News    Squad    Results    Fixtures    Opinion    Standings    Links Reek of the Week    Guestbook    Multimedia   Noarlunga United     News     KELLY - SHEARER THREATENED TO QUIT     England captain Alan Shearer threatened to turn his back on the national team before the 1998 World Cup in France, according to former Football Association boss Graham Kelly.      Kelly alleged national manager Glenn Hoddle, fired after the World Cup, also made clear he was prepared to follow the Newcastle United striker out of the door if Shearer was charged over a bad tackle in a premier league match.    "I found it quite staggering. And, frankly, it was childish behaviour for the England captain to threaten to give up the job of captaining his country," he added.    "It lacked the maturity I had come to expect from him." Kelly, who lost his job over a cash-for-votes furore surrounding England's 2006 World Cup bid, made the claims in the first instalment of his book "Sweet FA" which the Sun newspaper began to serialise on Wednesday.    There was no immediate response from either Shearer or Hoddle. Kelly said Shearer, capped 51 times by England and scorer of 24 international goals, had made his threat in April 1998 when a F.A. disciplinary committee was investigating him.    Shearer had been accused of intentionally kicking Leicester City's Neil Lennon in the face after being fouled in a premier league match at Filbert Street that month. The final verdict was "not proven", but Kelly revealed  Shearer and Hoddle tried to persuade the FA to drop the charges.    "If I don't have the trust of my employers, I will not go to France and will consider leaving Newcastle and English football as well," Kelly quoted Shearer as saying to him in a telephone conversation. Kelly said Hoddle backed Shearer and told him in May, the month before the World Cup kicked off, that his captain was serious about his threat to quit the squad.    "Glenn asked me whether I had spoken to Alan Shearer because the player was determined he would not go to France if he was charged," Kelly wrote.   "He then followed up with a double whammy as he went on to say: "If that happens, I will have to consider my own position.'"    Kelly questioned Shearer's inspirational abilities when things are not going well for the team and said he was not convinced that a side should be led by a striker.    "Shearer is a good captain when things are going well but if he is not getting the service you can tell from his body language that he is not the most inspirational player to lead a side," wrote Kelly.    The comments added to a troubled season for the England captain, whose club have taken only one point from six matches. Shearer did not see eye to eye with Ruud Gullit, who resigned as manager of Newcastle last week, and has been heavily criticised for his lacklustre performances for club and country since ankle surgery at the start of last season.    England manager Kevin Keegan, who faces two Euro 2000 qualifiers over the next week, has decided to keep the player he signed in his time as Newcastle boss away from the media.    "I don't think the questions that will be asked will be of any benefit to Alan Shearer as an individual or to England."    "I want him to focus on the job in hand, not on what is going on elsewhere," Keegan said.