It's like Groundhog Day in Newcastle. Too few strikers, too few goals and inevitably the answer comes in the papers in the shape of the cumbersome, off-the-pace shape of Andy Carroll. The big Geordie, who left for pastures new in 2011 and came unstuck spectacularly with a giant £35m fee hanging over his head, has once more been linked with a move back home. Usually it's a red top that defers to the story ahead of the opening of every transfer window, as the striker flatters to deceive at West Ham and falls further down the pecking order, but this time it's from someone a little different. Of all of the currently banned North East journalists, Mark Douglas is usually the best, and it is he who says that West Ham are looking to shop Carroll around in January, and that they will offer him to Newcastle. Whether or not the story has legs is one thing - if anyone is to believed, it's probably Douglas - but whether Andy Carroll still has the legs is another matter entirely. Douglas says Newcastle are considering a move for the player, having discussed bringing him back in the summer. And while he is said to like life in London (why wouldn't he, he's young and very social?) the move would probably suit both he and Newcastle, who are missing another striking options. He's be a different prospect at least to what we currently have. But the big question is whether Carroll still has form to recover: his career has been wrecked by injury and he hasn't done anything since his move to Liverpool to justify the hype that pushed his value up so high. Mike Ashley, though, has form in buying wayward brands and trying to get their value up: he's done it with Kangol, Donnay and Lonsdale in the past and like it or not, that's pretty much the level Carroll sits at currently. Should Newcastle buy Andy Carroll? Would he fit into the current squad? What could possibly go wrong?
