Uncle Joe: Why no word from the club?Since yesterday evening, there has certainly been no shortage of statements from Joe Kinnear on being appointed as a new Director of Football at Newcastle.
Like his new colleague Alan Pardew, keeping his mouth buttoned has never been one of Kinnear’s stronger points, though even he has surpassed himself this time with a verbal Tsunami of what he is going to do at Newcastle United over the next few months.
However, at the time of writing, there hasn’t been one word of confirmation or denial from Newcastle United.
Bearing in mind Kinnear’s previous, the club could perhaps be forgiven for not arranging a full press jamboree with Simon Bird in attendance to unveil their new key member of staff. However, at the time of writing, there hasn’t even been a small announcement in the news page of Newcastle United’s official website. Is it just me or is this rather odd?
To borrow the words of Marvin Gaye “What’s going on?” (more…)
Not good enough to join the elite?When I first saw this story in the Northern Echo last Saturday, I didn’t discount it entirely, but I had the usual doubts I have about virtually every Newcastle United story at the moment. But then it resurfaced again in this story yesterday, and I’m not quite so doubtful anymore.
The “story” is that whilst our much loved cousins at Sunderland Association Football Club, and also from Championship Middlesbrough, seem to be nailed on to acheive the highest “Category One” status in the Premier League’s new “Elite Player Performance Plan” (EPPP) for football academies, Newcastle United have allegedly been told they haven’t have made the grade after an audit of the club in March, and will probably only be awarded “Category Two” status. The independent auditors who carried out the inspections, “Foot Pass England” judged clubs on ten factors, these factors being:
Graham Carr: A harder road ahead?You may have noticed that Newcastle United’s chief scout, Graham Carr, was very much in the news recently, and much of this was centered around him being given an eight year contract by the club’s managing director, Derek Llambias.
Usually, when a club renews an agreement with it’s chief scout, it hardly gets a great mention. However at the new Newcastle United rounds of interviews were arranged by the club’s press department, it “trended” on Twitter and was even covered in the national press. It was as if the club had renewed the contract of it’s manager. So what was behind this?
Graham Carr is now 67, with a long career in both coaching and scouting behind him, including scouting at other large, high profile clubs such as Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur. So why now, in the autumn of his career, is he attracting so much attention? what is it that has made him emerge like a Butterfly from a Chrysalis on Tyneside? (more…)
Onwards And Upwards?Imagine you’re 67 years old, and the Club you’ve supported all of your life, your home town club, offers you bucket loads of cash, plus expenses, to travel abroad and watch football – lots of football. Stay in nice hotels, eat at the finest restaurants – but best of all, watch loads and loads of football. A dream for most fans, but it just came true for arguably one of the biggest United fans of them all – Graham Carr, superscout!
And of course when you’re not away on United business, you can watch the mighty Magpies – without having to buy a seasons ticket!
Graham Carr has just signed a new contract with Newcastle United for the next 8 years! This is excellent news for Newcastle United fans everywhere. Graham, of course, has been digging up diamonds for the Toon ever since he came here. Apparently, he got a phone call from Derek Llambias asking if he could pop in and chat to Mike Ashley about transfer targets. This invitation turned into numerous chats over a few days, then Graham was hit with the contract offer! According to the NUFC Official website, he signed on the spot! (more…)
Matthieu Debuchy.Regular readers of my efforts for this blog will know that, like many other United fans, I place little credence in 90% of the stories which appear in the media about who is leaving and who is joining our illustrious club.
There is so much media “noise” going on at the moment about movements, and it’s a case of sorting the wheat from the chaff, as the old saying goes. In other words trying to identify the stories which might, just might, have a grain of truth in them.
Anyroadup, the problem is that in terms of the great Newcastle United, there aint a lot else going on in newsville at the moment, so transfer babble it is!
Here’s some of the stories which might just be on the right tracks – but remember, it’s just me saying this – I’ve read the stories, put the kettle on, had a think and what follows are my thoughts on what might be the stories which run to fruition – selected from today’s vast array of speculation. But who the hell am I to know better than anyone else!
