The next in a long line of legends?There has been a certain shirt that has remained empty for sometime now, and even the last player to wear it didn’t ‘fill’ it as such.
I am of course talking about the legendary number 9 shirt worn by club icons such Alan Shearer, Jackie Milburn and Hughie Gallacher.
It is a shirt that has remained vacant since the departure of Obafemi Martins around a year ago now, although Chris Hughton has dropped his strongest hint yet that our wait for a new number 9 could be over pretty shortly, and it we wont even need to go out and sign someone. Yes that’s right, Andy Carroll, number nine, come on down. The local lad looks set for the number nine jersey, which could be a masterstroke. I have talked before about what is required and expected from a number nine, and although Carroll is very much a rough diamond, I believe he will thrive under the pressure and expectation it can bring. (more…)
Hmm, where to strenghten?Whilst I was at work doing various bits and bobs, my mind started wandering. Not on to mucky stuff for once, but about Newcastle and how we should go about strengthening the team.
After all, as football fans we all reckon we know what would be best, and I am no different. The real problem I had with deciding on where to strengthen the team was trying choose whether I should decide with my head, or with my heart, the difference between the two could be millions of pounds! So anyway, after some more musing I decided to use my head. My heart wants us to sign players that will see us finish comfortably mid-table, and perhaps beyond. I would love it if that was the case, but then my brain kicked in and I realised that the players needed to finish so high up the league will be well out the reach of our alleged budget. (more…)
Will he switch to the auld enemy?It’s not exactly new news, but as we enter international season and sit around awaiting the start of the World Cup, Scotland boss Craig Levein has again decided to make public his desire to get Andy Carroll to declare his alliegance to Scottish national team.
Carroll could qualify to play for Scotland through his grandparents despite having represented England at under-21 and under-19 levels. Whether Carroll would make the switch is a question only he will know the true answer to, although he may well want to wait and see if England boss Fabio Capello continues with the admiration he has shown the Gateshead lad after last season. The feeling amongst the England setup is that Andy Carroll could well have a bright future in front of him, and could be a part of the national side in years to come. However a switch to representing Scotland will mean near guaranteed international football for him pretty much straight away. (more…)
Carroll: Tipped for the top.Andy Carroll has been one of this season success stories as he finally managed to establish himself as a regular in the Newcastle United starting line-up, and scored 19 goals in the process. But will he be able to make the step up next season?
Carroll has earned praise from some of the highest corners this season, with Alan Shearer in particular quick to praise him earlier in the season. Now more praise has come from another former player, captain and manager in the shape of Glenn Roeder, who believes the big lad can “wreak havoc” in next seasons Premier League. The number 9 in waiting has come on in leaps and bounds since Christmas time, not just with his goalscoring ability, but a general improvement in his all round play, an improvement that has seen Carroll linked with a move away from St James’ Park and alerted the England setup who believe he could be a future international player. (more…)
Lovenkrands: A story of turmoil, tragedy and success.The last in the series of our player reviews for the 09/10 season will take a look at our strikers and how they have done this season.
We have already worked our way through the team starting with goalkeepers before moving onto have a look at our defence and midfield. Our strikers have been very important for us this season and have combined to score over half of our goals this season, 47 of them in fact, and they have been spread pretty evenly between the various front men. For the first half of the season we spent our time playing mainly one striker with Kevin Nolan in an attcking support role, something that has probably helped Nolan score so many goals whilst limiting the chance of any strikers hitting the 20 goal mark. Still, it’s a team game as the saying goes, and as long as the ball is hitting the back of the net I don’t really care which player scores them. Let’s take a look anyway. (more…)
