What's he thinking?The previously delayed press conference with Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew has now been cancelled.
So why has the press conference been cancelled? Here are four of my guesses:
Reason 1: Pardew may have wanted to reiterate his desire to hold onto Andy Carroll but, with offers for the player nudging up in value, Ashley may have had a change of heart about selling him, so it was felt prudent to cancel the press conference and see what the club gets offered for Carroll next.
Reason 2: Ashley may have no intention of selling Carroll but wanted to spare Alan Pardew the questions which would inevitably be thrown his way about it at the press conference.
Reason 3: the press conference was to announce that Stephen Ireland has been brought in from Aston Villa but either there’s some problem or delay with that or it is felt that all the Andy Carroll stuff would overshadow it.
Reason 4: something else altogether, possibly to do with penguins. (more…)
Press conference: 15:30Today’s press conference with Alan Pardew has been moved back from 2PM to 3:30PM, fuelling speculation that it may contain significant announcements about transfers in relation to Newcastle United.
Word on the street has it that Newcastle have turned down a £30m offer for Andy Carroll from Liverpool. This is to be expected as the club has insisted that Andy Carroll is not for sale many times in recent weeks.
Given some of the unpredictable actions of Ashley in the past, it’s understandable that people think he might change his mind and sell Carroll for a high enough offer, so there’s bound to be concern that today’s delayed press conference is something to do with this.
However, I would venture to suggest that the delay is more likely to allow a little extra time to plan an announcement about Stephen Ireland arriving from Aston Villa.
Or the press conference could have been delayed for any number of other reasons.
Typically, minutes after posting this article the press conference is cancelled!
Most likely rumour?It’s the day before the transfer window closes and it’s a Sunday, which means it’s double trouble from the rumour mill at Newcastle United.
The first unsubstantiated rumour of the day is that, after having their ‘paltry’ £23m-£25m bid for Andy Carroll rejected, Spurs have been told by Newcastle that they must bid £30m to get the player. I find it hard to believe that Spurs have been told they must bid £30m or that they’d get Andy Carroll even if they did bid £30m.
Andy Carroll is of course for sale, despite insistence by the club heirarchy that he isn’t. Every player has some price which, if offered, would see him sold. But I think it’s the case that Andy Carroll isn’t for sale at any price that would be reasonably offered by a club this January.
The second unsubstantiated rumour of the day is that Newcastle are trying to sign Coventry keeper Keiren Westwood in a £500,000 deal. Westwood does have a good record, picking up various Player of the Season awards, but what about Tim Krul? Would we be looking at Westwood as our number two keeper ahead of Krul or our number three keeper behind him? And would Westwood move if it was the latter? (more…)
Not for sale FFSIt seems that Spurs can’t take no for an answer as they launch a last gasp £25m bid for Newcastle United’s Andy Carroll.
When Alan Pardew said “I will say this one more time – Andy Carroll is not for sale” it seems that Spurs Chairman Daniel Levy wasn’t listening because, if reports in The Sun are to be believed, Levy has lodged a new £25m bid for Carroll directly with Mike Ashley.
Of course anything that contains the phrase ‘if reports in The Sun are to be believed’ should be treated with the same sort of caution you’d show if a psychistrist asked you to slip into a pair of wraparound pyjamas for ‘fashion reasons’. But you never know, maybe The Sun is correct. We know Harry Redknapp is keen on Carroll – I suppose it’s a matter of whether or not he’s keen enough to persuade his Chairman to fork out £25m for him. (more…)
Portugal trip a successJohn Carver has been full of plaudits for the training undertaken during Newcastle United’s trip to Portugal.
Alan Pardew was extolling the virtue of the Portugal trip just the other day and now it’s the turn of John carver.
So good has been this Portugal ‘boot camp’ that it’s now reckoned to be the best ever training session undertaken by any football club ever.
Carver said:
“Sometimes people look at these breaks and see it as a holiday but it was nothing of the sort for the players.
“First of all it was wet and windy and cold in Portugal – but it wasn’t about getting sun anyway, it was about finding somewhere with facilities that we could use because ours were out of action because of the frost last week. The players have worked really hard.(more…)
