NUFC Blog on metro.co.ukMy two latest blogs for metro.co.uk are now up!
The first one, entitled “Pardew – Is he deluded to the point of insanity?” takes a look at some of the talking points from Monday evening’s game with Manchester City. Talking points such as the gossip surrounding Yohan Cabaye and not least, something all we Newcastle United fans have become wearily familiar with, Alan Pardew’s total lack of a grip on reality in his post-match assessment of games.
The second one is called “Were Newcastle’s ‘Three Stooges’ in Nice to sell Cabaye or buy Cvitanich?” (The sub-editor changed the original title so don’t blame me!). Basically, it is my ruminations on what Newcastle United’s “Three Stooges,” Alan Pardew, Joe Kinnear and Graham Carr might have been doing at Nice airport, where they were spotted and photographed by a Northumbria University student and Toon fan who calls himself “Sewelly” on Twitta. (more…)
Joe Kinnear welcoming new signing Loic Remy to the club.Speaking in another ‘exclusive’ interview with Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct News, Alan Pardew was repeating his protestations that Joe Kinnear was only brought into the club to work on the financial side of transfers like Derek Llambias before him.
Anxious to reassure worried fans that he is still in charge of all football matters (please kill us), and that Kinnear was only brought in to make life easier for himself and Mike, Pardew explained:
“It’s quite simple really, it’s not too different to what we had before with Derek Llambias. Mike and Joe work the finances of the football club. Therefore I have to make sure, with Joe, that we’re approaching players in the right financial bracket for us and that we’re doing the right amount of scouting.
“Joe’s job is to co-ordinate that and put it all together. So he has my input, he has Graham Carr’s views and also Mike’s opinion as well in terms of the finance.
“Basically, he gives me a ballpark figure of the sort of player we can perhaps afford and me and Graham give him the targets we think it works for. Joe then works towards finding a solution and it’s as simple as that.(more…)
Pardew is a Geordie?In his recent interview on Radio Newcastle’s “Total Sport,” Alan Pardew informed listeners of the show that like figures such as Kevin Keegan before him, he is now “almost an adopted Geordie, trust me.”
In the same interview, he also reassured all the Geordies who have taken him to their hearts that he still has seven years left of his eight year contract which he intends to see out, and that he won’t let Joe Kinnear or anyone else “tread on his toes” or intefere with the club’s style of play.
When asked if Joe Kinnear’s appointment helped or hindered his cause (whatever that means), the Silver Supremo answered:
“I’m almost an adopted Geordie, trust me and on my travels I’ve seen many fans this summer and they’ve all relayed to me that they really want us to do better than last year and I do as well.(more…)
Jeroen Zoet – Possibly the strongest link so far?Well, it’s been a very busy transfer window so far with all that extra TV money swelling the coffers of Premier League clubs around the country.
No fewer than 61 players have been signed to Premier League clubs at the time of writing, with almost every club signing at least one new player. Sunderland have even signed seven. However there is one rether predictable exception, and there are no prizes for guessing who it is. Of course it’s Newcastle United, who have recently lost Danny Simpson, Steve Harper and James Perch, with Dan Gosling possibly on the way too. Another important issue is that this further English exodus could cause problems with the 8 “home grown” players in the 25 man squads teams have to hand in at the start of the season.
Having written that, there are currently high hopes for the signing of a younger flying Dutchman called Jeroen Zoet to keep existing flying Dutchman, Tim Krul, on his toes more than Robbie Elliot can. If so it would be good move and not just for the mere fact that it’s a body “over the line” as our Silver Supremo is so fond of saying. (more…)
Perch – No evidence whatsoever for Wigan move.It has been “reported” by several frauds in the media, as well as several lazy copy and paste style blogs that James Perch is set to leave Newcastle United.
It all started around a month ago on the 2nd June with a short piece by Alan Nixon in the Mirror. It read:
“Newcastle prepare to dump James Perch to make room for more Frenchmen”
2 Jun 2013 22:30
“Alan Pardew’s Baguette Batallion set to grow and grow – which means no place left for the Englishman.
“Newcastle United will let versatile James Perch go – to make way for new foreign signings.
“Boss Alan Pardew has decided that Perch, who played several roles for him, can be sacrificed in the summer sales.(more…)