Talk:Alan Shearer/GA1

GA Review[edit]

GA review – see WP:WIAGA for criteria

This article is in decent shape, but it needs more work before it becomes a Good Article.

Is it well written?
A. The prose is clear and concise, and the spelling and grammar are correct:
Well done.

B. It complies with the manual of style guidelines for lead sections, layout, words to watch, fiction, and list incorporation:
In the lead, it would be best if "BBC" be linked once, per here. In the Newcastle United (1996-2006) section, "Kenny Dalglish", "Newcastle United", and "Sunderland" are linked twice. Same section, "Red Devils" does not need to be italicized, per here.
Check. -- ThinkBlue (Hit BLUE) 21:25, 25 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Is it verifiable with no original research, as shown by a source spot-check?
A. It contains a list of all references (sources of information), presented in accordance with the layout style guideline:
In Television career and commercial roles section, the reference, after this sentence "Following the club takeover by Mike Ashley, it is unclear if this role has any official status", needs to be fixed to the {{cite web}} format.
Check. -- ThinkBlue (Hit BLUE) 21:25, 25 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

B. Reliable sources are cited inline. All content that could reasonably be challenged, except for plot summaries and that which summarizes cited content elsewhere in the article, must be cited no later than the end of the paragraph (or line if the content is not in prose):
Does Reference 1 cover this ---> "Born in 1970, Shearer grew up in Gosforth, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. During his early footballing career he helped a successful Newcastle City Schools side win a 7-a-side tournament at St. James' Park before joining Wallsend Boys Club. It was at the Wallsend club he was scouted by Southampton F.C.'s Jack Hixon, and ended up spending most of his summers training with the Southampton youth team. Shearer had unsuccessful trials for West Bromwich Albion, Manchester City and Newcastle United (where he notoriously played in goal), before being offered a youth contract with Chris Nicholl's Saints in April 1986" and this ---> "At the age of 17 years and 240 days, he became the youngest player to score a hat-trick in top-flight football, breaking the record held for more than thirty years by Jimmy Greaves"? Question: In the Blackburn Rovers (1992–1996) section, "EURO 1992" is "EURO" suppose to be capitalized? Same section, is there a source for this ---> "He also won the honour of the Football Writers' Footballer of the Year for that season. England had failed to reach the 1994 World Cup finals at the end of the campaign, but Shearer added three more goals to his England tally before embarking on his most successful domestic season as a player to date"? Does Reference 3 cover all this ---> "In 1995–96, despite Blackburn having a disappointing season, finishing only seventh in the league, he scored 31 goals in 35 games. He missed the final three games of the season due to injury, but recovered in time for England's much anticipated European Championship campaign. Blackburn crashed out in the group stage of the Champions League, finishing bottom of their group. Shearer's only goal in 6 full Champions League games was a penalty in a meaningless 4–1 victory against Rosenborg in the last game. Shearer's England strike rate had also completely dried up, with no goals in the eleven matches leading up to Euro 96"? In the International career section, is there a source for this ---> "Shearer played only intermittently in the qualifying campaign for the 1994 FIFA World Cup due to injury, and his absence was reflected in the team's failure to reach the competition"? Same section, is there a source for this ---> "England faced Argentina in the second round: Shearer scored a first-half penalty in a match decided in a penalty shoot-out after a 2–2 draw. Shearer scored again, but colleagues Paul Ince and David Batty missed, and England were eliminated. This was the only time Shearer played in a World Cup Finals tournament"? In the Television career and commercial roles, a source is needed for this ---> "Shearer also performs a promotional role for his former personal sponsor Adidas".
Check. -- ThinkBlue (Hit BLUE) 21:25, 25 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

C. It contains no original research:

D. It contains no copyright violations nor plagiarism:
Is it broad in its coverage?
A. It addresses the main aspects of the topic:

B. It stays focused on the topic without going into unnecessary detail (see summary style):
Is it neutral?
It represents viewpoints fairly and without editorial bias, giving due weight to each:
In the Newcastle United (1996-2006) section, this ---> "Shearer did not disappoint in his first season at Newcastle", sounds like POV and might have be re-written.
Check. -- ThinkBlue (Hit BLUE) 21:25, 25 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]
Is it stable?
It does not change significantly from day to day because of an ongoing edit war or content dispute:
Is it illustrated, if possible, by images?
A. Images are tagged with their copyright status, and valid non-free use rationales are provided for non-free content:

B. Images are relevant to the topic, and have suitable captions:
It would help if an image can be inserted to the article, so it can illustrate the significance of it. But, if an image can't be found, I won't fail the article because of that.
Overall:
Pass or Fail:
If the statements above can be answered, I will pass the article. Good luck with improving this article! Also, contact me if the above statements are answered.

-- ThinkBlue (Hit BLUE) 16:29, 25 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

First of all, thanks for taking time to review the article, and for some excellent feedback.

1B

I've fixed the double links issue and italics

2A

I removed the text in question, as it was just a google search and the sentence doesn't really apply any more.

2B

Removed the Jimmy Greeves bit, as I can't find a source for it; but source 1 covers the rest of it.
Added refs per requests, checked that all others are included in existing references; removed some stuff I couldn't find a ref for

4

Changed the pov bit to "Shearer maintained his form after moving to the north-east", which reflects the upcoming section in a more neutral manner (hopefully)

6

With regard to images - I've searched high and low, on commons, flickr for licensed pics, but no luck whatsoever. I have made some requests to some people on flickr, but I wouldn't hold my breath. It's a shame really,cause there are a lot of pics out there, just not licensed properly.
- Don't worry about it, I can't fail the article if it doesn't have an image, per the criteria. -- ThinkBlue (Hit BLUE) 21:25, 25 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Hopefully this satisfies all of the problems, but if I've missed anything I should be able to get it cleaned up pretty quickly! - Toon⁰⁵ 21:10, 25 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you to Toon05 for getting the stuff I left at the talk page, because I have gone off and placed the article as GA. Congrats. ;) -- ThinkBlue (Hit BLUE) 21:25, 25 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]