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Hughton: “It won’t be a case of Shola walking straight back in.”

Posted on December 1st, 2009 | 19 Comments |

Shola: Ready to rejoin the battle of the hitmen.
Shola: Ready to rejoin the battle of the hitmen.
As Newcastle prepare for the weekend’s clash with Watford, Newcastle United manager, Chris Hughton has been mulling over his current striker dilemma, and has decided it’s the kind of headache he likes to have. As his frontline candidates all seem to be returning to form and fitness like buses all showing up at once, it’s a case of ‘Hughton, we have a problem’ as he struggles to select his top two hitmen from the Fenham Eusebio, the Bensham Van Basten, the Great Dane, Hurricane Harewood, and last, but not least, the young Lone Ranger.

On the return of Ameobi, Hughton kicked off by giving a summary of his progress:

“Shola’s had a good week’s training.

“He’ll have another week, and it’ll be up to us when we feel it’s right.

But with a note of caution, he added:

“He’s been out for a long time, and we do have other options, and we have to make sure what we do is right for us and probably more so for him.”

“It won’t be a case of Shola walking straight back in, but we’re certainly not taking anything away from Shola in terms of the quality he’s got.

Of course, the back story to this is that despite Shola’s sparkling but brief run of form before his injury, struggling players such as Peter Lovenkrands starting to find lost pace and drive again with Mar-loan Harewood finally finding the onion bag twice after a longish spell without, and what some have perceived as a somewhat disinterested demeanor on the pitch at times. Big Andy Carroll has also chipped in with a towering presence and a few goals, and finally, goal virgin, Nile Ranger has made up for it a bit with some very useful contributions in terms of supporting the attack.

On how he delights in his dilemma, Hughton concluded with an old manager’s cliche:

“But the ideal situation is that because of the form of the team and the form of the strikers, the decision to bring him back in is a harder one to make. That’s the perfect scenario to have.”

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19 Responses

  3. Hughton has to say that. Shola will be on the bench for Watford and possibly Coventry, but will start against Barnsley. Never thought I’d say it but he’s the best striker we have by a country mile.

  8. I’d like to see Shola and Hare both on form upfront.
     
    That’d be one hell of a strike force.

    lol never thought i”d hear that

  11. Harewood was a direct replacement for Shola. When Shola’s fit again that should be it. End of. The last thing I want to see is the both of them together. Carrol’s better than Harewood and Lovenkrands and Ranger really add another dimension.

  12. i think the idea is georgio, that if harewoods in form, we should get the most out of him and make sure our permanant players are as fit as poss for as long as poss. and if harewood keeps scoring then let him keep doing so until the end of his loan agreement..
    we have to look at the big picture and there’s a lot of games to go before promotion

  13. eastend toon says:
    December 1, 2009 at 11:07 am

    Do you really think CH and CC are that clever. Strategic thinking . . . hmm. Obviously I’m not bright enough to have thought of that. However with 4 strikers we just don’t need him. Back to Villa asap.

  14. Harewood is the worst of our fowards, but we still need cover at every position so if he is scoring there is no problem. shola is injury prone and big andy picks up a few niggles now and then so we are going to need mar-loan (like it) for the long run.

  15. He’s one of the worst we’ve ever had. Are we really that desperate? Ranger needs as much playing experience as possible, not that donkey in his way every game. And Jay Jay, he’s not scoring – out of 10 games he’s only scored in 2. Two easy headers and a bounce off . . .

  16. sorry georgio, must of got the wrong end of the stick fella,
     
    i only suggest that we keep him until the end of his loan spell, and for that reason, if he’s playing well and scoring then we should use him whilst he’s here.
     
    i wouldnt extend his loan spell if thats what you thought i was implying!
     
    regarding your comment on CH and CC cleverness… they are clearly doing a good job and with the subject of this thread being shola not walking straight back into the starting 11… clearly CH is thinking along the same lines

  17. i agree, confidence is a big thing and with 2 in the last game, let Marlon run a bit, get shola back to top form for when we need him
    8)

  18. Georgio those stats are correct but as we know he has been no where near fully fit, unless a miracle happens and ashley allows CH to bring in a decent foward we should try to keep him till the end of the season, i’m not saying he’s good, but at this level he’s good enough.

  19. What about Shola and either Lovenkrands or pancake up front ?
    Hey it`s nice to have an abundance of strikers to choose from, with Loven. and Pancake also available as wingers.
    Certainly would`nt be hasty about getting rid of Harewood, it`s a long season with two thirds to go yet and a couple of injuries could change things dramatically.
    Beggining to believe we can gain promotion this season, but we still have to use both the Jan. and summer windows to both buy and sell in order to be ready for the PL, still some deadwood at the club.
    Cleverly looks like he may be a decent buy,  if Ferguson does`nt want to sell, perhaps we could get him on loan.
    There seems to be a bit of team spirit at the club right now which will be an attraction for young talented players who are not getting a start with some of the top clubs and perhaps that`s where we should be looking.