A mixed start to the week on Tyneside

It’s been a mixed start to the week for Newcastle. There were some positives at the end of last week, with the news that no bids had been made for the players who’s future on Tyneside looked severely in doubt. Barton, Coloccini and Gutierrez are all staying, for the time being, but the Geordie faithful still have the right to be nervous as the transfer process begins to heat up.

On the positive side, after there were some serious concerns over the atmosphere amongst the players after the departure of skipper Nolan and the relentless departure rumors, players have come out saying they are already up for the coming season.

Hartem Ben Arfa, who suffered at the hands of lady luck, just as he was going through a great run of form for the magpies, has completed his rehabilitation programme and is officially off the injury list. Last years French signing (the first of what appears to be many) unarguably showed some immense promise for the Toon in the handful of games he started. On the ball he looked almost unstoppable, and some could argue that if it hadn’t been for the horrific injury he suffered, he may have ventured to better pastures by the end of the year. For now, Alan Pardew has kept hold of one of Europe’s most promising young players, and if the Toon are going to improve on last season, he will be integral in what will probably be a new look, revamped midfield.

Veteran Steve Harper has also said he is ready to fight for the Number ‘1’ shirt next season.  After years in the shadow of Manchester City reject Shay Given, last year was frustrating for the Easington-born keeper. Injury kept him out of the Newcastle net for almost half the season, allowing youngster Tim Krul to step up the plate, putting in some solid performances after a nervy start. A bit of competition in goal will do no harm for a Newcastle side whose defence could get thinner if both Enrqiue and Coloccini take the exit route.

On the flip side however, Tim Krul has put more pressure on the Toon board by reportedly saying he will leave the club if he isn’t first choice keeper. With third-choice Fraser Forster looking Celtic-bound, this throws another spanner into Ashley’s transfer mix.

It also seems that the future of Charles N’Zogbia will be settled this week. The ex-Magpie is set to end up in the North East, either at St James’ Park, or twelve miles away with the Mackams. Dave Whelan wants to cash in on the striker who has a year left on his contract at the DW stadium, and is said to be looking for around £9 million for the forward. There is no doubt that Newcastle need to bolster their strike force. With Nile Ranger, after his now infamous gangster pose, and Leon Best looking set to see the door, Ameobi and Lovenkrands are the leftovers. Even though both are good players, they are not the quality the side need for a top half finish. Even N’Zogbia may not be the force needed. If he is bought, it should be the first of two buys in the strike department. However, with the influx of midfielders from across the channel (and maybe from the North West in the form of Darren Gibson, if certain rumours develop) the focus seems to be in the wrong place. Could this be the start of a panic amongst the Geordie faithful? Where will the goals come from, with Newcastle’s top scorer last season Kevin Nolan taking his trade to Upton Park.

On the negative side however, Swansea have rejected the bid for Welsh international left back Neil Taylor. The deal has suffered setback after setback, with Taylor now questioning whether to take legal action over the Premier League rookies after a suspected breach in contract. The Welsh side have faced grief after Ipswich reported them to the Premier League administration after failure to pay loan fees for Hungarian striker Tamas Priskin. Left back has now become a trouble position for the club, even more so than the ambiguity surrounding which striker will be replacing Andy Carrol.

The summer continues to unwind, and so do some of the developing issues at St James’ Park. Positions in the squad are continually under question, and as deals are completed and rejected, the story continues. What is consistently apparent is that no one is safe under the Ashley regime.

...and they changed it

Funnily enough they changed the Wikipedia information just as I finished

Daniel Sturridge coming to Tyneside?

The rumors that circulate during the transfer window can go from the predictable to the ridiculous, but a move has actually been pre-empted in some circles.

If you read the profile of Daniel Sturridge on Wikipedia, it reads that  he is, “an English footballer who plays for Newcastle United FC”. Wikipedia is infamously unreliable and is discredited as a source of information, but is this a sign of things to come. The Geordie faithful, including yours truly, have been angered at how little the £35 million funds off the back of Andy Carrol has not seen any big signings. Cabaye, Marveux and Demba Ba show intent at best, but where is this ten-million-plus signing going to come from. If Sturridge was to sign, it would only be on loan, but the potential for the future is seriously significant.

On loan at Bolton last year, he was not given regular first team football, despite returning a record greater than one goal a game. With the U21’s crash out of the Europeans this summer, the Chelsea striker hasn’t been in the limelight as much as he would have wanted, but a move to Newcastle would move him from being a small fish in Abramovich’s big pond, to Pardew and Ashley’s smaller, mid-table pond. Is he the twenty-goal-plus striker the Magpies are striving for.

A concluding note, he is said to have the Number ‘9’ shirt at St James’. From Shearer to a loan player…seemingly unlikely. 

Bon Appetit at St James'

On the weekend of the EAT NewcastleGateshead festival, the taste on the Tyne definitely seems to be of the French persuasion. Well it is if you’re going by the delicacies that the likes of Mike Ashley and Alan Pardew are serving up. Apart from the Senegalise striker Demba Ba, all of his signings are from across the pond. Even the youngster Mehdi Abeid, who is apparently a star in the making, is French.

Maybe it is because Newcastle’s chief scout spent the majority of his time in France over the past year, or maybe the likes of Llambas see something in the French that all the other premiership clubs seem to be ignorant of. Cabaye, and today’s signing Marveux, who according to rumours failed a medical at Liverpool, will look to fill the holes that have been left by Kevin Nolan, will inevitably be left by Joey Barton and that could potentially be left by Jonas Guiterraz. Adding Ben Arfa to the equation, the Magpies midfield will be a French frontier, and will be one that is one that will be looking to project the Toon into Barton’s much desired Champion’s League. Somehow, that does seem unlikely, if only this year. 

Only time will tell in regards to where more signings come from. Rumours varying to the return of Charles N'Zogbia even to Dimitar Berbatov are still in circulation, however any betting man would put money on the fact that there will be another new arrival on Tyneside in the not-so-distant future. 

Read about the ref caught out on Facebook

http://thecourieronline.co.uk/universitysport/news/256583/news_catchpole_caught_out_on_facebook_16052011/

Nolan gone, who's next?

A friend’s Facebook status yesterday read; “Would the last person to leave St James’ Park please turn out the lights”, as the news surfaced that Magpie captain Kevin Nolan was having a medical at Upton Park. While the news flashed on Sky Sports, I heard my mailbox flap at my door, and resting on my doormat was my season ticket application for next season. The sinking feeling was more ironic than anything.

Newcastle, it seems, has begun an apparently apocalyptic summer. Joey Barton is expected to go, along with Jose Enrique and now Jonas Gutierrez (after a Twitter post by Barton), three of Newcastle’s focal players. The departure of Nolan is expected to be a catalyst for the departure of more senior players. It is understood that Mike Ashley, who has committed more PR suicides than any right-minded businessmen I can think of, doesn’t like the power that some of the senior players possess within the club. However, any football savvy businessmen, which Ashley certainly is not, would see that the senior players are also more often than not, the best players, and getting rid of them does not only leave the team vulnerable to increasing weakness, but also alienates the fans, a Geordie fan base which among the countries elite supporters.

Until this disastrous summer began for Newcastle, things were looking more than promising. With Hartem Ben Arfa set to return from fitness, the midfield of Nolan, Barton, Guiterraz, Titote and Ben Arfa could have arguably been one of the best in the premiership. Three of the four are now in line to leave, and Ben Arfa, after a lengthy absence and a horrific leg break, will take time to recreate the promise that he portrayed at the beginning of last season. The likes of Guthrie and Taylor were also on their way back from injury, and the depth of the squad, especially in the midfield, was very encouraging.

The defence however, is looking far less desirable, after last season and even more so now, with the expected departure of Enrique. Neil Taylor has proven himself at Championship level with Swansea, but filling the boots of Enrique is very demanding.

What is even less promising is the strategy in terms of the transfer market. With the departure of Andy Carroll in January, surely the first signing should have been a  twenty-goal-a-season striker. The first, was a midfielder in the form of Cabaye, who is well established with Lille in the French leagues, and even though they have captured Demba Ba, who’s good form was overshadowed by West Ham’s abysmal season, there doesn’t seem to be another striker (which Newcastle undoubtedly need) over the horizon.  Furthermore, a staunch central defender is needed, and, as Matthew Upsom, an experienced England international, has crept onto the free transfer list, surely there should be cries for some sort of approach.

What is going on behind the doors of the Newcastle board room is ambiguous to say the least. An ambitious supporter would hope that a huge signing is about to be unveiled at a later date, which will bring back some encouragement. However, with Ashley’s evident anti-establishment attitude with regards to the senior p;ayers, it looks unlikely. Only time will tell with Newcastle, but I’m hoping that the season ticket I purchased after a decent season last year, will not be the waste of money which Newcastle’s performance in the transfer market might, at the moment, suggest.