All aboard the arkIs Newcastle United embarking upon a ‘new era’? This humble blogger thinks so and attempts to quantify some of the changes that mark this new era.
Remember when God supposedly gave us all a rinse, rebooting mankind with Noah and what must have been an exceedingly large ark? I get the impression that a similar process is underway at Newcastle United at the moment. A kind of ‘out with the old and in with the new’ situation. It seems like the Good Lord Ashley and Archangel Llambias are doing some smiting and rebuilding the club in their own image (and didn’t Ashley smite Pestilence when he got rid of Dennis Wise?).
The obvious smiting begins with Nolan’s move to West Ham, Barton’s disappearing contract, the possible departure of players like Enrique, Jonas and Best (and, yes, I admit it’s only speculated that they’ll go at the moment), all seemingly replaced by an influx of Frenchmen. The wisdom of tearing out the crux of the team that got us promoted and established us once again as a Premier League side remains to be seen. The proof of the pudding is in the eating as they say (or in just being edible if it’s one of my wife’s puddings) and we’ll know over the next season or two whether Ashley’s gamble has paid off. (more…)
Sylvain Marveaux - midfielderNewcastle United have signed 25 year-old midfielder Sylvain Marveaux on a 5 year contract.
The club has confirmed that it has signed Sylvain Marveaux, who can play anywhere in midfield but is known mainly as a left-sided attacking midfielder.
His entire senior career has been spent at Rennes where he has scored 20 goals and made 16 assists in 118 appearances. He has also scored 4 goals in 11 appearances for the French under 21 side.
So it seems our plan to buy all the world’s midfielders and everyone in France is still on course.
Apparently he has signed a 5-year deal although I can’t find any details of fees paid or suchlike, although allegedly West Ham offered £3m for him last June. (more…)
£1m: value for money?Whilst the number 9 shirt remains unfilled at Newcastle United, it certainly won’t ever be Nile Ranger’s as was once speculated. The player is well and truly transfer-listed and beginning to attract suitors.
It’s all go at Newcastle isn’t it? Between the rumours and the actual transfers that have taken place it’s turning out to be an interesting summer. Let’s hope it all works out for the best.
To quote Donald Rumsfeld: there are known knowns, there are known unknowns and there are also unknown unknowns. One of Newcastle’s known unknowns is who will be filling the number 9 shirt given that Demba Ba hasn’t been awarded that privilege. Maybe the club is retiring it for a while or maybe they still plan to make what the press would call a ‘marquee signing’ who be awarded the number 9.
One thing that’s for certain (a known known, I’d say) is that Nile Ranger won’t be getting our number 9. In fact he won’t be getting a black and white shirt at all next season if the speculation is to be believed.
Allegedly Bolton have expressed an interest in young Ranger to – at least in part – compensate for Johan Elmander’s departure to Galatasaray. Apparently Millwall were keen on Ranger too but their finances don’t stretch to the £1m fee Newcastle are asking for him, but such a fee should not prove to be a problem for Bolton. (more…)
2011/2012 fixtures outThe Premier League fixture list for the 2011/2012 season is out and Newcastle United find themselves at home to Arsenal for the first game.
It’s only June but the announcement of the fixture list somehow seems to bring the new football season a little closer.
Due to some ludicrous copyright law that was set in place by some dinosaur in 1956, you can’t reproduce a ‘substantial part’ of the fixture list without paying DataCo a few hundred pounds and a ‘substantial part’ is considered to be more that one match. And, yes, DataCo have gone after fan sites in maintaining their copyright.
We can, however, link to people who’ve paid for the fixture list, so:
Not interested.Celtic’s Scott Brown denies any interest in a transfer to Newcastle United.
A few days ago, in a post about The Celtic Raid, I reported our alleged interest in Celtic captain Scott Brown and left-back Emilio Izaguirre.
I did wonder at the time what sort of role Pardew had in mind for Scott Brown in our already crowded – and speculatively growing – midfield. If even just one or two of the players speculated about do end up being transferred to Newcastle we’ll have a heavily stocked midfield.
The post seemed to inadvertently start something of an Anglo-Scottish debate but it seems Scott Brown isn’t interested in a move to Tyneside anyway. Brown said:
“I’ve heard all the stuff about Newcastle but I haven’t paid the slightest attention to it.
“I’m captain of Celtic Football Club, why would I even think about going anywhere else?(more…)
