Big Andy rewarded with Number 9 shirt

http://www.nufc.co.uk/articles/20100720/ca...2240137_2096603

After last season's efforts, he's earned it

Why not give it to Leon Best?

Agree Yella, just hope he repays the faith shown in him by the manager by continuing that form this season and more importantly keeping out of trouble off the pitch

Shola must be gutted...

He can have it when he scores 9 goals

Not including that court appearance coming up soon of course.

Hopefully like you say, the responsibility now on his shoulders will help him with his off pitch behaviour.

oh no.... still not convinced about Caroll and giving him the number nine won't help.

TBF you rate Healy

I think its a great idea - shows that a youngster can come through our ranks and make a name for himself. I feel the future is a lot brighter than a lot of people make out. If we assume Gosling signs, then we will have a potentially great English spine - Forster, Taylor, Gosling and Carroll and thats not including all the other talent we have high hopes of.

What he said, dead chuffed for the lad!

do you really think he deserves it? this lad wasnt even the top goal scorer at the club, he didnt even score 20 in the championship, I'm not convinced he should b the new number 9

He did finish top scorer last season with 19

And if he should'nt have been the number 9 then who do you think deserved it more? Shola?

Yes as he was one of our top performers last season and is a clear message to the youngsters. Just because he's not going to be a 20-30 goal a season striker doesnt mean he doesnt deserve it - I see alot of Les and Dunc in him and if he can become anywhere near their standards then we have a top striker

Urm, isn't he like, 28 now? He doesn't have time to 'become' anything now, this is his prime, he wont improve.
Carroll is the future.

Who are you talking about? We are talking about Carroll and am arguing that he deserves it

well hope he does well, but i'm just not conceived he's upto it

At the end of the day it's just a squad number, yes it's a one that is held in high regard at Newcastle but we can't just keep it back for world class players, it could remain vacant for years, it should go to the striker at the club who deserves it the most which is Carroll.

If anyone is seriously expecting Carroll to be a 20+ goalscorer every year then they are setting their expectations to high, how many target men strikers get that many? I think he will chip in with a reasonable amount of goals and the burden shouldn't just be on him for scoring goals which it wasn't last season and the likes of Nolan, Shola & Lova all getting over 10 which shows last season was a great "team" effort.

While 19 goals last season wasn't exactly loads considering the standard of the opposition, I'd say it was a very good return for an up and coming striker who seemed to just get better as the season progressed. He's only 21 after all and certain to be in the England squad relatively soon the way things are going.

I don't expect him to score as many goals in the Premier League, but his style of play will irritate defenders no matter what league. I also may not have noticed this as much during last season, but looking back at his goals last season he seems to be fantastic at heading. Here are all his goals for those of you who have forgotten some (but chances are you have a better memory than me): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_kanJ5Qqac

Think its slightly harsh to knock a return of 19 goals, the likes of Nolan and Lovenkrands and to an extent Shola shared the burden. Its actually quite rare to see strikers hitting 30 goals a season like they used to.

Also in terms of earning the right to wear the shirt what did Shearer, Oba, Ferdinand etc do to earn it - they all got it without kicking a ball.

I think he will cause a lot of defences a lot of problems this coming season.

Heading and his physical presence, both his major strong points.

He basically the same type of player as Emile Heskey, only difference is he does what Heskey did far better.

Agreed. He is going to get better again this season and assuming he stays fit and isn't in jail for a long period during the season I'd expect him to get 15 goals or so. If he does it'll probably be more than the top scorer at most of the clubs in the league. Only 7 players scored over 15 goals in the EPL last season.

He's got good feet for a big lad too

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_kanJ5Qqac

We're aspiring to be mid-table - 15 would be miraculous. However, what he does bring is passion along with the ability. He really, really wanted it through the second half of the season and even demonstrated decent temperament by putting Taylorgate behind him pretty sharpish.

Interesting, looking at that video, about three quarters of his goals are headed. Highlights the importance of getting some decent crosses in - we might not be able to do that as regularly next season because we won't be controlling possession in most games. Set-pieces will be all important.

Darren Bent managed 25 for the Mackems last season, so I don't think that 15 would be that miraculous for Carroll

Absolutely - we need Routledge and Jonas to have a good season. Enrique puts in a few decent balls.

Does anyone know what Perch's delivery is like?

But Darren Bent is an out and out goal scorer, Carroll is a target man type player ala Big Dunc, Sir Les and support strikers always get alot less goals.