s@int wrote:Toon confirm Crouch interest
By Graeme Bailey - Created on 12 Dec 2006
Newcastle manager Glenn Roeder has confirmed his interest in Liverpool's Peter Crouch.
The England striker looks to be losing his battle with Dirk Kuyt and Craig Bellamy for a starting role as Rafa Benitez edges away from his rotation policy.
Roeder looks set to invest heavily in the January transfer window and a new striker is believed to be on his list of targets.
Crouch has been linked with a possible switch to St James' Park and now Roeder has admitted he is an admirer of the 25-year-old.
"I am an admirer of the way Peter Crouch plays and the fact is that he also scores goals," said Roeder, who is also believed to be keeping tabs on Mark Viduka.
The Middlesbrough striker was the subject of a bid from Newcastle in August and Roeder could look to try and prise him away from Teesside once again.
Roeder was also linked with weekend moves for a host of defenders including former Newcastle stars Jonathan Woodgate and Sylvain Distin, and Fulham's Zat Knight.
However, the Magpies supremo was quick to play down an interest in those three.
"I am not interested in bringing Jonathan Woodgate, Sylvain Distin or Zat Knight to Newcastle United," he told The Evening Chronicle.
Crouch seems to be struggling to get a starting place and if we do get the investment maybe we could go for a bigger name (not player ), but he has scored a lot of goals this year and was a very important player for us last season. What do you think, sell for £10million ? or keep him no matter what?
I can't believe how fast he seems to have dropped in Rafa's thinking, in a couple of months hes gone from England star to bench warmer. I must admit £10million would tempt me (but only if we have the investment to buy better).
"I am an admirer of the way Peter Crouch plays and the fact is that he also scores goals"
Bad Bob wrote:Expect Rafa to pour cold water on this one sharpish. Crouch has worked hard to achieve at this level (which, let's face it, is several cuts above Newcastle at the moment) and he's still a vital part of the squad. The fact that he's getting fewer starts is no slight against the big man...it simply indicates that we have much more actual depth up top (rather than mere depth on paper) than we had last season. There will still be many games where Crouch will be the key to unsettling the defence and setting up chances. He brings something that our other strikers can't and that makes him valuable. Plus, he has the right balance of hunger and discipline: he's the kind of player that can sit on the bench for a stretch of games without spitting out his dummy, yet, when he comes on, he'll be fired up to show Rafa what a mistake it is to leave him out of the side. I think the barcodes will need to explore other options next month...our big man's staying put!
Ciggy wrote:Typical Newcastle, desprate for defenders but hey lets go out and buy more strikers why not
red37 wrote:But overdoing it becomes rote and stagnation will set in ultimately. Maybe Peter is aware of the alarm bells all too well, after all this is what, his 6th club that he's played for the first team in a relatively short career to date, after leaving Tottenhams youth in 2000. Six clubs in as many years tells some tale of significance....Perhaps at the end of the day the fella is just too 'nice' to be the 'beast' Rafa needs him to be. It'll be a shame if he leaves, i like the fact that we have many 'options' creating anxiety for the opposition in allowing the masterplan to bear fruit. Just as a side bet, i suspect the manager wants to hang on to his services too..... we'll see.
Ciggy wrote:Typical Newcastle, desprate for defenders but hey lets go out and buy more strikers why not
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