Alan Shearer joins in about Andy Carroll

Newcastle legend Alan Shearer joined-in the support of Andy Carroll’s play, saying of the hometown hero:

“To see a youngster come through from the ranks is great.

“Let’s face it he wouldn’t be in the side if Mark Viduka, Oba Martins and Shola Ameobi were fit.

“But he’s been given a great chance.

“He had an earlier chance but to his credit he wasn’t afraid to go in and miss again.

“But it was a great header and he earned Newcastle a point.”

The Gateshead native said of his dream-start within the starting grid that came in-front of his family:

“It’s something I’ve dreamt about for a long time and when I saw the ball go in my head was just buzzing.

“I think everything just went blank and I jumped in the air.

“All my family, my mam, dad and two brothers were in the stands and it was just unbelievable to score my first goal at St.James’ Park.”

“It was a great cross from Damien Duff and I just tried to head it back towards goal and luckily it’s gone in.

“I thought we deserved the draw and the lads have done well to come back from going behind.”

Andy Carroll’s “telling contribution”

Discussing yesterday’s come from behind 2-2 draw to West Ham, first-team coach Chris Hughton praised Andy Carroll calling his performance a “telling contribution.”

Mr. Hughton went on say:

“We showed a lot of spirit coming back.

“And I was very pleased for Andy to get the goal at the end.

“In this period we are going through with the injuries, a young lad can come in to make up the numbers - but I think he has done more than that.

“He has had a really telling contribution in the last two games.

“In the first half at Hull he did very well, then tired towards the end of that game, but today he did more and got the goal.”

At only twenty years of age the local Gateshead boy has emerged from the reserves and hammering his name into the starting grid with confident surging performances. While the season has been a tumultuous one, with painful lows and fears of the abyss of relegation, this my friends is a story to be grabbed tight. In an era where true club Football seems a vestige of the past, when a young man growing up to where the crest of his local team, this reminds us of some of the truly beautiful elements of the beautiful game.

While the time to crown him as a fixture in the starting grid is still a ways off, as we go through this challenging time for not only Newcastle but the sport as well as it grapples with the worlds financial crisis, I cannot tell you how delighted I am to see a young local product get his chance to shine. In the hands of players such as Jonny Godsmark and Andy Carroll, I am confident that they will protect the sanctity of the “crest.”