Luuk de Jong on Toon's Christmas list to Santa?The international break heralds a mini ‘silly season’ as Newcastle United are reported to be interested in no less than 5 new players.
With January fast approaching and no Premier League football for two weeks, it’s inevitable that the names of potential targets will be bandied about.
Our impressive start to the season and the recent spate of injuries to our squad may both, in their own way, raise questions about where we need to strengthen things in January if we’re to continue to push hard this season.
Mike Ashley may also be somewhat re-enthused by the way things have gone and perhaps support Alan Pardew by allowing him to buy a few more players than he would have done if we had not started so well. But who are those players likely to be? The press have a list of potential contenders for us.
The first such player is Modibo Maiga, Sochaux bad-boy and Toon transfer target from the last window. According to some press reports, the deal is all but done and a four and a half year contract awaits the player as soon as trading can commence next year. (more…)
Harper and Lovenkrands: Looking for a way oot.In the last week, both Steve Harper and Peter Lovenkrands have made very strong suggestions that their days at Newcastle United are numbered.
Firstly, speaking in an interview with Brighton and Hove Albion’s website and also in the club’s match programme, currently on loan ‘keeper, Steve Harper, has once again become weary of his peripheral role at Newcastle United. The goalkeeper said that now he was a bit more settled in at Brighton, he would definitely be open to extending his trip to the seaside further, also adding that he wished he had “moved on” ten years earlier.
Harper, who joined the club from the mighty Seaham Red Star back in 1903, and was a close personal friend of the Magpies’ legendary Edwardian centre forward, Albert Shepherd, said on extending his current one month loan from the current deadline of the 20th November:
“I’m certainly open to that, definitely, but the focus this week is Tuesday and Sunday and hopefully getting four or six points.
“Then Sunday night I’ll speak to the manager and my wife and see how she is getting on with the kids and we’ll take it from there!” (more…)
Good vibes include Delboy, says TaylorNewcastle United defender Steven Taylor talks about the excellent team spirit at the club, including good relationships all the way up the hierarchy.
I was alarmed to see a headline in The Telegraph that said ‘Newcastle have Europe in their sights’. Admittedly the author of the article intimated that European football is more likely in future seasons than this one, but it also mentioned ‘whispers of Europe on Tyneside’ for this season following our good start.
The reason this alarms me is because it raises expectations and we’ve been down that road before. Many times.
I prefer it when nobody thinks we’re capable of anything significant and that with each win we’re exceeding expectations. Obviously our current Premier League position is going encourage some talk of Europe in people of a more hopeful disposition, but I fear that such people are simply setting themselves up for disappointment. (more…)
Time to get behind Ashley, says ShepherdFormer Newcastle United owner Freddie Shepherd has surprisingly good things to say about the man who took over from him.
Freddie Shepherd celebrated his 70th birthday yesterday and in his after-dinner speech he actually heaped a load of praise on Mike Ashley which, given some of the criticism Shepherd has slung Ashley’s way in the past, is a bit of a surprise.
Shepherd said:
“I am still a massive Newcastle fan. True to say Mike and I have not always seen eye to eye but you’ve got to give him some of the credit for what is happening this season.
“I think it’s time for the fans to get fully behind him and give him a chance. After all, no one really owns Newcastle because it’s simply a football institution.
“Maybe he is right in his policy and I was wrong. Maybe we gave our managers too much money to spend in the transfer market. I reckon we spent around £300m on players like Alan Shearer, David Ginola, Les Ferdinand, Tino Asprilla and Michael Owen.(more…)
Two players we really need to hold on to in January?With our success in the league this year, the question was always going to be, “Can Newcastle hang onto our best players?”
With the recent article by my fellow blogger Hugh regarding Captain Coloccini and rumours regarding a potential shift to Scouserland I did begin to wonder…
In my opinion I can see this rumour being the end of Coloccini and Pardew’s patience with the board. Colo is on a high wage at the moment, over £80,000 per wekk, and has yet to sign a contract extension. He’s not getting any younger, he’ll be celebrating his 30th birthday during the next transfer window and I’d imagine Mike Ashley would be reluctant to offer him a long contract extension. With Pardew coming out recently and stating that Colo was not for sale I feel he’s set himself up on a “colosion” course (Attempt at humour there) with Ashley and the board.
I would highlight Chiek Tiote as a key player for us, without him our back four looked decidedly shaky against a poor Blackburn side. I’ve read recently that Manchester United are poking their ugly noses in to try and shore up their midfield. (more…)
