Wallace

Which is still massively more than Hooper is on (which incidently, I do know ) Wasn't Bellamy just fined £160k for his interview last week - if so, that would imply he is on £80k per week as fines are normally 2 weeks salary.

Err...we were linked with him a few weeks ago. Rumour that he trained with our team was quashed by Hughton. Supposed to be unable to pass a medical.

The French game is on ESPN but is a delayed transmission as they have just finished the first half.

This sounds familiar. From Juliette Ferrington's Twitter "shay given says he will consider his future at manchester city if he isn't selected v tottenham this weekend. "

So who does the negotiation on behalf of the club? Charnley, Llambias??

What is it with all the facial hair? Carroll's got something going on as well and Jonas has a bigger beard than usual.

Would be a great signing for them. Don't see why Mourinho would sell him though. Didn't he sell him to Arsenal when he was at Chelsea?

It does raise questions, yet again, about who makes the decisions about transfers at that club. They've had a recent history there of friction between players, and between players and manager. Mancini is still trying to establish himself, and there will be lots of new faces anyway who will need to be knitted together into a team. Why bring in Balotelli? Not only is he a difficult player to manage, he actually seems to take pride in being difficult. Exactly. You think they would have learned after Robinho. Maybe Mancini wants an even greater project on his hands ... Wasn't Mancini his manager at Inter?

Pretty poor tbh. I was about half way up at Norwich and everyone was sitting down except for the back couple of rows. Wasn't a regular away crowd - lots of families and young kids.

He probably has put on weight but I think that new training top makes all the players look a lot bigger .

http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/newcastle-united/nufc-news/2010/07/31/hughton-backs-steven-taylor-to-play-big-role-72703-26969525/ From yesterday's Chronicle: "Yet with the 38-game season about to kick off, Hughton knows Taylor’s services will be needed and still plans to name him on his 25-man squad list with November and December in mind, and the festive period always likely to throw up injuries elsewhere"

Apparently, Drenthe has said on Facebook that he is going to sign for Liverpool.

He does have an uncanny knack in scoring in the big games - Barcelona, semi-final, derby games etc.

I have just come back from Corbridge and heard that Beckham had been in The Angel! There seemed to be an awful lot of people going into the church. No doubt for a nosey at the preparations.

The version that will be available for fans to buy won't have a sponsor on at all.

Scored for Wigan against them as well.

from Twitter .@SunSteveBrenner @Scottwilsonecho probably sums why Colin Calderwood's nickname among #NFFC fans was 'Clueless.' 6 minutes ago via UberTwitter in reply to SunSteveBrenner .Astonished #NUFC think James Perch will cut it in Prem. Nice lad but, trust me, he was #NFFC whipping boy. Poor even in Lg 1. 9 minutes ago via UberTwitter .

Nolan told the local journos at the end of the season that he was going to Glasto.

It should be interesting for him next season because City must have promised Joe Hart game time as Birmingham wanted to buy him. I wonder if Given will be so quick to throw his toys out of the pram at City if he is not guaranteed to start each game.

I read something in one of the papers today where it said the BBC were considering doing something with the sound.

Looks likely seeing as the Chronicle are saying that Simpson will miss the first 4 games of the season.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/documentaries/2010/06/100603_the_power_and_the_passion.shtml This is part 4 of a 4 part series being broadcast on BBC World Service and is due to air on Monday, 28th June. The Power and the Passion. With the 2010 World Cup fast approaching many football fans around the world will be avidly debating and agonising over the fate of their nations in the tournament. However it is often at the domestic club level that the game finds its most passionate support. David Goldblatt, embarks on an assortment of adventures into the meaning and madness of the game. He travels to four very different football games in Italy, Egypt, Ghana and the UK, to experience the build-up and pitch action from the perspective of the fans. By David Goldblatt Geordie Nation - Newcastle v Anybody TO BE BROADCAST ON MONDAY 28 JUNE 2010 It's 11 May 2009 and the English Premiership is awash with money and self-importance as the world’s "greatest league". But here in the North East, the early standard bearer for the Premiership revolution is wounded and in trouble. This is a one-city club; its fortunes dominate the lives of many, as does the outline of St James' Park stadium as you climb the approach. Business, civic pride, local bragging rights with their hated "Mackem" - Sunderland - rivals and the nagging ache of having won "nowt" for decades, are all bundled up in the black and white fervour of the Toon army. A litany of Newcastle’s recent woes, clustered together under the wildly unpopular ownership of the elusive tycoon Mike Ashley, makes for grim reading and gallows humour for its many passionate fans. Scandal, sackings, punch ups between players, disastrous decision-making, a financial meltdown and now potential relegation. Even the return of local hero Alan Shearer, as manger, can’t banish the stink of fear that grips the club and its fans as they play local rivals Middlesbrough - who also seemingly doomed to the drop. Fans have written their own play - You Couldn’t Make It Up - to chart the ludicrous misfortunes of recent years. Whilst an encounter with Sir John Hall - a key figure in the regeneration of the club in the 1980s - reveals the impossible dream of the Geordie nation. That night, amidst nail biting and near hysteria, the club first fall behind and then rally and win. It is their sole win under Shearer, they are relegated anyway with a whimper. All is doomed, fans form their own group to try and wrest control of the club from an owner they have come to loathe. Players leave, the club prepares for life in the second tier and owner Mike Ashley renames the legendary St James’ Park stadium, Sports Direct.com@ St James Park. Things can’t get any worse. On 2 April 2010, Newcastle are playing Ipswich and the dark night of last season has been banished by the light. The team has rallied, achieved promotion at the first time of asking and now are about to be crowned champions as they play their last home game of the season. But for those same fans that I met in the depths of despair what does the future hold?

Who draws up a short list and makes the decision seeing there is no football man on the board?

There have been a few people who have bought football clubs in the past with more interest in the value of the land than the football club so I think the council owning the land protects us a bit especially as we are located in the city centre. That is one of the themes that keeps coming up with Portsmouth as some of the "owners" have been property developers and the suspicion is that it is the land the club owns that they are really interested in.

Guess we cannot spend any money on players as we have to save it for all the legal fees they are going to be paying out.