Jus' chillin'?Chris Hughton has admitted that he is pretty laidback as the hour approaches and the ‘temporary loan signing’ window shuts at 5pm tomorrow night until February.
It has long been reported that Leon Cort has been on Hughton’s radar but Hughton has been telling the Chronicle that he’s not in any rush to sign players just for the sake of it:
“You never know, but realistically looking at the squad I don’t really expect to bring anybody in during the next month or so.
“Of course, all sorts of things can happen in the next 24 hours, and phone calls will be made on Thursday with players potentially becoming available.
“Some clubs might make a decision that some of the players who weren’t available earlier in the season are now there for loans. But we’ll see.”(more…)
Jonas due to return thoughThe diminutive Newcastle United squad is about to be stretched further by injuries and international duties.
Fabricio Coloccini picked up a groin strain and Ryan Taylor picked up a calf injury during Saturday’s game against Ipswich. Danny Simpson is also sidelined with an ankle injury from the Plymouth game and is doubtful for this week’s games. These add to the longer-term injuries of Shola Ameobi and Joey Barton with the latter now expected to be out until Christmas with an ankle injury.
Hughton said:
“As ever we will be assessing everybody as we go along.
“Ryan has been suffering with a little tightness in his calf and is a doubt. But Fabricio looks the more doubtful of the two and we are probably more hopeful on Ryan.
“Danny Simpson has got a chance but he is again touch and go. And providing Jonas gets through the next few days without any problems, he could also be back against QPR.”
So it’s good news about Jonas but there’s going to be some defensive reshuffling needed. (more…)
Guthrie red-cardedNewcastle were beaten by Peterborough and dumped out of the Carling Cup last night. It’s probably for the best given our small squad and the higher importance of the Championship but, despite such pragmatism, it still stings to lose.
I wasn’t at the game, didn’t see it on TV and didn’t listen to it on the radio – I simply followed it on the BBC web site – so I’m not really in a position to write much of a match report. The Telegraph has a reasonable report and I’ll just make a few comments and leave it at that.
One of the things I did notice while following it on the BBC was a very telling statistic: Peterborough had 28 attempts on goal (21 on target) to our 7 attempts on goal (2 on target).
When I prepared that match preview yesterday I mentioned their potent, 3-pronged strike force and they certainly seem to have taught us a thing or two about attacking the goal. With those stats I’m surprised they only got 2 goals and at least Tim Krul must have had a reasonable game to keep more out. (more…)
Carling Cup Round 3Tonight’s Carling Cup 3rd round tie with Peterborough is likely to see a few of Newcastle’s youngsters get an outing.
It’s partly forced on Hughton as Ameobi, Gutierrez and Simpson are injured and Khizanishvili is cup-tied, but I think Hughton will also see this as an opportunity to rest a few players anyway. We’ll certainly want to win of course but in the grand scheme of things promotion is far more important to Newcastle than Carling Cup progress.
On paper we’re 16 places and 12 points better than recently-promoted Peterborough in the Championship, although Peterborough are unbeaten in their last 5 games.
We’ve never managed to beat Peterborough in the two previous League Cup meetings between the clubs and the last time Newcastle met Peterborough in the League Cup was in 1991 when Ossie Ardiles was manager and Justin Fashanu made an appearance for the Toon. (more…)
Living next door to Smokie?OK, so I’ve been waiting a while to get that one out the locker and I hope it was worth it. I imagine the subtle reference in the headline will be lost on half the readers but if the other half get it, it’ll be worth it. Anyway, did I really just write a blog to make a witty (ahem) headline? Truthfully? Sort of.
Being totally honest, I’ve not really seen a great deal of this kid to give what I’d call a completely measured opinion on his prospects but if what little I’ve seen, plus the reports and stats I’ve read are anything to go by, then the future looks bright for this young man and hopefully for Newcastle United as a result. Signed from NK Domzale just after New Year, he’s gone from strength to strength impressing at youth and reserve level. He’s also had his first taste of first team football and looks to be in line for an extended run out at the weekend, though the likelihood is that it will be from the bench. (more…)
