Why we should be saying all the Best to NUFC new boy - and how Ronald McDonald got smashed after Andy Cole's debut
As a Geordie native who is prepared to take anybody that I meet exactly as I find them and allow myself the opportunity to judge people for myself before forming an opinion, I have to say I'm quite intrigued by the signing of Leon Best.
You may mock and Best is a far cry from some of the strikers that have arrived at St James' Park in years gone by.
Already, his attitude seems a 100 times better than that of Marlon Harewood who in my humble opinion showed up on Tyneside as if the world owed him a favour and he was here to save us all.
And while he did score four goals (three more than Frank Pingel and 202 less than Alan Shearer), watching the striker at Nottingham Forest leave the field of play as if he'd been withdrawn after having the game of his life, even though his shirt must have been bone dry, made me fear the worst.
Best arrives with 42 goals under his belt at 23-years-old after 120 starts and numerous appearances from the bench for Southampton, QPR, Yeovil, Sheff Wed, Bournemouth and Coventry.
That may not be a startling CV to many people out there and nobody is saying he is a major signing.
But to write him off now - which many were on the various radio stations in the city last night - or on message boards, is slightly early, after all he has yet to kick a ball!!!
Surely judgements should come later?
As most strikers and fans will tell you an early goals will help you in a major way.
Andy Cole managed it on his home debut against Notts County and it had an impact.
In fact in my memory of it certainly had an impact.
If you can remember after scoring in the 4-0 win over the other Magpies, David Kelly celebrated by jumping on his back.
After the game in McDonalds in Northumberland Street, a Toon fan tried to re-create the moment by jumping on the back of one of those huge Ronald McDonald statues and it just couldn't take the weight before keeling over.
But anyway back to those early goals, Les Ferdinand also achieved that feat against Coventry in a 3-0 win back in 1995 on his debut.
While Alan Shearer netted the first of 206 with a majestic curling free-kick on his home debut against Wimbledon.
While Micky Quinn just took the biscuit by smashing in four times against Leeds United in 1989 in a 5-2 win.
Quinn's home debut was much less heralded than those of Shearer, Ferdinand or Cole but perhaps Best can take a lot from that.
Don't forget, Quinn arrived with banners saying "Mick ******* who?" during mass protests about the running of the club in the late 1980s.
Which is why Best could leave a few people eating humble pie.
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Lee Ryder - Proudly born and bred on Tyneside, the Chronicle's chief sports writer has followed the fortunes of the club over the last three decades as a Toon fan and football writer.
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I've been thinking about the deal for Best and, while I am still a little underwhelmed, looking at the transfer window as a whole gives me a slightly better feeling about it.
The Journal reports today that Best cost around 500,000 (although the national red-top rags reckon 1mill). If it is 500k then this is a real result for the toon. We all know that Beckford was our top transfer target this year, so let's compare the two players.
Beckford: Age 26, 6'2, 13 stone, v quick, lots of goals but never played above league 2.
Best: Age 23, 6'1, 12.5 stone, v quick, 10 goals this season in the Championship, 10 goals in 15 games a couple of years ago while on loan at Yeovil (according to the YouTube link on the Chronicle report.
Given that we were willing to pay nearly ã2million for Beckford, it seems to me that we have hopefully paid a quarter of the price for a very similar, slightly younger player. He's definitely different to the oafs we have up front at the moment and will potential give us a lethal finisher in this league.
I agree that he's probably not Premier League class, but if he scores the goals that take us up then he'll have done his job, and will deserve a chance to shine in the prem. Also, for the price we paid for him, and are hopefully paying him, if it doesn't work out we'll be able to ship him off to next year's promotion hopefuls.
I have similar feelings about the Williamson / Kilgallon situation. I'm sure Kilgallon is a good player, but WIlliamson has looked great in the two games I've seen him. He's hardly put a foot wrong and also cost less than Kilgallon eventually cost s*nderland.
I agree with Faustino that Routlege will probably frustrate us as much as he excites us over the coming months - but we love players like that here, remember?!?!
H T L
Quite a few examples like that, Lee. Remember Antoine Sibierski. The man was slated at first, but gas gone to become a bit of a fans' pet!
Good luck to the man with the Best name :)
"Best" ever debut. Supermac, hat trick v Liverpool then carried off. Unique!
Otherwise agree with comments. Who had ever heard of Andy Cole pre joining the toon, and look at what he did.
The real test will come if we do mamange promotion, as any premiership team will murder this lot, and that will be the real test of Hughtons skill.
Good Luck to Him, Cannot be any worse than we have.
Can any one tell me if the game on Friday is on the TV??
Lauriem [above] beat me to it re Supermac v Liverpool.
I reckon Best with either Lovenkrands or Shola, with two wingers could be interesting. A more adventurous NUFC team selection should be able to provide lots of chances for Best to show if he is a genuine goalscorer.
I went to a few games at Southampton with me mate who is a Saints fan (A liv doon sooth, yi knaa) and saw Leon Best play for the Saints a few times. He was used mainly as a sub from what I saw. Primarily a defensive midfielder, he was always involved but looked comfortable in any position. He came through their youth acadamy with Nathan Dyer, Dexter Blackstock and Theo Walcott, as did Gareth Bale and Wayne Bridge!
Didn't Xisco also score on his debut?
Let's hope it doesn't turn out the way Xisco's career at the toon did!
I think this squad is good enough to secure survival in the Prem given the state of the bottom end of that division. In my opinion, our team today is better than the one that went down last spring, and we only just went down.
Regarding Moses, would Palace have aceepted our bid if we offered to loan back to them for the remainder of the season? help them survive in this division before he joined us next year?
lee firstly as I take the time to write on your blogg could you tell me why you removed my last post, i believe it did go through (i didn't swear or anything similar)on a previous topic..?
secondly i would just like to add to the above. I'm looking forward to seeing these new guys play. not sure why CH chops and changes the front line so much? it seems the guys have one good game then he changes them. If Best is better than we've got already i hope he gets a chance to prove himself. it appears CH is not sure what a good striker is... hmmm
Hi Lee, for the price we've paid for Best i don;t see much of a risk. I think Shola and Carroll have quite a bit to answer for this season. Yes the goals have gone in (in spats) but touch, movement and chances to goals ratio has been poor.
Would you agree that this league is far easier than we all anticipated? Yes there are a few kicks out of each other but with the players we have we should be coasting this league.
This is where my issues come in. Simpson, Best, Williamson are our players now - and i think they will definitely add to our squad in a positive way. My issue is our manager. I think he is a great coach and has done a great job so far, but it could have been better couldn't it? We should have gone 4-4-2 against Leicester when they went down to 10 men, but nothing changed. We were presented with an opportunity. We often are presented with these moments in games and we don't capitalise. What is worse is that we frequently offer opportunities to the opposition and thankfully they don't often take them - but that is just the skill level of this league. I get to as many games as i can, home and away, i love Newcastle United, so please don't take this as a negative blog, but does anyone else share my concerns? Actually, on a negative note, that new leftback must have gone to the same leftback school as Beresford. He turned his back on every shot, cross or pass and got lucky with the clearence.
Anyway - good luck on Friday night, lets go 4-4-2 and use our strengths. If it goes wrong, then use a plan B to rectify it?!
yeah a stunning 1-0 or 0-0 game are great to watch aren't they. Look I'll take a win any day...anything that gets us towards our goal, but I have to agree, our attack is lacking and I don't get to see many games being here in the states. Maybe soem fresh blood in the squad will kick a few of the boys in the back side to get their act together! CH be a little creative...pace, go with pace...lets just see what it give us at the wings and up front...you hsould have it now...give it a go.
ginola; i agree, playing 4-5-1 is too defensive when faced against 10men. we have players most of which are PL class however we're playng them as if they're second tier. we should show our confindence and at least play 4-4-2. 4-5-1 is ok but when we have took the sting out of the home side we should push up a gear and put them under pressure... Come on Chris do someting diferent before fans get on your back.