It's just Colgate, honestBy all accounts, including our own, the 3-1 win over Plymouth was a bit of a struggle for Newcastle. This is what Hughton had to say after the game:
“There were periods of the game where we made hard work of it.
“For whatever reason, we weren’t able to sustain it and of course the longer the game goes without getting that second one, Plymouth are lifted by the occasion and feel they can get something.”
The substitutions made all the difference though, about which Hughton said:
“I think it’s fair to say Danny and Nile have changed the game.
“When you make changes you hope they make an impact, sometimes they do and sometimes they don’t.
“Thankfully, they did make a major impact.
“We needed that Kevin Nolan goal and it encouraged the lads.”(more…)
Kamara - latest toon targetAccording to the latest reports, Fulhams’s Diomansy Kamara heads Hughton’s wish list for emergency loans, with Marlon Harewood and Daniel Cousin also on the interim manager’s radar.
Fulham signed Kamara from West Bromwich Albion in July 2007 for £6m but he injured a cruciate ligament in June 2008 which kept him on the treatment table for nearly 7 months.
Kamara has scored 9 goals in 40 games for Fulham and 60 goals in 253 games in his career overall, which isn’t a particularly good return for a striker, although he did manage to score against us at the end of last season to help us on our way to relegation.
Kamara faired better for WBA in the Championship scoring 20 goals in 34 league games and it seems this is what might have caught Hughton’s eye. Hughton said:
“Diomansy Kamara is one of numerous names we have thought about. He scored a lot of goals for West Brom in this division and he is a very good player. Marlon Harewood is another one.
“There will be a few obvious names because of the position they play in. Marlon was also one we have spoken about. There are no names confirmed, all I can say is that these two are very much being spoken about. No deals are confirmed at the moment, though.” (more…)
Deal back on. Maybe.It was rumoured a few weeks back that Harewood was one of Hughton’s targets to beef up his injury-stricken strike force, but the deal was reputed to be off a few days ago amidst doubts about Harewood’s fitness.
However it now seems the deal might be back on again. Apparently Hughton has received reassurances from the Villa staff about Harewood’s foot injury and is happy to once again discuss a loan deal, hoping to complete the necessary arrangements in the next few days ahead of Sunday’s match at Cardiff City.
Shola Ameobi and Andy Carroll are both injured and new striker Peter Lovenkrands is not match fit, so Hughton was expected to play a lone Ranger up front with someone like Nolan nudging forward from midfield to play Tonto and give him some backup. If Marlon Harewood is signed in time I guess that could all change. (more…)
'Alf', apparentlyAccording to The Mirror, we’re going to sign Marlon Harewood on loan from Villa next week.
It was rumoured that Harewood was a target for us on transfer-window-close-day but the signing failed to materialise.
Apparently he was also a target for Hull (who isn’t?) but they failed to bag the striker too, and now it seems Hughton is keen to snap him up as an ’emergency’ loan.
Harewood started his career with Forest, scoring 55 goals in 196 appearances and then he moved to West Ham in 2003 for a fee of £500,000 where he scored 47 goals in 142 games.
In July 2007 he was transferred to Villa for a reputed £4m fee but he failed to secure regular starts and O’Neill used him mainly as a ‘super sub’. (more…)
