The Bensham Van Basten: Not for sale.News yesterday of a bid for one of our young, local lads – Andy Carroll – from Bolton Wanderers as their new manager Owen Coyle seeks to add numbers to squad in a bid to stave off relegation. A cheeky £2 million bid has said to have been lodged.
Andy Carroll has been an important player for us this season so far. Whilst he hasn’t exactly been prolific in front of goal, he has had the knack of unsettling the opposition defenders, perhaps allowing other players scoring opportunities by creating space, like for Lovenkrands on Wenesday evening.
With 4 goals in 18 appearances this season, Carroll is far from the finished article and has attracted his fair share of criticism from fans for an alleged altercation on a night out in Newcastle’s Blu Bamboo bar in the Bigg Market – a hotbead of chavs, slappers and sexually transmitted diseases – and that’s on top of another transgression a while back! I personally feel that if he can knuckle down and work on the mental aspect of his game off the pitch, and learn some composure in front of goal on the pitch, then we are better off keeping hold of him. Manager Chris Hughton seems to be thinking along the same lines, saying:
“They are wasting their time with Andy – He is not for sale!”(more…)
So who fancies living up to this then?Well here it is, the third and final chapter of my mid-term player review. And a topical area for discussion, as speculation remains over a move for Leeds Utd’s Jermaine Beckford, or A.N. Other should we fail in that bid.
The No.9 shirt is almost as synonymous with Newcastle United, as St James’ Park, the black and white stripes or that deed funny accent we’ve got. It’s been made particularly special in this part of the world because it’s been worn by some of the best players this country has seen. The likes of Gallacher, Milburn, MacDonald, Cole, Shearer have graced that shirt and it will undoubtedly always be a big shirt to fill.
Ironic then, given that the No.9 shirt and the prestige it carries with it is currently up for grabs, that we have a group of strikers who fall somewhat short of the standards we’ve come to expect from our centre-floorboards, and that none of them look like earning that honour just yet, particularly in this current barren spell…..
Sucker-punch!An early boxing day start took me to Hillsborough in the hope we could continue our fine run of form against struggling Sheff Wed. It’s been well documented recently that our boxing day winning record has been less than impressive – the next chance we get, it will have been 22 years since we won! Here is my account of the match, and the day out in general…
After arriving in Sheffield and quickly finding a car parking space, me and my mate set off for the pre-match ritual pint. After a half-mile walk up an icy hill, The White Horse beckoned. Honestly, it was just like old times when we used to take over pubs and city centres, with toon flags outside and toon fans only inside.
Feeling refreshed, we walked to the ground taking our seats (second row, directly behind the goal), and sat down to enjoy the warm-up. I experienced that heart-sinking feeling as I watched our boys warming up, and quickly worked out that there was no Alan Smith, and that Nicky Butt was warming up with the starting XI (more…)
Contributing well?In contrast to recent speculation that he might be shipped out in January, Chris Hughton expects Andy Carroll to play a big part in Newcastle’s drive for promotion. This comes after a bustling performance on Saturday against Barnsley, which saw him have a hand in both our goals.
However, he also inadvertently had a hand in their first goal and also a hand in a tussle on the deck with Barnsley centre-half Moore, who seemd none to pleased with Carroll’s conduct and had to be restrained by players from both sides. The result was a booking for both, which sees Carroll miss out on Middlesbrough’s visit at the weekend.
Having been dropped for the midweek game against Coventry, Carroll was undoubtedly a surprise inclusion on Saturday. Despite being his usual awkward and rangey self and spending much of the time on his backside, he put himself about and stuck two fingers up at detractors with his contribution to our goals. (more…)
Sho or no-sho on Satda?Newcastle United’s usually mild mannered supremo, Chris Hughton, has come out with some fighting talk in the run up to Toon’s home clash with Swansea City on Saturday. In the interview, he spoke of Swansea’s fine defensive record this season (second only to Hughton’s own), and vowed to go in with all guns blazing in an attempt to break down their defensive fortress. Speaking to the Sand Dancer’s Gazette, he roared:
“Their record speaks for itself, they’re a tough team with a good shape, and they’re difficult to play against.
“We’re the home side, and we’ve got to force the issue. We can’t afford to take them lightly – they are where they are on merit.
“They’ve played some good teams, and come up trumps with some good results. We’ve got to make sure we’re on our game.”
Meanwhile, on the return of Fenham hitman, Shola Ameobi, Hughton told the club’s official website:
“We’ll make our mind up over the next couple of days but we’re fortunate that we’re on a good run at the moment and there’s not that pressure to bring him back.” adding: (more…)
