When it comes to their post-playing days, it’s truly a mixed bag for some Newcastle United legends and folk heroes.
Alan Shearer has obviously made a name for himself in the world of punditry, fronting coverage for both the BBC and Amazon to great acclaim.
Former captain Scott Parker is set to return to the Premier League as manager of Burnley, Mike Williamson has recently joined the coaching staff at Rangers, and Damien Duff made history with Shelbourne FC in Ireland, winning last season’s title before stepping down just last month.
And another iconic figure is on the move again, but with an interesting new role coaching some true international minnows…
Former Newcastle United winger Nobby Solano has recently been named as the new Head Coach of the Pakistani U-23 side.
In an official statement from the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF), Solano’s role entails becoming both the Head Coach of the U-23s, but also having “ a progression plan to the lead the Senior National Team.”
This of course isn’t the 51-year-old’s first foray into coaching. Very recently in 2024, he had a poor spell at Blyth Spartans before taking some roles in his native Peru.
And it was with Peru that he has acquired his sole experience of international coaching, having been an assistant for La Bicolor between 2015 and 2022, with a short spell serving as the manager of the Peruvian Olympic Squad, but failed to qualify for the 2020 games in Tokyo.
Even in the grand scheme of things in Asian football, Pakistan are considered one of the weaker teams on the continent.
Currently ranked 201st out of 210 teams in the FIFA world rankings, they’ve never reached the World Cup, and their biggest achievement came in 1989 and 1991 with a pair of gold medals in the South Asian Games.
In the most recent round of World Cup Qualifiers, the Falcons made it to the second round group stage of qualifying, before recording zero points in a group that also involved Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Tajikistan.
So it’s indeed an interesting appointment for Solano, but the PFF seem committed to raising the quality and standard of football in the country, particularly as the World Cup field expands to 48 teams in the future, and Asia will again be host to the World Cup when Saudi Arabia hosts the tournament in 2034.
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