Hughton: Will be looking at new players.It has been a line that has been trotted out with alarming frequency over these past few weeks – that Newcastle will be signings players. But today has seen a change in attitude from Chris Hughton as he spoke to The Chronicle.
Previously, I got the feeling that any sort of quotes that had come from the mouth of Hughton had been laced with a kind double meaning, maintaining that signings will be made but also not being entirely certain on the whole situation and leaving room to manouvre on what has been said. That isn’t the case anymore, and some of the certaintly contained within the words of Hughton should move to quell the fears that the Newcastle team would be forced to battle on with what they have. With two months until the new season, Hughton is now adamant that we will be bringing in the players needed to give us the best chance of survival in the Premier League next season, although he also reiterated that we wouldn’t be going wild with the cash, something I think we all know now about and something that has been done to death already. (more…)
Shhhh.... Be quiet.You can blame any multitude of reasons for why there doesn’t appear to be much going on at Newcastle right now, but you can be rest assured that things will be steadily ticking over behind the scenes.
You can blame the start of the World Cup for diverting media attention away from Newcastle United, or you could blame the shroud of secrecy that the statement has brought about, or you could just point your fingers at the suggestion that maybe, just maybe, there isn’t anything going on.
That last option sounds foolish to me, and the very notion that Chris Hughton will be sitting there in his office twiddling his thumbs is amusing to say the least. But the bottom line is that things will be happening at Newcastle, things that we don’t even have a hint of yet. (more…)
Ready to sign on the line?One of the better pieces of news to come out of St James’ Park has to be the announcement that a new contract is being drawn up ready for Steven Taylor to sign.
I wrote the other day that a contract would be offered to Taylor based on what Luke Edwards from The Journal was saying, and I attracted some stick for writing ‘any old guff’ whilst leaving people ‘disappointed’ that there wasn’t any quotes to back up what Luke Edwards and myself said.
Well now I have those quotes, from Chris Hughton no less, who has today confirmed to the Telegraph that Taylor wants to stay on Tyneside and help his adopted home town club survive in the Premier League rather than walking out of the St James’ Park exit door for pastures new, and that was something that has been a niggling fear for some fans for some time now. (more…)
Hughton: The stakes have been raised.I think it’s widely percieved that last season was great, fantastic in the end, and the size of points difference between us and the rest of the teams in the Championship is something that is seldom replicated.
I also think that Chris Hughton has been given a lot of credit for it over the last few months, and rightly so. We all know Hughton did a great job last season, certainly an effective one.
The lines have been read over and over again already, with praise popping up for Hughton with regard to getting the team united again, believing in themselves, not fighting with each other (too often), and most importantly, looking like they actually want to play for the shirt that I personally have such pride in wearing. Which is why it baffles me that our former manager, Glenn Roeder, believes that Hughton should be recieving more credit than he has done already. Why? Just, why? For me, Hughton needs to prove he can motivate his team in the Premier League next season before he recieves another widespread outpouring of fullsome praise. It appears my viewpoint is slightly different to that of Roeder however. (more…)
Hughton - Maintains there will be signings.Chris Hughton has admitted that he is finding life tough in the transfer market as he sets about trying to strengthen the squad for the new Premier League season.
It’s very much a case of nothing new here, as Hughton repeated that the late June or early July time would see us most likely to make our moves in the transfer market, something that he has maintained for some time now. Nobody really knows, apart from those in the know, just what Hughton has to work with in terms of a transfer budget, although Luke Edwards of The Journal seems to think that transfer fees will be sanctioned if they represent a good deal for the club. Having said that, the lack of new faces is something that is becoming alarming for some fans who fear that this window will see us not strengthen at all. Although there is no need to worry, according to Hughton anyway. (more…)
