Paully

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/rangers/11388286/Mike-Ashley-is-treating-Rangers-like-a-branch-of-Sports-Direct-with-his-knockdown-loan-deals.html Mike Ashley is treating Rangers like a branch of Sports Direct with his knockdown loan deals Newcastle owner's decision to send five players over the border on short-term contracts raises yet more questions over his intentions for both clubs Mike Ashley is treating Rangers like a branch of Sports Direct with his knockdown loan deals By Paul Hayward, Chief Sports Writer A debt is owed to Mick Quinn for pointing out that Newcastle United are sponsored by Wonga and were therefore bound to make some hefty post-Christmas loans to the disadvantaged: in this case Glasgow Rangers. Quinn, the former Newcastle striker, even suggested that his old club should now be called Rangecastle United As the window closed in England, a door opened in Scotland for five Newcastle players sent across the frontier to help Mike Ashley’s ‘other’ club win promotion from the Scottish Championship to the Scottish Premiership. Gael Bigirimana, Shane Ferguson, Haris Vuckic, Kevin Mbabu and Remie Streete were dispatched from Tyneside to Glasgow like a Sports Direct consignment of workers not good enough for a Premier League first XI but capable of improving a team in Scotland’s second tier. Interestingly the mass market move came after Rangers failed to register a shot on target in their 2-0 defeat by Celtic in the Scottish League Cup semi-final: a return of the Old Firm game, but not as we know it. Like a boxer waiting in the ring for his opponent to stop messing about in the dressing room, Celtic await the restoration of a rivalry that turned stone cold when Rangers were liquidated and forced to start again in Division Three. Only two English Premier League clubs declined to sign a player in the January transfer window now closed: Liverpool and Newcastle United, who were lambasted by the partner of Davide Santon following his loan move to Inter Milan. In a tweet, Chloe Sanderson alleged: "Disgusted with how Davide has been treated, fully fit for a while now with no chance to play – a club whose only intentions are to make £££." In a recent Radio 5 interview, the former Newcastle chairman Freddy Shepherd suggested that John Carver would be made manager at least until the end of the season because he would not demand money from Ashley to make new signings. In other words, Carver, an honourable sort who knows the club well, would be so grateful to land the chance to prove himself that he would not challenge the Newcastle model of bargain-hunting-with-high-sales. Shepherd also theorised that Ashley was now lending money to Rangers to become their owner by other means: by positioning himself as the club’s "banker", a tactic that would prevent him running into difficulty with Uefa’s ban on owning two clubs in the same competition. Uncertainty: Rangers fans have lost faith in their club after years of financial struggle None of this is illegal, but it creates a stink at both ends. As the Newcastle five motored north on a mission to blow away Hibs, Queen of the South and Falkirk (Hearts have a seemingly unassailable 16-point lead at the top), Carver’s squad was stripped of five fringe players, as well as Santon, Hatem Ben Arfa (released) and Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa, who went to Roma. The CVs of the five players are important: Bigirimana, 21, has made 26 first-team appearances and is one of the stars of Peter Beardsley’s Under-21 side. Ferguson, 23, has 17 Northern Ireland caps but is returning from a knee injury. Mbabu is a Switzerland Under-19 international who has yet to make his first-team debut while Streete, 20, has made it as far as the Newcastle bench. Finally Vuckic, 22, has a Slovenia cap but has managed only 32 appearances for the first XI since joining in 2009. This quintet of nearly-men and players in development is bound to swing the odds in favour of Rangers as Ashley protects his recent £10 million loan to the blue half of Glasgow, which bought him control of the training ground, registered trademarks and "other properties" (though not Ibrox). The loans also entitled Ashley to nominate Derek Llambias and Barry Leach of Sports Direct to the Ibrox board. Meanwhile a Scottish FA judicial panel are examining Ashley’s stakes in Newcastle and Rangers after Scotland’s governing body stopped him increasing his Rangers stake to just under 30 per cent. Among the questions that need answering: are Rangers paying the Newcastle loanees from the money Ashley has lent them, i.e has he turned a wage cost at Newcastle into part of Rangers’ debt to him? And most importantly: what are his intentions for both clubs? Which does he want to own long-term, and would it be right for him to control Rangers while acting as their banker and at the same time use Newcastle as a glorified Sports Direct branch? Ashley knows the rules and he knows how to make them work to his advantage. But when those five players set off from Newcastle, for an assignment few of them, probably, would have chosen as their ideal career move, Ashley borrowed a move from the Pozzo family, who owned Watford, Udinese in Italy and Granada in Spain. Rangers were desperate. They turned to Ashley. Five possibly bewildered players took off their Wonga shirts and crossed the border, bearing loans.

Blatant conflict of interests! The sooner a Govan nutter sticks a battered Mars Bar through his heart the better!

Can you suffer it on our behalf Wullie? Can't stand TF This. Used to enjoy it but nowadays they just come across as smug as f*** without much knowledge of the game IMO. Hoooooo! Ha ha ha!

Wickham played five or more games last season for Sunderland, Sheff Wed and Leeds and Bent is going to do likewise this season with Villa, Brighton and Derby yet FIFA ruin HBA's season because he played 90 minutes for our under 21's and 503 minutes for Hull! What a joke!

That's scandalous if true then! What a farce!

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/feb/03/sports-direct-zero-contract-workers-compensation

Bradford and another game away from Wembley again - FFS!

What's the difference between HBA and Streete? Both played for our under 21s and a team on loan yet HBA can't play for Nice but Streete can play for Rangers?! Eh?!

'JC' this, 'JC' that Newcastle United's Peter Beardsley insists the future is bright for local talent http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/newcastle-uniteds-peter-beardsley-insists-8566678

Apparently it's a "real coup" that we managed to keep hold of him according to the reporter on SSN - fuck off man!

I'm not surprised he's injured! http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/02/02/f7870d393bb4bade9cab89629d940c85.jpg

Five players going to Rangers on loan according to SSN

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15/02/02/2404ca2705d7caaeaf4074ade55cb17d.jpg

This Wasn't he the one who grabbed HBA when he went for Pardew after Man Utd allegedly?!

5 wins and 1 draw I believe. Aye; Gillingham a Palace a Man City a Liverpool H West Brom a Burnley a

http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11788/9684467/sfa-sets-march-dates-for-rangers-and-mike-ashley-hearings

Apologies for the bump! http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/newcastle-united-managerial-situation-what-8528647 What happened to Remi Garde? The trail went very, very cold in the last seven days. Before then, French sources were adamant that he had got the job. He was talking freely – although off-the-record – back home and it appeared as if he was a shoo-in for a role he certainly wanted. He even commentated on the Manchester City-Arsenal game for French TV and dropped a huge hint that he was coming to Tyneside. He went quiet a week ago and mystery surrounds just what happened. There was talk of him wanting to bring his coaching staff over, but I understand he would have worked with Steve Stone, Carver and Andy Woodman. He wanted another coach but that could have waited until the end of the season. He remains open to an approach, but it seems like his time has come and gone.

http://www.nufc.co.uk/articles/20150128/united-freeze-adult-season-ticket-prices_2281670_4446624

Canny article by Douglas http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/newcastle-delay-revolution-favour-resolution-8522144

Cracking article! http://www.football365.com/f365-says/9669741/F365-Says Alan Shearer - The Last Of A Lost Generation Alan Shearer has been the top Premier League goalscorer for over 20 years, yet his greatness is almost ignored in favour of those more 'sexy'. Daniel Storey pays homage... 1996 was the year that football 'came home' to England. Euro '96 united the country, a collective attempt to recapture the spirit of '66, Moore, Hurst and all that, a nation defined by football for one glorious summer. It was not to be. Thirty-eight days after Oliver Bierhoff's golden goal at Wembley, football truly did come home to Newcastle. A city partied in the streets, celebrating the warmest of welcome backs. Fifteen thousand people had gathered in the car park of St James' Park, 15,000 worshippers outside their footballing church longing to pay homage to a returning deity. Forget the European Championships, forget penalties and forget the Germans - Alan Shearer was back where he belonged. The mood in Newcastle on August 7, 1996 was one of jubilation, a cloud of hysteria engulfing every Geordie. The Guardian interviewed 63-year-old Barbara Donaldson: "The morning he signed I went to get my pension," she said. "Normally they're a right grumpy lot but that day everybody in the queue had a smile like a Cheshire cat. If you'd put us in for the Olympic high jump that morning, we'd have set a world record." Newcastle owner John Hall and manager Kevin Keegan were suitably excited, effervescent with pride. "This sends out a signal to the world," Keegan said. You only half-imagined that he was limiting this boast to the world of football. Amidst the hoopla, Shearer seemed calm and reserved, almost embarrassed by the fuss he was causing. He was presented to the fans on a makeshift stage, flanked by two large novelty blow-up bottles of Newcastle Brown Ale that looked like an elaborate joke about Geordie bouncers. And then he beamed, a smile that seemed like it would never be taken from his face. Confetti was thrown, scarves were raised, flags were waved. When Shearer finally spoke, he seemed shy and nervous, talking almost exclusively in clichés, before revealing a glimpse of his true emotion. "If money comes my way, that's fine," he concluded. "I'll deal with that when it comes along. It certainly won't change me. After all, I'm only a sheet metal-worker's son from Newcastle." Whatever the gap in wages, fame or adoration, he was one of them. And they loved him for it. Newcastle fans have a history of adoring their strikers, from Hughie Gallacher to Shola Ameobi via Jackie Milburn, Malcolm Macdonald, Kevin Keegan, Peter Beardsley and plenty more besides. But, amidst all those favourites, Shearer was different. He wasn't so much loved as worshipped. Every fan wanted to be Alan Shearer, and to them he epitomised everything great about a city that lived its life through football. Ask any supporter for their favourite memory of Wor Al, and each will be different, but preceded by the same reaction: That far-off look into the distance, the widening smile and shining of eyes. Shearer was not just their hero, but also their everyman, their "sheet metal-worker's son". Every Geordie loved Shearer because, on some minute level, every Geordie felt as if they were Shearer. He simply lived their dreams. It is odd now thinking about Shearer as a player, closing in on 20 years since that unveiling and a decade since he retired. He is a great, perhaps even the great Premier League striker, a complete forward boasting an astonishing goalscoring record. Yet Shearer's achievements and ability feel strangely overlooked. Except on Tyneside, of course. Shearer now appears part of a lost generation. At a time when English football was desperate to sell itself as sexy and continental, his brilliance was almost became brushed under the carpet. It now seems bizarre that his Premier League career overlapped Thierry Henry's by seven years. He is, as you will know, the top scorer in Premier League history, his 260 goals putting him 73 ahead of Andy Cole in second place. The gap between Shearer and Cole is larger than that between Cole and 16th place on the list. He has more PL goals than Stoke, Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest, amongst many others, and scored 11 hat-tricks; no current player has more than six. This level of goalscoring is so rare in an Englishman. For all Wayne Rooney's excellence, no domestic player has won the Premier League's Golden Boot this century. Rooney will come close to overtaking Shearer's record, but is likely to fall short. Whilst the Manchester United striker has scored more than 20 league goals in a season twice, Shearer did so on seven occasions. A reminder too that the latter was 22 by the time the Premier League even began. Shearer's goals came in 441 matches, at a rate of 0.59 goals per game. He can also boast a record of a goal every 147 minutes, which is behind Edin Dzeko, Luis Suarez, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Thierry Henry and Sergio Aguero. However, if you take out Shearer's matches after turning 34, that record is less prolific than only Henry, Van Nistelrooy and Aguero. His longevity must also be applauded. He scored more than 20 Premier League goals in a season in 1993/94 and 2003/04. His first PL brace came on its opening day and his last in April 2006. Should Rooney fail to reach 260 league goals, his is a record that is likely to stand for another 15 years at least. If Harry Kane, the latest Bright Young Thing, scores a goal every other league game (never missing a match through injury or suspension), he will overtake Shearer by the age of 35. That helps to put his durability into perspective. Shearer's record must also be put into context of the clubs he played for. His only career honour (Le Tournoi aside) was the Premier League title in 1994/95, and he shunned a move to Manchester United in order to join his hometown club. If we examine the three aforementioned strikers (Henry, Van Nistelrooy and Aguero) who have a better minutes-per-goals record, they finished in an average league position of 2.3, 2.4 and 1.3 respectively over their time in the Premier League. Shearer's figure is 6.6. In short, he was the complete striker. Most notable was his power, epitomised by Alex Ferguson's summation that Shearer "kicked the ball as if he wanted to kill it". However, he also possessed a wonderful technique, and his volleying was amongst the best in Europe at his peak. That over 20% of his Newcastle goals were scored with his head reflects his obvious aerial ability. There is a tendency to see Shearer as functional, but this is grossly unfair. It's as if our brains cannot compute that volume of goals. Luis Suarez scored 31 goals last season and everyone lost their s**t - Shearer matched or bettered that for three seasons in a row. However, the most fervent praise is reserved for the way Shearer changed his game after serious injury. A snapped right anterior cruciate ligament in December 1992 did not severely hamper the striker's future career, but when Shearer then tore his ankle ligaments in 1997/98 and suffered further knee problems, he transformed himself from all-round striker to target man. He suffered another serious knee injury in 2001 and had further operations to relieve the effects of tendonitis. It was a medial ligament injury that finally ended his career in 2006. Perhaps it is Shearer's reputation for being 'boring' that affects his standing in comparison with other Premier League greats. 'Sexy' is the word you would perhaps use least to describe his game, and Shearer's personality and demeanour is of a quiet, family man. You cannot name his wife or children, and his wedding was not splashed across Hello magazine. Even Shearer's celebration was mocked for being boring. He was labelled 'Mary Poppins' by then Newcastle owner Freddy Shepherd for his cleaner-than-clean image. As if that's a bad thing. Shearer also suffers for his punditry career, his brand of 'Alanysis' on Match of the Day criticised for being bland and cliché-ridden. Whilst the accusation may be true, he is simply a product of his own environment. If the show really wanted anything more provocative, it would have been demanded by now. In many ways, Shearer is a collection of contrasting notions. He is a legend in Newcastle, and yet scored 112 goals in 138 league games at Blackburn. He began his career as a poacher, but ended it as one of England's finest ever target men. He was a Division One striker, but in a Premier League era. He was a footballing great, but a man who never sought greatness. But, most of all, he was a Geordie. "When I was a young boy I wanted to play for Newcastle United, I wanted to wear the number nine shirt and I wanted to score goals at St James' Park," Shearer said upon his retirement. "I've lived my dream, and I realise how lucky I've been to have done that." The people of Newcastle consider themselves lucky to have had him. Daniel Storey

Pardew managed NUFC for 211 weeks and won one FA Cup match; Pardew has managed Palace for three weeks and has won two FA Cup matches! I can't wait to see his smarmy face when he holds the FA Cup on May 30th!

Yep - one with us - injury time at home to lower league Blackburn!

Do not even suggest that!

I dread to think of the media's reaction if they win today! Broad shoulders lads as they'll be gunning for us for being 'deluded' again!! His shitness will prevail after the new manager bounce pisses off!

I can't believe this cunt!