Newcastle United – News Roundup – 06 August 2009 [updated]
Posted on August 6th, 2009 | 21 Comments |
Apparently Ashley is being urged to accept a bid from a consortium led by Tyneside businessman Barry Moat. It is thought that Moat, who has financial backing from investors in the United States, is Keith Harris’s preferred bidder. The Guardian speculates that if Moat gets the club he will favour Alan Shearer as manager.
Additional reports on this issue can be found in The Times, The Chronicle, The Journal and The Sun, but I would suggest remaining cautious about this news until a formal announcement is made from the club. There is no guarantee that Ashley will accept any bid recommended by Harris (assuming the stories are true in the first place).
There were reports yesterday that the club had, incredibly, offered Joe Kinnear a two-year contract. This was covered last night in an article on this site, so I don’t really need to mention it too much here except to say that there’s an article in The Times that claims the club is denying offering Kinnear a contract and insists ‘he has his wires crossed’.
The Chronicle also has an article about Nile Ranger’s enthusiasm to prove himself in the first team squad. He told The Chronicle:
“That’s what I am aiming for – it’s great playing for England, but I was dying to get back to Newcastle.
“It’s an awesome experience playing for England.
“Everybody would love to play for England and I’m no different.
“Ukraine was a good experience, but it was very hot and the food wasn’t very nice.
“I am just buzzing to be back, come on and score.
“Now I’m just hoping to be on the bus on Friday to go to West Brom.
“I don’t know if I will be in the squad and I won’t take anything for granted.
“I just have to show Chris Hughton what I’ve got.”
I hope he gets the chance. Younger, keener players are what our squad needs in my opinion.
According to The Journal, Villa are closing in on signing Habib Beye and are ready to meet his £4m price tag. Apparently they are also keen on signing Seb Bassong, although it is reported that he would prefer a move to Spurs. Either way, it looks like we’ll lose these two players and that’ll mean we’ll have lost five first team players (plus Edgar, who also made some first team appearances although not regularly).
I wonder when (if?) we’ll see those players being replaced from the transfer market. I guess that’ll have to wait until we either get a new owner, a new manager or they authorise Hughton to make some buying decisions. I can’t believe that even Ashley or Llambias would be stupid enough to try and decide who to buy without significant input from someone who can judge whether a player is appropriate or not.
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Update 09:20: The Chronicle is now reporting that Newcastle United are playing down reports of the Moat takeover, although there’s nothing on the NUFC site either way yet.
Hmmm…..
Not sure about this – he looks like one of those blokes who dyes his hair…..LOL