O'Leary to be manager. Or not.The Guardian (amongst others) is reporting that Ashley will appoint David O’Leary as manager if, as expected, he takes the club off the market. The Guardian is also reporting that Newcastle deny they’ll appoint O’Leary.
It’s all looks like sheer press invention to me but let’s have brief look at O’Leary’s management career anyway.
O’Leary managed Leeds from 1998 until 2002, getting two top 4 finishes, a UEFA Cup semi-final and a Champions League semi-final, all on a budget of £100m over 4 years.
He then managed Villa from 2003 until 2006, lifting them 10 places to get a 6th place finish in his first season.
Unfortunately – maybe due to the severe spending restrictions imposed by owner Doug Ellis – O’Leary’s next two seasons with Villa weren’t so good as he only managed a 10th place finish and, in his last season, a 16th place finish, narrowly avoiding relegation.
I’m not sure what to make of the prospect of O’Leary at Newcastle. I guess my main concern is that he doesn’t seem to operate too well on a tight budget and I suspect he’d have to operate on an extremely tight budget under Ashley, possibly even no budget at all if his appointment’s after the transfer window closes. (more…)
Duff on target for the Toon.We got our Championship campaign under way with a 1-1 draw at West Brom last night.
In the first half we looked the more fluent side in possession but, rather like last season, the final ball into the box often lacked quality. Duff probably had the best chance of the half when Carroll set him up from 20 yards, but he shot wide.
Our defence was typically fragile and we can be thankful that The Baggies failed to capitalise on some of the early chances they had. They got their goal on 39 minutes though when Harper failed to clear from a set piece and a scramble in the box saw Shelton Martis punt it home.
During the goal mouth free-for-all, Ameobi tried to clear Harper’s head off the line and, although the goalkeeper played on until the whistle, he was substituted for Krul at half-time.
After the goal our heads went down a bit and there seemed to be some bickering amongst the players, but we managed to make it to the interval without conceding again. (more…)
We're stuck with him (probably).It seems there was no breakthrough in the talks between Moat, Llambias and Harris yesterday and a report in The Chronicle claims that the sale saga could drag on for another week before Ashley calls it a day and takes the club off the market.
North East MP Nick Brown has now called for Ashley to sling his hook, saying:
“It breaks my heart. Mike Ashley hasn’t made a go of it.
“He should call it a day, sell up to somebody who can make a go of it and who has sufficient money to give it a decent go this year and have an exciting campaign to get back in the Premiership where we belong.
“Every day that goes by makes this harder. The uncertainty is damaging the club.
“The club personifies the city. It is one of our great corporate citizens. How many other cities our size could regularly deliver a gate of over 50,000 for a home game?
“They have got to get that passion and sense of commitment, which I think has never gone away, rallied behind something that has got a chance of succeeding and the present set-up is disastrous.” (more…)
In terms of the management situation, the club have apparently ruled out the idea that Kinnear will return – although there’s nothing on NUFC’s official site to that effect – and The Mail are claiming that David O’Leary has also turned down the opportunity to become manager. This latter claim by The Mail contains no direct quotes from O’Leary though, so it could just be nonsense.
An awful lot is printed about Newcastle these days but, besides the confirmed transfers, most of it just appears to be speculation, so there is little of substance to actually report today.
The Barry Moat situation dominated most of the speculation yesterday but The Chronicle wonders if that’s all a ruse to flush out other bidders, which wouldn’t surprise me at all. (more…)
Barry MoatThe Guardian reports that the sale of Newcastle United is imminent.
Apparently Ashley is being urged to accept a bid from a consortium led by Tyneside businessman Barry Moat. It is thought that Moat, who has financial backing from investors in the United States, is Keith Harris’s preferred bidder. The Guardian speculates that if Moat gets the club he will favour Alan Shearer as manager.
Additional reports on this issue can be found in The Times, The Chronicle, The Journal and The Sun, but I would suggest remaining cautious about this news until a formal announcement is made from the club. There is no guarantee that Ashley will accept any bid recommended by Harris (assuming the stories are true in the first place).
There were reports yesterday that the club had, incredibly, offered Joe Kinnear a two-year contract. This was covered last night in an article on this site, so I don’t really need to mention it too much here except to say that there’s an article in The Times that claims the club is denying offering Kinnear a contract and insists ‘he has his wires crossed’. (more…)
