I bet Kevin Keegan secretly hopes a major debate will break out this week disputing Alan Shearer's right to be in the England team.

Knowing Alan as both Kevin and I do, we know he'll relish any opportunity to shut up his critics. How many times are people going to write him off? Don't they realise he always has the last laugh?

Going into Euro 96, the national debate was about why Shearer didn't score for England and whether he should be in the team. Bang, he came good and silenced his doubters by emerging as the tournament's top marksman.

He's one of the best players ever at proving his critics wrong. I also think he has been shrewd in announcing that he'll retire from the international scene after Euro 2000.

If Alan had gone out and struggled to score, people would have said he deserved to be dropped and that Kevin must plan for the future. Now, if he emerges as top scorer, everyone will be clamouring for him to stay on.

Given some of the stick he's had to endure, I think he's played this situation 100 per cent right. He can always change his mind. Nobody will crucify him if he's top scorer in the finals and decides he'll stick around for the World Cup qualifiers.

Alan is single-minded. He knows he's good at his job. He'll give everything out there for his country.

He's a born goalscorer and dispatches all types of goals. If you study his strikes, you realise they're from inside and outside the penalty area, left and right-footed, headers jumping off his left foot, headers jumping off his right, close-range poacher's goals, spectacular long-range shots. No current striker can match that variety.

He's a physical player, too. He may not be six feet-plus but he has a real presence. Alan has overcome serious injuries and, in doing so, has gained incredible levels of self-belief.

'Leave Shearer behind,' his critics screamed when Alan announced his impending international retirement. Remind him of those headlines and I'm sure you'll see a response at Euro 2000.