I have not written for quite a while on this ‘blog, so this post is just a gentle reintroduction from me without much substance, but I feel I can get away with it just this once to ease myself back into things.
It gets worse because I’m about to do some dreaded hearsay Daily Mail style reporting.
I had reason to hire a ‘Man With A Van’ recently to help clear out a house after a bereavement. This ‘Man With A Van’ happened to be a Geordie and came accompanied by a son at no extra charge. I’m not entirely sure of the son’s purpose in the whole house clearing thing I had to do as he seemed reluctant to lift anything and merely ate all my biscuits. However, this son apparently dates a girl who worked in the press office at SJP and we got onto the subject of whether or not Andy Carroll is for sale because, obviously, there has been much speculation about that recently. According to my ‘source’ (hey, I feel like a real reporter now!) Andy Carroll is for sale, but so is everyone else at Newcastle United.
Now of course, I am not silly enough to put any faith in what is essentially gossip, particularly as it came from someone who ate all my biscuits. I am however getting to a point, the point being: Does it matter anyway? (more…)
Sign him up....Much of the debate and rumour last week was regarding the future of Chris Hughton, and the lack of a new contract for our current manager.
Speculation reached fever pitch in the run up to the defeat against Arsenal which prompted the club to release a brief statement backing the manager and revealing that a new contract for Hughton would be on the agenda in the new year.
After the performance and the widespread backing that Hughton recieved from the players and fans at St James’ Park, I would suggest that Mike Ashley and Derek Llambias move their agenda forward and sort out a new deal for the man who has saved them a fortune by getting the team promoted last season, and looks to be saving them a frotune again this season by getting some fantastic results on a very meagre budget.
Some pundits, like Warren Barton, have suggested that Chris Hughton has turned down a new contract at Newcastle as he didn’t like the terms of the compensation package, but how would Barton know this? I doubt that Chris Hughton will have phoned him up and told him as we have seen time and time again that Hughton values privacy. I smell a bit of bullshit from Barton there! Think about it… (more…)
Oliver: Risible buffoon.Writing for the People newspaper yeterday, Alan Oliver, who is renowned throughout the region for his completely innaccurate and malicious reporting about Newcastle United, and still banned from St James’s Park for spreading falsehoods about the club, was still persisting with the story that Chris Hughton is about to be sacked.
Despite Newcastle’s victory at West Ham which left them in the top half of the table, Oliver insists:
“CHRIS HUGHTON is fighting for his job at Newcastle, with Mike Ashley yet to start negotiations on a new contract.
“Toon boss Hughton’s deal runs out at the end of the season but owner Ashley is in no hurry to begin talks after Newcastle took just one point from three Premier League home games – against Blackpool, Stoke and Wigan.
“And despite impressive defeats of Aston Villa and Everton in the league, as well as a stunning win at Chelsea in the Carling Cup, it is the results at St James’ Park against fellow relegation candidates that have set the alarm bells ringing with the top brass.” (more…)
Official statement alert.Newcastle have asked the FA to punish Nigel de Jong for the challenge that resulted in Hatem Ben Arfa sustaining a broken Fibia and Tibula at the weekend.
It is understood that the club are far from happy over the tackle and feel it was ‘unnecessary and used excessive force’.
They are also writing a letter of complaint to the appropriate body regarding the perfomance of Martin Atkinson in the match against Manchester City.
In a statement released on the nufc.co.uk, the official website, the club had this to say;
“Newcastle United FC have today written a strongly-worded letter to the Football Association in relation to the tackle by Manchester City’s Nigel de Jong on Hatem Ben Arfa in Sunday’s Premier League fixture, which resulted in Ben Arfa sustaining a broken tibia and fibula of his left leg.”
“The club has asked the FA for the appropriate action to be taken against De Jong for the tackle which in the club’s opinion was unnecessary and used excessive force.”(more…)
Ashley - Paid for signings out of his own pocket?Some fans said that last season was the most important for our club in a long long time. Other fans claim that this season is the most important we have had for a long long time.
I sit in the camp of the latter to be honest, although essentially both of those statements are correct.
If we hadn’t have got promoted last season then we wouldn’t have been able to say the second statement, so in that way they are very much linked. The importance of this season can’t be underestimated. Relegation would be dire and would set the club back a few years at least. Players that stayed around to “right the wrongs” of last time would be moved on, either by choice or neccessity, and I believe that it would be much much harder to bounce back should we end up relegated again. (more…)
