Source: Northern_Echo
Shearer is full of praise for Carroll
NEWCASTLE UNITED legend Alan Shearer has paid tribute to Andy Carroll for taking on the expectation that comes with the club's legendary No 9 shirt.[LNB] And, on the back of his first Premier League hat-trick in the 6-0 win over Aston Villa on Sunday, Carroll has been backed to become a crucial member of the England side by his Argentine clubmate Jonas Gutierrez.[LNB] Carroll has joined an exclusive group of players to wear the famous shirt at St James' Park and the 21-yearold has inherited the pressure and responsibility that comes with it.[LNB] Shearer became Newcastle's all-time leading goalscorer before hanging up his boots in 2006, notching 206 goals in 303 appearances and he knows only too well the pressure Carroll will be put under.[LNB] I was delighted that Andy had, if you like, the guts to take the No 9 shirt, because we know that players over the years have shied away from it.[LNB] It is a big responsibility because it is a huge shirt, he said.[LNB] Plus there have been some big, big names that have worn the shirt and some great players at that.[LNB] I am not talking about myself there. I am talking about the Milburns, the MacDonalds and the Ferdinands and other players like that. But he has got a chance now.[LNB] He is confident and he wants to be given that chance and good luck to him.[LNB] When asked if Carroll has matured enough to take on the No 9 shirt, Shearer, who had a bet on the young striker to score the last goal against Villa, joked: I will tell you in ten years when he has scored 207 goals. No, course he has.[LNB] Shearer was the last Newcastle No 9 to score a Premier League hat-trick, when he scored five in the 8-0 thumping of Sheffield Wednesday in September 1999, Sir Bobby Robson's first match in charge.[LNB] That was also the last occasion any Newcastle team smashed at least six goals without reply against topflight opposition, until Sunday's heroics against the Villans.[LNB] The display has whetted the appetite ahead of a long season back in the Premier League, with Carroll's outstanding contribution catching the eye.[LNB] Carroll, also eligible to represent Scotland, has played for the England Under-21s and Fabio Capello's assistant, Franco Baldini, left St James' Park impressed on Sunday afternoon.[LNB] Gutierrez, part of Argentina's squad at this summer's World Cup, thinks Carroll has the ability to force his way on to the international stage, although he is urging caution.[LNB] The South American, likely to be rested against Accrington Stanley in the Carling Cup tomorrow night, said: He has improved a lot since I arrived.[LNB] He is still only young so he was always going to improve a lot. We have to take care with him.[LNB] He has a big future and if he is intelligent and clever then he can be a big, big player for the England football team.[LNB] While Sunday's display was impressive, Newcastle boss Chris Hughton hopes to have made a couple of new additions to his squad before the trip to Wolves on Saturday.[LNB] Cheick Tiote, an Ivory Coast international, should have his work permit in place by the end of the week, while there are also strong suggestions that Hughton is keen on taking Roque Santa Cruz on loan from Manchester City.[LNB] And Gutierrez thinks the squad will be good enough to finish well clear of the bottom three.[LNB] We want to stay out of trouble and we are aiming for the middle of the table in our first season back in the Premier League, he said.[LNB] It was big score but we did a really good job and that shows what we are capable of.[LNB] It's impossible to win 6-0 every week but we go out at St James' Park and we want to win every game, this is the perfect start for a squad that has a lot of quality. We can take a lot of points.[LNB]
