New top manChris Hughton will be appointed as permanent manager of Newcastle United after the weekend’s visit from Doncaster.
Apparently Chris Hughton has been offered a £250,000 a year deal which is believed to be the same package that David O’Leary turned down in August.
I have no idea why O’Leary turned down the manager’s job at Newcastle United of course, but I would guess he feels he’s worth more than £250,000 a year even as an out of work manager coming into a Championship club.
£250,000 doesn’t seem a lot to me. Okay, hang on, £250,000 a year is a fair wedge of money to me and I could certainly afford a new hat on that sort of money, but I’m talking about in relation to players on our books who’ll be earning £2,000,000 a year. But I suppose market conditions dictate salaries and some players are simply valued higher than their managers.
Anyway, I presume Hughton’s happy with the deal and is looking forward to taking charge of the club even if it is only for the rest of the season.
Hughton talked about the team and our current rough patch yesterday, saying: (more…)
"It's my money so I'll have the final say on transfers"Mike Ashley is now prepared to take £80m for Newcastle United but will there be any takers?
Amidst another petulant stab at the fans in yesterday’s Times, Mike Ashley announced:
“Barry Moat has been driving me mad for two years. If he wants to buy the club, he’s got a one-off opportunity to come up with the cash – £80m upfront.”
So one question is: can he or anyone else find the money? Another might be: is Newcastle United worth £80m?
The Times speculates that Barry Moat has agreed to pay the £80m that Ashley’s asking, but not ‘upfront’. Apparently Moat wants to pay £40m now and £40m at the end of the season. It’s anyone’s guess as to why Barry Moat wants to do things like this. Perhaps he has only been guaranteed the second £40m from his backers if Newcastle gets promoted, although that would be a huge risk for Barry Moat to take because if we didn’t manage promotion and the funds didn’t materialise then Moat is stuck with an outstanding £40m debt that, it seems, he won’t be able to pay. (more…)
Mike's been there, seen it, got the t-shirt!No honestly, I really do. I mean he’s clearly absolutely crackers. What, you think all of this apparent contempt towards Newcastle United fans and his bad behaviour is all down to arrogance and spite? No man, he’s nuts. How else do you explain his actions and this reckless and continual ‘p*ssing on his own chips’?
I mean for the big G’s sake Mike, where do you pick up your PR finesse from? It’s out of this world, really it is. You’re clearly on a different planet. He generally says nothing for such long periods that you’d expect when he does that he’d say something that would have a big impact. Well he does, but not for the right reasons. Even following the tribunal result and the monumental cause and effect, there followed no explanation, no excuses, no apology, nowt. I’d heard rumour while at work today that he’d been speaking to The Sunday Times and then I read the brief summary piece that .com did and both found what he had to say astounding and myself agreeing wholeheartedly with their response.
No Toon job this seasonAlan Shearer reveals that whilst he’d take the Newcastle United manager’s job today if it was offered, he’s prepared to get on with life in the interim.
With Barry Moat’s bid – or indeed anyone else’s bid – looking less likely to succeed as time goes on, Shearer’s chances of becoming Newcastle manager this season are fading. It looks like we’re stuck with the current regime for the moment and Shearer has been reflecting on this, saying:
“I can’t revolve my life around that any more because I have other things going on.”
The future Toon manager then touches on the philosophy of determinism, saying:
“If it happens, it happens, and if it doesn’t, it doesn’t. Whatever has happened has happened. If anything else happens then it does – I will just get on with it.”
Which seems to me to be a clever rewording of Laplace’s Demon* – deep stuff indeed from the former number 9. After that philosophical interlude, Shearer goes on to praise Hughton, saying: (more…)
"All done" ... hmmApparently the Sheard-fronted Star Foundation has made a bid for Newcastle United and the group expect an answer this week. Sheard claims the matter is in the hands of lawyers with Halliwells representing the Americans and Travers Smith representing Ashley.
Sheard claims it’s “all done”, saying:
“We will push it forward this week and it will be resolved. It’s all done as far as we are concerned.
“It’s all down to the solicitors now. There has been no contact with ourselves or Derek Llambias or Mike Ashley, just between legal teams.
“We are not aware of any other significant interest from elsewhere.”
Personally I am extremely dubious about this, although to be fair I’m dubious about all the politics surrounding Newcastle United at the moment. (more…)
