Out of context - but maybe not by muchNewcastle United manager Alan Pardew has attempted to further clarify comments made to the Spanish media by Jose Enrique.
Enrique’s comments to a Spanish magazine last week caused a bit of a stir and Alan Pardew has attempted to further clarify them, which Enrique insists were taken out of context by the British press.
Pardew said:
“Jose was upset about it on Thursday. He was upset with how it had been reported – he made that plain to me.
“I said to him ‘Look, it happens.’ It happens to me and I’m experienced with the media over my playing career and my time in management.
“But the most important thing with the Jose Enrique situation is that it really hasn’t changed. We’re not safe and he doesn’t want to talk to us until we’re safe.
“That is what we discussed yesterday. We will worry about the next game and I look forward to talking to Jose and his advisors when we’re safe. But our immediate priority is to win the next game – and to get to the 40-point mark.” (more…)
Oops, a bit high perhaps!Newcastle United midfielder Cheik Tiote has a ‘minor hand injury’ but will be fit to play against Bolton on Saturday.
When you’re as tough as Cheik Tiote you don’t let trivial injuries stop you playing and such is the case with his ‘minor hand injury’, believed to be a fractured finger.
After recuperating with a robust diet of house bricks and steel girders and some leisure time wrestling enraged alligators, Tiote will apparently be available for next Saturday’s game against Bolton.
This is good news as there’s the small matter of revenge for the 5-1 slaughter they inflicted on us at their place, and Tiote is now a very important part of our midfield line up.
We bought the 24 year old Ivory Coastian (which sounds like a tea set and probably isn’t the right word) from FC Twente back in August 2010 for £3.5m, which seems like a fantastic bit of business now, and he just seems to have got better and better this season.
He had a reputation for being a hard tackler but, whilst that’s certainly true, there’s a lot more to his game than that. He can take the ball forward too and is certainly not shy about taking a shot, with the ball usually travelling fast enough to warp space and time around its path. He scored his first goal to even things up in the 4-4 draw against Arsenal and it was a cracker. (more…)
Pedro leads youngsters to tournamentNewcastle United’s youngsters arrive in Italy for two week youth tournament.
The Viareggio Cup World Football Tournament Coppa Carnevale – also called the Torneo di Viareggio – features 48 teams from 16 countries and is kind of a youth club world cup, although apparently Newcastle are the only club sending a team from England this year.
This Viagra Tournament is no Mickey Mouse affair though and is officially recognised by the likes of FIFA and UEFA, lending some prestige to the whole thing.
It has been totally dominated by the Italians for most of its history. Fiorentina and AC Milan have won it 8 times each and Juventus have won it 7 times. In fact 9 out of the top 10 all-time winners have been Italian, with Dukla Prague having won it 6 times to spoil the Italian top 10 clean sweep.
The only success for an English club in the tournament was in 1981 and 1982 when Ipswich Town were runners up. (more…)
Toon target? Or blather?Newcastle United are allegedly interested in the services of (at least) 7 players if the last 7 days of press speculation is anything to go by.
The Sunday Mirror has us planning a £10m move for West Ham’s Carlton Cole. Staying with West Ham, we’re also reportedly interested in 21 year old defender James Tomkins.
Chelsea’s Daniel Sturridge – who is currently on loan to Bolton – is another one apparently on our hit list, and of course Tottenham playmaker Niko Kranjcar has been connected to the Toon a few times recently.
Then there’s the alleged moves for Seville’s Argentinian winger Diego Perotti and French striker Alister Tangane at £6m a piece according to The Mail.
We’ve also been connected to Valencia full back Miguel with a £3m price tag and my mate Big Bob at Milverton FC with a £2.50 price tag.
Even Tino Asprilla is tipped to come back to Newcastle, although only to open a bar and restaurant.
No doubt the speculation will run on and on up to the summer and beyond. In fairness, we probably are genuinely interested in some of these players but I expect most of it will turn out to be unsubstantiated rumour. I’d want to see one of these guys in a black and white shirt before believing anything, or at least have some sort of confirmation from a named source at the club about alleged interest. (more…)
Future in the balance?Newcastle striker Nile Ranger might have been loaned out if not for the Carroll departure and the Ameobi injury.
Whilst Chris Hughton thought Nile Ranger would progress better at Newcastle, Alan Pardew originally had different ideas and was prepared to loan Ranger out until Carroll’s departure to Liverpool and Ameobi’s face ache made him reconsider.
Pardew said the following about the possible loaning out of Ranger:
“I’d have considered it if Shola was fit and we had Andy Carroll, or a replacement for him, in the building.
“Nile’s very important for us between now and the end of the season and in this period we’ll know what we’re going to do with him next season. He could be forcing to get in and around the team for us, he has the potential to do that.”
Pardew then goes on to compare Nile Ranger to Michael Owen, although by that he presumably doesn’t mean he gets paid £100,000 a week to sit in the treatment room and then bugger off if we get relegated. (more…)
