Alan Shearer
Alan Shearer
Paul Dalglish has recalled how a cutting remark from former Newcastle United team-mate Alan Shearer helped save his career.
Dalglish lined up alongside Shearer for Newcastle on a number of occasions in 1998, but the forward was ultimately frozen out by boss Ruud Gullit. The Dutchman had taken issue with Dalglish's father, predecessor Kenny, continuing to speak to players and staff at the club.
Dalglish, as a result, decided to go on loan to Norwich City and although his dad reminded him that the situation could change again if Gullit left, the then 21-year-old made the temporary switch to Carrow Road a permanent one. Gullit resigned in the opening month of the campaign to leave Dalglish 'depressed' and feeling like he had thrown his life away.
Dalglish previously told ChronicleLive 'that disappointment, professionally, took me about seven or eight years to recover from'. So much so that by the time Dalglish bumped into Shearer at Aintree Racecourse, the former Liverpool youngster had even stopped playing and 'put weight on'.
"He just looked at me and said, 'How have you let this happen? You’re a disgrace,'" Dalglish remembered in an interview with the Times. "That hurt more than anything but it worked.
"I put down my beer, caught a taxi home and started going to the gym every day. Within six months I was playing for Livingston, then Hibs, then over in America. This isn’t a sob story, but there is another side to football and the fact we’re talking about it can only be a positive thing. Life is looking a lot brighter these days."