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Ameobi out for the rest of the season?


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The horrendous fitness curse which has dogged Graeme Souness all season struck again last night as it emerged that Shola Ameobi's hip problems are worse than initially thought and could spell a premature end to the striker's season.

 

The 24-year-old travelled to London with his Newcastle team-mates yesterday but, while his black-and-white colleagues spent the afternoon finalising their preparations for today's Premiership encounter with Fulham, Ameobi visited one of the country's leading surgeons for a rigorous examination.

 

The problem is understood to be similar to the one which has afflicted Sunderland's Kevin Kyle and, while there has been no indication that United's unfortunate frontman will spend anything like as long as the 16 months on the sidelines his Wearside counterpart has endured, there are genuine concerns within the Magpies camp.

 

An operation has been discussed and, whilst surgery is by no means certain at this stage, should Ameobi be forced to take that course of action he would become the eighth member of Newcastle's senior squad to have gone under the knife since the start of the season.

 

The best Souness can hope for is that Ameobi will be sidelined for the next month. Should he require an operation, the striker will not play again this season. It is only the 14th day of 2006 but Michael Owen, Steven Taylor and Scott Parker have already undergone various operations this year.

 

It is an unprecedented catalogue of injuries which have wrecked Souness' hopes of engineering a successful season. Ameobi has not kicked a ball since United's 2-2 draw with Middlesbrough on January 2 and, following his consultation in the capital, it seems his return to Premiership action is not imminent.

 

The former England under-21 international had keyhole surgery on his hip last summer but, with the procedure having failed to solve the problem, it is feared that, like Kyle, Ameobi could require a full-blown operation to resolve an injury which is preventing him from running and kicking a ball in a satisfactory manner and which is also understood to be affecting him in his every day life.

 

Ameobi is believed to be in constant pain, and has been told that the problem needs to be treated once and for all. His doctors were last night still awaiting the results of tests conducted at a top London clinic and, while an operation remains the last resort, it seems a very real possibility at the current time.

 

While Ameobi has been a peripheral figure for the Magpies this season, that Souness is without Owen, Taylor and Parker - all of them automatic choices in his first-choice side - means his absence is a considerable blow.

 

The United boss is keen to strengthen a depleted squad which will again be without Emre at Craven Cottage this afternoon. But having received no bids for any of his own players, Souness cannot finance moves for anyone else's.

 

Charlton Athletic have approached Newcastle about the possibility of signing Lee Bowyer, but the Addicks want the midfielder and £2.5m in exchange for Danny Murphy.

 

Souness has been told by Freddie Shepherd that any new additions, even loan signings, will have to be funded by the sale of existing players. That, he says, has made for an easy January so far. "It's not been difficult at all because I haven't had any money to spend and unless someone comes in and wants to buy one of my players there's nothing I can do about it, I'll run with what I've got," he said. "No-one's offered money for any of our players as I understand it so there's no decisions to make."

 

A lack of finances have not stopped Souness from looking, and sources in Switzerland insisted last night that FC Thun's emerging left-back Jose Goncalves is a target. The 20-year-old Portuguese faced Arsenal in this season's Champions League and is keen on the Premiership. Everton are also interested but Thun are expected to resist any loan deal.

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How long until the next "Dyer a week away from returning to training"?

79116[/snapback]

Apparently he's a week or two away from being a week or two away from returning to training :yes

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How long until the next "Dyer a week away from returning to training"?

79116[/snapback]

Apparently he's a week or two away from being a week or two away from returning to training :yes

79117[/snapback]

Before being six weeks away from making a full-return, because Souness sees a midfielder in Chopra. Edited by TheInspiration
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Ameobi could require a full-blown operation to resolve an injury which is preventing him from running and kicking a ball in a satisfactory manner.

79061[/snapback]

 

Seems to me that he's had this injury since birth tbh.

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Whatever you think of Shola, this is bad news since we have absolutely no cover at all upfront now.

79114[/snapback]

 

thats rubbish to be honest. in my opinion. We have plenty of players that could do a decent job up front in the squad, but because of numpty in charge the only way that would happen is for Shola to be injured. As harsh as it may seems, I think it is a good thing for the club.

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Whatever you think of Shola, this is bad news since we have absolutely no cover at all upfront now.

79114[/snapback]

 

thats rubbish to be honest. in my opinion. We have plenty of players that could do a decent job up front in the squad, but because of numpty in charge the only way that would happen is for Shola to be injured. As harsh as it may seems, I think it is a good thing for the club.

79929[/snapback]

 

Eh? Who are these players like? Please don't say Chopra. ;)

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Whatever you think of Shola, this is bad news since we have absolutely no cover at all upfront now.

79114[/snapback]

 

thats rubbish to be honest. in my opinion. We have plenty of players that could do a decent job up front in the squad, but because of numpty in charge the only way that would happen is for Shola to be injured. As harsh as it may seems, I think it is a good thing for the club.

79929[/snapback]

 

Eh? Who are these players like? Please don't say Chopra. ;)

79938[/snapback]

 

lol, Luque, Bowyer, yes Chopra, Zoggy especially, and maybe even stick O'brien in there (+ Dyer and Emre in the injured pack) ... they could all do a better job up front than Ameobi imho.

 

Even Steven Taylor would do okay, but that's a wild card ;)

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lol, Luque, Bowyer, yes Chopra, Zoggy especially, and maybe even stick O'brien in there (+ Dyer and Emre in the injured pack) ... they could all do a better job up front than Ameobi imho.

 

Even Steven Taylor would do okay, but that's a wild card  ;)

79945[/snapback]

 

Chopra - never been good enough, isn't good enough at the moment and I don't believe he ever will be. Therefore we remain worryingly short of strikers.

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lol, Luque, Bowyer, yes Chopra, Zoggy especially, and maybe even stick O'brien in there (+ Dyer and Emre in the injured pack) ... they could all do a better job up front than Ameobi imho.

 

Even Steven Taylor would do okay, but that's a wild card  ;)

79945[/snapback]

 

Chopra - never been good enough, isn't good enough at the moment and I don't believe he ever will be. Therefore we remain worryingly short of strikers.

79948[/snapback]

 

He will be lucky to even make its as a championship player IMO

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Whatever you think of Shola, this is bad news since we have absolutely no cover at all upfront now.

79114[/snapback]

 

thats rubbish to be honest. in my opinion. We have plenty of players that could do a decent job up front in the squad, but because of numpty in charge the only way that would happen is for Shola to be injured. As harsh as it may seems, I think it is a good thing for the club.

79929[/snapback]

 

Eh? Who are these players like? Please don't say Chopra. ;)

79938[/snapback]

 

lol, Luque, Bowyer, yes Chopra, Zoggy especially, and maybe even stick O'brien in there (+ Dyer and Emre in the injured pack) ... they could all do a better job up front than Ameobi imho.

 

Even Steven Taylor would do okay, but that's a wild card ;)

79945[/snapback]

With the possible exception of Luque (although not on current form) and Dyer (who is injured anyway), I think you're wrong, they'd all be worse than Shola up front. Just my opinion obviously. And I agree with SLP, he's done ok lately.

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lol, Luque, Bowyer, yes Chopra, Zoggy especially, and maybe even stick O'brien in there (+ Dyer and Emre in the injured pack) ... they could all do a better job up front than Ameobi imho.

 

Even Steven Taylor would do okay, but that's a wild card  ;)

79945[/snapback]

 

Chopra - never been good enough, isn't good enough at the moment and I don't believe he ever will be. Therefore we remain worryingly short of strikers.

79948[/snapback]

 

Oh no, I completely agree there. But I'd rather try a midfielder up front than play Shola.

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With the possible exception of Luque (although not on current form) and Dyer (who is injured anyway), I think you're wrong, they'd all be worse than Shola up front. Just my opinion obviously. And I agree with SLP, he's done ok lately.

79951[/snapback]

 

What is rather an indication of how poor Newcastle's performances have been recently...

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With the possible exception of Luque (although not on current form) and Dyer (who is injured anyway), I think you're wrong, they'd all be worse than Shola up front. Just my opinion obviously. And I agree with SLP, he's done ok lately.

79951[/snapback]

 

What is rather an indication of how poor Newcastle's performances have been recently...

79955[/snapback]

Fair comment.

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Nobody is saying Shola is class, is the answer to our striker problem, etc etc...but what I'm saying is that the shit he gets is ott and he is IMO better than Chopra. Yes, he's not very good, but he's nowhere near as bad as people make him out to be. Piece of piss boo-boy target imo.

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Nobody is saying Shola is class, is the answer to our striker problem, etc etc...but what I'm saying is that the shit he gets is ott and he is IMO better than Chopra. Yes, he's not very good, but he's nowhere near as bad as people make him out to be. Piece of piss boo-boy target imo.

79958[/snapback]

That's why I stick up for him.

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