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Peter Crouch signed his first professional contract with Tottenham Hotspur in 1998 but failed to make an appearance and after some brief loan spells he was sold to QPR. Following this move, Crouch began to have an influence and scored 10 goals in a relegation season for the side. Not a bad return for a relegation side in what was then known as Division One. A series of moves then followed for Crouch over the coming years. He has now made 389 appearances and scored 112 goals in all domestic competitions. One goal just under every three and a half games. This is an OK record. Many of his goals have not come against the bigger teams and his appearances have been inconsistent.

However, his international record is impressive, averaging a goal every other game with 22 goals in 42 appearances. His record in Europe also stands at (including this years qualifying rounds) at 48 appearances with 26 goals. He was joint second top scorer in the 2006/07 Champions League when Liverpool reached but lost the final to AC Milan.

Crouch’s domestic record in comparison to his International or European record is not at the same standard so suggests inconsistency.

Of his 22 goals, only 4 came against teams in the current top 20 of the FIFA Rankings. This goes along with the argument that his goals do tend to come against weaker sides.

What is the reason that Crouch has such a better record when playing in European Competition or in International matches?

It is no doubt down to the fact that outside of the Domestic game, teams aren’t used to playing against a player similar to Crouch’s style. He can play as a Target Man but is also very good with the ball at his feet. Continental defenders do not often face an opponent with Crouch’s unique style. He seems far more adept and more of a threat in European or International games. He is not the kind of player you can practice defending against easily. He has a mixture of styles, similar to a taller, lankier Mark Viduka. This can make it difficult for defenders to know what to expect.

When Crouch plays, there can be a tendency to just hoof the ball up towards him and play a long ball game. This is obviously not always a bad thing, it does provide a different way to attack. The long ball game doesn’t do wonders for his goal record as he tends to play a bigger part in the build up and means he gets less opportunity to get in the goalscoring positions.

His tendency to give away fouls is often frustrating. He can often be seen climbing on the back of players when he already has a 2 foot head start. The most ridiculous case of this being when he challenged Gattuso for a header at the San Siro and used the little Italian to provide him additional height. Like he needed it!

If Crouch could replicate the form he shows in matches outside of the Domestic game, he would be a top class striker. It is much easier for him to make the most of his physique when playing opponents who are unfamiliar with him but there is quite a big gulf in his performances across the competitions. His domestic record is not poor, but it has meant that Tottenham still need to buy and out-and-out prolific goalscorer. He has linked well with Rafael van der Vaart this year but his Goal return this season has been poor. Crouch clearly relishes the more ‘one-off’ kind of games and takes full advantage of his physical attributes.

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They were not the words Steven Taylor envisaged spitting out as his beloved Newcastle United prepare for the new season in the Championship. ‘The club’s a joke,’ he said . ‘And the players haven’t got a clue what is going on.’

It wasn’t supposed to be this way. In May, when he fell to the pitch at Villa Park following relegation and clasped his head, Taylor could somehow see the green shoots of the club’s recovery even through the tears.

When he returned to the sanctuary of the dressing room Alan Shearer would be there and would become the manager to guide them through their troubles.

Twenty-four hours later, after a final debriefing with Shearer, Taylor and those members of the squad who still cared felt even more optimistic about the prospect of a season ahead in the Football League.

The former England Under 21 captain, who had played only a limited role in the club’s final throes in the top flight due to an achilles injury, was encouraged to stand down from European Championship duties.

He was still reluctant, but this was advice from Shearer and his medical guru Paul Ferris and their only concern was a summer of recuperation for the central defender.
‘Everyone thought he would be back in place,’ said Taylor, 23. ‘We thought it might take a couple of weeks but then Alan would be the manager.

‘And that’s why I missed the European Championship. He wanted me right for the start of the season and of course I was happy to do it. I have so much respect for him and whatever he says, you do it.
‘He said he would be back and would do it his way. I guarantee if he was still manager now, all our big players would still be here. The chairman would have had a headache over the wage bill but whatever Alan Shearer wants, you give him. He commands that much respect and he would take us straight back up.
‘I thought Alan would be named as manager and everything would be sorted. Instead the season kicks off and we still haven’t got a manager.’
It is 76 days since Shearer last addressed his troops and although he will be at The Hawthorns on Saturday evening for Newcastle’s game against West Bromwich, it will be back in the television studio rather than in the dressing room.

For that, Taylor is unable to suppress his anger – just as Shearer may struggle to hide his emotions on camera.

‘The new manager should be given time to do it his way and if he wants something just give it to him. The chairman, if he loves this football club, would do that. I’m devastated Alan Shearer has not got the job. As players, we haven’t a clue what is going on.

‘I’ve read every week that next week Alan is going to be named manager. Then Joe Kinnear is going to get the job, then Kevin Keegan and then Alan Shearer again. I don’t get it. The club is a joke” (Daily Mail)

As the north-east club lurches from one crisis to another it’s easy to forget that the club still has a fair few players who will give their all to get the club back on track. Obviously this doesn’t include the likes of Mark Viduka, Michael Owen.and other mercanaries looking to continue their Premier League lifestyle or more accurately continue getting their huge Premier League pay checks.

Steven Taylor strikes me as a player who will give his all for the club and as such his derogatory remarks about the club are all the more powerful as this is a man who desperately wants to see the club back where they belong, but can that happen in the current climate, in a word, no.

After being driven into the ground by Mike Ashley and his cronies who have made bad judgement call after bad judgement call, it will take more than a quick fix to address the bigger picture. Even if the Obese and Odious owner jumped ship things would still not be so easily remedied but it would be a step in the right direction.

Chris Hughton is a coach and not a manager and he is probably as desperate to see another man at the helm as anyone, everyone in the City of Newcastle wanted that man to be Alan Shearer, but that seems like a distant dream now and a secondary, less romantic, solution needs to be reached, and fast.

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The Rumour

Newcastle United are ready to battle Blackburn Rovers for Portsmouth striker Peter Crouch.

The Daily Star Sunday with Michael Owen’s future still in doubt, Magpies caretaker-boss Alan Shearer is making a list of possible options – and 6ft 7in Crouch fits the bill.

Blackburn boss Sam Allardyce revealed he thought hard over a move for the England star in January.

The Source: (The Daily Star as reported on Tribalfootball.com)

The Analysis

Alan Shearer seems destined to take his boyhood heroes down to The Championship and whilst it’s unsure as to whether the former playing legend will continue at the helm it appears the club is already drawing up a list of potential summer signings.

The likes of Mark Viduka and Obafemi Martins may well leave the club when the season draws to an end and Michael Owen.is almost certain to leave with this contract coming to an end.

Given the lack of effective firepower at the club and the likely departure of many players should Newcastle get relegated, i am not surprised they are looking to the likes of Peter Crouch as a possible signings.

The Portsmouth man has watched as many of this former teammates have been sold off to make ends meet and he is bound to be asking himself whether a stay at Fratton Park is in his own best interests. The former Liverpool man has had a good season, netting 16 times for a team that has spent a big chunk of the season at the wrong end of the table.

The Likelihood

Crouch to Newcastle: I fancy this deal to go ahead, even if the Toon Army are relegated.

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The Newcastle striker hasn’t played a game of competitive football since the beginning of May, but he could be set for a surprise return against his former club on Saturday. Viduka had been suffering with an Achilles problem, but has made excellent progress since returning to training a couple of weeks ago.

The 33-year-old is obviously still quite some way off match fitness, and hasn’t even played a game for the reserves as yet. However, Newcastle boss Joe Kinnear may well be tempted to stick him on the bench this Saturday. Viduka could act as a impact substitution for the Magpies, and there is no doubt that Middlesbrough would rather not see him involved.

Speaking about the situation, Kinnear said that ‘you might find he’s on the bench’ because the player has ‘surprised us all’ with the speed of his recovery. Kinnear went on to say that Viduka is one of the ‘leaders’ in the squad and, of course, a ‘terrific player’.

This is definitely the case as far as I am concerned. Viduka has always been a player I have rated highly, and perhaps he hasn’t achieved as much as he should have done in the game so far. Yes, he’s had his fair share of injury problems that have held him back, but for the ability he possesses, surely he should have won more trophies?

It will certainly be interesting to see how he fares should he be involved. I have a hunch that he might just grab himself a goal.

As for the game itself, well home advantage ensures that Middlesbrough are the favourites to pick up the three points according to the majority of football odds. They sit eight places above Newcastle in the table, but amazingly they are only four points ahead of Kinnear’s men.

So, despite their seemingly contrasting starts to the season, a win for Newcastle would see them climb to within one point of their opponents. Shows how tight the league is this season doesn’t it? No team below Everton in 7th are a safe distance from the relegation zone, and this makes the game at the Riverside all the more crucial.

By Thomas Rooney – A sports writer who blogs about football betting

The Daily Mail reports that Viduka might have played his last game for Newcastle United, with the striker currently seeing a specialist in the hope that he might yet return to St James’ Park and continue his footballing career. However, the signs don’t look good at the moment.

Mark Viduka is battling to save his career after failing to shake off an Achilles injury that has troubled him since the end of last season.

The Newcastle striker, who turns 33 on Thursday, is seeing a specialist in his native Australia. He has been targeted by the Melbourne Heart franchise to spearhead a new team in his home city in 2010 and is eager to finish his playing days in Australia.

But fears are growing that Viduka, whose contract runs out next summer, may lose his latest fitness fight after Newcastle originally believed rest might provide a cure.

Viduka managed 19 league starts for Newcastle last season, although he hasn’t featured at all this campaign and has been injury-prone throughout his entire career. Celtic, Leeds and Middlesbrough fans will remember the Aussie striker fondly, with the forward scoring plenty of goals for every club which he’s played for. It appears as though he might have kicked his last ball in professional football.

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We’ve already read about trivial cost-cutting measures being imposed at the club next season, such as the players having to fork out for their own suits – a drop in the ocean when you consider the big bucks that Mark Owen and Mark Viduka are earning. However, The Independent reveal that Ashley is looking for some big-hitters to appear on the scene and share some of the financial burden with him.

Ashley said of a 100 per cent sale, “That is not true,” before adding: “I would say that I am keen to have partners in Newcastle. That’s a very expensive seat I sit in.”

However, the Newcastle owner does have standards, retorting to a question about the Bin Laden family investing in United with the following quip:

“I think I’ll start with people from Newcastle not in some cave in Afghanistan.”

Jokes aside, it seems as though Newcastle’s robust owner is feeling the pinch in these hard times in which we live. Will Kevin Keegan have just a minimal budget with which to improve the squad? He wasn’t able to spend any money in January and there’s just over a month before the start of next season – how many players will he be able to sign?

Keegan said: “I get on really well with Mark, we’ve never had a bust up with any player at this club, and that’s the truth. He just hasn’t been fit. He’s come back from one thing and then got another thing and they’ve all been genuine. All the other stuff you’ve seen is absolute garbage.

“He’s my kind of player. He’s got this fantastic ability to score goals in tight situations and to score goals at important times. That’s what wins you football matches.”

Will ‘Dooks’ be Keegan’s match-winner on Monday night? Newcastle haven’t got many decent players but the former Leeds and Boro player is certainly one of them and, providing he gets any kind of service at St Andrews, there’s always a chance of Viduka being on the scoresheet. However, fans may be puzzled as to why their club have two strikers on the books who have a tendency to be unfit or injured.

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