Vacancy: apply withinNewcastle United are still in the hunt for a striker 6 months after the sale of Andy Carroll. And now they need a left-back too. So just why is it taking so long to recruit new players?
What, you might ask, is the problem? We’ve had six months to replace Andy Carroll and still haven’t, unless you happen to believe that Demba Ba’s that man. And, although Enrique’s actual departure is relatively recent, we’ve pretty much known he’d go for a few months now (the clue was in his refusal to sign a contract), yet we haven’t got a replacement for him either.
Let’s allow some leeway with Enrique. He has only just been sold and we must surely know by now that players don’t come in unless Ashley’s 100% sure he’s getting the dosh for the outgoing player. It might not be a proactive way to run a football club but we seem to be stuck with it.
Some might argue that selling Carroll so late in the January transfer window left us no time to bring in a replacement, which is true. And let’s even be generous and say that £35m was too good to refuse and that it was actually worth limping through the second half of last season without a first choice striker. Surely, though, in the months after the Carroll sale we should have had plenty of striker targets lined up, ready to make bids for them as soon as the transfer window opened.
Not guilty, m'ludNewcastle United deny that their players were out of control during Saturday’s bust-up with Arsenal.
It appears Newcastle United aren’t happy about the charges the FA levied after the fracas during Saturday’s game against Arsenal.
The statement from the FA reads:
“Newcastle United and Arsenal have been charged by The FA with failing to control their players following Saturday’s fixture at St James’ Park.
“Both clubs have been charged following a mass confrontation of players following an incident in which Arsenal’s Gervinho was also shown a red card in the 75th minute.
“Following Gervinho’s dismissal Arsenal have lodged a claim that the standard punishment of a three-match suspension is clearly excessive. A Regulatory Commission will hear the claim on 16 August.
“Meanwhile Arsenal’s Alex Song has been charged separately by The FA with violent conduct following an incident earlier in the same fixture.
“Both clubs have until 1600 BST on 18 August to respond to the charge, whilst Song must reply by 1800 on 16 August.” (more…)
Fancied by JolMartin Jol is allegedly interested in Newcastle United captain Kevin Nolan and Kevin Gameiro rules out any chance of comin to Tyneside.
I think we’d all pretty much accepted that Lorient’s Kevin Gameiro wasn’t coming to Newcastle and the player himself has now confirmed that, saying:
“I’ll think about my future in the coming days.
“It will be Paris or Valencia. The two clubs are very good.
“I will calmly make my decision over the next days.
“I love both clubs. I have always been attracted to Spain.
“We will see what will happen. An agreement has yet to be made with Lorient.”
So we can scratch that one off the list.
There is still the question of Lille’s Gervinho of course and whilst he’s confirmed he wants to play in the English Premier League, he’s also said that he wants to prove himself in a ‘large European club’. That could be taken to mean a club playing European football next season, which would make Manchester City and Arsenal the favourites of his alleged English suitors.
Rumour has it that Alan Pardew has cut his holiday short to officially welcome Yohan Cabaye to Newcastle United. That could happen today and whispers of press conferences have reached my delicate (and rather fetching) ears, although such rumours may of course be total bunk. (more…)
Shikabala: Toon target?Newcastle United are supposedly interested in an Egyptian midfielder whilst Sam Allardyce wants our captain at West Ham.
Tomorrow might be a better day for transfer gossip as that’s when the French transfer window creaks open and allows a plethora of Gallic talent to enter the market. Given where our scouts seem to have been concentrating their investigations, the opening of the aforementioned window should be of particular interest to Newcastle.
In the meantime, it seems that West Ham are preparing a £3m bid for Kevin Nolan. Nolan apparently refused a two year extension to his Newcastle contract, preferring instead to get a five year extension, and is thus described as ‘unsettled’. Quite whether that means he’s actually looking to transfer is unclear. Alan Pardew is allegedly ‘battling’ to keep the player at Newcastle, although I have no idea how.
Rumour has it that Big Sam might also be interested in taking Alan Smith – who has recently been told he can leave Newcastle – to West Ham. (more…)
Who are we after?A summary of the current transfer targets at Newcastle United, not a single one of which has actually been confirmed by the club!
As another week gets underway, we can no doubt expect a load more transfer speculation relating to our club because it is after all silly season.
So I thought I’d kick off by doing a brief summary of where we supposedly stand with some of the transfer targets rumoured to date.
First of all, let’s be clear about one thing: the club have not confirmed a single transfer in and have only confirmed the exit of Sol Campbell and Shefki Kuqi, so that is our official transfer status at the moment.
Mehdi Abeid
By all accounts this is actually a done deal and the player himself has confirmed that he has agreed a deal with Newcastle after being welcomed and encouraged by Tiote and Ben Arfa. The 18 year old attacking midfielder has played most of his football for the Lens B team, so I’m guessing he’s down as one for the future. (more…)
