The Hawthorns - Home of The Baggies.A battle of two promoted teams ensues tomorrow when Newcastle head to The Midlands to take on The Baggies of West Bromwich Albion.
It’s a relatively local match for me so I shall be in attendance along with a few others off of the ‘blog, and unless there is a sudden heavy snowfall overnight there is no risk of the match being called off.
Newcastle and West Brom were locked together at the top of The Championship table this time last season, and things haven’t changed this season as both sides find themselves again locked together on 19 points in the league, although the ultimate goal for both sides is undoubtedly survival rather that chasing the title this time around.
West Brom have a good few fitness doubts ahead of the 1pm Sunday lunchtime kick-off. Chris Brunt, Ismael Miller, Peter Odemwingie, James Morrison, Paul Scharner and Nicky Shorey are all rated as doubtful for tomorrow, although I expect that some of those players will feature for The Baggies. (more…)
Williamson secures Tyneside future.There were some strong rumours last week suggesting that Nile Ranger and Mike Williamson were set to sign new long-term contracts with Newcastle.
It appears those rumours were indeed true as it has been revealed on the official club website that both playes have signed new deals that will run to the summer of 2016.
Newcastle seem to be getting the hang of this contract malarkey. Both Andy Carroll and Tim Krul, two of our bright hopes, have been tied down to long term contracts, and rumours are abound suggesting that Steven Taylor has been offered a new improved deal. Now we have the news regarding Mike Williamson and Nile Ranger to add to the good work the club have done in the last few weeks with regard to securing the services of some of our current players.
We’ll start with Mike Williamson, as I have him pictured in the article. Mike is quite clearly happy that he has secured his future on Tyneside after being at the club for only 11 months. This is what he said to the official club website; (more…)
Ashley - Why has he clarified agent payments?As many of you are probably aware, the club took steps yesterday to clarify just how much it paid in fees to agents last season by releasing a brief statement on the club website.
To me it seems like a strange move, especially considering the shroud of secrecy that seems to surround our club most of the time these days.
Most of us know that agents are leeches, parasites if you will, so it’s no real surprise that they have collectively pocketed fees of £2,417,776 during our season in The Championship. That still seems like quite a lot to me, especially when you consider our relative lack of incoming transfers last season, but it’s one of those things that has to be done. Like paying for your car insurance for example – You begrudge paying for it, but you have to pay it.
So why clarify it? I’m honestly scratching my head looking for a reason why. As I said, we all know that agents fees have to be paid so why highlight it in it’s own little statement on the club website? I could understand it if it formed part of the published accounts, but it doesn’t. (more…)
New deal? Or off to Spurs?First off, apologies for my relative writing absence. I’ve been snowed under with work, in more ways than one!
So after working a near 24-hour shift, and recharging myself with a few hours sleep, I was pretty shocked to see what sort of news had been floating around concerning Newcastle.
The headlines suggested that Steven Taylor was looking to move to Spurs in January. Great, just what we need! But then I had a look at the sources that were peddling and regurgitating the rumour, and calmed down a bit as they can hardly be classed as reliable.
Still, there is no smoke without fire, or so I thought, so I went on a quest to try and fnd out where the rumour started. Yep, you’ve guessed it – The press!
I’ve looked high and low for any form of quote suggeting that Taylor is looking to move to Spurs. I can’t find any. In fact the closest I can find is one article suggesting the Taylor is now more keen to move than ever after making his first-team appearance at the weekend.
Utter bollocks, and an indication that the press are up to their old tricks again! (more…)
Carroll: A revelation?I think most of us will agree that Andy Carroll has been excellent so far this season.
Not only has his goalscoring been a massive help to Newcastle this term, but his all round work rate has also helped the cause on a number of occasions.
The improvement that Carroll has shown since last Christmas has been remarkable. Bear in mind that when we headed to Sheffield Wednesday on Boxing Day last season, Carroll had only scored four goals in total and had looked a bit ropey at times. He ended up with 19 goals for the season, and he hasn’t stopped scoring since, including nine Premier League goals so far this term.
His performances have also warranted international recognition, and he made his full England debut against France a couple of weeks back. England were outplayed and outclassed, but the effort Carroll put in wasn’t lost on the fans and he wandered off the pitch at Wembley on 72 minutes to a standing ovation. (more…)
