Alan Shearer 'firmly believes' this will happen to Newcastle this season
Alan Shearer has delivered some good and bad news for Newcastle fans. Despite the club's precarious position towards the bottom of the Premier League, Shearer believes that his former side will avoid relegation. Writing in his column in
, Shearer said: "If Newcastle fans trust my judgement then I have good news. "We are staying up. Just! It will be tight and may even come down to goal difference but I firmly believe we will do it." However, Shearer did have some bad news as well. He thinks that manager Rafa Benitez will stay until the end of the season, but that he will "probably" leave then. He rounded off his column by saying, "Another huge chance has been missed". After winning the Championship last season, it's been a gradual downward slide for the club, starting with failure to strengthen in the transfer market. Then, takeover talks, which Newcastle fans believed would save the club and spell the end of Mike Ashley, fell apart. Meanwhile, the team has been sliding down the table after a fast start, and are now in 16th place and just one point above the relegation spots. However, Shearer does at least think they'll avoid the drop and has cited West Brom, Huddersfield and Stoke as the teams he thinks will be playing in the Championship next season. In other Newcastle news,
We’ve launched a
exclusively for your club. ‘Like Us’ on Facebook by
if you want 24/7 updates on all Newcastle United breaking news.