Hughton's rhetoric is becoming tiresome.Chris Hughton has revealed today that Newcastle fans are unlikely to see any new faces in at St James’ Park by the time pre-season training starts in earnest next week.
That news comes as a real blow to fans who had hoped that business, any business, would have been done dusted early on in the window allowing manager and fans to relax and prepare for the new season ahead.
The fact that hasn’t happened means that questions will continue to be asked regarding just what is going on, whether we have any money to spend, or whether we are being fobbed off like we have been in the past. Newcastle have been linked with a host of players so far, some on free transfers and some involving a fee, although this latest admission that nothing is happening appears to indicate that Newcastle have done nothing but fire blanks in the transfer market so far. (more…)
Harper is going nowhere.I was a bit surprised earlier on when I read that Steve Harper was being linked with a move north of the border to Celtic.
It just seemed strange to me as Harper has been waiting long enough for his chance to be number one at Newcastle, a chance that he was given when Shay left us for Manchester City back in the 08/09 relegation season.
Harper hasn’t looked back since and his form between the sticks has been excellent for us, which has lead to Chris Hughton rubbishing talk of an apparent move to Celtic at the first available opportunity.
Whilst I don’t think that anyone would like to see Harper leave, we mustn’t forget that we have some top young goalkeepers waiting in the wings, with Tim Krul being the next in line to take over from Steve Harper. Krul is getting towards the age where he will want to be playing first team games, which is something that could have been on offer if Harper did move on to pastures new. So how much longer is Krul willing to wait? (more…)
JLoyd Samuel in action for Bolton.Now the England action is out of the way for a few days, it gives us a chance to catch up on things that have been happening with Newcastle, although admittedly, and perhaps unsurprisingly, we haven’t really missed much.
One thing that very nearly slipped under the radar was the fact that Newcastle have apparently tabled a bid of around £1 million for Bolton’s versatile defender, JLoyd Samuel, according to Sky Sports anyway.
Apparently this offer was deemed as unacceptable by Bolton Wanderers for a player who is 29-years old, has only featured once under his current boss, and has only 12 months remaining on his contract at The Reebok. Funny that, as paying a seven figure sum for Samuel would be far more than I would be willing to offer for him, especially as he is only really a squad player and never really features in their first team. (more…)
Gutierrez: Won't be seen at right-back!Wor Spidey’s Argentina team aren’t doing to shabbily at the World Cup are they? Let’s just say that I wouldn’t mind England being in their position anyway!
Our lad Jonas has been playing in a position that us fans are unaccustomed to seeing him in, right-back, which kind of lead to a train of thought that perhaps he could cover in that position for us when he returns from World Cup duty, especially now it seems that Danny Simpson looks likely to miss the start of the new Premier League season. In fairness, he hasn’t been overly impressive, but Argentina coach Diego Maradona seems to rate him in that position, and he has played in both group matches thus far. He won’t be in action later though as he serves a one match ban earned by picking up a yellow card in each of his previous two games, but he should return to the starting line-up when the knockout stages begin. (more…)
Hughton calls for more patience.Chris Hughton has today called for yet more patience from the Newcastle fans, and urged them to trust him in his endeavours to strengthen the squad over the summer.
The problem with that is that this transfer window is beginning to have an alarming air of similarity to what has happened in previous transfer windows. I can’t really blame fans for being sceptical as memories of the past kick in, but that is something that Hughton has to deal with and must understand. The fact that we as fans have been led around the garden path before is still fresh in the memory for some, and when they hear conflicting stories, or stories that there has been no progress behind the scenes, then the immediate thought is to look at the past form of the current management hierarchy, Hughton excluded of course. On the other hand, we do have to bear in mind what happened in January and I personally hope that the way we went about our business back then can be repeated. (more…)
