How do we know that Nicky Butt is signing for the club? I have not heard anything from Newcastle or ManU confirming his arrival..All i know is what the media is fabricating..which is all speculation.. Anyone with an article that includes quotes please post the link..Cheers

I haven't seen any quotes for the Butt deal, but the club haven't come out and denied it, as they normally do. There weren't any quotes before we got Milner, although a couple of days before NUFC.com said that we were expected to get Milner with Butt arriving a week later, and they still stand by that.

We've been linked with Kluivert after he said yesterday he would consider a smaller Premiership club (he originally said he only wanted to go to London). Freddy Shepherd confirmed today we are trying to get him but he will have to take a wage cut. Although he has a year left at Barcelona, they are releasing him on a free.

I think the Butt deal has now been scrapped, as I read somewhere that we pulled out.

LuaLua finally completes his move to Portsmouth for around 1.75m.

The whole contract fiasco between the club and Bernard has me a little worried.

Bellamy injuring his knee again. However, SBR has down played that, stating it has nothing to do with his previous knee injuries...But i really cant see the truth in that

On a brighter note, SBR has said there are still a couple of signings due within the next two weeks - making most supporters feel all the better.

Suggestion: For that RB position wasnt Stuart Taylor tried there sometime last season against Liverpool? If i can remember correctly he was pretty impressive. Maybe Bobby can tinker with with him at RB during the pre season tour in Asia. I mean he's young, can provide attacking spurts down that right. Anyone agree?

Do you mean Steven Taylor? He was tried at RB against Bolton, he made the mistake which allowed Pedersen to score that freak goal, although it looked like he was fouled off the ball by Pedersen. Other than that he looked decent in a game where we were playing horribly, he had a good effort on goal in the last couple of minutes as well. I'm pretty sure that was his only Premiership appearance. He's supposed to be a CB, Tony Adams tipped him to go far when he played under him for Wycombe on loan last season, saying he reminded him of how he was as a defender. He's 18 and also a CB for the England U-21s. He should get a few more games this season, maybe Bobby will be inclined to try him at RB as we no cover there.

Noone knows what's happened with Trabelsi, last Thursday Ajax told him to find a new club by Monday, they also said they'd agreed terms with Arsenal, Newcastle and another club, but now it's Tuesday and there's been no mention yet.

Seitaridies, Mills, Melchiot, Reiziger have all been taken while Miguel seems out of our budget, it would appear Carr and Trabelsi are our only potential targets for RB.

Last edited by evil_bastard on Jul-13-2004 at 12:49

Shit thats it, Steven Taylor and it was against Bolton. Like you said if no cover for RB is coming any time soon, might be actually a wise idea to try and play him there a few times.

Since the midfield is looking rather overpacked, maybe do what was suggested last season and even try Kieron Dyer in that position?

Trabelsi has already agreed terms with three clubs, Newcastle being one of them? Where did you get that info from ?

Maybe a shock bid for Glen Johnson at Chelsea might be a good idea in fact. A seasons long loan could prove a formidable move for both clubs, with Paulo Ferriera arriving at Stamford Bridge.

However, I like the idea of Taylor at RB if no one else arrives in the near future

The two trabelsi articles from last week:
http://www.skysports.com/skysports/...1142119,00.html
http://www.skysports.com/skysports/...1141926,00.html


The BBC are running an exclusive today from Kluivert saying that Newcastle are his first choice: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/foo...ted/3893001.stm

I doubt Glen Johnson is available, Mourinho went through his squad saying which positions were open and closed, he said RB was closed with Ferreira and Johnson.

FRIENDLY TODAY:

THAILAND 1 - 1 NEWCASTLE UNITED
(Chaikamdee '20) - (Bowyer '62)

Thailand win 4-2 on penalties.

1-0 Thai 30 scores
1-1 Shola Ameobi scores
2-1 Thai 25 scores
2-1 Bowyer misses, over bar
2-1 Thai 21 misses, wide of goal
2-1 James Milner misses, keeper saves
3-1 Thai 19 scores
3-2 Martin Brittain scores
4-2 number 9 scores

Newcastle's all-time penalty shootout record:
Played 16, Lost 12.

From NUFC.com:

quote:

Only in the world of Newcastle United....we were deprived of the services of Dyer, Woodgate, Viana and Bellamy before we travelled, then lost Bernard before a ball was kicked in anger meaning Robbie Elliott got his first runout since Noah was a lad. We then didn't pick Harper as a sub, put Caig on for a rare final 15 minutes of first team action and also withdrew Shearer, Speed, Robert, Jenas, Ambrose, Chopra, Hughes before finding out we were in a penalty shootout. Still at least it meant JJ couldn't reprise his 2003 Norman Wisdom spot kick effort. With the likes of McClen, Elliott and Guy waiting their turn, Milner marked his debut by missing as did Bowyer, Shola and Brittain converted and the nearest Caig came to stopping a pen was getting a hand to one as it went in and watching one go wide after having been wrong-footed.

Apparently Thailand scored when Bramble failed to clear a long ball ( ) leaving their striker with only Given to beat. Milner made his debut in the second half. Apparently Bowyer scored from the edge of the D after the keeper parried a shot from Ambrose.

Last edited by evil_bastard on Jul-14-2004 at 13:40

We well could be the Dutch of the Premiership in terms of penalty shootout failues. However, fortunes for them did a U-Turn at Euro 2004

I tell ya what, Bramble has nearly drove me to the edge of insanity in the last couple of seasons. I feel a bit sorry for lad, coz he cops so much stick - but rightly so. I've lost count how many goals we have conceeded that have started with his mistakes. Whether it'd be a misjudged clearance or caught ball watching, he is prone to stuff up. The potential is definitely there, but the club musn't wait on him forever. He's been there two season's and on the majority his performances have been fairly average to be honest.

One of the worst signings in the clubs history, unless he starts playing like a fighter and not a lover. This has been the case in recent years, he has been soft and lacks that grit that coud make him as mean a player as Jaap Stam used to be.

We won't sell him this summer simply because noone will be silly enough to give us good money for him and there are no replacements lined up. However, when Bobby leaves next summer I expect (hope) the new manager will remove the likes of Bramble straight away as he is holding us back.

He has a good tackle but that's about it. His biggest weakness is that he panics under pressure and can slice an easy volley because he's so eager to clear it under pressure, we saw this kind of schoolboy error away to Arsenal which ultimately cost us the game. He also affects the flow of the team because when he gets the ball in space he just blasts it as hard as he can up the field, reducing us to long ball tactics. As for his man-marking and use of the offside, the less said about that the better.

The suggestions of putting Hughes at CB are interesting. It might even work, as he originally played there. But, that was several seasons ago, and he demonstrates the same weaknesses as Bramble and O'Brien which is a lack of self-confidence and authority which is crucial for a good centre back. That's why they all play so well alongside Woodgate, he's such a presence and keeps them in order, you always see him giving them instructions and they feel more comfortable following his lead. But put Bramble and O'Brien together and suddenly we are a long ball team, whenever the ball comes near them they just blast it up the park, and they're both so slow that any pacy forward has too much space. It's no coincidence that our only other quality defender, Bernard, is as cool as a cucumber. Unless we sign a RB (can't see us going for another CB) we will have to put all our hopes on Woodgate staying fit, yet again.

Viana has once again complained that he wants to leave but this time he has nothing nice to say at all: "I don't like being here. I don't feel well at Newcastle. I am willing to go to any team in the world". Frankly we don't want anyone with that attitude on our books, so I think he has to leave this summer.

Last edited by evil_bastard on Jul-15-2004 at 11:58

shearer threatens to retire! i've read this on a non english site. apperantly shearer is not robsons first choice for the upcoming season.

Basically a local paper put together some old quotes with some new quotes and quoted Shearer out of context, all of course while he was on the other side of the world in Thailand. A lot of stuff from that paper is to be taken with a grain of salt, but soon the national media began running this story. Shearer issued a press conference today in Hong Kong (where the team are based) and clarified the situation, saying he has never threatened to quit and that, form withstanding, he wants regular football next season.

Well, there are major changes brewing at St.James',with the welcoming arrival of Patrick Kluivert and the departures of Gary Speed and Hugo Viana to Bolton and Sporting Lisbon respectively.

For one, I am very dissapointed to see Speed leave. He was a great loyalist to the club and bid him a fond farewell.

But on the other hand, Kluivert has finally donned a black and white shirt amidst speculation that has been doing the round for over 18 months now.

I have a feeling SBR will tinker with Shearer and Kluivert up front and when Bellamy regains full fitness, may be can take undertake the position of an attacking right winger, which was mentioned a while ago - but seems highly unlikely.

Now, Kluivert's signing is surely do ignite a speculation frenzy over Nicky Butt's proposed year long loan deal.