So who fancies living up to this then?Well here it is, the third and final chapter of my first term, first team player review. And not a moment too soon it would seem, to take the focus off Llambias’ less than convincing SSN interview.
The No.9 shirt is almost as synonymous with Newcastle United, as St James’ Park, the black and white stripes or that deed funny accent we’ve got. It’s been made partcularly special in this part of the world because it’s been worn by some of the best players this country has seen. The likes of Gallacher, Milburn, MacDonald, Cole, Shearer have graced that shirt and it will undoubtedly always be a big shirt to fill.
Ironic then, given that the No.9 shirt and the prestige it carries with it is currently up for grabs, that we have a group of strikers who fall somewhat short of the standards we’ve come to expect from our centre-floorboards, and that none of them look like earning that honour just yet…..
So how far short have they fallen so far? – (more…)
Cathcart signed on loanToday is of course deadline day for the transfer window, so what can we expect?
Well I’m not convinced we’ll actually buy anyone but I would hope there’ll at least be one or two loan signings to strengthen the squad.
Hughton told The Journal:
“We have good players here and it’s only right the young lads are given an opportunity in this squad because they deserve it.
“But we need some players in before 5pm because we realise that the squad is not strong enough to compete for the whole season. The club are aware of that.
“Once we have injuries, the squad is going to be stretched. (Fabricio) Coloccini was missing against Leicester, Jonás (Gutiérrez) has a hamstring problem and will be out for four weeks and Shola Ameobi has a stress fracture in his foot which needs to be monitored.”
Spanish hitman on year loan deal. News has come in from the website of Cantabrian La Liga side, Racing Santander that a one year loan deal has been arranged for Toon striker Xisco.
23 year old Xisco (full name: Francisco Jiménez Tejada) signed for Newcastle on September 1, 2008, for a fee thought to be around £5.7 million, rising to over £7 or 8 million depending on appearences according to various reports. He is also on a very long 5 year contract which extends to 2013. However, despite injury problems with the Tyneside squad, Xisco has only made a handful of first team appearences for United, scoring one goal, and was a relatively high earner at around £45,000 per week. (more…)
