We will be doing our best next season to turn things round and give them something to cheer.”Shearer must now concentrate on the build-up to England’s World Cup campaign but the heartbreak of defeated Wembley was still etched on his face after the Magpies’ defeat. They deserve success and I feel very, very sorry for them and I knew they would turn up in their thousands on Sunday to welcome us home. “But I’ve got things to look forward to with England and I’ve got to put this disappointment to the back of my mind. We can’t feel sorry for ourselves.”Shearer admitted that Arsenal deserved their victory although he felt that during the early part of the second half his side had hit back and given the fans something to cheer He said: “I know exactly what they will be feeling. I don’t feel I made contact but wanted to make certain that everything was okay with him. I don’t want to criticise the referee because they have a hard job to do.”The England captain went very close to equalising during an improved second-half Newcastle performance, but his shot came back off the post and after that Newcastle were heading for disappointment.”I’m certain we’ll not get over it for the next couple of days,” Shearer said. The trouble on Saturday was that Dalglish couldn’t think of a risk that was worth taking..

ALAN SHEARER apologised to Tony Adams immediately after FA Cup final at Wembley. “I found him to tell him this, but there were five or six moments like that during the game. The two men, who epitomise the passion of the English game, had clashed during the final at Wembley in which Arsenal won 2-0 to complete the Double.
Seconds before half-time Shearer, clearly frustrated by an opening half in which he hardly troubled David Seaman, went in late on Adams near the corner flag and was booked.”I told Tony Adams that I was sorry after the game,” Shearer said. This is not to decry Arsenal’s triumph, but they were helped on Saturday’s mission by glaring positional errors.Football teams come and go; their fate is sometimes a matter of pure chance. If Parlour does not always exploit the opportunities that arise from alertness and energy – this perhaps suggesting to Hoddle that international defences would not find him troublesome – nobody in the Cup Final showed more initiative.No matter how much admiration is held out for Arsenal’s defenders, their experience and togetherness, they benefit greatly from work done in the first line of trenches by Patrick Vieira and Emmanuel Petit.Although Newcastle managed to reduce Arsenal’s forward momentum by shaking things up in midfield, the game was, more or less, over before they were able to get at an ageing back line and show what might have been achieved with more imagination.People who watch football in the Premiership objectively, and are not influenced by the exaggerated claims of Sky Television, conclude that many defenders would struggle to see off a door-to-door salesman. First a struggle to avoid relegation; now defeat without glory.It was Dalglish’s view that his team deserved better for the improvement that saw Nikos Dabizas head against the bar and Alan Shearer strike an upright. Having suffered themselves from the cares of football management, one or two were of the mind that Kenny Dalglish could not be faulted for adopting a cautious method.

Others felt that Newcastle’s manager had passed up an opportunity to appease supporters who yearn for the adventurous football that was played under Kevin Keegan.Because Dalglish remains true to the sound principles instilled at Celtic and Liverpool that, allied to special gifts, dictated one of the great playing careers, he was never likely to go along with the cavalier if unsuccessful style promoted by his predecessor.Dalglish’s position on playing policy is unquestionably influenced by the belief that nothing permanent can be achieved with self-indulgent footballers. “Turning points,” Arsenal’s manager, Arsene Wenger, conceded, but did they justify the approach Dalglish adopted?This applies particularly to Alan Shearer, whose only chance came when he pounced on Martin Keown’s slip after spending much of the match in disgruntled isolation.Shearer’s trick of backing into defenders wins him many free-kicks in the Premiership, but the referee Paul Durkin, who will be at work in the World Cup finals next month was, significantly perhaps, oblivious to the England captain’s complaints, and then showed him a yellow card for a late challenge that floored Tony Adams.The wry smile that crossed Shearer’s face when jeered by Arsenal’s supporters was further proof of a sound temperament but without the service Newcastle were unable to provide – they did not get in a decent cross until the 30th minute – he may be less of a threat in France than the England manager, Glenn Hoddle, likes to imagine.Bearing that in mind Ray Parlour’s performance on the right side of Arsenal’s midfield called into question Hoddle’s decision not to include him in the pool of 30 players from which England’s squad for the World Cup will be selected.Arsenal’s most consistent player this season, full of running – in contrast to David Batty and Robert Lee, who made no impact on proceedings – Parlour was unquestionably man of the match. But equally you get nowhere without inspiration which, despite an aggressive second-half rally, was Newcastle’s problem at Wembley.Listening to Newcastle’s supporters exhorting their team to attack on Saturday, you realised the extent of their disenchantment. Substitutes not used: Albert, Hislop (gk).Referee: P Durkin (Dorset).Bookings: Arsenal: Winterburn. Newcastle: Shearer, Barton, Dabizas, Howey.Man of the match: Parlour..