Taylor back in business?Steven Taylor stepped up his comeback from a shoulder injury today as he managed to play an hour for the reserves at Wigan Athletic this afternoon.
Taylor has had an injury-plagued last ten months on Tyneside but will be hoping that his troubles are now behind him and that he can now concentrate on playing the game.
Of course, it’s not a given that he will walk straight back into the first-team anyway and he will face a fight for his position for arguably the first time in his Newcastle career. Fabricio Coloccini and Mike Williamson will not want to give up their places in the team, and at the moment I honestly don’t think they deserve to be dropped. Likewise with Danny Simpson, who has been excellent since he came back into the first-team at West Ham a couple of weeks back.
Realistically though, a first-team return for Taylor is still a couple of weeks away in my opinion. The lad effectively has to play another pre-season again before he can even be considered, much like Danny Simpson had to do before he was drafted back into the team. (more…)
Nile Ranger - Ready for action?Nile Ranger has been somewhat of a revelation this season, well in my view he has anyway.
We saw last season that the lad can play a bit, but that was The Championship. His hold up play was immense for a lad of his of his age and he showed some pace and power to compliment that.
If there was one criticism of the lad, other than his alleged attitiude and ‘badass’ behaviour off the pitch, then it would have to be his goalscoring record. For all of his hard work and endeavour he very rarely got himself into scoring positions, and when he did he never looked confident of scoring, all in my opinion of course so please feel free to disagree with me.
That appears to have changed this season and Ranger has been setting the reserves alight with his goals, and assists, and he hasn’t done too bad when he has been called upon by first-team in the Carling Cup either. (more…)
Smoggie Ranger?News emerged yesterday suggesting that Middlesbrough could be looking to take Nile Ranger to The Riverside on loan.
Now apart from all the jokes about empty seats at their ground and the less than glamorous surroundings of Middlesbrough, I actually think that this would be a good move.
I don’t know about you guys and gals, but I’m getting increasingly fed up with what is looking to be some of the best youth talent we have had on our books for some considerable time not getting as much as a sniff of the first-team. Highly coveted youngsters like Ranger and Haris Vuckic will just stagnate if they aren’t given the opportunity to flourish.
First-team football should be part of any young players development. No amount of Under-18 games or reserve matches will beat the cut and thrust of playing in the first team. A case in point being Kazenga Lua Lua who is currently plying his trade at Brighton, and is earning numerous pladits for his performances by all accounts. (more…)
Yven Moyo - The newest recruit.It looks like Newcastle United are pressing ahead with their plans for the future of the club as it has emerged that highly rated French youngster, Yven Moyo, has signed a four-year deal with Newcastle.
Moyo has been on trial with Newcastle and featured on the bench for the reserves during their 2-1 win over Wolves last night.
Rumours surfaced earlier today that Moyo had indeed signed for us although personally I’m not one to jump the gun so I waited until it was on the official club website before annoncing it on here.
The 18-year old former Sochaux player becomes the latest addition a fledgling youth academy at St James’ Park that already boasts an array of talent. Much of the focus has been on the exploits of the first-team, and understandably so, but I for one am very happy that the club are still making moves to ensure NUFC has a bright future ahead. (more…)
Nacim Boukhelifa - On trial at Newcastle.Chris Hughton has today confirmed that 19-year-old attacking midfielder Nacim Boukhelifa is training with the Newcastle squad.
The former Racing Lens prospect caused a stir when he was photographed at Darsley Park before the transfer window closed, but as Boukhelifa is currently not attached to any club it means that he can be signed outside of the transfer window.
Boukhelifa is not the first trialist we have had over the last few weeks, and he won’t be the last as Newcastle look to get the next generation of Toon stars sorted out. The focus is on the future at Newcastle, and giving our lack of forward planning over the last few years, the move is a welcome one. (more…)
