Source: Northern_Echo
Saturday Spotlight: Carroll most likely to be next No. 9
No one loves a homegrown centre-forward quite like Newcastle United. Chief Sports Writer Scott Wilson met Gateshead-born Andy Carroll and discovered a striker desperate to emulate the legends of his youth.[LNB] ANDY Carroll can still remember his first Newcastle United assist like it was yesterday.[LNB] Even at the time, those around him claimed it was his quickness of thought that led to the goal. His match awareness was also significant, enabling him to spot a weakness in the opposition defence after the concession of a throw in. And no one celebrated harder as the ball hit the back of the Gallowgate End net.[LNB] Somewhere in the Carroll family home in Gateshead, there is a VHS cassette containing a Match of the Day recording of the incident, but even though he has gone on to enjoy much greater achievements, Newcastle's latest homegrown star does not need televisual evidence to jog his memory of his earliest footballing feat.[LNB] After all, you tend to remember setting up a Newcastle goal at the tender age of 12.[LNB] I joined Newcastle when I was nine, and I was a ball-boy between the ages of 12 and 14, said Carroll, who has scored six goals in his last seven matches to help propel the Magpies back to the top of the Championship table.[LNB] I used to love it, and then once I became too old to be a ball-boy, I got a season ticket and used to watch all the home games.[LNB] The strikers at the time were Alan Shearer, Les Ferdinand and Duncan Ferguson, and it was great to be up close watching them.[LNB] My favourite memory is the game where I set up a goal![LNB] There was one game I'm not quite sure which one where I threw the ball back quickly, and Newcastle took a quick throw in and scored. I told all of my friends that I'd set up that goal.[LNB] My parents used to record the matches when I was a ballboy, and we would watch them back just to see a few seconds of me. I remember watching quite a few times to see that goal.[LNB] Born in Gateshead, and a product of Redheugh Boys' Club and Low Fell Juniors, Carroll would also spend hours in front of the television dreaming of the day when he would pull on a Newcastle United shirt of his own.[LNB] Not just any shirt of course, but the legendary number nine jersey that belonged to his hero, Alan Shearer.[LNB] I had a shirt with my name and a number nine on it, said Carroll. And it was always Alan Shearer who I modelled myself on. I think everyone did really.[LNB] He was sheer class, scoring goals every week with his head and feet. His hold-up play was also brilliant, and he had a massive influence on everyone else around him.[LNB] When I watched him, I dreamed of wearing the number nine shirt all the time. It's still a massive ambition.[LNB] Chris Hughton has claimed that none of the club's current strikers are capable of filling one of the most iconic roles in British football, but if anyone is to prove the manager wrong in the final three months of the season, you get the feeling it will be Carroll.[LNB] Despite his off-field problems the 21-year-old is due to appear at Newcastle Magistrates' Court next week charged with assault following an alleged incident at a Newcastle nightclub his performances since Christmas have confirmed his standing as one of the leading strikers in the Championship.[LNB] While Shola Ameobi has struggled to shake off a succession of niggling injuries, and Peter Lovenkrands has failed to hold down a regular starting spot despite a series of impressive cameos from the bench, Carroll has cemented his position as the leader of Newcastle's line.[LNB] He is an old-fashioned centre-forward in Shearer's mould, a strong, muscular striker who is good in the air, but equally adept at holding up the ball with his back to goal and bringing other midfielders and strikers into the game.[LNB] He is also just turned 21, something that is easy to forget given that he made his first-team debut as a 17-yearold in 2006's UEFA Cup victory in Palermo.[LNB] I am not the finished article, but I feel that I'm getting better with every game and training session, he said. I'm playing regularly and the players I'm playing with are helping to carry me along.[LNB] What happened last season was a tragedy for the club, but on a personal level there have been some benefits. If we were still in the Premier League, (Michael) Owen might still be here, Oba Martins might have stayed, and (Mark) Viduka might have hung around as well. With Shola, that might have made me fifth choice, even if they hadn't brought anyone else in. I wouldn't have got a look in, so I guess relegation has helped me in a strange way.[LNB] This season's tally of ten goals has already beaten his previous record, and Magpies manager Chris Hughton feels it would be wrong to attribute his fine recent form simply to the inadequacies of Championship defences.[LNB] The standard of opposition facing him has clearly dropped from last season, but Hughton feels Carroll is benefiting from the enthusiasm of youth and the excitement that has accompanied his involvement on a more regular basis.[LNB] He has a drive, said Hughton. He's a young player, and I think you get that in a lot of young players.[LNB] He doesn't have so much fear in his game.[LNB] I think it's only when you've been in the game a little bit longer than he has that the realisation of pressure dawns. When you're a young lad, you're enthusiastic and take everything in your stride.[LNB] It's as you get older and develop your game that the pressure grows. At this moment, I think Andy's just enjoying being involved and scoring goals.[LNB] Newcastle are reaping the benefit of that enjoyment, but had things panned out differently a decade or so ago, Carroll could have been wearing the red-and-white of Sunderland rather than the black-and-white of United.[LNB] As a ten-year-old, he would train with Newcastle on a Tuesday and Sunderland on a Thursday, until one summer, he was forced to make a choice between the two.[LNB] Really, it was an easy choice, said Carroll. My mum's side of the family are all Sunderland, so they were desperate for me to sign for them.[LNB] They gave me a bit of stick when I didn't, but it was always going to be Newcastle for me.[LNB] My nana on my mum's side wanted me to be the new Niall Quinn, but I always wanted to be the new Alan Shearer.[LNB] Ten years later, and that ambition still burns as brightly as ever.[LNB]
