Super Shearer becomes a distant memory as Handy Andy takes over

Everybody in football knows how much the Number 9 shirt means to the people of Newcastle with so many legendary strikers having worn it down the years. Many players have made their names wearing the number on their back.

The most famous Newcastle number 9's is an impressive list, including Hughie Gallagher, Jackie Milburn, Len White, Malcolm MacDonald, Andy Cole, Les Ferdinand and of course, the biggest of all, Alan Shearer. Many have tried and failed to make the same impact with the shirt as those names have, the most recent being Nigerian Obafemi Martins. Many questioned the decision to hand Martins the coveted shirt the season after Shearer retired, as Martins, who had been frustrated at Inter Milan had no Premier League experience and not much understanding of what it meant to the people of the area. He did however claim to understand it's meaning and history and wanted to become another famous Toon number 9, fair enough. However, people soon realised Martins wasn't quite the man for the job. Although he could produce spectacular goals out of nothing (a goal at White Hart Lane in 2007 sticks out - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJvM7ufWJdc&feature=geosearch) he didn't inspire his team as much as many of his predecessors had, he also lacked the consistent goal scoring ability. This would become an issue for Newcastle as without their most famous number 9 (Shearer) they started to drop further down the table over the next few years before being relegated to the Championship in 2008/9, with Martins only scoring 8 goals all season, which says a lot.



Carroll at 16 starting out his
footballing career

After the turmoil that followed the relegation, Newcastle rose from the ashes to romp through the Championship and be promoted as champions back to the Premier League at the first time of asking with a fantastic 102 points. This was to be the season that saw the emergence of a certain Andrew Carroll. Carroll started his career as a left sided player, who had pace and scored goals, but didn't have the height at that stage to be a towering striker that he would turn out to be. He spent a short loan spell at Preston North End during the 2007/8 season, scoring only once in 11 appearances. In the relegation season, Carroll showed glimpses of his quality, scoring 3 goals in the second half of the season, with his last his most memorable in a 1-1 draw away to Stoke City. The goal was where his heading ability was first seen - (this video shows his impact in the relegation season as well as the memorable header vs Stoke, the second goal you see in the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voKOcnM0Vuc).



Carroll enjoyed an impressive
Championship campaign

Carroll's impact in the Championship didn't occur until the second half of the season. With him being in and out of the side during the first half of the season he took the Championship by storm, scoring 19 goals in the league, joint top within the club with Kevin Nolan, which saw him voted in the Championship team of the year for 2009/10 at 21 years old.

However, during the Championship campaign, Carroll wasn't thought of as the new number 9. He wore the number 24 shirt during that season. Newcastle signed striker Leon Best in the January transfer window of 2010 and he admitted he could have taken the number 9 shirt, but decided not to as he didn't feel it was his to take at that time, showing the power that the shirt has.

During the close season, building up to the 2010/11 season, then Newcastle manager Chris Hughton made the decision to make Andy Carroll Newcastle's new number 9, quite a moment for Carroll who is a born and bread Geordie, just like two of his most famous predecessors, Milburn and Shearer. Many people were starting to tout Carroll as a new Shearer, but Carroll's big test would be, could he handle the Premier League? Half way through the season at the moment and it has to be a resounding yes.



Carroll was starting to catch the eye
with impressive performances in
the Premier League

He couldn't have started any better, with a hatrick Newcastle's first home game of the season in a huge 6-0 over Aston Villa. Suddenly people's heads started to turn and look towards Andy Carroll as his performances continued to create praise and interest. So much interest in fact, that moves to Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham have been mooted, but all links have been quashed, which was a relief to the Toon Army. The biggest interest of all however, was from England boss Fabio Capello.

Carroll has had a mixed career so far with on the pitch issues more and more encouraging but Carroll's off the field problems have been well documented, with a couple of court cases for alleged assault, which he was later charged for, as well as being forced to live with club captain Kevin Nolan until January 10th. This lead to the torching of Carroll's car outside Nolan's house in Newcastle. All of this suddenly dampened Carroll's image, however his club and indeed his country stuck by him. Capello has already said he wishes to help Carroll through his problems and is keen to work with him. That saw the England boss give Carroll is first senior England call up in November 2010, as Carroll had already impressed for the Under 21's and of course with Newcastle in the Premier League, having scored 7 goals in 12 games in the league at the point of his call up. Capello then handed Carroll his first England cap in a friendly vs France at Wembley in November 2010. Although the game ended in defeat for England, Carroll stood out from many of the rest of the England players and other debutant's that evening and received huge praise for his performance against the French centre backs. Boss Capello has since reaffirmed his likeness for Carroll, insisting he wants to partner him and star striker Wayne Rooney up front for England in future matches. Carroll was fast becoming the man to watch.



England soon came calling and Carroll
didn't disappoint on debut

All eyes were on Carroll after his first England cap, to see whether he could continue his good form for Newcastle. He was now an integral part of then manager, Chris Hughton's plans. Carroll has continued to score goals and create other for his team since his first England cap, which again has linked him with moves away from Newcastle, however it still remains to be hard to see.

As I write this, Carroll sits on 11 Premier League goals in 18 games so far this season, only one behind super star Carlos Tevez and two behind Dimitar Berbatov. Not bad for a 21 year old in his first full season in the Premier League, with the responsibility and pressure that comes with being a Newcastle number 9.

There are attributes that Carroll has that makes him extremely comparable to the likes of Alan Shearer such as, his ability to drive a team forward, create goals and score goals. All of those attributes he has shown so far this season, are what is key to becoming not only a successful striker at the highest level but also to become a successful Newcastle United and England number 9.