Bobby's Captain Colossus could be player of year

A couple of weeks ago Freddy Shepherd, the chairman of Newcastle United, ventured to suggest that Alan Shearer was the greatest player in the 110-year history of the Tyneside club. When Sir Bobby Robson was asked whether he concurred, the Newcastle manager hesitated. "Well," he said, "there was Albert Stubbins, you know."

There was indeed. A Geordie with a shock of red hair and lethal size-11 feet, Stubbins scored 245 goals in 199 games for Newcastle and made such an impact with Liverpool (for whom he clinched the league title in 1947 and played in the 1950 FA Cup final) that his beaming face can be found in between those of Marlene Dietrich and Lewis Carroll on the cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. "Well done, Albert, for all those glorious years in football," Paul McCartney wrote to him in a telegram. "Long may you bob and weave."

Sadly, the genial Albert is bobbing and weaving no more. He died last weekend at his home in Cullercoats, on the Tyne-side coast. "He was my hero as a lad," Bobby Robson said. "He was a marvellous goalscoring centre-forward."

It was fitting that the next match for the two clubs in whose colours Stubbins scored his marvellous goals should be against one another, at St James' Park on New Year's Day. It was fitting, too, that the teams wore black armbands – and that the player in the black-and-white No 9 shirt Stubbins once bore with such distinction should produce another timeless masterclass of centre-forward play.

There was no goal from Alan Shearer on this occasion, but there was everything else: the turn that won the free-kick from which Laurent Robert won the game; the thunderbolt drives that had Chris Kirkland at full stretch; the headed challenges that had the Liverpool defence continually on the hop; and the running down of the clock next to the corner flag that had Gregory Vignal hoofing hopelessly at thin air.

It was a supreme performance by a true captain of industry. When the final whistle blew there was one player covered in so much mud you couldn't make out the number on his shirt: the Newcastle No 9, naturally. "What can I say about Alan Shearer?" Sir Bobby pondered in the press room later. "He is the oldest player in the team and there is no better role model."

It was only at the start of last season that Robson was talking about it being "make-or-break time" for his captain. At the age of 31, after two knee operations in six months, Shearer's future as a footballer was on the line. Now his manager is talking about a future that may well include another Footballer of the Year Award. At 32, Shearer has made it back on top of the Premiership goalscoring chart (with 13 goals, he jointly leads this season's table with James Beattie, his one- time boot boy at The Dell; last season he scored 23 and would have finished joint top with Thierry Henry had the "dubious goals" committee not chalked off a strike against Manchester United). The only breaks have been the shattering of milestones. Shearer now has 351 career goals, 217 Premiership goals and 135 goals for Newcastle United.

It is not just the statistics but the all-round play that has had the football world purring in praise. "He's just a colossal player," his adoring manager says. "He's a fantastic centre-forward. He still continues to put the ball where it needs to be put, in the bottom of the net, with some stunning strikes. He gets into the right place at the right time. He has to be one of the candidates for Footballer of the Year."

The pity is, having given his club career such a mighty second wind in the wake of his retirement from international football, the enduring master will not be coaxed back into national duty to nurse along Wayne Rooney in a partnership that has explosive potential written all over it. "I know I could still do a job for England," Shearer says, "but I still think I've made the right decision to retire. I feel I'm playing well. I feel fit and strong."

That strength was evident against Liverpool on Wednesday night and it is likely to be evident against Wolves in the third round of the FA Cup today. It was at Molineux on 31 May 1947 that Albert Stubbins scored the goal that secured the title for Liverpool, and it is there that Shearer starts his latest quest for the silverware that has eluded him in his seven years with his hometown club.

In the opinion of Paul Joannou, Newcastle's club historian, a trophy is the one thing which separates Shearer from recognition as the greatest Newcastle No 9 of them all.

"I'm actually busy researching a book called Shirt of Legends which is all about Newcastle's No 9 heroes from the year dot," Joannou says. "For me there are probably three who come into the 'greatest ever' category: Hughie Gallacher, Jackie Milburn and Alan Shearer. I wouldn't put Albert Stubbins into the frame simply because the vast majority of his Newcastle career was in wartime football, and undoubtedly football during the war was not at the same level as it was before or after. He was probably at his peak when the Second World War was on, although he proved when he was at Liverpool that he could do it at the highest level. As for the other three, it's not easy to pick who's the best, because it's not easy trying to compare different eras.

"The way I look at it, all three of them scored goals galore and all three of them were regular internationals, but Gallacher won the championship with Newcastle and Milburn won three FA Cups and Shearer hasn't won anything yet. I have to say, though, that since I've been watching football – 1962 or something – Shearer is undoubtedly the best centre-forward I've seen. He's just awesome in terms of his all-round ability. And if he can get that trophy to go with his personal statistics he'll be Newcastle's greatest ever centre-forward.

"In fact, I think he's in the running for England's greatest ever centre-forward – traditional centre-forward. He's certainly up there with the likes of Tommy Lawton, Nat Lofthouse and Dixie Dean. Very few can match Shearer's goals record at the highest level."

But there is one record Shearer will never touch. He'll never make it on to the cover of a Beatles record – unlike the late, great Albert Stubbins. He bobs and weaves no more, but his legend lives on.