Star-spangled Toon.According to The Mirror, Alan Shearer is the fairest of them all.
Or at least that will be the case if the Sheard-fronted American bid is successful.
The Mirror claims the consortium is close to signing a deal, although forgive me for not getting all excited but we’ve heard this sort of stuff before and it has so far come to nothing.
Apparently these Yanks have a background in the American sports industry and have the funds to pay Ashley’s £100m asking price, build and market the club and sign players.
A source close to the bid (yawn) said:
“This bid is both serious and credible. The difference between this and other bids is that the funding is there to buy the club if agreement can be reached on other financial areas such as the club’s £39million overdraft.
“Ideally, the consortium would have liked the business completed before the transfer deadline closed but they are serious about buying the club and won’t rush.
“Talks are under way and Mike Ashley’s original asking price shouldn’t be an issue. But it will take time and because of all the other disappointments the Americans have to play their cards close to their chests.” (more…)
Waiting for another bite at the cherry?It’s a debate that’s raged for months but I thought I’d raise it again simply because the end may be nigh, one way or another. Who wants Alan Shearer at the helm? All in favour, say wheyaye. OK, a little more serious then, why is there even a debate?
I’m reasonably certain an overwhelming majority would have been either fully in favour or at least apathetic to his permanent appointment before his brief and ill-fated sojourn into the managerial hot-seat. So partly the reason more supporters are against the idea is due to the fact that Big Al fairly spectacularly failed to save us from the drop. What portion of blame you attribute to him is also very debatable, though to my mind he’s pretty blameless.
However, there’s no getting away from the facts, he failed to do what many hoped and secretly believed he might do. That was to re-unite the dressing room and galvanise this stricken club. Alas, despite his monumental presence on the field during his playing career, Shearer wasn’t able to transfer his influence on the dressing room sufficiently to prevent the inevitable slide.
Supporters on the flip side of the coin will take umbrage at that view and will point to the very word ‘inevitable’. They would argue that nothing and nobody could have prevented our demise once we hit the final straight and that our place in The Championship was booked long before Big Al was given the opportunity to try and turn it all around. So are these people blinded by regionalist bias and a weird penchant for the messianic? Is he really only the right man for the job because he’s ‘one of us’? (more…)
Hughton confident fire sale over. Very confident.Chris Hughton has told The Journal that he thinks the fire sale has ended and that no more players will leave before the transfer window closes on Tuesday.
Hughton said:
“It would be wrong of me to say it would be an impossibility anybody could leave, but I would be very confident – very confident – of keeping what we have. Very confident.
“I certainly don’t think there have been the offers that have been put around (in the media), that’s for sure.”
Hughton has apparently pressed for more players. He said:
“I think my concerns are being heard.
“The club are aware of the position we’re in.
“I would be hopeful we can add to the squad as soon as possible.The decisions on who comes in and at what stage will be made by the club, we’re just hopeful that come 5pm on Tuesday we’ve brought in the players we need to bolster the squad. What you want is your ideal squad now, but there are other issues at this club (regarding its ownership) and arguably bigger issues.” (more…)
Loan target VaughanWe’re somewhat bereft of strikers at the moment with Ameobi definitely out due to a foot injury and question marks over the fitness of both Carroll and Xisco.
The Mirror is reporting that Hughton has asked Everton if he can have James Vaughan on loan to plug the gaps. Vaughan is Everton’s youngest ever goalscorer but has been fairly injury-hit himself. He’s fit now but has found himself warming the bench a lot and is apparently keen to see some first team football somewhere.
The Mirror says that Moyes will think about it and give Hughton an answer over the weekend but it also says that Hughton has other targets too.
An unlikely story That’s what The Daily Star claims anyway.
Basically what they’re saying is that Moat can’t get the money together to buy the club but Ashley plans to take the club off the market and appoint him as chairman. Moat will then apparently appoint Shearer as manager and take charge of the day-to-day running of the club with Ashley taking a back seat.
The Star then goes on to say that Shearer plans to bring £6m rated Michael Chopra back to the Toon as his first signing.
And all this will happen within the next 48 hours.
The Star’s short article contains no direct quotes from anyone, not even from unnamed ‘sources’ or ‘insiders’, so the temptation is to treat the story with as much scorn as the one about Naughty Noirin’s views on how to save Big Brother (not that I’ve read it of course). (more…)
