Deal or no deal for Hughton?Chris Hughton and his contract, or lack of it, seems to be a saga that has rolled on and on recently.
It’s been a source of scurrilous rumour making by the press as they have tried to destabilise things Newcastle United, and it nearly worked as it got a lot of fans talking about it.
The speculation and rumours gathered pace until they reached such a point that the club, with it’s ‘no comment’ policy, felt compelled to comment on the situation to clarify that Chris Hughton would indeed be staying on as our manager and would be offered a new deal in the new year. That statement was supposed to quash the rumours, but they continued, so a policy of just having to ignore them ensued as it appears that this is the only way to deal with these types of press reports.
But according to the News of the World, both the club and Hughton are ready to settle things once and for all by agreeing on a two-year, improved, contract extension that will keep Hughton in charge until the end of the 2012-2013 season. (more…)
Carroll out of England action.Andy Carroll’s England debut looks to be on hold as the Gateshead lad withdrew from the national team with a groin injury.
It’s a blow for Carroll, who has deserved to be called up to the national team, but it is an even bigger blow to Newcastle who will now be without the striker for an unconfirmed amount of time.
I’m guessing a couple of weeks at least, but you all know how good, or not, my guesswork is!
Carroll is a very important player for Newcastle, but there was always a chance that he would get injured at some point. Now we will see what we can do without him, but at this moment in time I don’t feel too good about it. It’s not just the goals that we will miss from Carroll. His all round play and the fact that he worries opposition defenders will also be a big miss. (more…)
Campbell backs Hughton.Sol Campbell has rallied behind Chris Hughton today to add further weight to the squad backing that our manager has already recieved.
Campbell is the latest in line of a number of Newcastle players who have backed Hughton throughout the recent media storm, that was generated by the press I hasten to add, that suggested that Hughton could be on his way out of St James’.
Speculation will continue over the future of Chris Hughton, but most Newcastle fans are happy with the way that Chris is dealing with life in the Premier League. Could we really be doing any better?
Well, yes, but in general we aren’t doing too bad. We sit in seventh place after 13 games, and we have 18 points on the board.
If we can keep that run going until the end of the season it will put us on around 52 points, which is top ten form. Anyway, there is a long way to go this season, but Campbell is pleased that Hughton, who he has known for a number of years through their association with Tottenham Hotspur, is doing well; (more…)
Andy Carroll. England's number 9?Andy Carroll has been playing excellently for Newcastle this season, which is fantastic for us to be honest.
Speculation had been circulating suggesting that Carroll could be rewarded for his good form with a call up to England, and for once that speculation appears to be true and Carroll has indeed been called up by Capello.
I’m really happy for the lad as his performances on the pitch have warranted him getting a call up, and it will show Carroll that if he keeps performing on the pitch then he will, hopefully, get rewarded by playing for his country.
That is the way it should work in fairness, but it hasn’t always been the case with the England team and players have been picked on reputation rather than form before.
Carroll will need to be aware that the spotlight will be on him now, more than ever in fact, which is why it is important that Carroll really starts to think about his behaviour on the pitch. An England call up could make him realise that he needs to change, which is what Capello is aiming for. (more…)
As most of you are aware, nufcblog.org was invited to take part in a feature called “Blog Off” in their pre-match build up to the Fulham game today.
Some of you will have already heard it, but for those of you that were at the match, or out of the country, or unable to listen earlier for whatever reason, here it is again in it’s entirety, after I finally worked out how to upload things to Youtube! (more…)
