sempuki

2-1 Wigan.

Tevez scores 1-0.

It was hard to understand we'd scored - no reaction at all.

Dyer.

Wigan 1-0

Mick Lowes said he was watching the Bolton game.

Was ganning to ask if it's on Century? Anyone knows? Well it should be on Newcastle world, but there is no audio output It's working alright for me unlike the last time.

Apparently Zog left the stadium after being on the bench - reason unknown.

Some crackers today. Jloyd Samuel then: ZAT'S WHAT TOON WANT NEWCASTLE are ready to launch a bid for Fulham defender Zat Knight, with the Londoners set to replace the 6ft 6in centreback with Portsmouth's Andy O'Brien. The Magpies have lined up Knight - who joined the Cottagers from non-league Rushall Olympic in 1999 in exchange for 30 tracksuits - as the man who can help them bring an end to the defensive woes that undermined Glenn Roeder's reign. Fulham will be looking to land £5m for Knight, having already identified former Newcastle defender O'Brien as his replacement. O'Brien has fallen out of favour at Pompey this season and Harry Redknapp is ready to offload him for a bargain fee. And..... IT'S KEANE AND ABEL By Brian Mcnally 13/05/2007 TYNE-WEAR rivals Newcastle and Sunderland have been alerted to Portugal defender Abel Xavier's decision to quit Middlesbrough. Xavier, 34, will leave the Riverside this summer after failing to agree a new contract, but is keen to remain in the North-East. Sunderland boss Roy Keane wants to recruit Premiership experience and has added the former Everton and Liverpool right-back to his wanted list. Keane is also looking at former England striker Robbie Fowler, who will leave Liverpool this summer and Celtic midfielder Thomas Gravesen. And..... FREDDIE READY TO DEPART NEWCASTLE and Portsmouth are set to battle for Freddie Ljungberg this summer. The Swedish midfielder is viewed as surplus to requirements by Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger - and that has alerted Pompey boss Harry Redknapp. With just one year left on his contract and at the age of 30, Ljungberg could prove to be the bargain signing of the transfer window. He is captain of his country and has a former Arsenal team-mate down at Fratton Park in Sol Campbell, who has enjoyed an impressive first season at Portsmouth. But competition for Ljungberg could well come from Newcastle once Sam Allardyce is confirmed as the new manager at St James' Park. Ljungberg has said he wants to stay at Arsenal but knows he must be involved in regular action if he is to lead his nation in Euro 2008.

I thought old Centre Partin' was coming back.

SAM PLAN TO LIFT FOG OVER TYNE Sunday May 13,2007 By John Richardson But Shearer was first Geordie pick Sam Allardyce will sign a four-year deal worth £12million this week with orders to spark a Newcastle United revolution. After originally insisting Big Sam would never be given another opportunity to manage on Tyneside after turning down the job in the aftermath of Sir Bobby Robson’s sacking, chairman Freddy Shepherd has done an about-turn. He decided that with Glenn Roeder rapidly losing support from the Toon army, and with Allardyce severing his ties with Bolton, it was too good a chance to miss. But I can reveal the move for Allardyce came only after former Newcastle United skipper Alan Shearer was sounded out about the job. Shearer, though, believed the timing was wrong. He has only just completed his first year as a front-line pundit for the BBC and had made a commitment to spend more time with his family. That was like tossing almost £50m into the Tyne, along with the inflated wages also lost Despite his love and affection for his home-town club, who travel to Watford today, he declined to step into the ­manager’s seat. That will now be occupied by Allardyce, who has received assurances from Shepherd that he will be able to do the job his way. It will mean a complete revamp of the St James’ Park backroom set-up with Allardyce insisting his modern thinking – which helped Bolton reach unprecedented heights in the Premiership – is replicated at Newcastle. Allardyce employed a backroom staff of 28 at The Reebok, which included sports scientists, dieticians and specialist trainers. He wants a similar scenario in the North East which will obviously eat into the St James’ Park budget. But Allardyce knows that to succeed at a club with such high expectations – but which has endured low returns on the playing field in recent years – he has to be able to operate within the right environment. Although millions of pounds have been wasted by several Newcastle managers since the successful Kevin Keegan era, Shepherd has promised adequate transfer funds will be made available. Shepherd will hope Big Sam invests the cash better than some of his predecessors who have been guilty of over-spending on players including Marcelino, Hugo Viana, Jean-Alain Boumsong and Albert Luque. That was like tossing almost £50m into the Tyne, along with the inflated wages also lost. Allardyce is a shrewd cookie in the foreign market and will be expected to keep that up – although at a lower average age. Even though he has yet to be officially installed as Newcastle’s latest boss, he has been involved in trying to rescue the deal involving Reading’s Steve Sidwell. Sidwell had agreed to join the Geordies on a Bosman free when Roeder was in charge, but has since begun talks with other clubs including Chelsea and Everton. Allardyce has let it be known that he would love the energetic midfielder to be part of his Newcastle side, but Chelsea are the new favourites to sign him. He will also be heavily involved in talks about Michael Owen’s future. As Sunday Express Sport revealed, Manchester United are interested in signing the England striker in the summer if he has proved his fitness. An escape clause was inserted in his contract when Newcastle bought him from Real Madrid in August 2005 for £16m which allows him to move for £11m – not £9m which has been widely reported. I believe Allardyce will be ­prepared to let Owen leave so he can utilise the cash for his own transfer targets. It’s going to be a lively summer on Tyneside and made the more intriguing by Roy Keane preparing up the road for Sunderland’s return to the Premiership.

EXCLUSIVE: BIG SAM'S BIG KITTY ALLARDYCE TO BE UNVEILED THIS WEEK Brian Mcnally 13/05/2007 SAM ALLARDYCE will be handed a £25million transfer fund as he bids to meet the challenge of restoring Newcastle to the Premiership top six. The former Bolton boss will sign a fouryear deal worth about £10million this week to succeed Glenn Roeder - whose departure as Toon manager was revealed exclusively in last week's Sunday Mirror. Chairman Freddy Shepherd, who lunched with Allardyce at Claridges in London on Friday, plans further formal talks over the next 48 hours, with the official unveiling likely to be on Tuesday or Wednesday. Advertisement Shepherd and Allardyce want the negotiations and the contract signed before Thursday, when both men plan to attend the Football Writers' Association dinner at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London. Newcastle sources say the deal is "99.9 per cent certain" to go through although the two sides have still to finalise key issues such as the size and cost of Big Sam's backroom staff. But Allardyce has been assured his transfer kitty will be considerably in excess of the £15m Roeder spent last summer. The Toon chairman told Sunday Mirror Sport: "The first job for the new manager is to get Newcastle back into the top six and to make sure the club is playing regularly in Europe. That is the minimum we expect. "Where we are in the Premier League this season simply isn't acceptable to either me or our fans. The managerial change is about re-establishing Newcastle United as a formidable power in both the Premiership and Europe. "Sam Allardyce knows that a club with Newcastle's support, resources and wage bill must be challenging at the top end of the table. "You only have to look at what he achieved in transforming Bolton to know that his credentials match the job description. "But Sam knows just how badly affected we were with injuries last season. He has a lot of sympathy for Glenn Roeder." And Shepherd broke his silence on Roeder's departure to praise the former manager. He added: "The performance against Blackburn simply wasn't good enough and Glenn knew that. He did the honourable thing and resigned. "But I appreciate everything he did for Newcastle. He will remain a personal friend and a friend to Newcastle United." Allardyce intends to keep the existing senior Newcastle coaching trio of Nigel Pearson, Terry McDermott and Lee Clark in place until he has a chance to evaluate his staff needs. One of the first major tasks for Allardyce will be to sort out the future of striker Michael Owen, linked with a move away from Tyneside amid claims of a £9m get-out clause in his contract. Allardyce is desperate to keep Owen at Newcastle, and talks of a summer bid from Manchester United have been rubbished by senior Old Trafford sources. Allardyce's hand may be strengthened by the fact that Shepherd is close to resolving his dispute with the FA over Newcastle's compensation claim for Owen's medical treatment following last summer's World Cup injury. Shepherd threatened to prevent Owen playing against Brazil and Estonia next month if there was no negotiated settlement, but the Magpies chief has revealed the two sides are now close to a compromise. And Shepherd has intimated that Owen, called up for the England B squad last week, will be released for the Wembley friendly with the Brazilians and the vital World Cup game in Estonia five days later. Shepherd said: "We are still talking with the FA and I am sure common sense will prevail."

SAM TAKING JOEY WITH HIM EXCLUSIVE He's heading for Toon.. and bad boy Joey is going with him By Alan Nixon SAM ALLARDYCE will put pen to paper on a £13MILLION Newcastle deal this week...and immediately make a controversial move for Joey Barton. Magpies chairman Freddy Shepherd has offered Allardyce a four-year contract worth £3.25m a season. That will put him on a par with Rafa Benitez and Arsene Wenger - and behind only Jose Mourinho and and Sir Alex Ferguson in the Premiership wage list. He has also been promised substantial transfer funds by Shepherd. And Allardyce will spark immediate debate by tabling a £5m bid for Barton. The disgraced Manchester City midfielder could face police action after his training-ground fight with team-mate Ousmane Dabo - an incident that saw City boss Stuart Pearce ban Barton for the rest of the season. Barton - who is also in the sights of Everton and Spurs - will not play for City again but the club are holding out for a £5.5m fee. Allardyce is also planning a raid on old club Bolton for Nicolas Anelka if Newcastle get the right offer for Michael Owen in the transfer window. Owen's fragile relationship with Shepherd looks certain to end with the England star leaving. And that will spark Allardyce's move for Anelka. Bolton believe they have an agreement with Allardyce that bars him from taking their players and staff. But if Newcastle match any offers for Anelka, then they will get their man. Wanderers chief Sammy Lee admits Anelka could go and prices of between £12m and £20m have been bandied around in the past few days. Allardyce is also heading for a battle with Bolton for FC Sion's Swiss Under-21 midfielder Gelson Fernandes. Allardyce, 52, will be unveiled as the sixth manager of Shepherd's tenure as chairman later this week and handed at least £16m to strengthen his squad. And the Magpies are going to back Allardyce's move to bring in his own expert medical and scientific teams. The total outlay - including Allardyce's salary - will top £30m but Shepherd believes he has finally landed the man who can end Newcastle's barren years.

sure it does. "Newcastle United do not win trophies." Sounds reasonable to me. Fair point.

Nice sentiment but he's chosen the wrong club - us and trophies in the same sentence doesn't sound right sadly.

Interesting topic and he would be Jesus incarnate if he could make wine from the sewage that is Luque and Bramble. He's rehabilitated miscreants in the past but this would be miraculous!

SAM ALLARDYCE will be given around £40million to rebuild Newcastle yet his first signing is likely to cost nothing. The ex-Bolton chief will be unveiled as Toon boss within the next few days. He has agreed to replace Glenn Roeder and been promised a war chest to launch the Geordies into the top five. Allardyce will get £15m up front and can re-invest cash generated by sales. I understand Toon will listen to offers for Kieron Dyer, Scott Parker, Emre and Oba Martins — and that could generate a further £25m to invest. Rejected Yet Big Sam's first signing is likely to be striker Mark Viduka. The Aussie star is out of contract and has so far rejected a new deal at Middlesbrough, so would cost nothing. Allardyce told Toon chairman Freddy Shepherd at a meeting on Friday in London that he will take the reins. Yet the club refuse to comment publicly until the deal is finally complete. Shepherd is acutely aware his attempts at landing his previous top managerial targets backfired spectacularly at the last minute when he was rejected by both Steve Bruce and Martin O'Neill. But Newcastle are hoping to officially unveil Allardyce as their new manager by Wednesday.

Nailed on imo. Allardyce set to take over at Newcastle - reports LONDON, May 12 (Reuters) - Former Bolton Wanderers manager Sam Allardyce appears poised to take over at Newcastle United, according to newspaper reports early on Saturday. Allardyce, who ended an eight-year spell at Bolton when he quit the Premier League club last month, held talks with Newcastle chairman Freddy Shepherd on Friday. Shepherd likened the 52-year-old former central defender to Joe Harvey, who was at the helm when Newcastle last won a trophy in the 1969 Fairs Cup, the forerunner to the UEFA Cup. "The club needs a lift and Sam is the nearest I've seen to a replica of Joe Harvey," Shepherd was quoted as saying. "I am excited, Sam is excited, and we are looking forward to making this work. "We had a good meeting and will continue discussions over the weekend but everything went okay. You don't wrap up something like this in two minutes." Former club captain Glenn Roeder resigned as Newcastle manager earlier this week. Newcastle, who finish the season with a visit to Watford on Sunday, are 13th in the 20-team Premier League.

Shepherd challenges Owen to pledge his loyalty Michael Walker Thursday May 10, 2007 The Guardian Michael Owen's position at Newcastle has come under scrutiny after the public emergence of a £9m get-out clause in his contract. The uncertainty over the striker's commitment to Newcastle, which has been present ever since the day he arrived at St James' Park, has increased markedly with the revelation of the clause and the chairman, Freddy Shepherd, last night challenged the striker to pledge his future to the club. "I'm telling Michael he has two choices," said Shepherd. "He either comes out and tells our fans, who have taken him to their hearts, that he is happy here or I tell him that not one of the big four clubs, Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal or Liverpool, are interested in him. Because that's the case. The loyalty this club has shown him over the last two years when he had injury problems in his first season and has missed virtually all of this season deserves something in return." Having played in only 14 Newcastle games since his £17.5m transfer from Real Madrid in August 2005, Owen has expressed "guilt" about his metatarsal and knee ligament injuries blighting his Newcastle career but there has been no definitive statement from him that he will be a Newcastle player in August. There is an expectation inside and outside the club that Owen will feel a sense of moral obligation towards Newcastle after they rehabilitated him following his knee injury at last year's World Cup and paid more than half of his weekly wage of £115,000. But, while the forward has talked of his guilt at missing about 16 of the 21 months he has been on Tyneside, there has been no confirmation from the player that he will stay for next season. Newcastle fans would like to hear Owen say he will be at St James' regardless of offers this summer. In Saturday's match programme Owen responded to a question about his future by saying he would "hopefully play and score more goals for Newcastle United"; but he did not use the words "next season". Owen said in October in an after-dinner speech: "In terms of how long I stay at Newcastle, I'm here as long as everybody wants me. I had four years on my contract when I signed last year, so I would say at least that length of time and then you'd have to ask the chairman for the rest." Newcastle would like to hear something comparable now as would, presumably, Sam Allardyce, the former Bolton manager, who is expected to be announced as Glenn Roeder's successor next week, although it is understood no contract has been signed and there are prolonged discussions over the make-up and size of Allardyce's potential backroom staff.

He's trying to cover himself but has left it far too late. Doesn't look good in my opinion. Very unprofessional but what's new.

I'll fly over to Newcastle and give both FF and Owen a kicking if this happens! United eager to trigger Owen's £9m escape clause By Sam Wallace Published: 09 May 2007 The Newcastle United striker Michael Owen will be the first target for Sir Alex Ferguson this summer with the new Premiership champions eager to take advantage of a clause in the player's contract that will make him one of the summer's best bargains. Owen should be available to leave St James' Park for around £9m. Should a deal be struck, there is understood to be no major objections from the man himself about joining the oldest rivals of his first club Liverpool who passed up the chance to re-sign him in 2005 when he left Real Madrid. The 27-year-old found his old club outbid then by Newcastle but the clause in his contract means that he will be able to leave the north-east for much less than the £17m paid for him two years ago. Manchester United have explored the possibility of signing Dimitar Berbatov but, having agreed a deal of up to £18.6m for Michael Carrick last year, have been told that on this occasion Tottenham Hotspur will attempt to price the Bulgarian international out the market. Owen fits the bill for Old Trafford in more than one way, he brings the guarantee of goals and he comes cheaper than usual for a former European footballer of the year. The dispute between the Football Association and Newcastle over who pays Owen's wages following his World Cup injury has all but disclosed that the player is on £110,000-a-week which would put him among the top earners at Old Trafford. As usual, any reports of Owen leaving Newcastle where injury has prevented him playing more than 13 games in two years, are likely to be met with a firm riposte from St James Park but there is no question that Manchester United are interested. The Newcastle chairman Freddy Shepherd is yet to appoint a new manager since Glenn Roeder's departure and Owen's future is likely to play a significant role in that deal. However, regardless of the bad luck Newcastle may have had with Owen's metatarsal injury last year, and this season's cruciate, the original release clause was there for just this kind of move. It would not play well with the Newcastle public, but they might wish to question why such an agreement was brokered in the first place. Ferguson has lacked a more traditional goalscoring poacher since the departure of Ruud van Nistelrooy last summer and, with the injuries to Louis Saha, there has not been a settled strike partner for Wayne Rooney. Owen would also suit the high-tempo, pressing game that United have switched to over the last season in the absence of the Dutchman. "Speed is important to us," Ferguson said. "The way we play we need that in the team. At the moment we are looking whether we can get more speed." With deals also likely for Owen Hargreaves and Gareth Bale, Ferguson will certainly test the finances of the club under the Glazer ownership this summer. In the meantime, he is expected to pick a strong United side to play at Stamford Bridge tonight as his champions attempt to be the first team to inflict Chelsea's first home Premiership defeat since Jose Mourinho took over. The Chelsea manager is expected to rest Didier Drogba. United's Portuguese winger Cristiano Ronaldo has recorded an appeal for the return of the missing English girl Madeleine McCann who was abducted while on a family holiday in the Algarve on Thursday. Ronaldo filmed the appeal in English and Portuguese before travelling with the United squad to London for tonight's game at Stamford Bridge. The appeal was made at the request of the British foreign office staff in Portugal who thought that his huge profile in his home country would draw attention to the hunt for the missing three-year-old.

Why do they need to go to a posh hotel to hold a meeting? Why not at the ground? Unless they are expecting a special "guest" although with Sky Sports News there.....it doesn't make sense!

He's got his Soccer Circus thing though - wouldn't be surprised about Allardyce although would be about Shearer and Lee.

Seems he wasn't too popular: Players lose faith in latest Tyneside victim Geordie fans make their anger known during another woeful display, reports Michael Walker Monday May 7, 2007 The Guardian Even at Newcastle United, where the relationship with discord could be said to be umbilical, Saturday presented the faithful with a fresh low. And while it may have been recognisable as another incoherent end to a familiar season of non-attainment, it still hurts each time. It was painful to watch, particularly the moment when, with the stadium four-fifths empty as the players were asked to perform an obligatory lap of "honour", the manager, Glenn Roeder, walked across towards young James Milner and offered to pat him on the back. The player did not acknowledge it. There was no sense of shock that Roeder left yesterday. Whether he offered his resignation or was pushed seems almost pointless to argue just now. He was cornered by results and by a demanding chairman with a populist bent. The fans had also begun to turn on Roeder, en masse for the first time, although it felt like the end as far back as the Ides of March. That was when Newcastle's implosion in Alkmaar sent them out of the Uefa Cup at the last 16 stage. Kieron Dyer said it would take "a long time to get that out of our system" and Newcastle have won only one of their eight games since. Roeder disputed Dyer's assessment but it felt correct then and has not been disproved. The players have to take their share of responsibility but so does Roeder. Milner may dispute the apparent cold shoulder but in the stands it was evidence that Roeder was, at best, struggling to inspire this group of players any more. On Saturday there had already been a refusal to shake hands by Titus Bramble when he was substituted and then Stephen Carr declined to go out for the parade despite Roeder's request as the Irishman disappeared down the tunnel.There had been a form of writing on the wall, courtesy of dressing-room mutterings of discontent, for the past few weeks. Roeder started accusing his team in public and as each week brought a new defeat or limp effort, the sense of distance between manager and players and manager and boardroom grew. Against Blackburn on Saturday, Newcastle were dreadful and injuries could not be used as a reason. Roeder has a just explanation for a poor Premiership finish in the crisis that deprived him of Michael Owen and Shola Ameobi in the first season post-Alan Shearer. But of late Roeder's repeated references to those injuries, plus the Uefa Cup exit and then this run of bad form has seen his popularity locally plummet. Shepherd's December damned-with-faint-praise description of the manager as lacking "stardust" told another story. When Roeder had succeeded Graeme Souness last February his common sense brought unity and shape to a shambles of a team. Roeder offered a different sort of Newcastle United manager from the previous "big" personalities: Souness, Robson, Gullit, Dalglish, Keegan. The lack of big-time charisma did not matter. He was a former club captain who understood the frustrated soul of Tyneside, unlike his predecessor, and as Newcastle under Roeder restored some credibility to the club, some, post-West Ham, came to Roeder himself. There was an emphatic victory at the Stadium of Light. Roeder was happy, proud, accessible and Newcastle's next manager. The contrast with now is illuminating. Of late he has started to describe himself as "super-positive" yet he has appeared angst-ridden and, perhaps understandably given the passage of events, paranoid. But then Roeder was never 100% sure of his level of control, though it can be guaranteed that it was not 100%. Who brought Olivier Bernard back to the club? Who made the decision to dispense with Kevin Bond, a Roeder appointment, after the airing of the Panorama programme? If Roeder ever disagreed with decisions, did he have the strength to fight them? He no longer has Shearer around either. With Owen's injury and Ameobi due for an operation, Shearer goals, plus his massive presence in the dressing room has been emphasised this season in his absence. So Roeder was hindered seriously by circumstance but while Saturday's performance included Owen for another 90 minutes, it lacked just about everything else. Mark Hughes has not been mentioned as a possible contender for the job but his Rovers side were everything Newcastle were not: coherent, gutsy, clinical. They defended like men interested in defending as opposed to Newcastle: when Benni McCarthy and Jason Roberts scored their goals they were unchallenged. Newcastle now have one remaining game, at Watford, a former Roeder club. But he will not be there. His medical history, he often said, gives him a unique sense of perspective in football. But Roeder will still be bitterly disappointed and a sadness will be if the memory of his days as a Newcastle player - he once wore the No9 unbelievably - is compromised.

Some papers are speculating Allardyce will be in charge before the Watford game.