Harewood: Getting stronger all the time.Newcastle United manager, Chris Hughton seems to be very pleased with the progress of rusty on loan hitman, Marlon Harewood after his two goals against Swansea City yesterday.
Harewood, who saw virtually no first team action at Villa this season before arriving on loan, and missed most of pre-season through injury, has been marked out as a target by Newcastle United’s contingent of boo boys as he has struggled to regain full match fitness, though his two goals yesterday will probably shut the petulant, imbecillic section of the crowd up for a while.
On Harewood’s struggle, and his performance yesterday, Hughton declared:
“He missed a big chunk of pre-season at Aston Villa through injury, but he’s getting stronger all the time.(more…)
Two goals and two fingers!Seems like everybody was expecting a tight if tidy affair at St James’ today and with two of the meanest defences in the division, a high-soring game wasn’t on the cards. But with barely a third of the game gone, Newcastle were three goals to the good and showboating as some of the travelling contingent headed for early beers.
Expectations were high that Swansea would prove to be a well-organised and competent football team, particularly stingy at the back but a new-look forward line of Peter Lovenkrands and Marlon Harewood put paid to that theory within half an hour of the kick-off, and Swansea looked like just another fairly average Championship side. Eeh that Marlon Harewood, eh? I always knew he just needed time to settle in…
Harewood’s first came from a bouncing ball in the box and with the defence hesitant he headed the ball in the net to make it 1-0. After some good build up play on the left, Gutierrez finally managed to do what we have been crying out for him to do and delivered perfectly with his left, so that Lovenkrands had the simplest of headers to make it 2-0 with 21 minutes gone. And before we’d reached the thirty minute mark, more good work on the left and and an almost identical cross from Lovenkrands and a similar finish from Harewood and the game looked to be beyond the Welsh side at 3-0. (more…)
Hughton: Promotion first.Newcastle United manager, Chris Hughton, has been talking about bringing players into the club, either on loan or permanently. His main emphasis seems to be on promotion first, leaving the onerous task of building a squad that is fit for another long spell in the Premiership and beyond until that objective has been achieved. The mangerial maestro said:
“We are a third through the season, so it is difficult to be thinking about the Premier League,”
“I know it will continue to be very tough. Our one objective is to get through this campaign and gain promotion. If we are fortunate enough to get promoted I think there are issues which can be dealt with at that time.”
Of course, the issue of how much control Hughton has on who comes into the club has been something the thorny issue for some fans since Mike Ashley’s statement on having the “final say” (as all owner’s ultimately do anyway). Touching on this, Hughton remarked:
“I have been told it’s for me to identify the players I want. (more…)
Big Marlon: Enjoying life in the dressing room.In his most recent interview, on loan Toon assassin, Marlon Harewood, opened his heart on Aston Villa, getting back into form, new strike partner Andy Carroll and the spirit in the Newcastle dressing room under the ‘Chuckle Brothers’ dream team of Chris Hughton and Colin Calderwood.
Harewood, who has been under some pressure to perform after a lean spell where he hasn’t been getting much match practice, explained how he finally feels that the cobwebs have finally been blown away, and he is ready to perform for Newcastle United.
Harewood kicked off:
“I do feel as if I’m getting back into the groove.
“It’s nice to be back involved on a matchday again and I can feel myself getting stronger and sharper. I’ve had to get used to the players here but I feel it’s starting to come together. If I can get a few goals as well I think that will help me.”
Moving on to the spirit in the dressing room, and the chance to get in some much needed playing time, Harewood added:
“I couldn’t believe the spirit in the camp. It’s unbelievable. I didn’t expect to come into such a warm environment.
“When you read everything that was going on in the summer, I didn’t expect to find a team which pulls together so well.”
Empty promise?Poor attitude, poor touch, just in it for the money. But enough about my career as a masseur, I’m talking of course about our half-hearted centre forward Marlon Harewood. Currently loaned to Newcastle by Premiership outfit Aston Villa, judging by performances so far, it would seem to most fans there were no flies on Martin O’Neill when he agreed the deal.
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. (more…)
