Jim out to fix it for Ameobi

Aug 15 2008 by Mark Douglas, The Journal

IF SHOLA Ameobi is to satisfy his aim of securing regular first-team football he must first prove to Ipswich manager Jim Magilton that he possesses the necessary “desire” to drop down a division, move away from his boyhood club and become a success in the Championship.

After a move to Stoke collapsed earlier in the summer Ameobi’s departure has been one of the close season’s longest-running sagas, but it is now edging towards a conclusion after Newcastle gave Ipswich permission to talk to the 26-year-old with a view to a move.

Although a fee is yet to be agreed Ipswich are prepared to meet a revised asking price of £2.5m – if their manager is convinced after a face-to-face meeting scheduled for later today.

Magilton wants to meet Ameobi to assess whether a player who has plied his trade almost exclusively in the top flight has the necessary desire to prove himself at Championship level.

The Ipswich manager will seek testimonial from Sir Bobby Robson before making such a substantial investment, but it is talks with the player himself that are likely to make up Magilton’s mind.

For a player who earlier this week re-iterated his need to play regularly to rebuild his career, convincing the manager of his desire should not prove to be a problem.

“Newcastle have given us permission to talk to the lad and we have been in contact with his agent,” the Ipswich manager said. “I leave the initial talks to Derek Bowden and if we get to a point of agreeing, then I will sit down and look him in the eye and see if he has the desire I’m looking for. Newcastle are looking to offload the boy as he is in the last year of his contract.”

If Ameobi does depart St James’s Park, it will bring a 13-year association with Newcastle United to an end.

First spotted by United scouts playing for Walker Central youth team as a teenager, he made the first team breakthrough that precious few of his Academy peers have been able to replicate in recent years.

And while there were some judges among the Newcastle support who remain unconvinced by the forward’s pedigree, Ameobi would be entitled to reflect ruefully on the age-old credibility problem faced by young players who progress through their club’s youth system.

While the striker never threatened to be prolific in a black-and-white shirt, he was sufficiently regarded by no lesser judge than Sir Bobby and played more than 150 games for the club, scoring 28 goals.

But injuries hampered Ameobi’s progress over recent seasons, and Kevin Keegan judged him surplus to requirements within a few months of returning to St James’s Park. It is a fact acknowledged by Magilton, whose enthusiasm for a move suggests that Ameobi may have found a manager with sufficient belief in him to help him fulfil his potential.

“Sir Bobby knows him chapter and verse, and I will talk to him about Shola,” Magilton said. “He is a lad with immense promise but at 26 years old he needs to start fulfilling that promise. He didn’t have a fantastic time on loan at Stoke but he was probably hampered by an injury.

“It is up to him now. If he wants to hang around Newcastle and then be a free agent then fine but if he wants to show a desire to play at Championship level then we would be a club interested in him.

“Sir Bobby loves him, Glenn Roeder gave him a lot of games and he has great ability. It is just a case of harnessing that ability and giving him a sustained run of games. He has had to deal with the Shearers, Kluiverts, Bellamys, Owens and that sort of competition but he has still made about 50 starts.”