Source: Daily_Mail
Leon Best vows to profit from the sale of Andy Carroll to Liverpool
If there was one man in Newcastle not mourning the sale of Andy Carroll to Liverpool in the final hours of transfer deadline day, it was Leon Best. [LNB]But the striker who has gained most, apart from club owner Mike Ashley, from the sale of the beloved Newcastle No 9, says he doesn't want the shirt.[LNB] The Best a man can get: the Newcastle striker (right) scored in the dramatic draw with Arsenal [LNB] 'I won't be asking for the No 9,' he said. 'No 20 has been quite good for me recently.' [LNB]It certainly has. Newcastle had already turned to Best in Carroll's absence with the thigh injury which has delayed his Liverpool debut. [LNB]He scored a hat-trick in his first start against West Ham and should have been rewarded with two goals for his endeavours in that game against Arsenal last weekend. One was 'offside' the other was not, both were well taken. [LNB]Welcome to Anfield: Carroll joined Liverpool on deadline day [LNB]There were plenty at Newcastle openly questioning Chris Hughton's decision to sign the ?1 million striker from Coventry, not least in the boardroom. [LNB]Best failed to score last season, despite Newcastle coasting to the Championship title, and he missed the promotion run-in and most of pre-season with an ankle injury. [LNB]When Hughton left, and Alan Pardew arrived, the 24-year-old saw only one solution. Pester the new man to death. [LNB]Best said: 'I saw it as my big chance when the new manager came in. I knocked on his door every day and said "give me a chance, please be fair with me. If it's a matter of you don't like me, don't rate me and you will never play me, then obviously I can't affect that. If you are going to be fair, then I could do my best here". 'Thankfully he has given me that chance. I quite literally knocked on his door every single day for a couple of weeks, four or five times a week.[LNB] 'When Chris was here, I had four or five strikers ahead of me. Then for the new manager's first game, Xisco was ahead of me and he hadn't played for ages. [LNB]'It was from then that I started to knock on his door. Mates had told me this manager was fair. I had to show him how much I wanted it. [LNB]'I was saying "have you not being seeing what I have been doing in training? I am doing all the things that the strikers who have been playing are doing and not getting a chance." To be fair to him, in our first conversation, he said "why should I give you a chance? You have not scored any goals or made any assists even". [LNB]'The next game after training I said "am I any closer to the team?" and I didn't think he would but he put me on against Wigan, but he did. Then he rang me at 10am in the morning before the West Ham game. That was the best phone call I had ever had.' [LNB] Northern Exposure: Newcastle's Plan D... ?35m Carroll to journeyman FinnBest to lead the line against Blackburn after recovering from hamstring injuryNewcastle 4 Arsenal 4: The inside line on the greatest comeback [LNB] Explore more:People: Mike Ashley, Chris Hughton, Leon Best Places: Newcastle, Liverpool
