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‘Bad Boy’ Barton receives 6-match ban

September 6th, 2008

Newcastle received another jolt before their next game, as their ‘Bad Boy’ Joey Barton received a 6-match ban and a fine of US $50,000 fine.

This week saw Kevin Keegan and Alan Shearer, who were two of the biggest contributors for the club, leave their post after differences with the owners during transfer season. Now, this news with Barton is surely going to effect their preparations ahead of the next week’s game against Hull City at St. James Park.

This fine on Barton was due to his altercations with Ousmane Dabo in the previous season.

Ban on Barton is for 12 games. However, 6 of those games have been deferred till the later half of 2009-2010 Premier League Season.

26-year old Barton was given punishment by independent disciplinary panel on Friday for his attacks, when both players were a part of the Manchester City side.

4-men panel that included Graham Taylor, Former England Manager, took only two hours for reaching their verdict. With his current ban, Barton is ruled out of all League matches till October 25.

Newcastle United, which already was hit with small number of players in the squad for injury woes and poor transfer season deals, will have to regroup and fight these testing times.

Although the Magpies had a solid start to the season with a draw against Manchester United and win against Bolton, 3-0 loss to the Gunners and immediately followed by departure of Manager Keegan is sure to be a very big hurdle to overcome for the Magpies.

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Kevin Keegan leaves Newcastle United

September 5th, 2008

After Alan Curbishley’s departure from West Ham United, Kevin Keegan has become the second manager to leave his club in this season.

King Kev left Newcastle United in disarray. With all the rescue plans for preventing his departure failed, Magpies is sure to be facing a revolt from their fans in the coming times.

This news ended a 3 days of strong speculation in St James Park. According to sources, Keegan’s relationship with club’s hierarchy was broken to an irreparable situation over the latter’s transfer policy.
Keegan, who made a comeback to Newcastle for his second spell in January, didn’t take training after transfer season closed.

In a statement to LMA, Keegan was reported saying that he has been working hard for finding a way forward with club owners, but his voice could barely reach their ears.

Keegan said ‘It is my personal opinion that managers should have the right for managing club. No one, even owners, should impose their decisions on player contracts. Eventually, it the managers, who face all the criticism for the decision in regards to a player.’

‘Though I want to see the side do well in the current season, I am in no state of working with them. Although I might have let down players, staff and supporters, I am sure that they will respect my decision.’

Now, Hammers and Magpies are without managers at a crucial juncture of the season. They will be hoping to gather the same spirit that Chelsea showed after Jose Mourinho vacated them in the previous season.

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Posted in Football Transfer Market, Newcastle United

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Newcastle United: Another case of post-transfer season frustration

September 4th, 2008

Newcastle United, a club known recently for its relegation battles in the previous season, is again in a tight spot after transfer season ended this week.

After a great start to this season with a 1-1 away draw at Old Trafford against Manchester United and a win against Blackburn Rovers, the spirits started to go down with a 3-0 loss against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium, and the end of the transfer window proved this.

While an attempt to sell owner Mike Ashley’s not-so-recent dislike Joey Barton was of course more than expected, it was also unsuccessful.

To everyone’s surprise, it is being said that the club also tried to sell Michael Owen in wake of his contract expiring. They were also eliminating the possibility of any January window negotiations, when some clubs would like to take him for a free transfer next year.

This transfer season revealed to one and all, including manager Kevin Keegan, that he does not have the full control over transfers, in and out. The selling of James Milner for 12 million pounds to Aston Villa proved this.

To add to his vows, Keegan’s biggest problem this season is a small and injury ridden squad, which desperately needed new players, something that probably will have to wait till January.

In case Keegan is sacked, he is expected to get around 8 million pounds as a compensation for a premature contract termination.

Let’s wait for Newcastle’s coming matches to see what a mood change they can bring. For example, the draw against Man U lifted their spirits and ended the pre season gloom at the Magpies’ camp.

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Posted in Football Transfer Market, Newcastle United

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Arsenal Vs Newcastle United: Persie double in 3-0 win silences talks of club crisis

August 31st, 2008

Robin van Persie scored twice for Arsenal, as the Gunners silenced all the talks of a club crisis with a romping 3-0 victory over Newcastle United at the Emirates Stadium.

This win came as a relief to Arsenal Manager Arsene Wenger, who was under the hammer after a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Fulham in Craven Cottage.

Gunners outclassed Newcastle in all the departments and showed the same vigor, which was visible earlier in the week against FC Twente that got them through to the Group stages of the Champions League.

The goal scoring started in the eighteenth minute, as Dutchmen Persie scored from the spot after Newcastle’s N’Zogbia handled the ball.

Persie scored his second goal in the 41st minute, as he smashed a pass from Emmanuel Eboue past Newcastle goalkeeper, Shay Given.

Newcastle had their chances with skipper Michael Owen and Jonas Gutierrez constantly making a move towards the Gunners net. However, the home side’s defense was impeccable and gave little scope of conversion to the Magpies.

In the 59th minute, Brazilian Denilson scored a superbly crafted goal to make it 3-0 and wrapping up the game for the home team.

Wenger was all praise for his side and said that they delivered what they promised at the beginning of the season, ‘Flawless Performance’. For Kevin Keegan, it was a disappointing game for his side after they showed great vigor in the first two games of the season.

Elsewhere, Bolton Wanderers & West Bromwich Albion were involved in the first 0-0 draw of the season at Reebok Stadium. Hammers went past Paul Ince’s Rovers 4-1 at Upton Park to continue the away side’s miserable run at this stadium. Again, Middlesbrough also defeated Stoke City 2-1 at the Riverside Stadium with a late goal from Tuncay Sanli.

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Newcastle in full flow after a spirited performance at Old Trafford

August 19th, 2008

Yesterday, Newcastle United, who have known to be lacking both quantity and quality grounds on talented players, did just what the club is famous for since the last 100 years: Making life uncomfortable for the best of teams on their day!

The way the Magpies played against Red Devils made everyone forget that this is team, who according to football pundits were sure to be around relegation this season, leave alone a talk of archrivals Sunderland being talked of staying at the top under their manager Roy Keane.

This performance, which saw a 1-1 draw in the end at Old Trafford against current Champions Manchester United, reminded everyone of the Newcastle team, which finished second in the Premier League in 1996 season.

A bullet like header by Martins set up the first goal of this season for them and a first touch like this can produce many more lethal goals in coming games. The St. James Park side will be next playing against Bolton in this weekend.

Shay Given did exactly what he has been so good at since all those years: being a wall in front of the goal.

The way newcomers Fabio Colocinni and Jonas Gutierrez played, they seemed to have been a part of this squad for years.

Colocinni and Taylor seem to be the center back pair for this season, thanks to the right transfer sense of King Kev!

Newcastle Manager Kevin Keegan, who was all praise for his side, in his style announced that his side is back in the reckoning for big gold in the current season.

If this is what the Toon will be performing at the start of the season, we can all wonder what they will do when Michael Owen and Mark Viduka comeback in action at the club.

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Manchester United Vs Newcastle United: Champions start off with a tame draw

August 18th, 2008

Manchester United, the current Premier League Champions, began their title defense in an unlikely tame fashion when they were held 1-1 by Newcastle United at Old Trafford.

But the coach of Manchester United, Sir Alex Ferguson is most unlikely to get too much stressed for his side losing two points in this year’s opener of the BPL.

It may be noted that in last year, Manchester United only managed to collect two points from their first three games although they finished top in the end.

Ferguson ended the match by making Patrice Evra providing valuable support for Wayne Rooney from the up front after midfielder Darren Fletcher equalized Newcastle’s Obafemi Martins’ opener.

Newcastle showed extreme excellence on the field was courtesy of their new Argentinean player, Jonas Gutierrez. He created several problems for the hosts and at one time, Manchester United went into an uncharacteristic defensive mood.

At one stage of the match, TV replays showed that that Jonas Gutierrez claimed for an invalid penalty after he was totally flattened by Manchester United’s Nemanja Vidic, but it was well noticed that the former Real Mallorca player was positioned well outside the box.

Manchester United should claim no excuse as they failed to track Martins when he leapt alone to receive James Milner’s corner kick and deflected it with enough power sending it past Paul Scholes to score the opener for Newcastle.

The lead for Newcastle lasted, however, lasted just two minutes when Fletcher stole a quick chance to steer a ball of Giggs and helped the host to salvage a draw.

Meanwhile at Villa Park, Manchester City was crushed by Aston Villa 4-2, as England U-21 International, Agbonlahor, scored a hat-trick for the home side.

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Posted in Man U, Newcastle United

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Newcastle silent on Fabricio’s deal

August 14th, 2008

Kevin Keegan, Newcastle manager, has refused to comment on the arrival Fabricio Coloccini, the star defender from Argentina.

According to the sources at Coloccini’s club, Deportivo La Coruna, the club has agreed to sell the defender for USD 20 million to Newcastle United. The player himself confirmed of moving to the England club at a press conference.

However, Newcastle United did not comment on it. According to the close sources of the manager, they confirmed that the player did watch proceedings of the friendly between Newcastle united and Valencia, but was not able to reveal anything related to the transfer.

Manager Kevin Keegan remained completely silent about the transfer, but added that he likes the hairstyle, which the defender flaunts, and finds it similar to his of the seventies.

Meanwhile, with a 2-1 victory against the Copa Del Rey winner, Valencia, after going behind in the early stages of the game, Newcastle fans will be ecstatic about the prospects awaiting them in this season.

Again with the form of players like Damien Duff and James Milner (both of whom scored in the win) along with Captain Michael Owen, you can only expect good things to come for the Magpies.

However, Keegan wants a better line-up and would like to add a few more players to the squad before the season actually kicks-off in the coming week. The major concern of the Newcastle manager will be building a team for the championship. With new players, the London club may soon make it to the top of the league table.

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Coloccini set to be the next ‘toon’ this summer

August 4th, 2008

Argentine international Fabricio Coloccini, who currently is a center back at Spanish club Deportivo La Coruna, seems to be the next addition to the Newcastle United squad, after the arrival of midfielders Jonas Gutierrez from RCD Mallorca and Danny Guthrie from Liverpool.

The Argentinean, who started his career with Argentina giants Boca Juniors, has the distinction of winning a gold medal with the national side at the 2004 Athens Olympics.

This Tuesday, the defender’s agent claimed that Deportivo had set a minimum 12 million euro limit to any bids for the defender. However, thanks to the club’s ‘attitude’, Newcastle had to bid up to 16 million euro. On top of that, the club president Augusto Lendorio has said in a report that Fabricio is an asset to their club, adding that losing him will be a great blow to Deportivo.

The agent also added that his client is worried about losing the contract of his life.

As Deportivo are seemingly unwilling to release him, the defender has threatened to invoke Article 17 in FIFA’s regulations in order to leave the club, a story some what similar to the ongoing high profile transfer scenario of Christiano Ronaldo.

Meanwhile, Newcastle manager Kevin Keegan has said that the club will be extending all possible help to midfielder Joey Barton, who has been released after a jail term.

An accomplished defender like Coloccini is all the Tyneside needs since the departure of defenders David Rozenal, Peter Ramage and wing back Stephen Carr for making it big at the Premier League this season.

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Owen fit and raring to go into the new season

July 29th, 2008

Twenty eight year old England international Michael Owen, who had an injury prone time at Newcastle since his arrival in 2004, is now fit and hopes to go into the new season to bring success to the club.

Most of the last season, he was injured, but his return to form in the end of the season marked one of the best goals per match ratios for a limited period, netting seven goals in nine matches. This time, he says that he wants to continue his form.

Newcastle manager Kevin Keegan has confirmed that the man in question, with a year still remaining in his contract, will be captaining The Magpies this season.

Captaining the side most recently since his return from injury in January 2008, he says that there is a new feel good factor in the team now following the end of the season run, in which he showed his talent to keep the team away from relegation.

According to reports, the manager is so impressed by Owen that he has even urged owner Mike Ashley to begin negotiations over a contract extension.

Newcastle United has what seems to be the smallest squad in the Premiership but Owen feels otherwise. According to him, the players are tightly bonded together and that it is honorable to be having so much quality and versatility in such a small squad.

New additions to the St. James Park side this year include Liverpool midfielder Danny Guthrie and Argentinean winger Jonas Gutierrez.

Looking at the continuous insisting of the manager to bring at least four more additions this year seems to prove the point that rumors of players like Shay Given and Charles N’Zogbia willing to leave the club may be real.

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Transfer Market Here is some hot transfer news in English Football.

May 30th, 2008

  The Latest hot transfer news in English Football

  • The agent of Espanyol midfielder Albert Riera says that there is no truth in the reports that Liverpool has a bid for his player.

  • Marseille midfielder Samir Nasri is heading to Arsenal, but the clubs are still negotiating terms of the deal.

  • Chelsea’s out-of-the Peruvian striker Claudio Pizarro May return to Germany with the former club Werder Bremen and Bayern Munich are interested. But the combination of Spanish Valencia and Villarreal have also considered for a move.

  • Middlesbrough midfielder George Boateng has stated that he expects both sides of the Old Firm – Celtic and Rangers – to move for him this summer.

  • Harry Redknapp, Portsmouth for the financing of five new signing this summer as he prepares to chase another top-10 place Premier League and UEFA Cup success. And he could start with a surprise bid for Wigan the former England striker Emile Heskey.

  • Czech goalkeeper Petr Cech will open contract talks with Chelsea in the coming weeks.

  • David Trezeguet the agent, Antonio Caliendo, revealed that Barcelona have joined him to try and sign of the Juventus striker. “Barca are interested in David,” he said. “They have been known for years.

  • AC Milan  manager Carlo Ancelotti is favourite to land the £6m-a-year manager’s job, but Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon wants to interview several candidates, with Blackburn boss Mark Hughes also a pioneer.

  • Tottenham have agreed a £12m deal for Barcelona’s Mexican 19-year old wonder kid Giovanni Dos Santos.

  • Manchester City defender Richard Dunne is also on the verge of signing a £ 5m deal with Tottenham, a step that could ignite a player exodus from Eastland.

  • Rangers are on the trail of £5m-rated Italian wide player Raffaele Palladino of Juventus.

  • Liverpool plan to give Liverpool star striker Fernando Torres a £4m salary increase. The extra £ 400,000-a-year is intended to see out the interest of Chelsea.

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Posted in AC Milan, Arsenal, Barcelona, Celtic, Chelsea FC, Football Transfer Market, General, Juventus, Liverpool, Manchester City, Middlesbrough, Newcastle United, Portsmouth, Rangers, Tottenham

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