ChucklesIn his statement when he took Newcastle United off the market, Mike Ashley said “… he is totally committed to the future success of Newcastle United and will be focussing on gaining promotion back to the Premier League.”
Fair enough, but what’s with all this nonsense about giving Hughton a million or two to buy some players as if it was some unplanned afterthought? I mean, what’s his transfer window budget for January, the summer, the January after that?
Surely if he’s ‘totally committed to the future success of Newcastle United’ he’s made financial projections for some years ahead, established his incomings and outgoings and got some sort of business plan for rebuilding the club that takes into account various scenarios (such as succeeding or failing to get promotion).
Of course, after his screw-up over Keegangate, he’s keen to make it known that he has the final say on transfers. Llambias said in his recent interview:
“We work with Chris. Let’s clear up the final say – the final say is with the board, which basically is Mike. At the end of the day, Mike has to put the money into it. But Chris will recommend the players and we will go out there and get his first choices, if we can.” (more…)
Top manNewcastle United top goal scorer Kevin Nolan takes the October 2009 award for Championship Player of the Month.
Nolan seems to have settled nicely into his attacking midfield/backup striker role and managed to pip Leicester City’s Matt Fryatt to get the award. Furthermore, Alan Smith claimed 4th place in the voting.
The full results were – Keven Nolan: 24.56%, Matt Fryatt: 21.85%, Peter Wittingham: 12.21%, Alan Smith: 9.63%, Michael Chopra: 3.66%, Others: 28.09%.
Gary Speed, speaking before the Blades game, paid tribute to Nolan:
“We don’t need to be reminded how dangerous Kevin is. He’s got a great eye for a goal.
“He is a great player and I speak to him quite a bit. I enjoyed the couple of years that I played alongside him and I thought we complemented each other well.
“He is a leader on the pitch and gives 100 per cent in every game and on the training pitch. He is a good footballer and it is no surprise to me than he has been banging them in this season.” (more…)
It's good to talkDerek Llambias explains about the renaming of Newcastle United’s stadium.
The upshot is that St James’ Park will not be lost. The names of sponsors will just be added to the front of it in the manner of something such as ‘Sports Direct @ St James’ Park‘ or ‘Pampers @ St James’ Park‘.
Llambias goes on to say that he and Mike Ashley are fully aware of the tradition involved with things like this but that they are looking for ways to maximise revenue for the club. Llambias explains that Mike Ashley is a ‘football fan’ and understands the sensitivity around this issue.
Of course Llambias was instrumental in the constructive dismissal of Kevin Keegan and subsequent attempts to cover up the club’s actions at the tribunal, so believe what you will. (more…)
So who fancies living up to this then?Well here it is, the third and final chapter of my first term, first team player review. And not a moment too soon it would seem, to take the focus off Llambias’ less than convincing SSN interview.
The No.9 shirt is almost as synonymous with Newcastle United, as St James’ Park, the black and white stripes or that deed funny accent we’ve got. It’s been made partcularly special in this part of the world because it’s been worn by some of the best players this country has seen. The likes of Gallacher, Milburn, MacDonald, Cole, Shearer have graced that shirt and it will undoubtedly always be a big shirt to fill.
Ironic then, given that the No.9 shirt and the prestige it carries with it is currently up for grabs, that we have a group of strikers who fall somewhat short of the standards we’ve come to expect from our centre-floorboards, and that none of them look like earning that honour just yet…..
So how far short have they fallen so far? – (more…)
Appointed permanentlyWho sang Twilight Cafe in 1981? Ah, hang on, not that sort of ‘bits and pieces’. No indeed, just some bits and pieces about Newcastle United from the last few days that haven’t managed to get their own article.
Much has been said of Hughton’s now permanent role as manager for the rest of this season and the next one, but it’s probably worth mentioning that Colin Calderwood has taken up a similar length contract as Hughton’s assistant. Calderwood recently turned down a job at Tranmere Rovers to remain at Newcastle working alongside Hughton. Hughton said:
“Once I had my own deal sorted, the first thing I did was to get Colin sorted and he will continue now in the same role.
“Colin has been fantastic. He is someone I have known for a long time and someone I trust very much. He is an experienced football manager and that is a huge help. He’s also a fantastic coach and someone the players respect.But we’re both delighted to have this opportunity and we’re fully focussed on achieving promotion.” (more…)
