Nicky

Thought crouch had been on holiday for a few days?

Oh well. Another one bites the dust then...

Its not even French players, its French speaking players Haha, guess that means beye, geremi, nzogbia and every other fucker who can speak French are off too!

Would be very, very annoyed if we let Enrique go. Think he could turn out to be a very good LB if given a decent chance.

Plymouth have released a statement, so yeah, its probably him.

Anyone seen nufc.coms brilliant piece today on Oliver? Pre-season: S-pain in the arse Anyone who has happened to read the German FA's website since early May will have seen a news item (in English) referring to a pre-season tournament involving Bundesliga and Premier League sides. Newcastle and Manchester City were mentioned, along with German outfits Hannover 96 and Hertha Berlin - competing for the Multi Media Sports Cup in a four team tournament at Real Mallorca's Son Moix Stadium in Palma. However the subsequent award of a UEFA Cup place to Manchester City meant that their opening round in that competition would clash with the Mallorca event. City then withdrew, leaving the organisers to find a replacement side - and NUFC unable to confirm their participation, for fear of possibly misleading supporters. Unfortunately the Chronicle have now chosen to mention this, leaving fans in a dilemma over whether or not to risk booking flights before the prices increase still further. The same source also claim that Hannover are replacing Man City when in fact they themselves publicised the event on their own website in early May. And the dates they claim of Friday 1st to Sunday 3rd of August differ by 24 hours from information posted to German fans, whose schedule starts 24 hours before - which would make a big difference to flight bookers. There's also a blatant attempt at sh*t-stirring in the piece by writing "unless he is overruled by director of football Dennis Wise, United manager Kevin Keegan....." After being blamed by fans booking flights to Amsterdam last year when we wrote that Newcastle were listed by SkySports as participating in that event, we opted not to mention this Mallorca jaunt until it was confirmed 100%. As of now, that's still the case. So, if you want to book flights etc. for this tournament, then go right ahead - but at your own risk, not ours. And if it all turns to dust, blame the slack-jawed old fool at Thomson House. If he was a horse, they'd shoot him.

Seriously, wtf has happened in this thread? Sort it out.

Absolutely hopeless company. Rung up on the 24th march to cancel, due to moving house and losing that Sky account. Was told it would be done after 30 days (after trying to get me to stay on a deal). Checked my bank account a couple of weeks back, and was still being charged for it. Made another phonecall to cancellations (But got throught to the sales dept. as the cancellations department was too busy:D) ... Girl on the phone confirmed that I did cancel on the 24th of march according to their system, but couldnt explain to me why it wasnt cancelled, and i was still being charged. Asked her to then cancel it for me, and surprise surprise she couldnt, but gave me an email address to email to make sure they do it. Also gave me an address to send off for a refund (Obviously they cant do that over the phone either!) Emailed, never got a confirmation, and a few days ago I got a letter stating that my DD had not gone through (I cancelled it after the 2nd phonecall), and to send them my direct debit details in the post so they could recover the missed payment. Cheeky fucking bastards. It was only going to be a temporary stop for the summer, but after this, theres no chance in hell i'm giving them back my bank details. They can send me as many letters and reminders as they like too - they're in the wrong, which their own CS person confirmed, and anyway, i've moved address now

Exactly. We might as well bid 10, then he's more likely to cut it in the prem I like your ambition. The old board would have bid €11m though

I thought NE5 had given up on gaying up threads about the old board?

Yeah, just saying that L'Equipe has linked him to us, basically. Nothing new there.

He was a teammate of his at Man City, if thats what you mean

Joey Barton?

He's been absolutely woefull for Stevenage. You'd think dropping down 3 divisions he'd walk it, but the players simply didn't want to play for him, which was a bit bizarre. Awful football, and nobody shed a tear when he left. As a coach he might be OK, but as a manager, vastly overrated nowadays.

No, but more threads are needed. Its a pain in the arse now having 1 thread per subject. If theres genuine real development, can we not have new threads?

NEWCASTLE stars Charles N’Zogbia and Abdoulaye Faye had to be dragged apart hours before the final game of the season at Everton. The pair got into a furious row about wages. A Toon source said: “There has been a lot of bickering about wages. "Charles can be a wind-up merchant and Abdoulaye didn’t take very kindly to it. “It was incredibly heated but the other players calmed them down.” Resentment is simmering over huge disparities in contracts between players brought in during the regime of previous chairman Freddy Shepherd and those signed under new owner Mike Ashley. From Allardyces mate at The Sun. http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/article1160417.ece New day, different negative story!

That is the official anti-Newcastle paper in the Daily mail, mind...

Nearly

Feguson just said "theres nothing in it at all, I assure you".

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/article1138119.ece http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2008/05/08/sfnfro108.xml http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/sport/football.html?in_article_id=564656&in_page_id=1779&ito=1490 Oh dear

Another cracker from the Mail - they hate us more then Sunderland hate us http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/sport/football.html?in_article_id=564438&in_page_id=1779&ct=5 Kevin Keegan's relationship with his employers at Newcastle is at breaking point amid private concerns that Dennis Wise is being lined up to succeed him. Wise has made it clear that he has no interest in becoming manager, insisting that he is perfectly happy to continue in his role as executive director (football). But Keegan, according to sources close to him, only sees conspiracy amid the apparent chaos behind the scenes and has convinced himself his days are numbered at St James' Park. Keegan is renowned for his public outbursts but Monday's thinly-veiled attack on owner Mike Ashley and the club board was something he had been planning for six weeks. It is understood to date back to the start of the contract negotiations with Michael Owen which, for Keegan, represent another major source of frustration. When Keegan returned to Newcastle in January, he described Ashley as the perfect owner and someone the club should endeavour to keep. After last Monday's defeat by Chelsea, Keegan said he had a great relationship with Ashley because he 'never' talks to him. A particular problem for Keegan concerns player recruitment and other major football decisions. He thinks Wise and Tony Jimenez, who is the new vice-president with responsibility for player recruitment, are making decisions without even consulting him and do not share his philosophy on players. While Keegan wants to bring in established internationals like Wayne Bridge and Shaun Wright- Phillips, Wise and Jimenez are said to be scouting for so far undiscovered players who will grow in value once they come to the club. They want to bring in a new striker, when Keegan considers it more prudent to secure Owen on a long-term contract and he is becoming increasingly angered by the club's apparent apathy when it comes to extending the England forward's current deal. In his programme notes, Owen said he was still waiting for the club to begin talks over a new contract. It was one of the key reasons why Keegan went on the offensive on Monday, arguing that a lack of financial backing will keep Newcastle in what he now considers the second tier of the Barclays Premier League. He said: 'We're a million miles away from challenging for the league, but if my owner backs me, and I have no proof of that but no doubt he will, we want to try to finish fifth and top of the other mini-league. 'I get on great with the owner because I never talk to him.' Keegan also bemoaned the fact that he considers the financial backing from Ashley to be insufficient — interestingly, the same issue with former chairman Sir John Hall which prompted him to resign in 1997. Keegan will not resign on this occasion, not least because he cannot afford to financially, and the club's owners realise that sacking him would be hugely unpopular with supporters who still adore their Messiah. The impasse is likely to lead to a difficult summer. Friction over the recent departure of video technician and ProZone expert Dave Fallows, whom Keegan inherited from previous manager Sam Allardyce, could be an early indication of the battles ahead. Newcastle attempted to dampen down the speculation last night when a spokesman said: 'The story is inaccurate and anyone reading it should attach no credence to it whatsoever.' Meanwhile, Everton, West Ham, Celtic, Wolves and Queens Park Rangers want former Republic of Ireland defender Stephen Carr, who was one of three players told by Keegan he will not be offered a new contract by Newcastle. The former Tottenham defender, who announced his international retirement last year, signed from White Hart Lane in 2004 and has made 107 appearances for Newcastle. But he has also been plagued by injury in his four-year stint. Ashington-born Peter Ramage, who has featured in 68 first-team games, and Australia youth player James Troisi have also been told they can leave.

Is it The Times where Owen used to have/has a column? Good news if true, anyway. Yep. Think he's signed to the News of the world now. Same company though.

The Times reckon talks will open this week http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/newcastle/article3882788.ece

Would be delighted if this came off, and would give me a lot of confidence in our new board/structure of getting a deal like this done seemingly early on.

Caulkins never been that bad, to be fair.