Steven Taylor to quit Magpies?
Posted on March 28th, 2010 | 108 Comments |
On the face of it, the reports of Taylor leaving may not be far wide of the mark. Out of contract in 14 months he would be the prime candidate to be moved on should he not want to sign a new contract extension as the club would seek to gain a fee for the player rather than risk losing him on a free transfer. That said, we simply must remember that this is more than likely just the press trying to stir things up, something that they haven’t had much of a chance of doing so far this season.
The Mirror kick things off by claiming that Taylor and his family are upset by an e-mail that is circulating which claims that Taylor is “despised by all at the club”. Now these things happen all the time and I’m sure over the years that Taylor and his family would have learnt to ignore things like this. I’m not defending any form of ‘smear campaign’ but I simply refuse to believe that one would have much bearing on the player deciding his future lay elsewhere.
The paper then claims that as the rest of the squad appears to have rallied around Carroll it will only increase the likelihood of him leaving in the summer with either Aston Villa, Everton or Chelsea being the destination for a fee of around £8 million. Sounds to me just like the paper are attaching the summer story of Taylor quitting the club to this new incident. Lazy journalism at best.
Saving the best until last, Louise Taylor of The Guardian puts her own vitriolic spin on things with claims that manager Chris Hughton’s reputation has been diminished by the events and that he ‘has lost sight of the bigger picture’. Remarkably she even claims that Chris Hughton now looks weak and could end up being replaced by a manager such as Mark Hughes or Steve McClaren in the summer.
She also claims that Kevin Nolan is head of a dressing room clique that Stevie Taylor has never fitted into, and that Taylor remains too close to Alan Shearer for Chris Hughton’s liking, something that seems strange considering Taylor was one of the first players to come out to the press and say that Hughton should be given the job permanently.
Having been all quiet on the media controversy front all season, it’s understandable that this latest debacle has given journalists free reign to have a field day and go over the top with their assumptions. If anything it is a timely reminder of just why Newcastle United should do their level best from top to bottom to stay out of the news for the wrong reasons.
The facts are that nobody knows the facts other than the people that were there at the time or the people who are dealing with it so why risk destabilising a promotion charge when in all fairness punishments and decisions can be made after the job is done on the pitch and promotion is secured?
Media speculation, don’t you just love it?
NUFCBlog Author: toonsy
toonsy has written 643 articles on this blog.
I am very concerned that Steven Taylor is being driven out of Newcastle by the media and what appears to be the taking of Andy Carroll’s side by the club. Certainly no one but the two protagonists know what went on, so it is very difficult to make assumptions about the guilt or innocence of either party. But I think of Taylor as a Geordie lad with a huge heart for the club and it saddens me that this has happened to him. I very much want him to stay and a little show of loyalty from the club and other fans wouldn’t go amiss.