Newcastle: Paul Dummett MUST Start At Centre-Back

Especially with Colo injured.

By Simon Gallagher /

Alan Pardew must heed the lesson of Man City and West Brom and play Paul Dummett at centre-back, especially with Fabricio Coloccini potentially injured for a few games. He should be the man to play alongside either Steven Taylor (preferably, though he could be injured) or Mike Williamson (at a push). As Bob Moncur so aptly pointed out this week, Dummett is an old fashioned centre-half, and he is far more comfortable playing there than he is at full-back where he is still learning the game. The longer he plays at full-back the more wrong habits he's going to learn; the reason he isn't as comfortable at full-back is his positional naivety and his inability to mark the space behind him. Dummett has himself stated that he feels comfortable at centre-back:
€œI do enjoy it at centre-back. In the two games I€™ve played there this season, we€™ve kept clean sheets so that can only give us confidence to build on and go into the next game after the international break."
But the Welsh international concedes that he doesn't have a favourite position, even though his manager says he's probably a centre-half:
"I haven€™t really got one at the moment - I€™m just happy to play in any game in any position that the manager picks me in. For me, I€™ve just got to do my best in any position that the manager tells me to play in, so I€™m happy to play anywhere.€
Admirable sentiments, but if Alan Pardew is as smart as he is being proclaimed by the press, then he will stick with Dummett in the centre, and allow Massadio Haidara to play out on the left, especially against QPR where Charlie Austin's physical threat will require a centre-back who is both willing to put his body on the line and who can match him physically. And that centre-back is Paul Dummett.