Wants a swift return?Marlon Harewood’s three-month loan spell expired on Boxing Day and he reaffirmed his desire to return in the New Year, either on loan or on a permanent basis, to help Newcastle’s push for a swift return to the Premier League. Extending Harewood’s loan would be a safer option but ultimately more costly than we would have surely imagined, if the rumour in The Mirror is true.
Apparently Villa want £250,000 as a loan deal fee, despite the fact that we’ve been paying and would continue to his £28,000-a-week wages. Having grabbed 5 goals in 15 games for the Toon, few fans are still convinced he’s worth an extended loan and if the fee is anywhere near the truth, I would expect fans and board alike would baulk at the proposition.
Chris Hughton has been coy on whether Harewood would be required for the remainder of the season, and the player admitted he has no idea what is going on: (more…)
Ram-raid!Well let’s hope the lads have worked off the excess turkey they were clearly suffering from against Sheff Wed, before they meet The Rams at St James Park Monday evening. Despite our lacklustre performance on Boxing Day, resulting in a 2-2 draw with Sheffield Wednesday, Newcastle United still go into the Derby County game top of the league, a position we will continue to hold going into 2010, regardless of the result against Derby.
Let’s hope Chris Hughton has had the lads training hard today to get the sluggishness out of their systems. Conversely, Nigel Clough won’t be looking forward to taking a patched up Derby County team up to the northeast to meet the league leaders. Clough’s team were booed off as the Rams lost at home to Blackpool on Boxing Day, their second home defeat in a row. He was frustrated with his side against Blackpool and admits he doesn’t know what to expect against Newcastle:
“We seemed incapable of doing the simple things,” said Clough. “We looked very nervous and very short of confidence.”
“The confidence is very fragile and we looked short of ideas. At times we couldn’t pass the ball to a white shirt.” (more…)
Toon supporters: Happier than last season?As you’re probably aware, Newcastle United’s Boxing day trip to Sheffield Wednesday will mark our 23rd league game of the season, marking the half-way point in what is turning out to be a fantastic season so far! This article takes a look at some of the happenings since the season began way back on the 8th of August.
With a team seemingly devoid of confidence, direction, application and the uncertainty surrounding the owner, managerial position, and who was next to be sold, the toon set off for the season opener at West Brom. After being 1-0 down at half-time, a superb finish from Damien Duff earned us a share of the spoils. That was to be Duff’s only appearance for us this season as he was quickly snapped by Fulham and he followed the likes of Michael Owen, Mark Viduka, Obafemi Martins, Seb Bassong and Habib Beye out of the club. (more…)
Contributing well?In contrast to recent speculation that he might be shipped out in January, Chris Hughton expects Andy Carroll to play a big part in Newcastle’s drive for promotion. This comes after a bustling performance on Saturday against Barnsley, which saw him have a hand in both our goals.
However, he also inadvertently had a hand in their first goal and also a hand in a tussle on the deck with Barnsley centre-half Moore, who seemd none to pleased with Carroll’s conduct and had to be restrained by players from both sides. The result was a booking for both, which sees Carroll miss out on Middlesbrough’s visit at the weekend.
Having been dropped for the midweek game against Coventry, Carroll was undoubtedly a surprise inclusion on Saturday. Despite being his usual awkward and rangey self and spending much of the time on his backside, he put himself about and stuck two fingers up at detractors with his contribution to our goals. (more…)
Toon didn't need the Hassell!How very dare they! With their short arms and deep pockets, those tight Yorkshire gets refused to give us three points and Barnsley 2 Newcastle United 2, was probably as fair a result as we deserved in the end. Backed by a minibus short of 7,000 fans, it was set up for and Newcastle were probably expecting, a perfect return. As it happens, apart from a spell in the first half, Barnsley were more than good for their point and battered us for spells. And this time we couldn’t sneak a win, though we came very close and it took a last gasp equaliser to spoil all of the black and white fun.
With roughly 7,000 fans spilling down the A1 and from various parts of the country, there was promise of a special day out and as the masses gathered behind the North Stand (and West Stand) in the bright wintery sunshine, the mood was vibrant. Hughton made several changes to the team that played against Coventry, as Ryan Taylor game in for Danny Simpson, while Kevin Nolan and Andy Carroll (a surprise inclusion) replaced Peter Lovenkrands and Shola Amoeobi. The formation began as a 4-5-1 with Nolan playing mostly as a second striker but as the game progressed he dropped deeper. (more…)
