Could this be our year?“Tell me mam, me mam, a won’t be home for tea, we’re going to Wemb-er-ley, tell me mam, me mam.”. Well it’s a long shot, but who knows? And before we dream of finals we’ve got the fairly hideous task of an away trip to Devon at the start of 2010, after Newcastle were drawn away to Plymouth Argyle in the third round of the FA Cup in today’s draw.
Having beaten the Green Arrrrmmmyyy already at home this season, the reverse fixture was always one that most supporters weren’t going to look forward, considering the 800+ miles round trip. And just for good measure we’ve now got to do it twice in one season, though history is on our side, because our last tie at Home Park in the FA Cup saw us run out 6-1 winners back in the 1957/58 season. Although our last trip down there was a dismal 2-0 (un) festive defeat in the run-up to Christmas ’91, in a fairly depressing season. Thankfully, my dad wasn’t mad enough to take us down there for that one. Although this time round, as coincidences go, I might be in the area and it would be a bit rude not to go? (more…)
Two goals and two fingers!Seems like everybody was expecting a tight if tidy affair at St James’ today and with two of the meanest defences in the division, a high-soring game wasn’t on the cards. But with barely a third of the game gone, Newcastle were three goals to the good and showboating as some of the travelling contingent headed for early beers.
Expectations were high that Swansea would prove to be a well-organised and competent football team, particularly stingy at the back but a new-look forward line of Peter Lovenkrands and Marlon Harewood put paid to that theory within half an hour of the kick-off, and Swansea looked like just another fairly average Championship side. Eeh that Marlon Harewood, eh? I always knew he just needed time to settle in…
Harewood’s first came from a bouncing ball in the box and with the defence hesitant he headed the ball in the net to make it 1-0. After some good build up play on the left, Gutierrez finally managed to do what we have been crying out for him to do and delivered perfectly with his left, so that Lovenkrands had the simplest of headers to make it 2-0 with 21 minutes gone. And before we’d reached the thirty minute mark, more good work on the left and and an almost identical cross from Lovenkrands and a similar finish from Harewood and the game looked to be beyond the Welsh side at 3-0. (more…)
Tyneside bound? According to online reports in The Mirror, Matt Kilgallon is on the verge of joining Newcastle from Sheffield United. We were linked to the defender in the summer, and indeed reports suggested we had a deadline day bid for him turned down.
The rumours have persisted in the press that Hughton would make him a priority signing in the January transfer window. And The Mirror is claiming that we were ‘in negotiations with The Blades last night about taking the 25-year-old defender on loan, ahead of a full transfer in January’.
Kilgallon has continued to attract suitors and notably, several from the Premiership, however it seems that considering his contract runs out at the end of the season, The Blades will seek to take a cut on the £5m-7m that he is currently rated at, after contract talks collapsed.
Having watched him have a steady game against us this season, and after reading reports he seems like a canny acquisition, even if an initial loan deal from now until January seems a little unorthodox. I guess a propostion may have been put to Sheff Utd and this forms part of the sale agreement for January? What we would need to pay would be anybody’s guess, so I’ll go for a couple of million, which might not be a bad bit of business on our part. (more…)
Jus' chillin'?Chris Hughton has admitted that he is pretty laidback as the hour approaches and the ‘temporary loan signing’ window shuts at 5pm tomorrow night until February.
It has long been reported that Leon Cort has been on Hughton’s radar but Hughton has been telling the Chronicle that he’s not in any rush to sign players just for the sake of it:
“You never know, but realistically looking at the squad I don’t really expect to bring anybody in during the next month or so.
“Of course, all sorts of things can happen in the next 24 hours, and phone calls will be made on Thursday with players potentially becoming available.
“Some clubs might make a decision that some of the players who weren’t available earlier in the season are now there for loans. But we’ll see.”(more…)
Yes, you!I’m sort of loathe to detracting from onfield matters because after another hard-fought win, we’re once again top of the pile. But the NUST has been very busy off the pitch lately and they and their intentions have been fairly well-documented and discussed lately.
Having said that, much of the talk has been based on conjecture because the details still aren’t entirely clear although it seems there has been more clarity in recent weeks. Even though that has led to condemnation from some.
While many are attracted by the notion of a voice on the board, they are still sceptical about how it could work and now that NUST has gone on record to say they intend to buy the club outright, most people are unsure how this will work. Others have dismissed it as a non-starter, while still others have implied it is almost an immoral and reprehensible step to take which should be dropped immediately.
Well, Peter Williams has written to us to inform us that he is the new blog liaison for NUST. As many details still appear sketchy and there are still certainly more questions than answers, he has told us that he will be more than willing to answer any questions you may have about the Trust or the “Yes We Can” campaign. He has also offered to send us any relevant press releases and rumours if we’re interested. And wants to know if we would be interested in supporting the Trust in the “Yes We Can” campaign. (more…)
