Much of the news today appears to be centred around Robbie Keane and his alleged preferance of joining Newcastle in the January transfer window.
Of course, it is all speculation until proven otherwise, and the closest that any of these reports can muster with regard to a quote is from the proverbial inside source from Tottenham, who claims that a move to Newcastle is something that Keane would seriously consider.
But would it be a good move for Newcastle? With Tottenham wanting a reported fee in the region of £6 million you have to seriously consider whether or not a deal would be worth it. Add the wages on top of that and you would probably be hard pushed to justify a move for the 30-year old.
Keane has made 24 club appearances this season, athough the fact that 20 of them have come from the substitutes bench would seem to suggest that he has indeed slipped down the pecking order at White Hart Lane. He has two goals for Tottenham so far this season, plus two goals in two appearances for the Republic of Ireland. Seems to me like we could be talking about a player who is on the decline. (more…)
Another piece of good news, well hopefully some good news anyway, as it appears that Hatem Ben Arfa is about to finalise a permanent move to Newcastle.
Local journalists started reporting the news on Twitter late last night, then national journalists such as George Caulkin and Simon ‘you’re a ***’ Bird also backed up the claims which seems to indicate that the news could be true, hopefully, possibly.
It has made today’s copy of The Mirror and The Times and the general concencus seems to be that Ben Arfa will cost Newcastle £5 million with the capture set to be confirmed in the early part of next week when the January transfer window opens up for business.
Of course, nothing is ever true until it is confirmed by the club, but the fact that so many journalists appear to be reporting pretty much the exact same details should hopefully point towards this rumour being true. Let’s not forget though that we are in silly season and rumours will be rife. (more…)
Newcastle have had a habit of picking up yellow cards this season. In fact indiscipline has arguably played a large part in our season to date.
A quick glance at the ‘Fair Play’ table should tell us all we need to know. It doesn’t make for pretty reading, but Newcastle have racked up 45 yellow cards and one red card in their 19 games so far this season and sit second from bottom of that particular league. Add Joey Barton’s and Mike Williamson’s respective three match bans for violent conduct into the mix and things don’t look so pretty.
I think it’s pretty safe to rule out qualifying for Europe via the ‘back door’ for this season. Incidentally, the team currently leading the way in the Fair Play league is Fulham, closely followed by Blackpool. Imagine that eh? Mind you, with the way Blackpool have equipped themselves so far this season I wouldn’t rule anything out!
Anyway, I’m getting off track. The pitfalls of picking up so many yellow cards are pretty obvious, as evidenced by Kevin Nolan’s absence yesterday and the suspension of Cheik Tiote a few weeks back. Yellow cards equal suspensions, and with Andy Carroll and Joey Barton both just one away and Jonas Gutierrez, Fabricio Coloccini and Jose Enrique all two bookings away from picking their fifth booking of the season, the consequences could be disastrous. (more…)
Alan Pardew has today come out and said what most of us have been saying all season long and has admitted that Newcastle need new faces in January.
Part of the problem is strength in depth at Newcastle. We have a first eleven that can beat anyone on their day, but it’s when players are injured or suspended that we start to struggle.
Take yesterday for example. Jose Enrique was injured, and we had no real reliable backup to come in and cover him. Another example is Kevin Nolan. Love him or hate him, surely few can deny that he was missed yesterday. At least he would have affored Andy Carroll the luxury of having at least some support up front rather than having to burdon himself with everything regarding the team attacking the opposistion.
There is part of our problem. Potentially we have a good team, but a weak squad. The better teams have the squad to cope with the various injuries and suspensions that crop up throughout the season. This is something Newcastle need to emulate if they have aspirations of pushing up the league and steering clear of the relegation battle. (more…)
First off, I would like to apologise. Usually I write the match reports pretty much straight after the game, but yesterday was different.
The 2-0 defeat at White Hart Lane may have been expected, but the level of performance was so low that it left me lost for words.
Newcastle rarely threatened the Tottenham goal throughout the match, even when the home side were reduced to ten men.
More often than not I try to find the positives and adopt a ‘glass half full’ approach, but it is something that is proving to be very hard after yesterday’s defeat. One win in eight games is relegation form, and makes our upcoming games against Wigan and West Ham vitally important.
The hosts started brightly and had the first shot at goal just two minutes into game through Aaron Lennon. Rafael Van Der Vaart and Luka Modric were moving the ball around well for Tottenham, but despite the inventiveness of those two players, Newcastle survived and forced their way into the game. (more…)