Alan Shearer was legitimately rejected by Newcastle once, and looked on the verge of leaving the club another time thanks to the misguided opinion of one of his managers. And both times he bounced back to cement his position as a legend of the club. The first rejection came when the Wallsend Boys Club striker was invited to Newcastle for a trial, and someone unthinkably put him in goal. This was despite his winning a Newcastle City Schools tournament at St. James' Park. Inevitably, he didn't make the cut. But then, having lit up both Southampton and Blackburn, Shearer got his chance to show that decision up for the idiocy it was. Sadly, when Ruud Gullit joined the club, he came with an agenda to strip Shearer down, believing his perceived arrogance to be toxic for the club and his power dangerous. That led to an infamous dropping, and had Gullit stayed around, you have to feel that Shearer would have been further out in the cold. Thankfully, common sense prevailed, Gullit left and Shearer was returned, rightfully to the first team.
