Pre-Christmas return for SholaNewcastle United’s Shola Ameobi is likely to return to first-team duty by early December according to Chris Hughton.
Shola suffered a stress fracture of the foot in August but has already begun light training. Hughton said:
“The good news with Shola is that he has no adverse reaction to the original injury and he’s started doing work on it again.
“He’s with us over this fortnight and he’s continuing to work at it. We are looking at a pre-Christmas return for Shola, and we’re thinking it should be early December at the moment, which would obviously be a big boost for everyone because he is a big player for us.
“He is with us at the moment, and I think it is a slightly frustrating time for him because he cannot really do any weight-bearing training with the foot at the moment. Obviously the most important thing is making sure he is right, so we don’t want to rush anything, but his progress has been quite good.
“In his absence we’ve managed to get Marlon Harewood and he has brought some quality to the squad, but obviously the more players that we have capable of scoring goals the better, so it would be good to have him back.” (more…)
No, not that sort of bond manSome newspapers are reporting that a South African businessman is now interested in Newcastle United.
I rather suspect this could be a case of ‘here we go again’ as bids are rumoured and then fall by the wayside but you never can tell with this sort of thing – very occasionally a rumour turns out to be true.
Anyway, this particular rumour has a wealthy South African bond dealer supposedly having met the representatives of Barclays Bank who are involved in the sale of Newcastle United.
This bond dealer is allegedly represented in this country by solicitors Mishcon de Reya and at least one journalist – the Birdman at the Mirror – claims a ‘form of due diligence’ has already been completed by the South African.
The Mail, however, seems to think that no due diligence has been undertaken and warns that we could face a delay of many weeks while it’s completed. (more…)
Should I stay or should I go nowThe press are reporting that Barry Moat has made a ‘substantial’ offer for Newcastle United.
If I had a pound for every time I’ve quoted the press about someone being just about to take over Newcastle United I’d probably be able to buy the club myself. And then there’d be changes I can tell you. If however I had to pay a pound every time such a story turned out to be untrue I’d have to sell my wife and eat the dog to hold off starvation.
Still, if George Caulkin of The Times is to be believed, Barry Moat has successfully negotiated the continuation of the club’s overdraft with Barclays and has tabled a bid of ‘slightly less than £100m’. The Mail and The Mirror are reporting similar things, although all these stories probably have their origin in the same rumour. None of the stories even quote ‘insiders’ or ‘sources’ let alone anyone who might actually be in a position to reliably know anything, so the usual caution is advised.
Nevertheless it makes a certain amount of sense in terms of timing. It was generally surmised that Keegangate was an ‘obstacle’ to the take over and with that now out of the way we could perhaps expect things to start moving again.
The question being asked though is: will Mike Ashley actually sell? (more…)
Living the dream!Back in the day, when all I had to worry about was hiding my hickies in a rollneck top, Jolly Ranchers were poisoning us with watermelon flavoured boiled sweets and a young Take That were barely a twinkle in the eye, a young man was trying to make his way in the hard knock world of professional football.
John Watson was an apprentice when I was a young whippersnapper following eagerly in his path at Wallsend Boys Club and trying to follow in his footsteps at the Toon school of excellence. John was generous enough to help out the younger lads and along with Lee Makel, Tommy Heron and Alan Thompson, he imparted his knowledge and experience on us and helped out with training sessions.
Some years later in the twighlight of his career and with me on my way towards my own premature retirement, our paths crossed again when he played in the same team as me at Annfield Plain in the Wearside League. Mine was but a fleeting pipedream but John Watson actually lived that dream of playing for his hometown club, albeit by his own admission, for a fleeting moment in time. But like Chesney Hawkes sang just as John was realising that dream, no matter how short a period it was, he played on that hollowed turf, in those famous stripes and ‘you can’t take that away from him’. (more…)
Keegan: 'There's nothing been hidden'.Speaking in an inverview with Ray Stubbs in his new role as a pundit for ESPN, former Newcastle United manager, Kevin Keegan, spoke in some depth about his £2 million pound payday from the club, and his possible future in football.
When asked by ‘Stubbsy’, “would you ever consider returning to a club you love so much?” Keegan replied:
“I don’t think it’s on to return back there now, I think the fans have had enough of that but you never know in football.
Meanwhile, over on rival, Sky Sports News, old sparring partner, ex NUFC DOF, and Geordie Pantomime villain, Dennis Wise, gave his own thoughts on Mike Ashley’s plans for the future of Toon. More on that story after the Keegan show.
What follows is a full transcript of the Kevin Keegan interview.
Stubbsy:Kevin, a Premier League arbitration panel ruled in your favour in regard to the situation at Newcastle United. I’m sure you’re relieved it’s all over. What was the main purpose of your claim?
Special K:Well, really to clear everything up. It wasn’t a great situation. I don’t think there are really any winners in it but we’ve got to move on now. The club have got to move on and I’ve got to move on. It’s out in the open. An independent arbitration panel have made a judgement. People can read it, it’s out there for everyone to read so there’s nothing been hidden.
Stubbsy:“Was it important to you that the truth came out?” (more…)
