Marlon driftwood?
Posted on November 13th, 2009 | 28 Comments |
With the return to fitness of Shola Ameobi possibly coming sooner than we imagined, thoughts turn to Shola’s early season form and the expectancy or hope that he will fall back into that vein of form. If so, then he will almost certainly be a starter for Hughton and if you consider that we also have Andy Carroll improving with each game, Nile Ranger waiting patiently and capably in the wings for his chance and Peter Lovenkrands back on the books, you’d think Harewood would be fighting tooth and nail for a permanent move.
Of course that would imply he wants to be here but going on the effort he’s put in since his arrival, he’s looked like he didn’t really care much about it. And only in the Peterborough game has he looked anything like a striker of Championship quality never mind Premiership quality. But the more frustrating aspect being the lacklustre attitude in games. However, he has since stated his desire to turn this into a more permanent gig and to respond positively to the criticism.
So if the Peterborough game was the sign of things to come in terms of the effort he’ll put in, is it enough to make Hughton push for a deal, and would it be money well-spent? Aside from his bad attitude in the early games, his touch has been questionable, but in fairness he’s not had much match practice. He’s certainly a strong fella and quite quick when he gets motoring. He’s not prolific in the purest sense of the word but he can get amongst the goals. So he’s viable back-up if nothing else and he still has time to stake a claim as a regular starter. I guess it just depends whether he’d be happy with the prospect of the bench on a part-time basis and whether he can prove in the meantime that he wants the move enough or whether he’ll just drift out the way he drifted in?
NUFCBlog Author: bowburnmag
bowburnmag has written 234 articles on this blog.
If he does not up his game then I have no qualms in letting him go. Everything to has to be exactly the way he wants it. If a pass is not right too him he won’t go for it and its the same with goal kicks and long balls upfield. He could take a leaf out of Alan Smith’s book. He might not be the most talented player in our team but weighs in with his workrate and always gives 100%.