The realities hit homeAlan Pardew appears to accept that Newcastle United are a selling club at the moment and could struggle to hold on to the likes of Cheik Tiote if a good bid came in.
After insisting that Andy Carroll will not be sold and then having subsequently seen that happen anyway, Alan Pardew appears to have accepted the realities of Newcastle United a bit more now.
Speaking about his hopes to hang on to Cheik Tiote if a big bid should come in, he said:
“I am hoping there are no bids, otherwise we will have a problem.
“Tiote is a very important player, very talented and someone we want to be a big part of our future.”
Pardew then goes on to reveal more about the club philosopy as he understands it:
“When I became manager, Ashley and Llambias made me aware that they wanted to get the club on a financial footing, which gives them a chance to build it.(more…)
Squad players take the strainOver the last few games Newcastle have had to operate without a few of their regular first team players. Namely: Andy Carroll, Cheick Tiote and Steven Taylor – either because of injury or suspension – and there have also been scares about losing Kevin Nolan and Shola Ameobi.
In the meantime, the squad players that have come in have covered manfully with players like Leon Best, Perter Lovenkrands, James Perch, Nile Ranger and Danny Guthrie.
Not so long ago, we were saying: ‘We’ve got no strength in depth‘, ‘The squad ain’t big enough‘, ‘We won’t cope in this league‘. Some may still feel that that’s the case.
So, I’m asking: Has our ‘squad’ improved?
It seems that Danny Guthrie, after a poor showing last time out, has pulled his game around, delivering a perfect cross for Coloccini to fire home v Spurs. James Perch put in a decent shift. Peter Lovenkrands came on and, but for a desperate lunge by the Spurs defender, could’ve put us two up in the same game.
Nile Ranger is showing some good skill and determination to get at teams and was desperately unlucky not to score; maybe he could’ve squared it to Lovenkrands, but hey, he’s getting there. (more…)
Tiote: Out for Mackems, 'Spurs and Fulham.The F.A. anouunced today that Newcastle’s United’s appeal on behalf of the club’s defensive midfielder, Cheik Tiote, has been rejected, and that a ban for Newcastle’s next three games stands.
This means that the Ivory Coast player, who has rapidly become part of the essential fabric of the club’s first team as defensive cover for the back four will miss fixtures against the Mackems, Tottenham and Fulham.
The player was shown the red card in United’s defeat in the F.A. Cup against Stevenage on Saturday, 8 January. It was for what the referee, Andre Marriner, saw as a wreckless tackle on Stevenage’s John Ashton, where he felt that Tiote was out of control and had his studs showing, though he never really touched the player.
A short announcement from the F/A. on their website read as follows: (more…)
Tiote: Four match ban if appeal failsNewcastle United will be making an appeal to the F.A over holding midfielder, Cheik Tiote’s red card in the club’s potentially disastrous F.A. Cup defeat against League Two’s Stevenage Borough.
The Ivory Coast player was shown a straight red card in the tie, meaning that a player who has made himself practically an essential part of Newcstle’s midfield this term could face a four match ban for what many see as a debatable sending off. This would consist of three for the original sending off, and a fourth for wasting the FA’s time if the appeal is unsuccessful. This means that if the appeal fails, Tiote will miss Premier League fixtures against Sunderland, Tottenham, Fulham and Arsenal.
Speaking of the incident, the player himself told told Tyneside paper, The Chronic:
“Maybe the referee made a mistake because I didn’t touch the player.
“I took the ball – I didn’t touch the player – and I don’t know why he gave me a red card, but this is football.
“The most important thing is the next game, and I want to play.
“Hopefully the club can do something. For me, Sunderland is a very important game, and I don’t want to miss it.” (more…)
Talk of a longer deal for Tiote?I’ve found a bit more newspaper gossip that could be of interest to you guys regarding Steven Taylor and Cheik Tiote.
Don’t worry, as ever on NUFCBlog.org we will endeavour to inform you of which is the wheat and which is the chaff with regard to news reporting. On that basis we’ll start off with the chaff.
The News of the World is reporting that talks with Steven Taylor are scheduled for the start of next week, and that Taylor is set to put pen to paper on a new long-term five-and-a-half year deal that will keep him at the club until the grand old age of 30.
The paper claims that the club have been impressed with how Taylor hasn’t been looking for a move in January and see this as an indication that he really does want to stay on Tyneside. On a similar note, it has also been reported that Taylor has been impressed with what Alan Pardew has had to say during meetings between the player and the manager. (more…)
