Newcastle ready to welcome back Kop flop Carroll
Liverpool's £35 million Andy Carroll will be heartened by the news that Newcastle boss Alan Pardew is willing to take back the troubled England striker preparing for Friday's Premier League game against his former club.
Carroll, 22, has hit just five goals since his high-profile move to Liverpool nearly a year ago, while replacement Demba Ba has 14 league goals for the Geordies this season alone.
But Pardew still has faith in his Toon old boy and feels he has great potential, according to The Sun.
He said: "You never want to lose great players and we never wanted to lose Andy. I'd take him back if I had the chance.
"If the fee offered by Liverpool had not been so high, he'd still be here."
Injuries have hindered Carroll's bid to nail down a regular place under Kenny Dalglish and he has made just 14 top-flight starts for the Reds.
Pardew added: "A run in the side is something all strikers need.
"He's a great lad. I like Andy and I was disappointed to see him left out of the England squad last time. I think he can be an England No 9.
"He's going through a period of transition. He's finding his feet at Liverpool and I'm sure he'll find his way."
Carroll struck 33 goals in 60 starts for Newcastle, helping them bounce straight back into the Premier League after relegation in 2009.
Pardew believes they have yet to see the best of Carroll who has split opinion since making a move to Anfield in January and was criticised once again after missing a host of chances in the 1-1 draw with Blackburn on Monday.
"He's a young player and all young players need confidence — strikers particularly," added Pardew. "Sometimes you need to stay with them. The best years for Andy are still ahead of him."
Pardew was echoing the sentiments expressed by Dalglish who slammed the media for their obsession with Carroll's faiulure to get the ball over the line.
“I think you yourselves have a bigger problem with Andy Carroll than anyone else,” Dalglish told reporters.
“Every week there are questions, this time it is understandable I suppose because he’s playing against Newcastle United if he was to start, but I don’t understand it.
“It is unfortunate he attracts some attention to himself from yourselves, but for us since he has come here, he has gone about his work very well on and off the pitch and he is adjusting to life at a new club with a new philosophy and a new way of playing.
“There is nobody at our place who couldn’t be doing better, so he is in the same bracket as everyone else,” he said.
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