Newcastle United – News Roundup – 08 August 2009.
Posted on August 8th, 2009 | 16 Comments |
North East MP Nick Brown has now called for Ashley to sling his hook, saying:
“It breaks my heart. Mike Ashley hasn’t made a go of it.
“He should call it a day, sell up to somebody who can make a go of it and who has sufficient money to give it a decent go this year and have an exciting campaign to get back in the Premiership where we belong.
“Every day that goes by makes this harder. The uncertainty is damaging the club.
“The club personifies the city. It is one of our great corporate citizens. How many other cities our size could regularly deliver a gate of over 50,000 for a home game?
“They have got to get that passion and sense of commitment, which I think has never gone away, rallied behind something that has got a chance of succeeding and the present set-up is disastrous.”
Meanwhile Ashley is on holiday in Hawaii, which is the best place to be when your club’s in crisis. NUFCBlog.org hasn’t received its postcard yet but I’m sure it’s on its way.
As reported on this site yesterday, Habib Beye has been sold to Villa for – depending on which press report one reads – £2.5-£3m. This means our list of outgoing players is as follows: Owen, Viduka, Cacapa, Edgar, Martins, Bassong, Beye.
I suppose that leaves Smith, Barton, Nolan, Enrique, Colo and Jonas as the remaining ‘high earners’ that the club might look to offload to reduce the wage bill. I’m not sure what the likes of Ameobi, Harper, Steve Taylor, Ryan Taylor, Carroll and Guthrie earn in terms of wages, although presumably we’ll have to keep some players to make sure we can field eleven at matches!
Of course Bassong and Beye are two we’d probably have liked to keep, but it’s a catch-22 because the ones we would like to keep are most likely the better players, who are also the ones that will be more likely to attract the attention of other clubs.
Alan Smith has sounded a rallying call ahead of today’s game at The Hawthorns, saying:
“We need the fans more than ever – especially in the face of adversity.
“We want to show the fans how much this football club means to us and we want to stick together as a team.
“There are 15, 20 lads in that dressing rooms who are determined to get back into the Premier League.
“But we’ve got to get used to battling and grafting because every team coming to Newcastle, and for every team facing us, it’ll be like a cup final for them.
“The dressing room is as close as it’s ever been since I’ve been here, which is what we need through a difficult season.
“We’ll need every player, we’ll need the young lads as well and we’ll need to support each other as we go along.
“All we are focussed on now is August 8 and getting off to the best possible start.”
There is also an extensive interview with Steven Taylor on the Sky Sports site and rumour has it that Alan Shearer will have a thing or two to say about matters on today’s Football focus.
A few of the players have commented on the ‘seige mentality’ and how relegation has brought the team closer together. Well today is a chance to prove that by going to West Brom and getting a win. No excuses lads – just go there and get the 3 points for us.
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.
so whats happenin with the competition to help me decide a name