David Edgar believes Alan Shearer would've kept Newcastle United in the Premier League during the 2008-09 season had he been given more time to do so.
The Newcastle legend took the reins from Chris Hughton in April 2009 with eight league games remaining, and collected just one win during that run.
Damien Duff's 38th minute own goal ultimately confirmed Newcastle's relegation to the Championship, as Edgar's red card in second half stoppage time compounded their misery in a 1-0 defeat at Aston Villa.
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Edgar subsequently left St James' Park for Burnley just a few weeks later, but is confident that Shearer would've led Newcastle to safety had the club acted sooner.
"I think so [Newcastle would've stayed up had Shearer been handed 12 games]," Edgar told the Undr The Cosh podcast. "For me, I had a picture of him on my wall. I didn't need much motivation just to have him in the building was a boost for everyone in the club.
"Had it been for a longer time then we might have stayed up. Nobody believed we were going to get relegated, I think that's what it was. Even within the dressing room, we were too good to get relegated with the players we had. The day we went down we had Damien Duff, Michael Owen, Obafemi Martins. Some squad."
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