Doh, why did I take this job?Alan Pardew has had a few things to say about how he intends to approach matters at Newcastle United.
First of all, apparently other managers have been telling him he’s mad to take the job:
“I’ve had a lot of texts from managers saying ‘you must be mad going there’. But it’s one of the top five clubs in England. It’s a daunting prospect but something I couldn’t turn down.”
Given that the club is run by clowns and the rate at which we get through managers it’s hard to argue with suggestions that he should be carted off to somewhere where they hand out regular cups of tea and strong medication.
He then goes on to say:
“The problem I’m going to have initially is the players.
“I need to get my message across quickly and with clarity so as not to get any resentment at a time when they are doing reasonably well.
“The battles I need to win are on the pitch. I understood what was going to happen if I took the job.” (more…)
Carroll: More committed than ever.Hot on the heels of all the earlier talk about new contracts and the like, Andy Carroll appears to be giving out a lesson in how to scotch press rumours.
It isn’t the first time that Carroll has turned tubthumper for The Toon, and he has intimated several times before that he doesn’t want to leave Newcastle.
The speculation continued though, with moves to Stoke and Birmingham being lined up by the press, aswell as those farcical rumours that Carroll was being eyed by Chelsea as a replacement for Didier Drogba. I mean, he is highly rated, but the reporter who suggested that must have stuck in the office with the superglue on that particular day. (more…)
Carroll and Taylor will be needed next season.Steven Taylor will be offered a new contract at Newcastle before the pre-season training campaign gets underway in early July, according to The Journal.
Much of the debate that has taken place this summer has been around how much money we have to spend, or indeed if we actually do have any money to spend.
Whilst that is important, there is also another matter of upmost urgency at hand, and that is to make sure we keep hold of the players we already have that can help survive and thrive in the Premier League, players like Steven Taylor and Andy Carroll for example. That is a point reiterated by Chris Hughton today as he moved to quash rumours that two of our local lads, and better players by all accounts, could be on their way out of St James’ Park. (more…)
