Maiga - still top target?Newcastle United are riding high in 3rd place in the Premier League but groundwork is already being undertaken in preparation for the January transfer window.
The last 10 minutes or so of yesterday’s game against Wolves nearly caused me to “‘ave a connery“, as DelBoy might say, but a combination of good fortune and good saves from both Krul and his defenders saw us take all three points and raised us – at least until Chelsea play – to the lofty heights of 3rd in the table.
I think we certainly rode our luck yesterday as we have done in a few other games this season but, credit where it’s due, we have also defended very well and look to be getting things together as a unit a bit more now.
I think 3rd place flatters us but even if we say that Lady Luck has gifted us 6 points this season, we’d still be 7th, which isn’t too shabby in itself.
We also have ‘significant’ players still on the sidelines. Neither Ben Arfa, Davide Santon, Silvian Marveaux, Haris Vuckic nor Dan Gosling featured yesterday through either injury or lack of opportunity, so it would seem we have talent in reserve. Let’s not forget the likes of Medhi Abeid, Shane Ferguson and Sammy Ameobi from the ‘youth’ setup either. (more…)
£13m+, allegedlyNewcastle United may need to find £13m+ if they want to bring Pappis Demba Cisse to the club in the January transfer window.
Having allegedly had a £10m bid for Papiss Demba Cisse rejected in the summer transfer window, it would seem that Newcastle will have to find more than that if they want to bring the striker to St James’ Park in January. Furthermore, we’d find ourselves competing with the Mackems for his signature from Freiburg.
Cisse definitely wants to move on from the German club and recently told German radio:
“I want to leave. I want to try to play at a different level.”
And Freiburg chairman Fritz Keller is fairly pragmatic about the matter, saying:
“We are all still pretty calm, the boy has been doing a little in-house advertising, that’s legitimate.
“As long as he is scoring goals for us, then things are very well.” (more…)
Slapped wristsNewcastle United summer target Modibo Maiga is suffering disciplinary action by his club.
Modibo Maiga is suffering for his attempts to force a transfer during the summer as he has been ordered to play in the reserves, as has fellow contract rebel Kevin Anin. Sochaux Chairman Alexandre Lacombe told L’Equipe:
“We are working with the ones who want to work. I told them what I had to say – that is enough – it has become unimaginable. Now it is just up to them to let me know when they will be ready to be serious and reliable.”
And Sochaux’s grumpy manager Mecha Bazdarevic added:
“It has lasted two months now. We have been docile and tolerant enough. They must not do that, they have to respect the club, the group and the job.
“They have been put apart until it is be sorted out. It could last two or three days, we will see.”
Modibo Maiga vented his opinions on the matter too, saying:
“I am not thinking about the summer anymore, I just want to play. The chairman is the boss, but it is useless to keep me and treat me that way. I will go with the reserves and give my best, but I can’t understand. Maybe he wants revenge.” (more…)
Cisse tops the rumour-millTransfer deadline day leaves Newcastle United in desperate need of at least a striker and Papiss Demba Cisse currently leads the rumours in that respect.
It’s transfer deadline day and hopefully we’ll have something to look forward to by way of a new striker. Whether we’re after anything more than that remains to be seen but, either way, try not to wet your pants in all the excitement.
Just to recap as to where we are as of 08:00 on the 2011 summer transfer deadline day:
First-Team Players Out : Kuqi, Ireland, Campbell, Nolan, Routledge, Enrique, Barton and of course Carroll back in January (and Forster if you want to count that).
Nolan RouxReports from across The Channel suggest that Newcastle United is ‘cooling’ on Modibo Maiga and is instead looking at a couple of other French strikers.
The rumour-mill in the French press is alleging that our interest in Modibo Maiga is cooling but that we’re chasing other players in France’s Ligue 1.
Two names have been suggested by French hacks and they’re Nolan Roux and Guillaume Hoarau.
Nolan Roux (no relation to Nolan Kevin) is a 23 year old striker who currently plays for Stade Brest where he’s been since 2009. In that time he’s played 62 league games and scored 21 goals, and he has made 1 appearance for France’s U21s, scoring 2 goals in that game.
Back in June, Liverpool were allegedly chasing the player with a €6.5m (£5.7m) bid. The same bid was apparently make by Shalke and Roux was reported to be upset that his club turned down the bid, thus depriving him of Champions League football. Apparently Brest were holding out for €8m (£7m) but no bid that high materialised.
Whether we’re actually preparing a saucy bid for Roux or not remains to be seen and at the moment this is nothing more than speculation. (more…)
