Newcastle United – News Roundup – 12 August 2009.
Posted on August 12th, 2009 | 14 Comments |
As we know, the press often claim to have ‘sources’ giving them the inside story on these things, but there seem to be lots of contradictory opinions about this takeover and I doubt the validity of these ‘sources’ even more than usual given the strict non-disclosure agreements signed by Ashley and the bidders.
For example, depending upon what you read, Barry Moat is either the only bidder with a hope of taking over Newcastle United or he’s way out of the running and instead two unnamed bidders are much more in contention.
As to the manager situation, for all we know a lot of that could be a ploy by Ashley to make it look like he’s serious about staying on if necessary, sending a message to potential bidders that they’d better not wait until the last minute in the hope that he’ll lose his nerve and accept a low bid.
Then again, he certainly will need a manager if he doesn’t sell, so sounding out various managers is no bad idea anyway.
What I’m really saying is that I think a lot of what the press are writing is a load of old toot and we may as well just wait for something official.
You might find George Caulkin’s views in The Times interesting though. If you want a word with Big Mike yourself, The Mirror is reporting that he’ll be back at SJP this weekend for the Reading game and I’m sure he’d be happy to answer any questions.
The NUSC have had their say in The Telegraph. NUSC spokesman Steve Hastie said:
“Why would you want to get someone in when you have previously said Alan Shearer was 110 per cent the man you want only a matter of eight weeks ago?
“I am absolutely baffled by this latest development. I can not understand what Ashley’s game is. He is either a very good or very bad poker player.
“The fans cannot comprehend why people like David O’Leary, Gordon Strachan, Alan Curbishley and Joe Kinnear keep getting mentioned when Alan Shearer has openly said he wants the job and would love the chance to get on with it and to move on with his plans.
“It is unbelievable. The whole situation with Newcastle has reached the point where we have been waiting for the Alan Shearer scenario to get back online. This smacks of a desperate owner trying to make desperate decisions without any rationale. Which is what his done throughout his rein.
“David O’Leary has been out of the game for three years now.
“He does not have any connection with the North East or with football at the moment even as a pundit.
“This has come from left field because he is somebody else that is currently unemployed like Curbishley.
“On the other hand Alan Shearer knows the club, he knows the city and he knows the fans and in his heart he wants to do the job. He has said that and that is exactly what the people want to hear.
“People want to see Alan Shearer being given the opportunity to work with the club and the fans to get Newcastle United back where it should be in the Premier League.”
According to the official site, Alan Smith will again captain the Toon for our game against Reading. Apparently Hughton is wary of bringing Nicky Butt back from injury too soon so he’ll miss the Reading game.
Newcastle fans have been accused of many things in the past but the latest is that we caused Sunderland’s Grant Leadbitter to get a speeding ticket. According to The Guardian, he thought the police car following him was a murderous squad of Toon supporters when, in fact, it contained a policewoman. He told the court:
“My heart was beating fast, I was scared and I wanted to get home as quickly as possible.”
Incredibly, the judge believed him and his 112MPH offence resulted in only a 14 day ban, £250 fine, £250 costs and a £15 victim surcharge (whatever one of those is).
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 prospect of O’Bleary as manager and fatboy as owner brings tears to the eyes……a partnership on the level of fatboy and JFK – guaranteed to shuffle us into oblivion….
At least Westwood used to be honest enough to wear his eye patch – this cockney pirate is just quietly scuttling the good ship United…..