The story always goes that Alan Shearer personally made sure Ruud Gullit left his job as Newcastle manager, and while it's entertaining to imagine Shearer as the aged Hollywood starlet getting the new director fired with an outraged "...and you'll never work in this town again!" the truth is that it was what Shearer represented that made Gullit leave. He was entrenched at Newcastle - part of the furniture, and the club's mascot and flag-bearer - and Gullit clearly wanted that to change after the striker's drop in form (which coincided, suspiciously with Gullit's deeply unsexy brand of sexy football. The Dutchman made a power play to get Shearer out, but he lost a key game and Shearer was instantly martyred, forcing the Dutchman to leave, even though he maintained long afterwards that he was right:
"I still think I made the right decision. Look at the way things have developed. Its still the same situation. I spoke to fans on the radio recently and asked if it had improved since I left. They said no, so maybe I was right. The coaches since me have tried to do the same thing and they couldnt, because he is so beloved there. Thats why I thought, I cannot change this its better for me to go. Im sitting here now, and I know I was right. It was six or seven years ago, and nothing has changed. Nobody can prove that I was wrong."
