Will Toon be walking in a Kinnear wonderland once again?In an interview with the BBC’s ‘Radio Five Live’, Joe Kinnear has sensationally claimed that Mike Ashley has offered him another two year contract at the club, and added that he is “mulling it over”. He also added that it would still take another three months to fully recover from his triple heart bypass, performed after he complained of severe hypertensive symptoms during last season’s visit to West Bromwich Albion. Joe said:
“I have been offered a two-year contract and it is something I am mulling over at the present time.
“I have told Mike I am not going to go back to football for at least another three months and we will look at the situation then.
“I told him I would refuse to go back for pre-season friendlies as I was not up to it for medical reasons.
“I needed to take time out and re-assess the situation and take it from there. But obviously in another three months the picture might be completely different.
“In the meantime if Newcastle feel the need to go and get another manager then so be it.” (more…)
Bassong fined, but leaving anyway.According to The Chronicle, Bassong has been fined two weeks wages for his failure to travel to Dundee for last weekend’s friendly. Hughton had previously stated that Bassong wouldn’t have featured in the game anyway because he’s serving a ban for the West Brom trip and Hughton wanted to field a team against Dundee that was as close as possible to the one he intends to field for our opening league game.
To be honest I can see both sides of this: Bassong is obviously frustrated by things at Newcastle – perhaps particularly in relation to any transfer he might want – but as of right now he’s contracted to Newcastle United and should behave professionally and in accordance with his manager’s wishes.
Anyway, The Mail claims that all this has moved Bassong’s exit closer and that he has a preference for Spurs over Man City. (more…)
Hughton fears more players will go.Chris Hughton has told the BBC that he fears he will lose more players while the sale of the club drags on. He said:
“Possibly we might end up losing one or two more.
“Where we are at the moment, there’s always going to be speculation about the players.”
Additional players certainly will need to be given the push if we’re to get the wage bill under control. We’ve lost Owen, Viduka, Edgar and Martins, which must have had a fair impact on wages already, and we’re looking likely to lose Bassong and possibly Beye.
I wouldn’t be surprised if we lost Geremi, Enrique, Jonas, Colo, Barton (if anyone will have him) and possibly Smith too. If all those did go then we might just have a manageable wage bill, although we’d need to buy in some less-costly replacements.
Hughton goes on to say:
“Everybody is aware the owner is trying to sell the club. (more…)
Bassong AwayThe weekend has of course been largely given over to the sad death of Sir Bobby Robson and the rest of the news seems less important now. However I’m going to try and catch up a bit today.
In our final pre-season friendly we managed a 1-1 draw with Dundee. Our goal came from Andy Carroll and then Dundee equalised from the penalty spot late in the game. There are reports on the club site and on Sky Sports.
There seems to be a little bit of confusion about the Bassong transfer situation. According to Sky Sports, Harry Redknapp admits interest in the defender but is unaware of any bid having been made, yet the same article claims the Newcastle have rejected a £10m bid. Redknapp said (of the alleged bid):
“It is not true. Not since I have been here today.
“He is a player that I was interested in. I like Bassong, he is a young player with a good future and a good central defender.
“I don’t think we have made an offer as far as I know. I am sure the chairman has not made an offer.” (more…)
Sir Bobby at the Freeman Hospital.What has struck me, and I’m sure so many others over the past few days is not just the huge deluge of tributes from professional footballers, managers, big wigs, journalists and commentators, but also the universal response and outpouring of love from fans of all clubs, demonstrating the immense affection and esteem Sir Bobby was held in.
However the stories that have driven home for me what a special man he was have been the tales from Joe Public, people such as the courier who went to deliver a parcel to SBR’s home had the front door opened by the great man himself and was invited in for a coffee and a chat about football that lasted half an hour, the ex security guard from NUFC who standing outside in the pouring rain while the players and Sir Bobby arrived for training found, five minutes later, Sir Bobby outside giving him a brolley to ‘keep you dry son’ while Sir Bobby got soaked himself. The stories are endless but make you feel proud of him and the values he stood for. I feel immensely proud that this great colossus of a man was associated with and shared our love for this club. (more…)
