Shearer or Beardsley?

[Dr Gloom 3,598]

Two of the great players of my lifetime. Who was the greatest?

[Rayvin 1,506]

I'd say Shearer but only saw the tail end of Beardsley's career so not sure I can compare fully.

Edited March 16, 2017 by Rayvin

[zico martin 25]

Beardsley easily. We had him when he at his best, twice! We only got a drawn out swan song with Alan.

[Noelie 103]

Seeing games at St. James' Park and odd ones elsewhere have been few and far between for me, most of my watching has been on screen. However, although I lean towards Shearer I have voted for Quasimodo as I thought he was more exciting to watch and had that aggression you see in a little man playing against the big lads.

Was introduced to him once in Los Angeles when England were playing Mexico at the LA Coliseum in a warm-up game before the World Cup being held in Mexico.

[TheGingerQuiff 2,155]

Shearer by some distance. It'd have been closer if Pedro wasn't a Fat Mike kissarse

[RobinRobin 628]

Pedro - despite the kissarse.  Ball seemed stuck to his foot

[Andrew 935]

Shearer for me, possibly age related.

Like Rayvin I only saw the tail of Pedros career while Shearer was my favourite player even before playing for us.

[Dr Gloom 3,598]

it's neck and neck so far. pedro for me, but i was having this chat with a mate the other day and there's a rizla paper between them

[Howmanheyman 5,627]

Beardsley easily. We had him when he at his best, twice! We only got a drawn out swan song with Alan.

He was brilliant for us but he was no worse playing for Liverpool albeit in a far better side.

[Howmanheyman 5,627]

I sometimes think some take Shearer for granted, (guilty m'lud), he was on another planet goalscoring wise even with such a bad injury behind him which definitely took something away from him. I grew up on Beardsley though and he pips it for me.

[Tooj 16]

Don't see how you can really compare them in all honesty.

[Dr Gloom 3,598]

well obviously they were different types of player, with different strengths, but it's a pretty simple question - who was the greater player for us? who had the bigger impact on the club? 

[Alex 7,064]

I sometimes think some take Shearer for granted, (guilty m'lud), he was on another planet goalscoring wise even with such a bad injury behind him which definitely took something away from him. I grew up on Beardsley though and he pips it for me.

Think the fact that Shearer was 75% of the player he had been after the injury at Everton makes his achievements even greater. Although I would have to go with Pedro as a personal preference. As Tooj says it's difficult to compare different types of player.

[trooper 478]

Big Al for me there'll never be another player like him to play for NUFC . As we all know he could have signed for the red side of Manchester but came home instead. Not say Beardsley wasn't a good player but I'd pick Shearer.

[Dr Gloom 3,598]

i suppose it's also down to what type of player gets you most wet - a clinical goal machine, or a wizard of dribble with magic in his boots.

[Park Life 68]

In modern money Shearer would be worth 80/90m and if you look at the likes of Silva then Pedro 40/50m.

[The Fish 1,043]

Beardsley's the better footballer, Shearer the greater player. Lead a team to a title, nearly did the same with us. Unbelievable scoring record in a team that was bang average more often than not. Did that after coming back from a career threatening injury that forced him to change his game.

 

Beardsley is incredibly gifted and had the right mentality to go with his wonderful skill, but Shearer wins it for me.

[David Kelly 524]

Beardsley's the better footballer, Shearer the greater player. Lead a team to a title, nearly did the same with us. Unbelievable scoring record in a team that was bang average more often than not. Did that after coming back from a career threatening injury that forced him to change his game.

 

Beardsley is incredibly gifted and had the right mentality to go with his wonderful skill, but Shearer wins it for me.

I agree with the choice of Shearer but I disagree that Pedro is a better footballer.  He may have been more skillful, but Shearer was the better all round player.  I still maintain that Shearer could have played for England in any position that he put his mind to playing.

 

Of course David Kelly shits on them both for importance.

[Howay 2,874]

I'm similar to others in that I only really saw Beardsley at the end of his career, so I went with Shearer. Agree with Tooj that it's really difficult to compare them. Shearer was just so perfect for his position though, he had pace (until the injuries), power, two feet, great in the air, brilliant holding up the ball, etc. He also moved to us when I was young which always creates an attachment to quality players.

We also seemed to get an immense number of indirect free kicks inside the area when Shearer played for us, I can't remember seeing one since. Have they changed the rule or do they just not really get called anymore? Imagine having to be one of the players attempting to block a Shearer shot from one of them man .

[Dickie 0]

I'd say I have fonder memories watching Pedro, partly cos I was a bit younger and partly because of his style of playing - all that invention and enthusiasm, some of the things he did genuinely took your breath away. I remember that goal he scored against Norwich at home from near the touchline (95?) - there really was a split second between the ball hitting the net and the start of the celebrations - in my memory it seems like it took 36,000 people a moment to think "did he really just score from THERE?" before realising that he did.

 

However, thinking objectively I think I'd say Shearer was the better footballer. You could say he was in the top 3 centre forwards in the world in his position when he signed for us (probably along with Batistuta and Ronaldo) and I'm not sure you could ever have said that Beardsley was quite in that class for support strikers. Also, what Shearer achieved while still being a shadow of his former self after the first and subsequent injuries is basically incredible. The stats speak for themselves, but as DK says he never gets the credit for his all round play - his hold-up play was better than anyone I've ever seen, thanks to a brilliant first touch (be it on his chest, thighs or feet) under pressure, he was a beast in the air and was one of the best crossers I've ever seen. Add to that lot, he was proper hard and I never, ever saw him shirk a challenge or take a backward step.  

[Alex 7,064]

Remember an FA Cup tie at home (might've been Sheff Utd) on a bit of a pudding of a pitch where his touch just set him apart from everyone else on both sides.

[NJS 911]

Beardsley by light years.

[Alex 7,064]

Allowing for hyperbole I tend to agree in terms of how good they were for us.

[The Fish 1,043]

I'm similar to others in that I only really saw Beardsley at the end of his career, so I went with Shearer. Agree with Tooj that it's really difficult to compare them. Shearer was just so perfect for his position though, he had pace (until the injuries), power, two feet, great in the air, brilliant holding up the ball, etc. He also moved to us when I was young which always creates an attachment to quality players.

We also seemed to get an immense number of indirect free kicks inside the area when Shearer played for us, I can't remember seeing one since. Have they changed the rule or do they just not really get called anymore? Imagine having to be one of the players attempting to block a Shearer shot from one of them man .

 

We also got a shit load of freekicks around the box when we had an absolute embarrassment of options;

https://youtu.be/pNujRL_oVuc?t=93

https://youtu.be/mfyty0_9Iyo?t=15

[adios 686]

God this thread is just making me depressed now.

 

Imagine if Rafa could bring back even the Roeder times.