Newcastle United started their season in disappointing fashion on Sunday as they gave away a 2-1 lead over West Ham United to fall to a 4-2 loss at St James' Park.
Although West Ham were excellent in the second half - responding to a fine half from Newcastle, led by Magpies' winger Allan Saint-Maximin's excellent performance - the game was not without controversy.
Aaron Cresswell's goal to make it 1-1 was initially ruled out for an offside against Jarrod Bowen before VAR intervened to say that the ball had crossed the line before Bowen got a touch but the real controversy came with the score at 2-2.
West Ham were piling on pressure at the time and the ball was bouncing in the box after they had hit the woodwork. Pablo Fornals picked up the loose ball and Jacob Murphy was deemed to have fouled the midfielder.
However, ex Premier League referee Dermot Gallagher saw it differently.
Gallagher told Sky Sports : "My gut reaction when I saw it was that he'd got the ball. When I saw the replay, I could see that he'd got the ball. When you look at an incident over and over again, there's an element of doubt. If you can make your mind up quickly with one replay, that to me then is an error.
"If VAR had sent him over to the screen, I do believe Martin Atkinson would've changed his mind."
Whilst this opinion is not as damning as Shearer's, it certainly shows that the Newcastle legend was on the money.
In case you missed it, here is what the former England star had to say on the matter.
"I just didn't think that was a penalty at all despite saying yesterday that the referees had a really good weekend," he told Premier League Productions.
"I think he's gone and spoilt it because, under the new laws, the high bar for contact, there was no way. He takes the ball there in my opinion."
