United must not let their standards slip

Feb 8 2010 by Luke Edwards, The Journal

Newcastle United have raised the bar in the promotion race by outclassing Cardiff City and Andy Carroll has shown precisely what he is capable of. Luke Edwards argues the real challenge is trying to maintain it.

It is a message Hughton will continue to stress to the players in case any of them start to believe their own hype, and presumably it is a message the coaching staff intend to hammer home to Carroll.

The England under-21 international is one of the brightest prospects to have emerged from Newcastle’s Academy system in more than a decade, but he remains a work in progress.

He can either be a masterpiece or flawed; a botched job, something that started well before mistakes were made and the final picture was a frustrating letdown.

Against Cardiff, Carroll looked unplayable at times and he was desperately unlucky not to secure his first senior hat-trick for the club he grew up supporting as a boy.

The superlatives flew around St James’ Park in the immediate aftermath of that game, an heir apparent to Alan Shearer, Newcastle’s next number nine and a future England international, but they will all be forgotten by the time Newcastle arrive at Pride Park.

At 20, Carroll still has so much to learn as a player and a man and the challenge is keeping his mind focused on what people are trying to teach him.

“In some ways, he is an old-fashioned centre-forward who has a prowess in the air, but he is still developing his game and he has to continue to do that,” said Hughton, who has been protective of Carroll following an incident at a city centre nightclub before Christmas which saw him bailed by police last week during an investigation into an alleged assault.

“He has good football skills for a big man, but what he has to add to his game is goals and he was able to do that against Cardiff.

“He has shown what he can do when he is on his game. He has set himself a standard, shown what he capable of and we want that more often.”

The same applies to everyone else in the side, because if a 5-1 win over Cardiff proves to be the highlight of this season it will have gone wrong somewhere.