The problem with predictions in football is that they are, normally, very wrong; particularly when they revolve around a striker with a record transfer fee hanging limply around his boyish neck.
Technically, then, former Blackburn Rovers star Mark Atkins can’t be held accountable for his early prediction that Alan Shearer was a total waste of £3.6million in 1992. Shearer – widely regarded as one of the greatest-ever players in Premier League history and the division's all-time record goalscorer, ICYMI – didn’t really zing in his first appearance up in Scotland during pre-season. His first-half cameo was underwhelming. In training, he struggled to keep up with the worst of them. He was the poorest runner in the squad by a country mile.
Had Jack Walker really gazumped Sir Alex Ferguson and pathological winners Manchester United for this guy? The benefit of 30 years hindsight is that we can say “of course” and nominate Shearer’s record transfer from Southampton to Blackburn as one of the best in Premier League history.
