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Alan Shearer was one of Cochin’s first heroes, but his idol as a child was the Toon player who stopped goals rather than scored them.
“I first went to St James’s when I was very young, but my first proper memory was against Stoke City in 2008,” he explained. “We were 2-0 up at half-time, and I remember being in the hallway at half-time and thinking how great it was to be a Newcastle fan.
“It didn’t last long – we ended up losing the game, conceding two late goals and drawing 2-2 – but watching Shay Given make some big saves that day is what made me want to be a goalkeeper.
“Everyone looked the same, wearing the same shirts, and only one player, the goalkeeper, stood out. You’re the last line of defense and you can be the hero, and I’ve always liked that gamble – if things go wrong, it’s my fault, or I can be the reason we get the points.”
“I was very keen on that, and then I suppose that turned into me being a musician, with my name on the poster. I guess I’ve always loved that attention!”
Cochin’s career between the sticks saw him play in the youth team for non-league Newcastle Benfield, but he was forced to hang up his gloves to focus on playing the guitar.
He added: “It was a sad day when I had to stop playing, but it came after I spent some time in the studio with Noel Gallagher, and I realized I couldn’t continue as a goalkeeper and risk breaking my fingers.”
“So I always say it was Shay who inspired me to put the gloves on, and Noel who told me to take them off again!”
Chris Sutton and Andrew Cochin were speaking to BBC Sport’s Chris Bevan.
The AI predictions were generated using Microsoft Copilot Chat – we simply asked the tool to ‘predict this weekend’s Premier League results’.
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