Permanent move?Chris Hughton might attempt to sign Danny Simpson permanently at Newcastle United when his loan contract comes to an end in January.
Sources in Manchester have allegedly claimed that Sir Alex Ferguson has written off Simpson’s chances of making it big at Manchester United, so he may indeed be available.
Last week, Derek Llambias said that Hughton could sign players for “£1m-or-so, if it was on the right player, who preferably would be under the age of 23” but whether or not Ferguson would accept £1m for him is another matter. Also, Newcastle may not be the only club interested in signing Simpson, which could force the price up beyond what Ashley’s willing to pay.
Hughton has been impressed with the 22 year old though, particularly with his versatility and willingness to play in any position as necessary to plug the gaps in a thin squad. (more…)
Adding to the charm?It’s been reported that Newcastle have agreed to bring in Ampersand, a Liverpool-based marketing agency, in order to push for new sponsorship. Amid the furore which followed Ashley’s latest ill-timed and ill-fated decison to rename St James’, it would seem the deal was agreed based on Ampersand impressing the board with their work which went into a similar project for Everton. Apparently they too are a client of Ampersand, who have been involved in the renaming rights for their new stadium planned to be built in Kirkby.
However, they’ll also be pushing other channels as many of our sponsorship deals come to a close at the end of the season, and they will be looking particularly at a new shirt sponsor. It would appear the club has confirmed the appointment but declined to comment any further. However, managing director of Ampersand Emma Blackmore said they would be working in close partnership with the club over the next 12 months. (more…)
The elusive maskNewcastle United midfielder Jonas Guttierrez claims the international break will do us good ahead of an important period in our promotion push.
Jonas said:
“We have 15 days to recover, to rest and to prepare for the rest of the season. From here to January is a very important period for us.”
To be honest I never understand this ‘important period’ stuff. If we lose too many games at any point in the season we’ll fail to get promoted, so as far as I can see every 3 points is as important as every other 3 points.
Only 9 points separate us in top place from Watford in 12th so all the top places are very much up for grabs. West Brom still look like our biggest threat but I reckon Cardiff, QPR and Leicester will all be there or thereabouts at the end of the season. I reckon Strachan will pull ‘Boro together too. (more…)
United?A couple of apologies first. One for introducing Marcus Bentley’s dulcet Big Brother tone into your head and secondly for perhaps once again putting the cat amongst the pigeons on a sensitive and potentially divisive topic. The topic? Well it’s the topic of whether or not you’re doing your duty by Newcastle United in attending games or staying away. And if you do, how much are you allowed to complain before you stop becoming a supporter and instead become a destroyer?
Other far more respected and established writers on sites, such as True Faith and .com have had their say on the matter, and each offered only limited advice as to the right actions to take last Saturday, effectively a ‘follow your heart and your instincts’ theme. I wanted to actually write this before the Peterborough game but for the very reason I almost missed the game, I didn’t get chance. With all that has happened recently, this is one game I wanted to be at. I wanted to see if the majority of my fellow supporters felt as indignant as I did/do. But due to my daughter’s fifth birthday I nearly didn’t make it. But I was issued a late afternoon pass and offered the blessing of the two ladies in my life to go and enjoy myself. And of course therein lay the issue. (more…)
He made us sing and he made us danceFormer Newcastle United star David Ginola has been talking about what it means to pull the black and white shirt on.
“When I signed for Newcastle I didn’t know the English mentality, I didn’t know about the English tradition and I came straight away to the North East – and its one part of the world that is even different from the rest of England,” said Ginola.
“My main concern was to see the involvement of the players in the club. When you wear that zebra shirt, it’s a whole tradition behind you.
“Even if you’re French and you’ve just arrived, you need to know what’s going on. The Geordies are not the same as the Brummies, or the Cockneys, it’s a proper mentality and you need to know what goes on in the city before you wear that shirt – you have a lot of responsibility.”
Anyway, no sense in transcribing the whole interview here. You can read it on Sky Sports.
