Looking forward to a pan of Scouse?According to The Mirror (ahem), local lad, unfinished article and all-round top bloke Stevie Taylor has more than one suitor. It would seem the England U21 centre half is being pursued by Everton but they will be challenged to his signature by Fulham, Aston Villa and their Merseyside neighbours Liverpool.
The Mirror suggests his future has been thrown into doubt with recent open and negative comments about the current regime, which is probably not totally unfounded but let’s be honest, we won’t have much of a squad left if they keep selling those who speak up about the situation (oh hang on…..). Allegedly, Taylor was on Shearer’s list of ‘untouchables’ but considering Beye, Owen and Bassong were apparently also on it, that would seem to hold little sway within the transfer decision-making. (more…)
'Sebastien was the player to take'Harry Redknapp has made a sensational claim that it was Iain Dowie who recommended to Harry Redknapp that Sebastien Bassong would be ripe for a move to Tottenham Hotspur if he and Shearer were to vacate the managers position at St James Park. According to Harry, he also picked Bassong for Redknapp as the best player to pick for ‘Spurs out of the Newcastle squad.
Harry said:
“When we played Newcastle last year I spoke to Iain Dowie and Alan Shearer after the game and they spoke about the team, they were in desperate trouble,” Redknapp said.
“Iain said if they didn’t stay at the club and one player did become available, Sebastien was the player to take. They couldn’t have recommended him any higher. (more…)
Duff on target for the Toon.We got our Championship campaign under way with a 1-1 draw at West Brom last night.
In the first half we looked the more fluent side in possession but, rather like last season, the final ball into the box often lacked quality. Duff probably had the best chance of the half when Carroll set him up from 20 yards, but he shot wide.
Our defence was typically fragile and we can be thankful that The Baggies failed to capitalise on some of the early chances they had. They got their goal on 39 minutes though when Harper failed to clear from a set piece and a scramble in the box saw Shelton Martis punt it home.
During the goal mouth free-for-all, Ameobi tried to clear Harper’s head off the line and, although the goalkeeper played on until the whistle, he was substituted for Krul at half-time.
After the goal our heads went down a bit and there seemed to be some bickering amongst the players, but we managed to make it to the interval without conceding again. (more…)
Barry MoatThe Guardian reports that the sale of Newcastle United is imminent.
Apparently Ashley is being urged to accept a bid from a consortium led by Tyneside businessman Barry Moat. It is thought that Moat, who has financial backing from investors in the United States, is Keith Harris’s preferred bidder. The Guardian speculates that if Moat gets the club he will favour Alan Shearer as manager.
Additional reports on this issue can be found in The Times, The Chronicle, The Journal and The Sun, but I would suggest remaining cautious about this news until a formal announcement is made from the club. There is no guarantee that Ashley will accept any bid recommended by Harris (assuming the stories are true in the first place).
There were reports yesterday that the club had, incredibly, offered Joe Kinnear a two-year contract. This was covered last night in an article on this site, so I don’t really need to mention it too much here except to say that there’s an article in The Times that claims the club is denying offering Kinnear a contract and insists ‘he has his wires crossed’. (more…)
Will Toon be walking in a Kinnear wonderland once again?In an interview with the BBC’s ‘Radio Five Live’, Joe Kinnear has sensationally claimed that Mike Ashley has offered him another two year contract at the club, and added that he is “mulling it over”. He also added that it would still take another three months to fully recover from his triple heart bypass, performed after he complained of severe hypertensive symptoms during last season’s visit to West Bromwich Albion. Joe said:
“I have been offered a two-year contract and it is something I am mulling over at the present time.
“I have told Mike I am not going to go back to football for at least another three months and we will look at the situation then.
“I told him I would refuse to go back for pre-season friendlies as I was not up to it for medical reasons.
“I needed to take time out and re-assess the situation and take it from there. But obviously in another three months the picture might be completely different.
“In the meantime if Newcastle feel the need to go and get another manager then so be it.” (more…)
