New skipper, same haircut.Fabricio Coloccini gets the captain’s armband at Newcastle United for the 2011/2012 season.
I would like to mention at the outset that this post has nothing to do with mandolins, which are musical instruments of the lute family. I could talk at length about their origins from the lute and the mandore but I won’t because to my tone deafness they just sound like out of tune guitars. No indeed, no mandolins here – that’s merely what’s known in the trade as a ‘jaunty headline’ (by an idiot writer).
So, to the story. Coloccini has been officially announced as the Newcastle United captain and said:
“I am thrilled to be named captain of Newcastle United. It is one of the proudest moments of my career.
“Leading the team out in front of our supporters in our first game against Arsenal will be a great honour for me and I aim to give my best for the team and the supporters throughout the season.
“I would also like to than Alan Pardew for putting his faith in me. It means so much to me.”
So this is good news in the sense that it must surely mean that Colo isn’t going anywhere this summer, about which there were a few rumblings in the press a while back. We’d look pretty stupid if we gave the captaincy to someone who then left. (more…)
Wants to join us ... allegedlyNewcastle United appear to have resolved little in the last week. Still no Neil Taylor, Enrique is in contract talks, Mevlüt Erdinç is looking like a no-go, Shane Long said to be the latest target and Llambias confuses at least one Toon fan.
Alreet Geordies, hope you’ve been well while I’ve been holidaying in the Med. I haven’t seen a single British newspaper for a week and I’m completely out of touch with what’s been going on at the club, so – although I’ve tried to catch up a bit since getting back – forgive me if I cover old ground. The only ‘news’ I saw while away was about someone getting married in Monaco, which hardly had me moist with excitement.
One thing I thought might have been completed in my week’s absence is the signing of Neil Taylor, but I note that’s still dragging on. Swansea Chairman Huw Jenkins said:
“Neil has a contract and he is our player for another two years. The question is not whether he will stay with us, it is whether things will go the other way. We will find out the answer to that in the next few weeks.”
However an ‘insider close to Naylor’ apparently said:
“Neil is due back on Monday for pre-season training, but whether he turns up remains to be seen. He still isn’t happy about the situation and is obviously keen to join Newcastle United.” (more…)
Brace yourselvesMike Ashley’s ‘5 year plan’ is to create a self sufficient business model, this is the aim for his Newcastle United project. Now, this should be the aim for any business, and especially where football clubs are concerned with the financial rules set to take effect, and the current state of the economic climate. This of course will take time to achieve and will not happen overnight, but will it work at all with Ashley at the helm, and is long term success on the pitch part of his true intentions?
This ‘5 year plan’, which I assume has been extended every year since he took charge after some abject failings (like relegation in 2009), has some positive factors incorporated. I like the idea of young, home grown players running out at St James Park and the focus on youth and development should be welcomed by many of us.
If you refer to Ashley’s statement back in 2008 it declares:
“My investment in the club has extended to time, effort and yet again, money being poured into the Academy. I want Newcastle to be able to create its own legends of the future to rival those of the past. This is a long term plan. A long term plan for the future of the club so that it can flourish”.
I think we all want to see that don’t we?
Ashley has also created an extensive scouting network, spearheaded by Graham Carr and his band of merry men, instructed to scour France and the rest of the continent, in search of diamonds in the rough, unheard of players, those who’s career is in front of them and not behind them. In the same 2008 statement Ashley stated: (more…)
With Kevin Nolan’s recent backslide to the Championship with West Ham, there’s an opening in the job market down at Barrack Road.
That job being team Captain.
Obviously, at this point it’s difficult to call who’ll get the shout and become the man to do the boss’s bidding on the pitch. What with the transfer window still yet to ‘officially’ open, there’s still a long way to go before we know who’s staying and who’s leaving. The honour usually goes to a, shall we say veteran or long serving player. A bit of a stalwart, someone who is rarely out injured, an ever-present, if you will. Taking all that into consideration, it doesn’t leave us with a lot of options.
Let’s take a look:
Of those still at the club, for now at least, we have Joey Barton. He’s been played as Captain recently, after making a strong comeback from injury and ‘other’ things. Moving up from Vice Captain when Nolan was out through injury or suspension. But will he still be around come August kick off time? Will he be getting regular games with his contract running down over the next season? (more…)
A bellyful of midfieldersNewcastle United seems to have been accumulating more midfielders recently, but does this give us a problem when it comes to keeping them all happy?
We seem to be on a mission to sign a fair few midfielders this transfer window. We already have Cabaye and Marveaux to add to the existing tribe of Ben Arfa, Jonas, Tiote, Barton, Guthrie, Gosling, Raylor and Ferguson. Not to mention Smith (and please don’t). And if speculation is anything to be believed we’re not done yet.
There’s still the possibility of signing someone like Sissoko, N’Zogbia, Matuidi, Barnetta or some as yet unknown midfield target. Adding just one more presents us with a problem. A nice problem in some ways, but a problem nevertheless.
The problem I’m talking about is who we leave out. (more…)
