Source: Northern_Echo
Hughton keeping Carroll
PERSISTENT suggestions that Andy Carroll could leave Newcastle United have led to an angry Chris Hughton insisting the club's new No 9 remains integral to his long-term plans.[LNB] Carroll was the subject of a bid from Stoke City in the summer, prior to their acquisition of Kenwyne Jones from Sunderland, and now Tottenham have been credited with an interest in the striker.[LNB] Spurs boss Harry Redknapp is thought to have included Carroll among his leading transfer targets for when the window opens on January 1, with speculation that Robbie Keane could be used as part of the deal.[LNB] However, with the transfer deadline passing on August 31, Hughton feels fresh talk could have an unsettling effect on his player.[LNB] It's probably a bit more annoying this time, said Hughton. Leading up to the window you expect the speculation, I suppose it's the norm.[LNB] Probably anything now is more annoying because we've got past that window and it's something we could certainly do without. It's certainly something there's no fact in.[LNB] Everybody is aware of what Andy means to this club. I'm not aware of any interest, no.[LNB] This is a player that's started the season very well.[LNB] A striker will always be judged on the goals they score and he's managed to score four already this season.[LNB] We continue to say there's areas he can improve on, he will take dips as all strikers will but he's a player who is very much the future of this club.[LNB] Carroll is due in Newcastle's Crown Court next month to answer an allegation of assault at a nightclub, which is believed to be one of the reasons he was not fast-tracked to the England senior squad a fortnight ago.[LNB] Carroll has been missing training with an ankle complaint but is expected to figure in the starting line-up at Everton tomorrow.[LNB] Hughton is convinced the Academy graduate is growing in to his role and becoming more responsible in a position which could see him become the club's talisman.[LNB] I do see him maturing but I also see this season being a real good learning curve for him, said the Newcastle boss. He's playing in a tough division up against better centre-halves.[LNB] We were very strong in the Championship last season and he knows for the team there will be far more ups and down this season and that will be a good learning curve for him.[LNB] Hughton also revealed that midfielder Danny Guthrie is edging closer to a return to training along with Danny Simpson, although Steven Taylor is a fortnight away.[LNB] He could introduce Hatem Ben Arfa and Chiek Tiote into his starting line-up at Goodison Park for first starts for the club, but he insisted there will be no knee-jerk reaction to the defeat to Blackpool.[LNB] Hughton said: It's vitally important not to over-react, it wasn't one of our best performances but we'd be happy going into future games creating the amount of chances we did against Blackpool. We know that on a game basis we're able to that, and if so we'll be okay.[LNB]
