April 2012

Newcastle United were last night accused of prolonging Alan Shearer's lay-off by authorising a third and ultimately unsuccessful steroid injection in his injured knee.

Leading physiotherapist Graham Lyas, who, for a decade, worked with Nottingham Forest, said Shearer's tendinitis should have been operated on rather than patched up with another jab when he began to experience soreness again at the end of last month.

The striker faces at least three months on the sidelines after having surgery yesterday and Newcastle manager Bobby Robson admitted it would be a bonus if Shearer played again this season.

Lyas believes the outlook for the Newcastle captain would be considerably brighter had the club conceded defeat four weeks ago and sanctioned an operation instead of taking stop-gap measures.

'It should probably have been done when he started getting pain and discomfort after his second injection,' said Lyas. 'It might have settled down after six or eight weeks. 'If two injections hadn't worked, I would have advised our surgeons to have a look inside and see what the problem was.

'It would normally take two to three months to let all the inflammation settle down after surgery. But the fact that he's had the injection means that might be delayed by another month or two.

'If he only had an injection a couple of weeks ago, the cortisone will have an effect on the healing of his knee. 'It's quite a powerful drug that they've injected. The cortisone acts on normal tissue as well as injured tissue and it's not a long time to have had the cortisone in his knee before deciding to go in and have a look.'

Shearer's replacement against Leeds on Boxing Day, 19-year-old Shola Ameobi, is one of a clutch of youngsters who have graduated from the Newcastle youth system that Kenny Dalglish had to build from scratch following Kevin Keegan's reign.

John Carver, a member of the St James' Park coaching staff, said: 'It's taken a long time to get out of what Kevin Keegan did. There was a big hole there but we're now getting it right again.' After seeing Ameobi give Rio Ferdinand, in particular, a torrid time, Robson has to decide whether to give the teenager his second senior start against Manchester United on Saturday.

A number of Ameobi's team-mates waited for him to leave the pitch on Tuesday to congratulate him and Warren Barton, captain for the day in the absence of Shearer and Rob Lee, said: 'He's been playing like that in training and for the reserves for a while now. The Leeds game proved that the manager has not forgotten about him.

'It demonstrates the potential at the club these days. It wasn't a surprise when Shola played so well and he gives us that little bit extra. He's been patient and worked hard, and the manager has shown faith in him.' Newcastle have yet to establish contact with French defender Didier Domi, more than a week after he failed to report for training and returned to his mother's Paris home.

An exasperated Robson said: 'When I ring Domi's number in France, all I get is the answer phone. The next step is for us to send somebody over to talk to him, but with so many games over Christmas, everybody is so busy.'

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Row over Shearer knee operation

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