Shake on it?Well it seems the big fella has followed his words with actions and verbally offered Chris Hughton a permanent contract as Newcastle manager. It’s a pity the offer will be clouded slightly by his ramblings in The Sunday Times, which leaves us under no illusions who is really ‘the boss’ around here.
As for Hughton, it’s arguably an offer that he deserves given where we are in the table, recognised by the league when receiving his Manager of the Month awards. Moreover in being able to do this with the cr*p state of affairs he’s had to put up with.
Many will argue he’s the wrong choice and point to failed previous attempts by Richard Dinnis and Glenn Roeder to successfully move their decent caretaker record into a permanent role. Chris will now potentially have time to prove or disprove those fears as real or not.
Hughton told the Chronicle today:
“I am honoured to be offered the job, we are still in negotiations, it is something we hope will get resolved.
“I’ve always felt that the manager’s situation was an issue, but not the most important one. “Getting results has been the most important thing.(more…)
Spoilt for choice!Considering we’ve now only scored one goal in three outings, two of those at home, there is a worry that we may begin to shoot more blanks. The Newcastle front line has been fairly toothless and a lack of creative spark from midfield means we’re struggling to make many chances and when they do, the ‘talent’ uptop isn’t able to convert that into goals.
So perhaps we need some timely interventions, like at the recent Sunderland vs Liverpool game when the unfortunates from down the road were aided and abetted in stealing three points with the aid of a young Scouse scally (that’s just for giggles, no disrespect intended). It truly was a ‘Bent’ goal, as Darren’s scuffed shot bounced towards goal only to take a horrible deflection and wrong foot the keeper.
It wasn’t your usual ‘deflection’ though, off the knee or the arm of a defender. It was off a red beach ball which a hapless youngster in the Liverpool end, had inadvertently belted into the Liverpool box at the most inopportune time.
I’m only writing about this now as it’s the first chance I’ve really had to look at this properly, and even though it’s them down the road, you’ve gotta laugh. Here’s some footage for those that haven’t seen it. (more…)
"It's my money so I'll have the final say on transfers"Mike Ashley is now prepared to take £80m for Newcastle United but will there be any takers?
Amidst another petulant stab at the fans in yesterday’s Times, Mike Ashley announced:
“Barry Moat has been driving me mad for two years. If he wants to buy the club, he’s got a one-off opportunity to come up with the cash – £80m upfront.”
So one question is: can he or anyone else find the money? Another might be: is Newcastle United worth £80m?
The Times speculates that Barry Moat has agreed to pay the £80m that Ashley’s asking, but not ‘upfront’. Apparently Moat wants to pay £40m now and £40m at the end of the season. It’s anyone’s guess as to why Barry Moat wants to do things like this. Perhaps he has only been guaranteed the second £40m from his backers if Newcastle gets promoted, although that would be a huge risk for Barry Moat to take because if we didn’t manage promotion and the funds didn’t materialise then Moat is stuck with an outstanding £40m debt that, it seems, he won’t be able to pay. (more…)
Mike's been there, seen it, got the t-shirt!No honestly, I really do. I mean he’s clearly absolutely crackers. What, you think all of this apparent contempt towards Newcastle United fans and his bad behaviour is all down to arrogance and spite? No man, he’s nuts. How else do you explain his actions and this reckless and continual ‘p*ssing on his own chips’?
I mean for the big G’s sake Mike, where do you pick up your PR finesse from? It’s out of this world, really it is. You’re clearly on a different planet. He generally says nothing for such long periods that you’d expect when he does that he’d say something that would have a big impact. Well he does, but not for the right reasons. Even following the tribunal result and the monumental cause and effect, there followed no explanation, no excuses, no apology, nowt. I’d heard rumour while at work today that he’d been speaking to The Sunday Times and then I read the brief summary piece that .com did and both found what he had to say astounding and myself agreeing wholeheartedly with their response.
Crucial goalWell what a miserable bloody night…..stuck in a pub where I could only just about see and hear the game in the first half and where the locals seem to treat the bar as a place to lounge rather than a place to buy a drink. I was already hacked off before the game kicked off. And of course my mood didn’t improve with the events that followed.
The law of averages suggested that our luck was due to run out sooner or later again, and that when playing badly, some team at some point would take advantage. That team was Nottingham Forest. Of course it didn’t help that our, surprisingly, solid defensive start to the season was shattered with the news that both Steven Taylor and Coloccini would be missing. Really, of all the recent admissions I’ve made over things I’ve said which I never thought I’d say, to say that I never thought we’d miss Colo is right up there with the corkers……
But it’s a fact, he’s settled in a unit and has looked half decent at this level so missing both him and the combative Taylor was sure to spell trouble. Particularly when Forest came into this game with some decent form and two strikers proving to be a handful. However that aside, staying with the word ‘average’, does the whole set-up still not smack of something distinctly average? (more…)
