JLoyd Samuel in action for Bolton.The treatment at St James’ Park is already beginning to fill up, even before a ball has been kicked in the Premier League.
It is worrying that we seem to be losing players left, right and centre due to injury, but an additional concern is the amount of time that players will be out because of these injuries.
Take Danny Simpson as an example, he will miss the first month of the season through injury, and it looks like Steven Taylor will be joining him although that is yet to be confirmed. Tamas Kadar is another player who is fighting to be fit for the start of the season. Add all that together and it is becoming apparent that we are desperately short of players in certain positions for the new season. (more…)
Chris Hughton - Looking up.Life at Newcastle is ticking along relatively nicely at the moment. There are still times of mild turbulence but certainly nothing compared to what we had to experience this time last year.
Come to think about it, the only real bone of contention this summer is over how much money we will, or won’t, be spending on new players.
New players, we have two of them. One of them, James Perch, would have probably come here anyway, regardless of whether or not we had been promoted, but he other one, Dan Gosling, wouldn’t have, no way. So why did he choose Newcastle then? Especially when you consider there was more than just us interested in the player. We don’t have a Kevin Keegan anymore, someone who can sell the club, the area, to a player and get them to buy into it, or do we? (more…)
Hughton - Skint!The capture of Dan Gosling means that Newcastle have now increased their squad numbers by two this summer, but we can expect more new faces to come.
I wouldn’t expect any new faces to be established Premier League faces though, especially after what Chris Hughton has said today.
It’s pretty clear that there is money there, but only if the deal represents good value for the club. That is all well and good, but if it is providing good value for the club then the chances are that the fee will be minimal, if there is one at all, and that limits our options in the transfer market quite significantly as we look to try and build a squad capable of surviving in the Premier League. (more…)
Dan Gosling - Newcastle new boy.Newcastle have at last completed the signing of former Everton youngster Dan Gosling on a free transfer.
It has taken a couple of weeks and has possibly been the worst kept transfer secret of the summer, but today Chris Hughton has finally got his man as Gosling signed a four-year deal at Newcastle.
The disappointing this is that we won’t be seeing our new acquisition in action until around Christmas time as he recovers from a cruciate ligament injury sustained back in March. Despite that though, Gosling can’t wait to get started at Newcastle and wants to repay some of the faith we have already apparently shown in him. (more…)
Andy Carroll - The new number nine.It is a move that has been expected by a lot of people, but to day it has finally been confirmed that Andy Carroll will wear the famous number 9 shirt for Newcastle.
Carroll will be following in the footspteps of legends like Alan Shearer and Jackie Milburn from this season as he looks to carry on the tradition of the famour jersey.
This could be the making of Andy Carroll, but let’s be fair it could also burden him with pressure. I honestly believe it will be the former as Carroll has already proved he can handle the pressure on the pitch. Think back to Doncaster, and all the pressure that was surrounding that game after the Taylor/Carroll incident, all the media scrutiny, and what did Carroll do? Put the ball in the net to score the winning goal, and that spoke volumes of the lads charcter. (more…)
