Wilshere: An ideal solution.Now it looks like Newcastle United’s return to the Premier League will be somewhat of an austere one, our attention can turn to just who Chris Hughton is likely to bring through the St James’ Park doors this summer.
Hughton should have some cash available to use in the summer, although admittedly perhaps not as much as most of us would like to see thrown around. Still, we have to deal with it and I am sure that whatever Hughton does get to spend will be spent wisely. Of course, there is a way of maximising whatever cash there is available and reserving it for use on perhaps one better signing rather than two mediocre ones, and that is to operate in the loan market. Which brings me onto Jack Wilshere, whom Chris Hughton will apparently be trying to tempt to Tyneside over the course of the summer. (more…)
Nice nosejob Andy...Will we seek to borrow back the services of Andy O’Brien from Bolton Wanderers? Chris Hughton has been speaking to the press and expressed his concern over the state of the current Newcastle injury list. Mike Williamson was the most recent casualty leading up to the smogs game at the weekend and when Coloccini limped off halfway through that game, Hughton had to contemplate the foreseeable future without a potential starting back four in Steven Taylor, Jose Enrique, Williamson and Colo.
The news is hopefully good on Enrique and he was reportedly close to a start on Saturday but having limped out of the Barnsley game having returned a little too soon and reporting a tightness in his hamstring, Hughton will be reluctant to put the Spaniard back in unless he’s absolutely certain of his fitness, though he appears confident he’s ready.
There’s no return date scheduled for Steven Taylor following his knee problem, and while the extent of Colo’s ‘dead leg’ is still unclear, Williamson is definitely out for at least a month with a broken hand. So with Enrique, Fitz Hall, Tamas Kadar, Danny Simpson and Ryan Taylor the only senior players left confirmed as fit to fill the back four positions, it was almost inevitable that Hughton might look to bring in an emergency loan as extra cover. (more…)
Gartside - man with a planPremier League reforms are in the wind but what will they mean for Newcastle United?
The Premier League has been undertaking a ‘strategic review’ since November 2008 and plans to have new proposals in place by December 2010. Bolton chairman Phil Gartside has put forward plans that would lead to a two-tier Premier League of between 36 and 40 teams.
The original plan would have seen Rangers and Celtic invited to join the lower of the two tiers but that plan was rejected and there would now be no place for the SPL teams. Gartside’s new proposal is however being ‘taken forward’.
Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore said:
“As regards to Celtic and Rangers it’s a non-starter.
“So we’ve made a clear and unequivocal statement and we’re going to move on from there. No means no.
“The clubs constitutionally voted to say we’re not going to take this any further, Celtic and Rangers are not coming in.” (more…)
Wandering about a move in January?It’s a bit early for Christmas shopping, although I’ve seen some decorations up in Spennymoor when passing through recently(I mean howay……..). And of course we’ve started the panto early up at The Stadium Formerly Known as St James’ Park, but according to the rumours, it hasn’t stopped Bolton gaffer Gary Megson adding Andy Carroll to his early Christmas list and is willing to offer the Newcastle striker a return to the Premier League in January.
With old battering ram Kevin Davies on his last legs, it seems that Megson regards Carroll as a long-term replacement. According to The Sun (hehe), Bolton will offer somewhere in the region of £4 million ,when the January transfer window winds open.
Despite my honest critique of Carroll recently, I do think he has potential to be a big player (what else, have you seen the height of him?). He needs to be refined but the raw talent is there and it should be nurtured. There will, as per the norm, be rumour upon rumour from now it would seem until the window closes at the end of January. But I’d hate to think this is anything more than just that, a rumour. (more…)
Megson confessing his desire for Nolan.Current Bolton Wanderers manager, Gary Megson, has come out of the closet and declared his desire for Kevin Nolan to make a return to the Trotters. Nolan had a long spell at the Lancashire club, spending some ten years there from 1999 to 2009, when he signed for Newcastle United in the January tranfer window.
Speaking of his wish to welcome back the Prodigal son, Megson remarked:
“I didn’t particularly want him to go in the first place,” adding:
“It’s just an enquiry, we’ve asked someone to find out if Newcastle would be interested in loaning Kevin back to the football club and we haven’t had a response as yet.
“We’ll see, because we were told that Newcastle needed to move one or two players about due to the fact they had been relegated.” (more…)
