Owen confirms his departure

The Guardian has reported what has been known for weeks - that Michael Owen is leaving the club. However, some comments made by Owen still surprises many Newcastle fans.

Owen - in high demand?

Owen's contract expires at the end of the season, and we know that there is no way that Newcastle would offer him a new contract because of his high demand for wages.

"I can't see me staying at Newcastle. I'm still a Newcastle United player but only for a matter of weeks. I don't think they are going to offer me a contract and I would prefer to play in the Premier League or a top division somewhere else. The Premier League is where I feel I belong … so if it was to be a good English club, that would be my preference, but I have had quite a lot of interest from abroad, so I wouldn't rule that out."

The report further states that 5 years ago, to sign Michael Owen would have sparked a stampede among top clubs of the world, but currently, with Aston Villa distancing themselves from comments of signing him, and the only club to have shown interest in Hull City, it shows how much his star has fallen.

Owen made his name as an 18 yr old at the World Cup, scoring that stunning solo goal against Argentina. Since then, he has lost that pace that made him famous, and in a game where all round strikers are much more cherished than pure finishers, a doubt has been cast upon him as his all round game is pretty poor. A further sign on how far he has fallen was that Alan Shearer, who played alongside him on the England team, decided to axe him in the run-in to avoid relegation.

Hopefully Owen will find a new club, and we will be waiting in anticipation for news to come out of Hull.

Comments Welcome.

All Quiet on the Sale Front

Over the past week, we have heard no news about the sale of Newcastle, with the last piece of information that we know is that due diligence for the 4 consortiums began last thursday.

There could be much progress going on, because usually when a takeover is about to finalize, companies tend to avoid commenting on the situation. We do hope that a takeover is about to happen and end this period of drama at Newcastle, and that Derek Llambias communicates to the players the situation.

The news that came out of the club yesterday that Taylor and Beye may wish to find a new club due to the turbulence at the club is one of the most terrible news we have heard so far. With the inaction that is going on at the club, we are afraid that other players, such as Krul and Carroll, who have voiced their intention to stay, will end up at another club.

Furthermore, without having a manager to lead the club, Newcastle is still saddled with a huge wage bill, and few clubs have shown interest in our players. If we do not pull our act together, it may result in us staying in the Coca Cola Championship longer than usual, and with the huge wage bill, we do have to pray that we do not end up in administration.

Comments Welcome.

Beye and Taylor considering futures

The Chronicle has reported that Beye and Taylor, 2 of our players who have committed their future to the club after relegation, are reconsidering their futures amidst the chaos at St James' Park.

Habib Beye

At the end of last season, when Newcastle were relegated, Taylor and Beye immediately committed their future to Newcastle and were determined to drag Newcastle back into the Premiership.

However, since then, there has been inaction at Newcastle, and a source close to Taylor has come out and highlighted the pressing issues at St James' Park

"Steven sat down with Alan at the end of the season to chat about things, and it was positive despite relegation. Steven was basically saying to Alan ‘If you’re staying, I’m staying’.

"Things have changed a bit since then and, with Alan still not being handed the job and pre-season training so close, Steven is going to have a look at his position.Obviously he would love to stay and work with Alan, but he is upset by what has been happening in the last few weeks."

Taylor has 2 years left on his contract, while Beye has 1, and there has been interest from Arsenal, West Ham and Stoke City for their services, and should both of them go, we will be seeing a radically different back 4 from the one last season.

I am surprised at how much inaction there is at Newcastle. It's tough being a Newcastle player these days, but with the multi million pounds wages some players are receiving, yet doing a terrible job on the field, its even tougher for the fans. We hope that Alan will be appointed soon, and it can't come soon enough.

Comments Welcome

Another club fires off a warning

The Daily Mail has reported that Sheff Wed has made it known on the difficulty of getting back up into the Premiership. Somehow our relegation has resulted in more coverage on the sale and promotion bid instead of our transfers.

Lee Stratford, the owner of Sheff Wed, has stated the difficulty in obtaining promotion.

"Newcastle have made similar mistakes to Sheffield Wednesday but on a far greater scale, they have got it wrong big time and they deserve what's happened because of the way they've been run."

"Now, if they don't spend £50million to buy an entirely new squad, there's every chance they'll get relegated again. They could have a nightmare season. There's no way those players want to play in the Championship. Even with a whole new squad it's a risk. They'll have players they won't be able to move on and it creates disharmony inside the dressing room.

"They're also about to discover something they might remember from when they were young. It's called contact."

We agree that Newcastle could have a nightmare season, and that we should heed the warning of Stratford, for he is a Sheff Wed fan and saw his team plummet our of the Premier League 9 years back. Currently, we hope that we can move out of the Mike Ashley nightmare that has enveloped the club for the past 2 years.

At least we know we have a backbone that can be built on next season, and one of the positive things that came out from Mike Ashley's reign is that we have youngsters we can build on.

Comments Welcome

Club in a state of flux

There's not much news in the Chronicle today, except that Newcastle has ordered 2 different brochures for their corporate sponsors, one featuring Alan Shearer, and one without.

Alan - will he be appointed

The Evening Chronicle reported that the top management will give the Tyneside-based advertising company the instructions on which version to print in 2 weeks. That means the decision to appoint Shearer may be in 2 weeks, and if the brochure that is released is the version without Alan Shearer, chances are we will have to wait till the sale is complete before our hunt for the manager begins.

Steve Wraith, editor of fanzine Players’ Inc, said the following about the whole episode

"Essentially, this shows the club is very much like a soap opera and that has been well documented over the last four or five years. Things never surprise you. Every time there is a story about Newcastle United, it is rarely a good one but as a supporter I just hope there is light at the end of the tunnel and Alan Shearer will get the job."

"As far as the club is concerned, anyone can see that bringing him in will solve a lot of problems but Mike Ashley has said he wants to sell the club and clearly that means he doesn’t want to make these decisions any more."

"We are in an awful situation and while the bread and butter of the club are the fans, clearly corporate hospitality and brochures like this are important."

"The club is going to take a big hit financially on that side of things so it is important to get in as much money as possible because at the end of the day we are not selling Premier League football any more, we are selling Championship football."

Anyone can see that with this incident, that Newcastle remain in a state of flux. And anyone can see that with the appointment of Shearer, things will only get better, but Mike Ashley is treating our football club like a business.

It has been 4 weeks since we were relegated, and all we know is that we have 4 possible buyers. We pray that the sale will be completed soon so that we can get on with the new season

Comments Welcome

Sam not pursuing Newcastle players

The Journal has reported that Sam Allardyce, the current manager of Blackburn, has distanced himself from any speculation that he will be pursuing Newcastle United players.

Sam Allardyce - manager of Blackburn Rovers

Blackburn Rovers have just sold Roque Santa Cruz for £18million, and with the increase in transfer funds that Sam has, he has drawn out potential targets to strengthen his squad, but worryingly, none of the potential targets are from Newcastle, even though he has signed many of them.

This is due to the difference in wage structure at Blackburn and Newcastle, with many of our players being paid more than £50k a week. The difference in wage structure is so evident as beforehand, Wigan's chairman Dave Whelan came out and said the amount that Michael Owen received in his wages is extraordinary.

This is become a worrying trend, as no clubs are interested in our players who earn more than £50k a week. The only interest shown so far has been in Bassong, and he is one of the lowest wage earners at Newcastle.

Just to show how Big Sam was out of his depth at Newcastle, and how he laden us with a huge wage bill, we take a look at his purchases who are still at the club.

• Alan Smith - £6million, £60k p/w
  

• Joey Barton - £5.8million, £64k p/w
  

• Mark Viduka - free transfer, £80k p/w
  

• Cacapa - free transfer, £50k p/w

• Jose Enrique - £6.3million, £50k p/w

• Habib Beye - £2million, £50k p/w
  

• Geremi - £2.8million, £60k p/w

Out of all the players, only Habib Beye can be considered a quality buy. The total of the transfer fee of the rest is £20.9million, and the total wages is £364k p/w.

Sam Allardyce was really out of his depth at Newcastle, and is partially responsible for ladening us with that many wage wastrels.

Comments Welcome

Hull pursuing Nolan and Owen

Another Sunday, another report by News of the World.

Nolan and Owen - together next seasaon?

News of the World has reported that Owen and Nolan are being pursued by Hull City.

For Nolan, Phil Brown is a huge admirer of him as they have worked together at Bolton. The report also states that Nolan is desperate to leave Newcastle after relegation, and is said to be ready to sign a 3 year deal with Hull City.

As for Owen, it is said that he was offered £40k a week, £20k a game and £10k a goal. The chairman of Hull City, Paul Duffen stated,

"We're interested in Michael Owen on the right terms. He's a fantastic footballer. He's had a few injury problems but we would have to be interested in him. If the right deal can be done then we would definitely be keen to sign him. We are an ambitious football club and we want to show that. It would be an enormous move for us but the deal can be done if it is on the right terms."

We do not trust the Nolan report one bit, especially since this report comes from News of the World, and we do know that Nolan has come out and stated that he wishes to stay at Newcastle. We do hope Owen finds a new club, and it could be Hull City, considering that no other club has come forward with an offer for him. Let's just hope that Phil Brown admires his leadership capabilities and makes him captain.

Comments Welcome