Sympathy for the Devil?I think Sunderland signing Martin O’Neill as their new manager is one of the most significant events to happen in the North-East recently.
Of course there is massive rivalry between Newcastle and Sunderland, so it takes a lot for a Newcastle fan to say something like that. But rivalry and competition manifest themselves in every walk of life. Being better than others at school, in your job, sibling rivalry at home, my car’s faster than your car, my dad’s bigger than your dad – the examples are endless. It’s part of life and something we have to deal with every day.
When it comes to football however, rivalry can often get out of hand to the point of bigotry and violence. “Local Derby” rivalry has existed since football began, and no matter what anyone says, there is no bigger derby and no bigger rivalry in football than that between Newcastle United and Sunderland. The rivalry between the two modern-day cities can be traced back to the 1600s and linked to them supporting different sides in the English civil war! But sometimes it’s important to remember that these days it’s mainly about football, and whether we like it or not, there are bigger issues in life and basically people are pretty much the same wherever they come from. (more…)
Safe. For now at least?Newcastle United striker Demba Ba’s release clause has caused quite a stir but this writer tends to think it’s a storm in a tea cup, at least as far as the January transfer window is concerned.
On the back of my esteemed colleague’s recent posts regarding Demba Ba’s release clause and his PSG ambitions, it seems that clubs are queueing up to buy him. Or at least it looks that way if press reports are to be believed.
The release clause in his contract is either £10m, £7m, £5m or “less than £5m” depending upon which report you believe and how much creedence you give to Harry Redknapp’s comments.
Liverpool lead the suitors, which is probably no surprise given their proclivity for buying from Newcastle and in particular buying strikers from us in the January transfer window. Spurs are supposedly interested too and apparently Sunderland, Everton and QPR have had their interest piqued by the release clause’s alleged low value. You can see why when there’s seemingly an option to pick up a 15 goal (in half a season) striker for peanuts.
However, it’s worth remembering that all a release clause does is that it forces the selling the club to allow the player to enter into negotiations with the buying club once the fee in the release clause is met. The player can’t be forced to move against his will and there’s nothing to stop the selling club from trying to renegotiate some sort of contract to keep the player. (more…)
Carved out his niche?Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew has baffled fans for a lot of the season by not playing Hatem Ben Arfa, but Pardew has now explained his reasoning and how Benny’s work on Saturday may just have earned him the free attacking role he craves.
Until recently, Alan Pardew has seemed reluctant to start with Hatem Ben Arfa, much to the frustration of the player himself who had a few choice words to say about Alan Pardew’s tactics last week.
However, in a recent interview in the Journal, Pardew has explained how he sees the Ben Arfa situation developing on the pitch. Talking about the weekend’s game at Blackburn, Pardew said:
“It’s all about balance. His work-rate was quite good, it’s just sometimes intensity that’s the difference. It didn’t help in the first half that Mehdi stepped off a little bit and was a little bit too deep and therefore that didn’t help Hatem either. It all sort of combined.
“I was really pleased with his attitude when he went on to the right. He could have gone, ‘What am I doing out here?’ but he attacked the position. That’s really pleasing.
“I knew if we got the ball to his feet he was going to cause the full-backs a problem.“
Is another Ba the highest priority?Newcastle United are set lose Demba Ba to the Africa Cup of Nations soon, yet it seems the club is concentrating more on strengthening the team in defence rather than attack. Is this the right decision?
Much was rumoured recently about us not being in for a striker this January after the Maiga deal fell through but, with Demba Ba due to leave for the African Cup of Nations very soon, how will we cope?
When Pardew was asked recently if we can cope without Ba and Tiote, he said:
“Obviously, I am hoping so, but they are two massive players. You take a huge figure out of one of the other teams and it’s significant. If you took Rooney out of Manchester United, probably they wouldn’t look the same for seven games, so you have to accept that.
“Having said that, we have got players who are champing at the bit. Hatem Ben Arfa wants a chance, Leon Best wants to show what he showed last year, Peter Lovenkrands will be eager to throw his hat in the ring, so we have still got great players in the club and we hope that we can keep the momentum and the form going.
“We have just approached one game at a time, but we have got to the halfway stage in seventh place and that’s significant. It can only arm us with confidence to go forward.“
Andy Carroll: Forced out and lied about?Love him or loathe him, there is still a question which has not been answered about Andy Carroll, a question which continues to split opinion amongst United fans to this day. Ahead of the imminent game against Liverpool at Anfield, it might be timely to examine this question one more time.
The question – when he was transferred, did he jump or was he pushed? This has never really been fully clarified for us, and opinion is divided. Let’s look at some of the facts and statements made by people close to the transfer deal. (more…)
