Timing's right for Sol Campbell, says Chris Hughton

Jul 30 2010 by Stuart Rayner, The Journal

Newcastle will monitor him closely before deciding when Campbell should make his first appearance, and how much football they should try to get out of him thereafter. A friendly at Rangers a week tomorrow could prove a realistic target for his debut.

“He has worked through the summer but there is a big difference between doing your work away from the training ground and the intensity here,” Hughton said.

“He has told me he was working during his honeymoon, so we’re grateful for that.

“Probably the most important thing is we can’t take a risk. We have to make sure when we put someone out there it’s the right thing to do otherwise you are leaving yourself vulnerable to a player picking up an injury.”

Campbell’s ill-fated moved to Notts County limited him to just 14 starts last season – one in League Two, two in the European Cup – and Hughton must decide if he can withstand the rigours of being a Premier League ever-present.

“That is something we will very quickly find out,” he said. “It’s not so long (2006-09) since he was playing very regularly three seasons at Portsmouth. Last season was different but he was available for a lot of games.

“They are the things we need to find out but he is a fit lad.

“The Premier League is very different from what we experienced last season with the amount of midweek games.

“There are more weekend-to-weekend games.”

Meanwhile, former Magpies defender Jean-Alain Boumsong is on the verge of sealing a move to Greek side Panathinaikos after landing in Athens yesterday afternoon.

The much-travelled centre back will have a medical and finalise his contract in the upcoming hours. The move sees Boumsong reunited with France team-mates Djibril Cisse, the former Sunderland forward, and Sidney Govou.

He said: “I have come here to win titles.

“I don’t want to say that I am a leader, I only want to do the best I can for my new new team.

“I am really happy to come to Panathinaikos. I know that I will be playing alongside Djibril and Sidney, and I’m happy about that.”

Boumsong spent four years with Cisse at Auxerre, while he has spent the past two years in the same Lyon side as Govou.

The 30-year-old also lists Le Havre, Rangers and Juventus among his former teams.