Hughton speaks.Chris Hughton has spoke publicly today for the first time since his sacking from Newcastle.
In an interview with Sky Sports News, Hughton spoke of the disappointment upon hearing the news that both he and Paul Barron were to be axed, his thoughts on the sacking, and his plans for the future after what was an unexpected sacking that caused an uproar from many quarters.
I’m trying to transcript what was said, so be warned that it may not be exactly word for word, but I’ll try and get it as spot on as I can. First off, Chris was asked about what happened on the day he got sacked and how the meeting with Derek Llambias was called.
“I got a phone call in the morning from the managing director, Derek Llambias, it was for myself and Paul Barron to meet him at the stadium after training, and of course I was told then.
“It was a surprise, and I think the fact that Paul Barron was with me made it more of a surprise. If it was a meeting on my own then perhaps I would have had a thought that perhaps something could happen, but it was a complete surprise”(more…)
Carroll and Barton set to stay.The good news today, even though I personally expected it, is that the rumours linking Joey Barton with a move away form Newcastle appear to be false.
Alan Pardew has today reiterated that no players are for sale in January, and that includes the likes of Joey Barton and Andy Carroll – both of whom have been targets for speculation in the last few days.
This will no doubt come as a blow to the press who will now have to suffer the fate of stirring up some new rumours, but the mantra of the club should, and will, remain as it was under Hughton the Great. The lines back then were to not believe everything you read in the papers, which is common sense to some, but that mantra looks set to be continuing under Pardew.
Joey Barton is happy at Newcastle, or at least he claims to be, and that is part of the reason why Pardew is confident that he will be losing no players in January. (more…)
Benny back in action soon?Hatem Ben Arfa has been continuing his recovery from a horrendous double leg-break injury by spending hours grafting away at a rehabilitation centre in the south of France.
And it appears that the hard work is paying off as Ben Arfa has been pencilled in for a return to training at Newcastle at the start of February.
This would be great news and would mean that the skillful Frenchman would return to action a hell of a lot sooner than was first feared. Obviously it will still take some time for Ben Arfa to return to full fitness as he will need to go through a kind of pre-season again and take it slowly so as not to aggravate the injury, but it would still signal a remarkable recovery from an injury that could quite easily have seen Hatem ruled out for the rest of the season and beyond.
“Hatem is doing really, really well,” his agent, Simon Stainrod told The Journal. (more…)
Barton - The key player for us?The inevitable transfer speculation has begun, which is perhaps unsurprising as the January transfer window is just around the corner.
A lot of the speculation seems to be regarding our players, which you could put down to a number of reasons.
Perhaps it seems that way because it is what most of us look for? Maybe some of our players have performed well enough to warrant such attention? Or could it be because the press know they are likely to get a reaction out of us?
I would hazard a guess at it being a combination of all three to be honest, particularly when it comes to the latest target of rumour mongering – Joey Barton. The rumour is, according to The Daily Mail (hehehe), that Aston Villa are interested in securing the services of Joey Barton in January. I don’t think there is any merit in that, at all, purely because, in my view, Barton has probably been the most important player for us so far this season. (more…)
Talk of a longer deal for Tiote?I’ve found a bit more newspaper gossip that could be of interest to you guys regarding Steven Taylor and Cheik Tiote.
Don’t worry, as ever on NUFCBlog.org we will endeavour to inform you of which is the wheat and which is the chaff with regard to news reporting. On that basis we’ll start off with the chaff.
The News of the World is reporting that talks with Steven Taylor are scheduled for the start of next week, and that Taylor is set to put pen to paper on a new long-term five-and-a-half year deal that will keep him at the club until the grand old age of 30.
The paper claims that the club have been impressed with how Taylor hasn’t been looking for a move in January and see this as an indication that he really does want to stay on Tyneside. On a similar note, it has also been reported that Taylor has been impressed with what Alan Pardew has had to say during meetings between the player and the manager. (more…)
