Hughton: "Nothing in it".Newcastle United manager, Chris Hughton, has reacted to specious tabloid stories stating that Newcastle United players were to be rewarded with a pay cut if the club achieve promotion at the end of the season.
Somewhat ironically, the interview appeared in Newcastle rag, the Journal, which is a sister paper of one of the tabloids that were spreding the false story in the first place, The Mirror. The club’s Managing Director, Derek Llambias also came out to scotch the rumours, saying that there was “no truth whatsoever” in the story.
Hughton meanwhile, who as most Newcastle and Tottenham fans know is usually a very calm and measured character, was reported to be “clearly annoyed” by the media guff, and his words indicated that it was a distraction that he would not allow to affect the squad as they chase a return to the Premiership. He said:
“That financial story is not particularly helpful,” (more…)
Should Ashley sack Hughton if he gets Newcastle promoted?I feel somewhat strange writing about this as promotion is by far from a certainty yet, although even the most downbeat fan has to be looking up at the Premier League and thinking a swift return looks more and more likely as the weeks and games pass by.
However, inspired by Simon Bird, let’s discuss what could possibly be one of owner Mike Ashley’s biggest problem should we go up. Do we stick with Hughton or do we change manager again?
Not many Toon fans wouldn’t pat current boss Chris Hughton on the back for the amazing job he has done in taking Newcastle United 5 points clear at the top of The Championship. We can’t deny it, it’s there in print, and despite a certain number of fans fearing the worst before the season kicked off, Hughton has slowly turned it around. We can look at individual games where perhaps things could have been done better tactically, Leicester away is a prime example, but what we do have to admit is that the majority of the time Hughton has hit the nail on the head and got the tactics right and earned the results we needed. (more…)
Preston North End: A proud history.A warm Geordie welcome awaits the visit of the Lancashire lads as Newcastle take on Preston at St James’ Park for a somewhat rare Saturday 3pm kick off. Newcastle fans will be hopeful of another strong performance straight after Wednesday’s 4-1 win over Coventry.
After watching The Toon hammer in 9 goals in the last 2 home games, Preston manager Darren Ferguson is sure to have his troops fired up for a strong defensive performance whilst possibly trying to sneak a winner on the break, and with players like Danny Wellbeck and Jon Parkin up front, that is a possibility. The Lilywhites have more than enough in their armoury to have a go at Newcastle and will have one eye over their shoulder as another defeat could jeopardize their current 14th place in the table and see them slide further towards the relegation zone.
Preston’s last league trip to St James’ Park came way back in 1981, with Newcastle running out 2-0 winners on that occasion. Our most recent meeting with them was the 1-0 win away at Deepdale back in November with Kevin Nolan scoring the winner. (more…)
Cyril, the Swansea City mascot.A 700 mile round trip faces the Toon Army for tomorrow’s televised game at the Liberty Stadium, when 5th place Swansea City take on Newcastle United with an undecently early 12.45pm kick off.
This will certainly be a stern test for the lads, as Paulo Sousa’s team play good football and are unbeaten in their last four home games. They are strong defensively, and following our 3-0 defeat at the hands of Derby County midweek, they now have the same number of goals conceeded as us. However, all is not perfect as the strikers, or in fact anyone else having a go don’t seem to have much luck finding the target with only a paltry 26 goals scored in 29 matches. Only bottom club Plymouth have scored less.
The last time the two teams met at Swansea City was amazingly over twenty years ago, with Newcastle Utd. beating the Swans 2-1 in a second division match. Since that time Swansea have moved to a new 20,500 capacity stadium, and more recently have earned a reputation as a decent footballing side. That was evident under previous manager Roberto Martinez and has carried on with their current boss, another good young manager in the making Paulo Sousa. (more…)
NUFC Blog have scoured the length and breadth of YouTube to track down a video of new Toon signing, Jóhan Símun Edmundsson in action. Well here he is playing for the Faroe Islands against Russia Under 21s and scoring the winning goal with a very decent header (he is No.17 playing in white).
In the wake of Toon’s January transfer bonanza comes news of the club’s latest youth signing. 18 year old Jóhan Símun Edmundsson, a striker who can play on the flanks has arrived on loan until the end of the season from Faroe Islands giant, B68 Toftir. He has also been capped by the Faroe Islands national team. (more…)
