Tuesday 28th June 2005

Another week goes by and, as ever, there’s plenty of talk but not much in the way of action. This is starting to get frustrating. Worrying too. In some ways I suppose I should be grateful that we’re just not making purchases for the sake of it, panic buying never solves anything, but at the same time the distinct lack of incomings seems to hang on one or two outgoings that just don’t seem to be happening.

Take for example Luis Figo. Last week’s flight of fancy became this week’s possibility. (Article) By the middle of the week we’d moved into pole position with only Galatasary also in contention. (Article) (Article). And by the end of the week Marseilles, Panathaniakos, Stuttgart and a whole host of European sides were in the running. (Article) There’ll be news “soon” apparently. Aye, well I’ll not be holding me breath then. Of course the stumbling block with this one is and always was wages. (Article) We’ve been once bitten by an overweight Dutchman before. Wish he’d been twice shy once he’d bitten into a Gregg’s’ pasty mesel’ like. I wonder how concerned his new employers are after his pledge that he isn’t in Valencia to “party”? (Article) Anyway this new breed of “Millionaire Bosman” has lead to voiced concern about their mercenary attitudes throughout the media this week, The Guardian (Article) and The Sunday Times (Article) for example taking different approaches but issuing the same warnings. Their cause is not helped by comments like this from Olivier Kapo, linked with us a few weeks ago. (Article) With Newcastle you earn more money it seems. At least he had the decency to decline. Meanwhile I wonder how these stories must make someone like Robbie Elliott feel who has effectively been asked to take a pay cut? (Article) Not the best way to make the dressing room united is it?

Speaking of upsetting the dressing room, The Glamorgan Gob remained firmly in the back pages this week. He remains in Limbo. (Article) If only Limbo Rovers could afford him that would solve it all I should imagine. This week Everton seem to be leading the “race” to sign him (Article), provided they sign the right sort of players that is. (Article) Cheeky git. Souness though was anxious to ensure his departure after being dropped well and truly in it by our illustrious leader last weekend. (Article) By midweek though it was clear that the cat and mouse was still going on with Bellamy insisting he was “reporting for training.” (Article) Celtic were remaining hopeful of taking him back North of the border (Article) and even at the weekend they were insisting they were still “in talks.” Again we’ll see I suppose. The most interesting comments this week have come from the Merthyr Motormouth himself. (Article) (Article) and (Article) Professional and respectful eh Craig? If only you had been that in the first place then none of this would have happened. And after the way you have hardly endeared yourself to numerous Scottish players and fans over the course of last season I would suggest professionalism and respect are two things you have little working knowledge of.

Meanwhile Lee Bowyer, another individual who makes a mockery of the word “professional”, was linked with a move to Birmingham again only this time to Aston Villa who quickly denied interest. (Article) (Article). With the Birmingham City fans still split over him (Article) and the anti-Bowyer campaign leader “in hiding” (Article) despite a lot of media support (Article) it looks like any move to the west midlands is doomed to failure. France sounds good apparently. (Article) and (Article) France indeed. Mind you I can imagine he may get plenty of support there from certain sections of the community.

Back to potential incomings. Emre. I wish he’d either sign or just bugger off to be frank. This week he’s gone from “considering his options” (Article) to being just about as good as signed (Article) (Article) to announcing to the Turkish media that he was a “Newcastle player” (Article) to finally being back to considering his options. (Article) All in one week. I suspect the only person that really knows what is going on is his well-quoted agent. There is a game afoot and we are slap bang in the middle of it and not for the first time it looks very possible that we could be being used to up someone else’s ante yet again. If he does arrive it may be with a little sour taste and if not it may turn out to be a blessing in disguise.

He’s not the only agent playing the “Newcastle United are interested” joker card of course. There’s always at least 2 or three of them on the go at any one time. Pick of the pack was Deportivo La Coruna defender Jorge Andrade. (Article) Now I seem to remember being liked with him last season and nothing happened the either. Or is that the same approach now being used to tout him to Man U I wonder? Either way the club were quick to deny any interest (Article) and I would suggest to Andrade not to play media games with FFS. He loves a chat with Sky and he’s better at it than most of you could ever dream to be.

Another tenuous link was that to Man U’s Quinton Fortune. (Article) Personally I’d sign him for having one of the best names in the Premiership mesel’. It’s an odd random link, I can’t see it happening and hope there is little fact in there. Another potential incoming I pray there is no truth in was the link this week to the fat antipodean Mark Viduka. (Article) (Article) That’s all we need, another overweight 60%’er who’ll spend more time on the treatment table and the pie shop than on the pitch.

This week has also seen changes behind the scenes with the departure of John Carver from the Academy and the appointment of Glenn Roeder as Academy Manager. (Article) and (Article). For what its worth I’m glad to see Roeder shuffling back to the club. This did prompt some reaction from SBR (of course). (Article) (Article) I’m disappointed that he feels that he has to make comment at all. That said Carver was SBR’s man and I wish him well as he goes on to other opportunities. I have no doubt that he is a “good man” and a “fine coach” as SBR says but more than once I have had heard people who know a lot more about football than I ever will question if he was out of his depth as an assistant and even an academy manager. Anyway if he was THAT good we’d have let him go ages ago, like Alan Irvine, to use but one example. That’s all for this week, hopefully by next week we’ll have something else more concrete to talk about.

NM