Door left ajar for Garang Kuol at Newcastle United as Eddie Howe formulates new development plan

Newcastle United boss Eddie Howe will leave the door slightly ajar for Garang Kuol in pre-season but admits he is desperate for a good loan spell.

Kuol looked undaunted when coming in front of a massive crowd in Melbourne last night, and that is commendable given he has had two disappointing loan stints at Hearts and Volendam in Holland since signing for the club. The task for loan manager Shola Ameobi this summer will be to fix up a deal that sees Kuol play regular football after being frozen out at the Dutch club.

After 19-year-old Kuol came on as a substitute against Spurs, Howe said here in Melbourne last night: "It’s always very difficult to say for certain what’s gonna happen with a player at this stage because there’s a long way to go before the season starts.

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"But possibly another loan spell for him I think will be important. He’s had a couple of loan spells now but I think he needs the next one to be a successful one. I think he needs the next one to be successful and we need him to play more game time and hopefully that’ll happen."

Kuol has been at the centre of attention here in Australia. The Socceroos international has dealt with the glare of the cameras very well indeed on this trip.

Newcastle youngster Kuol is set to start the game against the Australian A-League XI at the Marvel Stadium on Friday in a game which kicks off at 5.15pm in Oz. Despite his disappointments on loan deals, Kuol has taken it in his stride.

The teenager himself reflected: "It’s good to experience that and just put it in the backpack and move on. Football is not a race, it’s a journey. Things happen. You get ups and downs. You’ve got to you’ve got to push through it and keep working."