As soon as the gaffer dropped the clue that his intended loan target – the one he had got ?very close? to signing yesterday – had a one-in-three scoring record in the Premiership, it was always going to be a case of rushing back to the old Soccerbase.com and seeing who has done what recently.
Or rather who hasn't done what recently if, as Glenn suggested, he's not rated by the manager and is kicking his heels somewhere, not getting a game
Which is why it didn't take too long up at Colney this morning for Shola Ameobi's name to pop up into conversation.
For hard on the heels of Lee Clark's recent arrivel as the new City No2 and Roeder's efforts at prising Adam Sadler out of Tyneside, to have a poke aroundthe back of Big Sam's larder seemed the obvious thing to do.
And there sits Ameobi. With 28 Premiership goals to his name and 94 Premiership starts, the big, powerful 26-year-old just about ticks the one-in-three box.
He certainly ticks the athletic box that Roeder is certainly looking for – someone to fight a little of Watford's fire with fire. And I'm pretty sure it would get most people in the Championship to sit up and take notice.
Equally he doesn't seem to have won Big Sam round having started just one game this season – the 1-0 defeat at Derby back in the middle of September.
And in front of him in the striker queue lies, in no particular order, Mark Viduka – back for the derby clash with Sunderland this weekend after his recent calf trouble – Michael Owen and Obafemi Martins. As well as, potentially, both James Milner and Alan Smith.
Big Sam goes into the January transfer window with another striker on his shopping list and Ameobi could be even further down that pecking order.
Then you go back to that interview that little BBC cub reporter did with Clark last season and you discover this little gem as the new No2 discusses his very early days trying his hand at coaching – when he was still a teenager and Ameobi was a gangly ten-year-old.
?At a young age I helped coaching at Walker Central Boys Club when I was 18 or 19 as a young player at Newcastle,? revealed Clark. ?In fact I had a young Shola Ameobi as one of the players there at the time…
Mmm.
As for Ameobi himself, he could be found turning out for Newcastle ressies this week away at Everton – a Newcastle second string now managed not by Clark, but by both Terry McDermott and City coach target Sadler.
And having watched Ameobi put the visitors ahead, McDermott was full of praise.
?It was nice for Shola. He did well and you could tell by his performance he had that little bit of extra quality,? the one-time Anfield legend told the Newcastle Evening Chronicle this week.
?I could not fault his attitude, application and desire. All credit to him, he is trying to get fit for first-team selection. His display last night moved him nearer to that.?
If, of course, Big Sam actually fancies him.
Or, indeed, needs him. After all, Viduka is now back in the squad; his calf trouble cleared up….
Interesting.
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