How Newcastle can make the Best of a bad situation

With Newcastle failing to bring in a striker in the final days of the transfer window, attention turns to the forwards that are already at the club. Nile Ranger’s days look to be numbered, Peter Lovenkrands just isn’t up to it in my opinion, Shola Ameobi will always give his all but lacks a certain quality and Demba Ba has hardly set the ground alight at Newcastle. So, that leaves Leon Best. Is he the man to fill Newcastle’s striking void?

There isn’t really much more that Leon Best can do. In the Premier League his stats speak for themselves. He’s scored 8 times in 13 appearances, including a brace at home to Fulham just last week that earned Newcastle an important first home win of the season. You get the feeling he deserves an extended run in the first team, but who with? Maybe Ameobi in the short-term, but hopefully when Hatem Ben Arfa returns he can play just off Best.

I’m not really sure how highly Alan Pardew rates Best. After the Fulham match it seemed as though he was giving him praise through gritted teeth, saying his goal tally forces him to play the Irish international from the start. He’s surely guaranteed his place for the match against QPR at Loftus Road a week tomorrow, but further than that he’ll need to keep on scoring to secure his place in the starting eleven; which is the way it should be.

Leon Best himself knows the task that faces him. He’s recently said: “If the manager gives me a chance I will take it. I think if you want to go off my starts in the Premier League it is almost one goal every two games. That sounds very good but I want to add on that. Whenever the question is asked I will try to answer them with goals. I think that’s what I want to keep doing. I am giving the manager a headache by doing it. It’s a sweet feeling. I have had chances here and there but I need starts. Sometimes I have not been fully fit. But now I have my chance.”

There’s no doubting that Best now has his chance and he seems confident enough and is certainly eager to take it. If he continues on the goal trail, then we might start wondering what all the fuss was about not bringing in a striker. Newcastle’s lack of top, top talent in that position is far from ideal, but by giving Leon a run in the team the Magpies can make the Best of a bad situation and with his 25th birthday around the corner, the Irishman should be just hitting his peak.

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