You are hereSport>Sport Columnists>Point of Fosters SUNDERLAND boss Martin OâNeill says Connor Wickhamâs sheer enthusiasm has won him over. The new Black Cats boss says the teenage striker talked him into giving him a start against Blackburn last weekend. And OâNeill called the attitude of the England Under-21 striker â who could lead the line at Tottenham tomorrow â as âterrificâ. The powerful 18-year-old frontman had been sidelined since tweaking ligaments in the game against Manchester United at Old Trafford at the start of November. And his inclusion in the starting line-up last weekend was a major surprise on matchday, with the teenager thought to be completely out of the reckoning. OâNeill revealed: âI honestly didnât really think about Connor at the start of the week â particularly as he hadnât done anything in five weeks. âAt that stage, I was still hoping that Nicklas Bendtner might be fit to play. At the start of the week, Connor wasnât even training with us. âBy Friday, he had done a little bit. By Saturday, he had managed two days training, but you donât do that much in those sessions. âSo I just said to him: âhow do you feel?â And he was really positive. He wanted to do it. âI thought, well, if he just sees us through to half-time, that will be great. It would be great to have a big powerful lad like him as an outlet. âAs it was, though, he lasted longer than that â most of the second half â and I thought that was terrific. âBecause heâs such a positive character, he wanted to do it, and that persuaded me to look at the idea. âHe was keen to do it, to help the team. His attitude did him credit.â Wickham will now wait to see whether he gets the nod to start again at White Hart Lane tomorrow. Bendtner should be back in contention after returning to training, but may have to do with a place on the bench. OâNeill, meanwhile, has also been impressed by Wickhamâs fellow forward Fraizer Campbell, who was involved in a comeback game behind closed doors at the Academy of Light this week as he continues efforts to put a double cruciate ligament injury behind him. The manager smiled: âFraizerâs so positive. And this is a fella who has had the same injury twice, which would knock the confidence of most people. âBut heâs so positive and has such a great mentality. The physio said he has been in a dream to work with and from that point of view, if you were looking to pick a team purely on positivity, he would be in. âWe have to be careful with him, but itâs still good that we have a player of his quality pushing to return.â Christ that's cheered me up
Get rid of Bendtner and sign a quality striker to partner Wickham, someone that compliments him. Then we have back up in Campbell and Ji and a great youngster in Noble coming through. Job is a gooden
What the hell does Noble have to do to get a start. If MON isn't carefull here we may loose the lad, and that would be a travesty. Yeah Bruce overlooked him and MON puts whickham in after 2 training sessions, how does that make the lad feel, come on MON give the lad a chance he is hungry, just what does he have to do ?
Bleeding him in gently mate which is the right thing to do, tomorrow could be the perfect game for him though Spurs are a bit sus at the back so you never know.
Hope so the lad needs a chance, his confidence must be dwindelling if we are putting unfit players in 2 years his junior.
Noble just needs a little beef on him, that's all. Hope we can give him the time gently - then unleash him. If he plays a major role this season, I think it means we are in trouble. x
Noble from what a few people are saying is a spoilt little brat who goes off in a fit if he doesnt get his own way
problem with Noble he has no muscle, literally nothing. Even 18 yr olds have more than him. He would not survive against strong defender. Imagine Noble vs Samba. noble would be destroyed.
The idea that a striker needs to be hefty is not always true. Jimmy Greaves was small, and Brian Clough wasn't exactly Gladiators stuff. Even one of the most ferocious and internationally feared centre-forwards of all time - Nat Lofthouse - was 5'-10" and around 11 stone 8 lbs. I haven't seen Noble play, but he seems to be a johnny-on-the-spot character like Bent. Anticipation and positioning will get him space no matter who the defender is. I'm sure MON will have talked to him about the right time to play him. With the goals he's getting for the reserves, I don't see how MON couldn't talk to him. Time will come.
WTF? Whoever said such things should be made to gargle fresh horse **** for an hour, as thats what they are speaking. The kid is aything but a spoiled brat and I'll take huge issue with anyone who says otherwise.
