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Alan Shearer will limit his appearances on Match of the Day to once a month - so he can spend more time watching his beloved Newcastle.
Shearer has provided punditry on the BBC's flagship football programme for 20 years since retiring as the Premier League’s all-time top goalscorer in 2006, but revealed before the start of the new Premier League season that he would be taking a step back from the show.
The former Newcastle striker featured on the programme last weekend, reviewing the Premier League openers alongside Manchester United and England legend Wayne Rooney.
However, viewers were left wondering when he would next appear on the weekly highlight show.
Speaking to Daily Mail Sport, Shearer, an ambassador for Betfair, clarified that he would pop up monthly while continuing to lead the Beeb's commentary on their live FA Cup matches.
Alan Shearer has revealed why he is stepping back from Match of the Duty punditry duties
The Newcastle legend will feature on the iconic football show just once per month
‘I said to them a while back that I would like some of my weekends back on a Saturday, Shearer told Daily Mail Sport. 'It’ll be about one a month.
'I’ll be going to more Newcastle games. I love doing the co-comms. When the FA Cup starts in January, there’s loads of co-comms.’
The Beeb have expanded their punditry team for the new season with Toby Alderweireld, Robbie Keane, Ashley Young and Thomas Frank joining their football coverage.
Shearer, meanwhile, took a dim view of the emerging trend of Premier League players striking to force moves away from their club.
Alexander Isak and Yohane Wissa both downed tools - refusing to train and play - to force moves to Liverpool and Newcastle respectively last summer, while there have been suggestions that Ollie Watkins employed a similar tactic to push through his imminent switch from Aston Villa to Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia.
Tolu Arokodare even stopped a Wolves training session to get his move to Ajax.
'It’s not a good look when you have supporters paying their hard-earned money to watch you and adore you and you get a great salary,' Shearer said.
'I’m not saying Ollie has done that because we don’t have the full story but it’s not right that you refuse to play for your club when they’re paying your wages. It’s a part of football that I don’t like.
'You always have the right to leave any football club, but there’s a way to do it. I left Blackburn a year after we won the Premier League because I wanted to try a different challenge and ended up back at Newcastle.
'I understand it, I get it, nobody can tell you that you can’t do that, you’re well within your right. But there’s a way to do it.'
Isak left Newcastle for Liverpool last summer for a British record £125m but has struggled to settle at Anfield, missing 24 games last term with a broken leg.
When he has played, though, Shearer feels that the Swedish international has struggled because Liverpool do not play to his strengths.
‘I look at when he was brilliant at Newcastle, and how you got the best out of him was early balls in behind or in from behind.
‘I don’t see Liverpool doing that. I guess they will have to change a little bit.
‘It certainly hasn’t worked with Wirtz and him, they’ve paid a fortune for both players.
‘I look at Alex and when he was brilliant at Newcastle, it was them playing early ball from midfielders in behind and wingers out wide early. I don’t see that at Liverpool as yet. It’s a bit of both.
‘He had a serious injury last season but those two are going to have to do miles better if Liverpool are going to get into the top four.’
It has been a brutal summer for Shearer's beloved Newcastle. The North East club lost manager Eddie Howe, who resigned amid significant summer sales with Bruno Guimaraes, Anthony Gordon and Sandro Tonali all exiting.
Despite having the richest owners in the world, Newcastle have been forced to become a selling club due to the Premier League and UEFA's financial regulations.
Shearer accepts that it will be a difficult season at St James' Park and does not expect European football but is excited by the appointment of Matthias Jaissle, a charismatic character.
Shearer says he wants to spend more time watching his beloved boyhood club
He took a dim view of players striking to get a transfer, amid speculation over Ollie Watkins
The 56-year-old, who scored 206 goals for Newcastle in ten seasons, bemoaned the rules but conceded refreshing the playing squad is not a bad thing after a difficult campaign last term.
'Plenty of optimism at Newcastle after a long summer. It needed a reset. We mustn’t forget all those players Newcastle sold, wanted to go, didn’t want to be there and didn’t have great seasons last season because Newcastle finished 12th.
'It had to be a reset and it’s going to take a lot of patience at times, albeit hoping for one or two in before the end of the transfer window, then plenty to be optimistic about after the weekend.
'Look at Aston Villa and what they’ve had to do, selling their best players. Chelsea and Man City wouldn’t be where they are if those rules are in place now.
'You get to a point and you can challenge, finish in and around the top five for two or three years but then you see what you have to do to comply with those rules.
'Newcastle have had to do the same because of the laws. I don’t like those but it is what it is, you have to somehow get by and Newcastle have done that. It is a reset. New young manager, new ideas and hopefully plenty to be optimistic about.
'I don’t expect us to get into European football this year. If we do, great, it’ll be a great bonus but I don’t expect that.
'We need another midfielder before the end of the window without a doubt, maybe another player in a forward position. It is a transitional year and we have to accept what is thrown at us because selling your best players and losing your manager is not always easy.
Shearer believes there are reasons to be optimistic for Newcastle fans this season
'If it was easy, everyone would do it and bring in younger players. They’re going to need time to get used to it and improve - they will get better with experience.
'The Newcastle fanbase will understand that and accept what kind of season it is going to be.'
Newcastle swiftly responded to Shearer’s wish for a midfielder, landing Nico Gonzalez from Manchester City for £52million.
Gonzalez spent a season and a half at City after signing from Porto, making 36 Premier League appearances for the club.
The 24-year-old fits Newcastle’s transfer strategy of acquiring young players with a high ceiling and Shearer believes that Gonzalez’s time under Pep Guardiola will add an extra edge to Newcastle.
‘It’s really good business with his experience, being at Manchester City for that amount of time, playing under Pep in that winning culture will do Newcastle the world of good.’
Alan Shearer was speaking on Wembley Way at the launch of Betfair’s Walk of Shame, which immortalises football’s most spectacularly inaccurate predictions and takes. Everyone’s got an opinion, back yours at Betfair.
