Newcastle United – News Roundup – 28 July 2009.
Posted on July 28th, 2009 | 36 Comments |
“The Bundesliga is on the up and could soon become one of the best leagues in the world. Therefore I am keen on joining a side that has recently become champions of that division.
“I am hoping this transfer is going to be pushed through real soon.”
I suspect Oba will be disappointed on that last issue. Nothing seems to be getting ‘pushed through real soon’ – or indeed at all – at the moment.
The article goes on to suggest that Martins will be hard pressed to get a regular place in the team given that Wolfsburg’s front two – Grafite and Dzeko – scored 53 goals between them last season. Apparently Newcastle have placed a £10m price tag on Martins.
The Chronicle has an article about the ‘crisis talks’ that Hughton held with the team after the 6-1 thumping at Orient. Hughton ordered his team not to talk to the media about the defeat, although Enrique seems to have totally disregarded that order saying:
“I think it was important that this happened.
“To lose 6-1 now is bad, but it’s better to do it in a friendly game then when we go to West Brom.
“If it happens now and we lose, OK, it’s not great but we know that we can’t perform like that in the Championship or we will be punished.
“In the first half we didn’t play that bad but in the second I don’t know what happened.
“We’re now thinking about the next game – this was very bad for the players.
“I speak for myself.
“But for me it’s a 6-1 defeat and I don’t want to be part of that as a player.
“Yet in some ways it can be a good thing. It doesn’t sound like it now but if we can learn from this and get the mistakes out of our system, it can help.”
He actually has a fair bit more to say along those lines as The Chronicle quotes him extensively but I’ll just pick up on the way he finishes:
“All we can do is stick with it. We have Leeds next and I hope that the fans come out and get behind us.
“We still need them at this club.”
Well thanks Jose – it’s good to know we’re still needed. Perhaps someone should tell Mike Ashley that.
The Mail, in a typically cheery article, asks whether or not we’ll become the next Leeds and suggests that the best financial move for Ashley might be to put us into administration. They also suggest that Friday is a significant day for Newcastle because it’s the end of the month, although I’m struggling to see how that’s relevant. Is it a full moon too?
Sky Sports is reporting that The Profitable Group have withdrawn their offer to buy the club. Apparently they were unable to provide proof that they could afford the £100m necessary to make the purchase anyway. Sorry, but I’ve never seen this bunch as serious candidates and it wouldn’t surprise me if they were just using the situation to garner publicity.
Rob Lee has joined counless others in stating how much the current situation is hurting the club, as has Steve Howie, but all these complaints are pointless because Ashley obviously doesn’t give a sh couldn’t care less and will just be after the best deal he can get for himself.
So there we have it. A mixed bag of stuff from the rags today.
NUFCBlog Author: Hugh de Payen
I'm a baby-boomer of the punk rock persuasion, currently exiled in Somerset for crimes committed in a previous life where locals keep trying to poison me with something called 'scrumpy'. Hates sprouts, coat-hangers, Cilla Black, ornaments, Steven Seagull movies and 50 Cent (he's not worth 10).
Hugh de Payen has written 634 articles on this blog.
The bit in the Daily Mail article that worried me was this extract:
“As Ashley would be the major creditor, administration would seem an odd move financially. But Ashley could probably take his losses at Newcastle, which would be close to £250m, and set them against profit at his other companies, such as Sports Direct. Ashley’s tax liability would then be reduced and his loss not so great.
Friday has emerged as being possibly significant simply because it is the end of the month. Ashley has a basic economic calculation: does he make more money from selling the club or from administration?”
Obviously – only Ashley can do the necessary sums on this choice and decide what’s best for himself. However, the worrying thing from our point of view is that one of the options open to him above would leave us with a 10 point deduction before we kicked a ball…….