The Xisco kid returns to “add” to our striking options.
Posted on June 29th, 2010 | 184 Comments |
The thought was that the club he had been on loan to last season, Racing Santander, would come calling and look to take him off of our hands permanently.
That doesn’t look like it is going to happen, and having scored only three goals in 23 appearances last season, I can perhaps see why they don’t seem to be interested in the former Spanish Under-21 striker. The fate cards have been dealt though, and Xisco will once again be looking to make an impact at Newcastle, and given the apparent lack of money, could it be worth giving him another shot at SJP?
I still feel that despite everything that went on surrounding the arrival of Xisco from Deprotivo la Coruna, that perhaps he hasn’t had a fair crack of the whip at Newcastle. I have a feeling that the fans will never take to him, purely because he is a symbol of what went wrong in ‘that’ season.
Let’s be fair though, it was hardly his fault what ended up happening was it? I mean, can you blame him for being offered such horrendously high wages? I’m also pretty sure that he saw the move as a chance to play abroad in front of a packed St James’ Park every other week. I don’t like the way that he feigned injury to skip training, but given the poisonous feeling around all parts of the club at the time then I can understand it, a little, although I will never accept it.
I would be tempted to give him a good run out in pre-season. Stranger things have happened, and he is returning to a different Newcastle United nowadays, a one which can’t be as picky or choosy with players. Give him a run and see if he could be of benefit to us. It’s unlikely we will be able to sell to him anyone due to his stupidly high wages, so why not see if he could be a useful player for us first?
You never know, Xisco could prove to be the rival to Peter Lovenkrands, who will surely be given the nod to partner Andy Carroll up front for Newcastle next season. Well perhaps not, but I needed to get the article onto the subject of Carroll, and that rather tenuous link provided the chance for me to do so.
Carroll is looking like he will be asked to play a big part for us next season, and provided the rest of the team can give him the service then I am pretty sure he will score his fair share of goals in the black & white stripes. His performances from last season have led to him being courted by Scotland to represent them at international level, whilst England are also said to be monitoring the progress of the big lad.
However, Chris Hughton has told Carroll to forget about the distractions of international football at the minute, and to just concentrate on continuing his improvement. Hughton told the Sheilds Gazette;
“For Andy, the fact that people are taking notice of him and that he had that request is testament to what he did last season. The important thing for Andy is that any other issues are exactly that – other issues. It’s important that he develops as a player.”
“He developed more last season,” added Hughton. “Now, as a young man, he’s going into a more difficult league. The only way he’ll progress is by doing the things he did last season. These are the important things for him.”
I happen to think that Carroll will be fine next season, and I think if he could manage 10 goals as a return then he would would have has a successful season. With regard to the Xisco kid, surely he is drinking in the last chance saloon now? And surely he must know that he has one final throw of the dice on Tyneside?
I hope they can both prove a pint next season, for Newcastle’s benefit.
NUFCBlog Author: toonsy
toonsy has written 643 articles on this blog.
wahey newcastle number 9