Door open, says Lyon coachAlan Pardew intends to use yesterday’s victory over the mackems as a springboard to entice more action from the Newcastle United board in terms of transfers.
Yesterday’s result was extremely satisfying – as any win over the hapless mackems is – but I think we’d all like to see a new left-back and a new striker in before the transfer window closes.
Pardew is obviously thinking along the same lines, which I must mention to my psychiatrist in case agreeing with Alan Pardew is indicative of something worrying. Pardew said:
“A victory like today helps me with Derek and Mike to go upstairs and say, ‘Come on, let’s try to get them in this week’.
“We want to get the right players and we want to get the best value we can, and we are trying to do that.
“The group I have got is sound. They are aware to balance us up, we perhaps need a left-back in the building and we need a striker in, and that’s what we are going to try to do.” (more…)
Anybody else feeling like this?With the exciting news of Rob Elliot’s alleged arrival at Newcastle United from Charlton, I’ve been asking myself several questions about current predicaments at St James’ Park.
Firstly, this is not Elliot’s fault and, if he does come here, I welcome him to Newcastle and wish him all the best.
Right, I could now relay my thoughts on to you dear reader, about the 7 month struggle to find a striker, no left-back and general rubbish I hear coming out of the club on a regular basis, but that would warrant at least 5 different 1000 word articles and I’d rather wait until after September 1st 2011 to vent my spleen.
Actually, I’ve changed my mind. Lets start with the left-back position…
In regards to our alleged pursuit of Erik Pieters, PSV technical director Marcel Brands has had this to say:
“Since the weekend we have no news from England.”
So quite what to make out of that is totally up to you, personally I can see this transfer not happening, simply because whoever it is who deals with negotiations at our club, has failed to notice we need a left-back in the squad NOW and not next week. I’m also sure Ashley probably thinks £6-7 million for a full Dutch international left-back is just ludicrous. Actually maybe it’s Llambias? Either way, it doesn’t bode well does it? (more…)
Toon want it wrapped up before derbyNewcastle United have allegedly increased their bid for Erik Pieters and still have Nicklas Bendtner in their sights, and Derek Llambias confirms the need to add further players to the squad.
Good morning. The Toon headlines are still pretty much dominated by the Joey Barton/Gervinho ‘Slappergate’ incident, which is beginning to make my Earl Grey taste a little sour and putting Tarquin, my butler, off his stride with the brushing of my tweeds in preparation for the day’s hobnobbing.
The Daily Mail comes to the rescue though, with allegations that we’ve upped our bid to £7m for much-needed left-back Erik Pieters. Presumably the hope is that the extra readies will act as a financial kick up the backside to both the player and his club and expedite transfer proceedings towards some sort of agreement ahead of next weekend’s game against the unwashed.
The weekend’s People seemed to think we have other options for a left-back too and are tracking both Wayne Bridge and Aly Cissokho alongside Pieters. (more…)
Do they care about fan protests?The Joey Barton escapade continues to rumble at Newcastle United with some fans asking whether or not some sort of protest would help.
It is very difficult to avoid this Joey Barton situation at the moment. A good 90%+ of the Newcastle United coverage for the last few days had been about him and his infernal Twitter machine, which has depressed me and made me wonder if it was worth chewing through the leather straps to get on here and post this morning.
Ironic, then, that I’m going to post about it too.
Joey seems to have induced an air of protest amongst many Toon fans, such as that suggested by my esteemed fellow writer. But I must say I have my reservations and since we don’t have such things as editorial policies on this ‘blog, I’ll bore you with my views on the subject.
I think any protest needs to be designed as an effective step towards some clear end result or it merely serves as a disjointed expression of anger. Some people might feel better from the emotional release it affords but it may not achieve anything towards the actual goal. (more…)
Is Barton a bad apple?Joey Barton’s tirades on Twitter has been very well publicised, as have many other players comments on the social networking sites. Jose Enrique, Wayne Routledge and countless others from teams across the UK. This has prompted the Premier League to consider rules and regulations for the popular website.
Of course, everybody is entitled to their opinion and that does not differ because of your profession. Joey Barton, however, has taken it above and beyond “opinion” and turned the popular website into a media circus.
Just to get one thing straight: I don’t necessarily disagree with what he has to say. I do, however, think that somebody such as Barton should hold themselves with a little more tact, dignity and most importantly with a hell of a lot more professionalism.
Barton goes on about how much he loves the fans, the club and how he wears our famous strips with honour and pride – so why did he hold out on the contract back in January? Andy Carroll was sold on the last day and Barton himself had mentioned that he’d like to see his career out here – discussions were going on before then, presumably. (more…)
