Newcastle United – News Roundup – 20 July 2009

Posted on July 20th, 2009 | 25 Comments |

Team bonding
Team bonding
Steven Taylor has been speaking out again, this time to reassure the fans that the off-field problems have actually brought the team closer together. According to Sky Sports he said:

“The fans at this moment probably think the club is a shambles and the players haven’t got a clue what is going on. They probably think we are fighting in training.

“But with us, it is completely different and I just wish they could even spend one day just looking at the training ground and the way we are going on with each other.

“It’s a much better team-bonding.”

Yesterday’s Sunday People carries an article about how  Michael Owen feels like a 21 year old again now that he’s playing with Manchester United. I won’t bore you with the tedious details (you can read the full article if you’re that desperate) so I’ll just let you cogitate on this quote from Owen:

“I’m playing with world class players again who are on my wavelength.

“I don’t want to say I was dragged down by Newcastle because I have a lot of respect for the club, and I had some good times there, but I do believe I play better in a team full of confidence.

“That might sound stupid and an obvious thing to say but not all players do better in better teams.

“I could name a lot of players who, if you put them in a Liverpool, Man United, Arsenal or Chelsea shirt, would almost get shown up because they’re better in a smaller team.”

And that really is enough of Owen now as far as I’m concerned. Well, maybe.

The People is also suggesting that Arsenal will offer £7m for Obafemi Martins, hoping to take advantage of the turmoil at Newcastle and get him on the cheap. The paper claims that Ashley will be tempted to cash in but that contradicts the alleged transfer embargo imposed on players. The same article suggests that Habib Beye is wanted by Portsmouth.

The Mirror takes over from The Mail as this weekend’s alarmists by suggesting that a ‘Toon Army desertion’ will send the club into financial meltdown and that a mutation of Swine ‘Flu which only attacks Geordies will wipe out anyone who lives within 20 miles of Newcastle (well, okay, I made that last bit up). Apparently season tickets sales, at 15,000, are the lowest since the ground was expanded and there’s now a £15m shortfall on July’s wage bill.

That’s all there is, so I’m off for some tea and toast now.

NUFCBlog Author: Hugh de Payen I'm a baby-boomer of the punk rock persuasion, currently exiled in Somerset for crimes committed in a previous life where locals keep trying to poison me with something called 'scrumpy'. Hates sprouts, coat-hangers, Cilla Black, ornaments, Steven Seagull movies and 50 Cent (he's not worth 10). Hugh de Payen has written 634 articles on this blog.

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Comment on this post

25 Responses

  1. Morning Hugh

    Great round up of the news as usual. I wish MO would have some decorum and just shut up. The bloke is deluded with his stupid comments. He must be the only one who still seems himself as a world class player.
    There seems to be varying opinions regarding season ticket sales with some people saying box office staff are quoting that 28,000 have been sold and not the 15,000 quoted in rags such as The Mirror. I believe fans who are solely not renewing because they don’t want to ‘line Ashley’s pockets’ are misplaced in their views. We need the revenue stream to make us attractive to future buyers and to pay the wages. Our demise will continue rapidly and potentially catastrophically if we cannot cover our high outgoings. I’m just praying that there are more bids in the background than FFS or the Profitable Group. If not and fans don’t renew we could end up with one of them if Ashley panics and throws the towel in.

  2. ‘Morning Deb.

    It’s kind of a catch-22 with season tickets. Fans will buy once Ashley has gone but buying season tickets now will make us more attractive to buyers and thus help get rid of Ashley.

    I’m not sure how much real danger we’re in financially. I know the papers make a lot of it – and I’m sure the financial situation is far from great – but Ashley supposedly cleared a lot of the debts, which – if true – should give us some scope for credit until a new owner is in place.

    I’ll bet Ashley sorely regrets not having relegation clauses in the players’ contracts though. There are some suggestions that Coloccini might now stay but – like Barton – he’s warned he won’t take a pay cut.

    I am surprised there’s nothing that can be done under standard employment law about this sort of situation (although I’m not sure what!).

  3. I’m genuinely tempted to get a season ticket but I think it’d be too hard to shift for the games I couldn’t make.

    Nice of Colo eh? I don’t mind lowering myself to playing in the 2nd tier but you’ll have to keep paying me the big bucks.

  4. Owen really is a nugget, isn’t he? Even I could score if I played up front for ManU and I wouldn’t even get picked for Blue Star reserves.
    He’s also shot himself in the foot with those comments. Particularly – “I could name a lot of players who, if you put them in a Liverpool, Man United, Arsenal or Chelsea shirt, would almost get shown up because they’re better in a smaller team.”
    So, what he is saying is that his true colours were shown at NUFC and now he’s playing for ManU he can hide behind the likes of Rooney. Is he really saying that he is not good enough and needs to rely on the rest of the team to carry him? He will be a passenger at ManU and will be used like Solch, Soulcha, oh sod it, like Ole, just sitting on the bench and starting in league cup games.

    BBM – I’m also tempted by a season ticket. My sis stil lives in the NE, so she could go along when I couldn’t make it, but she’s already hacked off enough with the mess, never mind making her go to the games too! :-)

  5. Hugh de Payen says:
    July 20, 2009 at 9:50 am

    “I’ll bet Ashley sorely regrets not having relegation clauses in the players’ contracts though.”

    That was Shepherd too though, Hugh. He negotiated all the great contracts for Owen, Smith, Cacapa, Barton, Enrique, Butt, Geremi etc.

  6. Aye Worky, that’s true. I’ll bet those clauses are in there in the future though, even if we were actually challenging for European places.

    As to season tickets, if I lived in the North East (or at least close enough to make the journey viable every fortnight or so) I’d get one regardless of who’s owner. I understand many don’t want to “line Ashley’s pockets” but surely they still want to see their team play wouldn’t they? Or is the fear that the upfront money for season tickets would be pocketed by Ashley before he leaves?

  7. “He will be a passenger at ManU and will be used like Solch, Soulcha, oh sod it, like Ole, just sitting on the bench and starting in league cup games.”

    One of the best players they ever had, Micky. Incredibly intelligent, an amazing finisher with complete loyalty with no hissyfits. I always wanted him for Newcastle.

    He’ll probably make a very good manager too.

  8. “One of the best players they ever had, Micky. Incredibly intelligent, an amazing finisher with complete loyalty with no hissyfits. I always wanted him for Newcastle.”

    I agree, which is why I couldn’t understand why he stayed. Perhaps he just liked being there. If he had come onto the transfer market he would have has clubs lining up to take him on.

  10. Top 100 of all time? Hmm doubt it when you think how long Association Football has been going as a professional concern and how many fantastic players have played the game in those 100+ years.
    He would probably make the top 100 strikers of all time though.

  12. beyethegreat says:
    July 20, 2009 at 1:51 pm

    “would shearer be in the top 100 players of all time”

    I was just going to say the more or less the same thing as Micky there, Beye. Most people nowadays aren’t old enough to remember many of the truly great players, so these “all time” things usually mean in the last few decades really.

    Johan Cruyff and Garrincha are my personal favourites, with Jimmy Greaves as the greatest English centre forward since the war, and he was usually completely p*ss*d during games too!

    Shearer was definitely a magnificent player, though his very best was arguably at Blackburn.

  13. Jimmy Greaves does not impress me, his goal record is above average but that’s about it.

  14. i dind it hard to disagree would you say he is better than giggs though i had an argument today with my teacher at college that wreckons giggs is way better than shearer simply because he won more he also claimed that shearer didnt produce in the big games

  15. 52

    greraves is a good player but personally the best english striker since the war is shearer and i say that with out an ounce of bias

  16. I forgot about John Charles. He was one of the very best in just about ANY position.

    I definitely wouldn’t say that Giggs was “way better” than Shearer, Beye. They were both great in different ways.

  17. yeah he is a great player though if you were to ask bobby charlton who the greatest was he would say duncan edwards if that was his name and charlton played with best and moor

  19. beyethegreat says:
    July 20, 2009 at 3:06 pm

    “yeah he is a great player though if you were to ask bobby charlton who the greatest was he would say duncan edwards if that was his name and charlton played with best and moor”

    Yup, he would Beye. Charlton is also a huge fan of Alfredo Di Stefano when he gets asked about great players he has played with, or against.

    If you asked Bobby Robson, he would say John Charles without a moments hesitation. Alot of other players from that era would too.

  20. great vid worky

    its always great to beat scotland

    sir bobby would say jon charles as i remember he included him as a contender to represent football in sky 1s bid to find the greatest ever sportsman………..incase youre wondering ali won

  21. Sadly(or perhaps not) Im old enough to remember seeing Di Stefano John Charles,Puskas,Milburn and many others play.
    For me over the past 60 years it has to be John Charles as the best alround footballer,Stefano(remember he played for 3 countries) as the best centre forward but I think Duncan Edwards may have eventually challanged Charles as he had immense talent

  22. Stan,

    Coming back to Newcastle United, I would say that Hughie Gallacher is the one Toon player I wished I’d been old enough to see.

  23. We should split the club in two, Stardust, worky and their like can have the East of Tyneside and The Mob (trademark of Stardust iirc) can have the West.