Untouchable surely?Of all the loathsome, inept and baffling decisions made and actions taken by Mike Ashley and his useless merrymen running the show on Barrack Road, he’s finally gone where I thought he could never go.
Having announced the decision to take the club off the market and install Chris Hughton as permanent manager, the official site has put out a statement to that effect.
Almost as an afterthought, and so matter-of-factly it brings tears to a grow man’s eyes was this ridiculously callous snippet –
“The club aims to maximise its commercial revenues; this includes renegotiating its club sponsor and kit deal, which expire at the end of this season, as well as welcoming offers for the stadium naming rights for next season.”
So if you weren’t entirely sure just how badly the current incumbent had misjudged what this little toy of their’s mean to us, nor just how ignorant they are to the traditions within football that really matter to a supporter, then you do now. (more…)
Ashley to remain for nowThe following announcement was made on the Newcastle United site tonight:
NEWCASTLE United are delighted to announce that Chris Hughton has been named the permanent manager of the Club, his contract will run until the end of the 2010/11 season.
At the same time the Club has confirmed that it has been withdrawn from sale and is no longer on the market.
The Club had been trying to broker a deal with a number of prospective buyers in recent months however none of those deals came to fruition. With regard to the possible sale of the Club to Barry Moat, that particular bid has now fallen through due to the cash price of £80m not being met.
In confirming the news, Mike Ashley stated that he is totally committed to the future success of Newcastle United and will be focussing on gaining promotion back to the Premier League. Mike will put a further £20m into the Club this week.
Derek Llambias, Managing Director of Newcastle United, said:
“We are delighted that Chris has accepted the post of full time manager. He has done a terrific job this season and we wish him every success for the rest of this season and beyond. He will continue to receive our full backing and support.” (more…)
Looking and feeling a little rusty in the middle?Yesterday’s review of the current squad, took a look at the Newcastle defence, an area that this season we’ve been surprisingly strong in, given our poor reputation in recent years.
Tonight looks at arguably the fulcrum of a successful team, the midfield, the place that could and should control a game and dictate the style of play. That doesn’t bode well for our side at the moment because arguably, we have a midfield full of players who are very similar and lack pace. Therefore, the pace is often pedestrian and the game often goes stale.
Looking at the current crop, it really makes you pine for some of our former midfielders who have graced the hallowed St James’ turf in the last couple of decades. Reminisce about the grace of French wingers David Ginola and Laurent Robert. Recall the guts, determination and drive of Robert Lee and Gary Speed. Consider the guile we had in Emre, albeit fleetingly, and the sheer brilliance of Nobby Solano. Even having pure pace ala James Milner, Keith Gillespie to worry the opposition. You can even look at some of the less popular characters. We would kill for the pace of Kieron Dyer and dare I say, I could forgive Jermaine Jenas. Possibly even Damien Duff is a big miss? Maybe that’s stretching it…..
Anyway, that was the past, what about the present? – (more…)
What's the deal guys?According to an article posted on The Telegraph’s site late last night, Mike Ashley has turned down Barry Moat’s latest £80m bid for Newcastle United even though he’d previously said he’d accept the bid on the terms specified.
What the article says is that whilst Ashley had previously rejected Moat’s offer to take £40m down and £40m at the end of the season, the pair had reached agreement earlier last week for a deal involving £60m down and £20m at the end of the season.
However when Barry Moat made such an offer on Friday, Ashley – after considering it for a few days – rejected the offer anyway, insisting he now wants the whole £80m up-front.
The Telegraph speculates that Ashley is playing hardball with Moat to give any other bidders a chance to show their hand.
To be fair, once I get past my desire to see the back of him, I have a certain amount of sympathy with Ashley over this. (more…)
Have we been nicking Premiership balls?Just how much can you discuss the same thing, day after day? Well to be fair, we’ve given it a good go but rather than rant on about the off-field stuff, I thought it might be time to reflect on the on-field matters at Newcastle United.
We’re almost a third of the way through our new season in The Championship and surely the players at our disposal must be half-decent seeing as we’re sitting pretty at the top of the table?
Clearly, some of us have different ideas about the quality in our squad and argue that our position is as much to do with luck and the lack of opposition. I’d probably agree with some of that but you can only beat what’s in front of you (to coin a well-worn cliche). Mind you, we could be here all night talking about the entire squad, so I’ll split it out a little.
For what it’s worth here’s my own term review of the the keepers and defenders. I’ve only included the lads who have played at least a couple of games so far – (more…)
