Great Timing! Robert & Bernard Get French Call-Up
United's two Frenchman Laurent Robert and Olivier
Bernard have been called-up to France's provisional squad
to take on Bosnia-Herzegovina in Rennes on Wednesday the 18th of August.
Whether Robert makes it however remains to be seen having picked up
the Conjunctivitis virus which is a shame as getting back into the
French squad can only serve to fill him with confidence and an added
incentive to produce the goods week in week out.
A further 4 Toon players have also been called-up for international
duty:
Patrick Kluivert, provisionally called-up to the
Holland squad to face Sweden in Rasunda on the 18th of August.
Craig Bellamy, called-up to the Welsh squad that
travels to Riga to face Latvia as reported earlier this week.
Shay Given, Andy O'Brien and
Stephen Carr, called-up to the Republic of Ireland squad
to face Bulgaria - also to be played on the 18th of August.
Stephen Brennan, included in the Republic of Ireland
under 21's squad for their match against Bulgaria on the 17th of August
and Lewis Guy who will link up with the England under
20's training camp in Leicestershire between the 14-17th of August.
Shearer: No Fighting, No Bust-Ups - We Are United
Speaking in today's Chronicle our Captain Alan Shearer has spoken
out in an attempt to reassure Toon supporters that our just concerns
over his relationship with Bobby and the team unity are nothing to
be worried about. Concerns that have been fueled with petulant sulks
at being subbed, uninspiring body language and lack of words...untill
now.
Shearer said:
"These reports are absolutely rubbish.
"There has been no fighting, no bust-ups and the club is in good
shape.
"And it's right and proper that, as captain, that I come out
and say these things after what has been written and said.
"I can tell the fans that every single Newcastle United player
is pulling in the same direction and we are completely focused.
"We all want success and silverware for Newcastle United this
season. Not for Alan Shearer. Not for the manager. Not for the chairman.
"But we want success for the fans and the football club as a
whole.
"Yes, I want to play in every game. But so too does every other
Newcastle United player, and this must not be interpreted by anyone
in any other way but a burning desire to play for a great football
club.
"There are reports that Kieron Dyer had a bust-up with the manager
after Wednesday's friendly against Celtic at Parkhead and again these
are absolute rubbish.
"I never have, nor will I ever, reveal what goes on in the Newcastle
United dressing room.
"But yes, we do have discussions after every game because we
are professionals and that is what professionals do.
"Obviously, the last part of our pre-season work has not been
ideal because of the conjunctivitis virus which has hit us.
"But I'm sure this will not affect us against Middlesbrough at
the Riverside Stadium on Saturday night.
"This is going to be a tough campaign for us and we all know
just how important it is to get off to a good start."
Had this been said when all of this first manifested there wouldn't
have been any room for speculation and although it's pleasing to be
reassured when you see your club captain showing a very public dislike
of being subbed in a friendly match it does make you question whether
all is right in the camp. Time will tell. Fingers XX
Carr To Sign Within 48 Hours & There Could Be
1 More
Newcastle's official website has confirmed that Tottenham right-back
Stephen Carr will sign for United within the next 48 hours after the
two clubs agreed terms. Carr is expected to complete a medical and
finalise personal terms around Wednesday lunchtime.
The fee is believed to be £1m rising to £2m based on appearances
making Carr our 4th Summer signing, bringing an end to our right-back
search.
Meanwhile Newcastle-Online understand that Bobby is also considering the
option of bringing in a centre-half on loan with concerns that Woodgate
could be out for longer than first thought. This is merely speculation
based on information we have been fed so make of it what you will.
I don't usually publish these type of rumours but with Andy O'Brien
suffering from Conjunctivitis, Steven Taylor out injured and Robbie
Elliott playing out of position, leaving Bramble as our only recognised
centre-half, it wouldn't surprise me if Bobby did bring in another
centre-half. Again don't take it as gospel please as I get the feeling
that Woodgate's fitness will ultimately determine whether we do sign
someone on loan. Bobby is considering it though so watch this space.
Robert Hit With Eye Bug - Who's Next?
According to the official NUFC website Laurent Robert is the latest
Toon player to have been infected with the conjunctivitis eye bug
that has already struck Shay Given, Tony Caig, Andy O'Brien
and Lee Bowyer.
Assuming Saturday's match with Middlesbrough goes ahead this could
mean that James Milner could well make his full debut for United.
Who next? It doesn't rain on Tyneside it pours...
I hold my hands up. When our frustrating Season eventually, and thankfully,
ended at Anfield on the 15th of May I was hoping that it was the end
for Bobby. It wasn't missing out on 4th or failing to win a trophy
yet again that lead me in wanting Bobby to move on. It was the manner
in which we failed to clinch that final Champions League spot and
the manner in which we bowed out of the UEFA Cup Semi-Final that did
it for me. [More
+]
Smog Off!
Calm down, not the Premiership fixture, the reserves match which was
planned to take place tomorrow night.
From the official NUFC website:
United's reserve match at Middlesbrough, due to be played on Tuesday night,
has been postponed as a precautionary measure due to the current contagious
eye infection which a number of players are suffering from. This match
will now be played on Tuesday December 21 at Billingham, kick off
7pm.
Update: Toon Bairns KO'd too
Again from the official website:
The two friendly matches scheduled this week for the Newcastle United
Academy have been cancelled, due to the conjunctivitis outbreak at
the Club. The Premier League will find alternative opposition for
the two teams concerned, namely Hertha Berlin and Helsingborgs. Furthermore,
there will be no schoolboy fixtures at the Academy this week.
Carver In Striker Spying Mission
According to Sky Sports News John Carver was an interested
spectator at Victoria Park at the weekend as Hartlepool beat Bradford
City 2-1 in their opening second Division game (I refuse to call it
the fizzy pop League). The player Carver apparently came to watch
was Pools 22 year old striker Adam Boyd who scored
in the 2-1 win.
Boyd a product of the North East club's youth system made quite an
impact last Season after returning from a loan spell at Boston Utd,
scoring 12 goals in 20 games (12 starts 8 as a sub) and has a total
of 31 goals for Peter Beardsley's former club.
I Have A Good 2-3 Years Left In Me
Says Bobby, speaking to Paul Hayward of the Telegraph in what is a
canny article that reveals a few things concerning Bobby's future,
his plans and how he is meeting the fight he's facing at NUFC head
on. Check out the full article below...
Geordie sage vows to carry on regardless
By Paul Hayward
It was a terse, one-word answer that had the clunk of finality,
but was lost amid the hullabaloo over Sven-Goran Eriksson. "No,"
replied the Newcastle United chairman when asked whether there was
any chance of Sir Bobby Robson staying on as manager beyond next May.
Conjunctivitis swept the squad last week, but many feel it's Freddy
Shepherd who has lost his vision.
Not just in the great Geordie cathedral of St James' Park, but across
the Premiership, where Chelsea and Manchester United can offer cautionary
tales about the dangers of making such premature and potentially self-destructive
announcements. Sir Alex Ferguson concedes that his decision to name
the date of his retirement (since reversed) was one of the worst moves
of his distinguished career. With the ground shifting beneath Claudio
Ranieri, the succession was a constant theme of Roman Abramovich's
first year as the new Czar of Stamford Bridge.
Why, you might wonder, would Shepherd choose to undermine the authority
of his legendary manager, at a time when relations between Sir Bobby
(whose duty it is to pick the best team) and Alan Shearer (who demands
to play virtually every game) are entering that awkward twilight realm
where hard truths meet denial? Shearer was narked at being substituted
in a recent friendly against Celtic and apparently said so in front
of other Newcastle players. The synopsis is that Shepherd has been
publicly casting doubt on Robson's record while English football's
elder statesman soldiers on with characteristic stoicism.
Shepherd's most infamous and wounding pronouncement came hot on the
heels of the "no". He said: "Bob's spent £70
million, more than [Arsène] Wenger. We have always backed the
manager; we have been big spenders. But now we have got to make sure
we get value for money - that's a nice way of putting it. We're
not going to be anyone's mugs any more." The £70 million
is a gross figure which takes no account of outgoing transfers.
But back to the declaration, to journalists, that Sir Bobby is on
his last lap round the ground where, as a boy, he watched the working-class
Geordie heroes of the pre-war era. Feuds are not his style. Nor are
disruptive wrangles with employers. "I was shocked by it. But
I've accepted it," he told me at the weekend. "And every
decision I make between now and the end of the season will be in the
best interests of him and the club. I want to be fighting alongside
the chairman, not against him. On every issue at the club. Every issue."
However honourable and loyal his nature forces Sir Bobby to be, Shepherd
has left him facing the biggest test of his managerial authority since
his England days, when he took the country to the semi-finals of the
1990 World Cup. So what happens when an order is disobeyed, or a foot
taken off the accelerator Newcastle need to push if they are to rise
from fifth, their resting place in the Premiership last season?
The response is emphatic, and delivered with a certain growl that
predates the age of the millionaire teenager. "I'll be strong
with them. If I see any adverse reaction, I'll check it, with every
single player. I'll see him in my office and tell him what he can
do and what he can't do. I've always done that. I can handle big players.
If someone says `Ah, what's the point, you won't be here next season'
I'll say: `Close your mouth. I want to see you in my office.' I've
got an answer for every player."
It shouldn't come to that, of course, because Newcastle, whose away
form (two wins and 12 draws in 19 matches) wrecked their last campaign,
are richly endowed with young talent. "For the last three years
we've been up with the big boys - and I feel we can be there
again. We didn't buy a single player last year - though we did
sign Lee Bowyer on a free. Because we finished third the previous
season, the chairman thought we were well enough supplied. We've moved
on since then.
"The players that I didn't want have gone. The players I wanted
to keep, we've kept. We've added James Milner, 18, from Leeds, having
identified a very young talent in a position we needed to strengthen.
We've got two wingers - Darren Ambrose, who is going to be really
good, and Laurent Robert, who can be up with the trees one minute
and down with the weeds the next. We needed someone who could make
that position more competitive.
"I saw Milner several times in the Premiership last season and
he coped. He wasn't brilliant all the time, but he had enough flashes
of ability for me to think he's going to be some player. Like Ambrose,
like JJ [Jermaine Jenas].
"We've let Hugo Viana go back to Portugal for a year -
but he'll return. He's the best technical player at the club. Got
every pass in the book. Through the eye of a needle. I saw him described
in one paper as one of Bobby Robson's flops. He ain't a flop. If he's
a flop, why have we re-engaged him on another year's contract? Because
we know he'll come back.
"As we've lost Gary Speed, who was 35, and Hugo for the year,
we needed to bring in someone who was mature, educated, experienced,
who could handle it. So we went for Nicky Butt. Then there's Patrick
Kluivert, our new striker. We paid no money for him, but I expect
his wages are quite high, though I don't get involved in that. The
chairman does all that. Kluivert could turn out to be the most significant
transfer of the summer. He's 28, he's never had any injuries, and
he's in great shape. If he gets back on track and uses it as a great
adventure, he'll show the ability we know he has. So: Milner, Kluivert
Butt. All I need now is a full-back."
As ever, you come away from talking to Robson energised, optimistic,
in love with the game. He rolls on: "With what we've got, and
what we've done this summer, I feel we'll challenge again. Kieron
Dyer had injury problems. Craig Bellamy was off for five months with
knee trouble. He's our most lethal striker in terms of getting in
behind people with his lightning pace.
"Hughes, O'Brien, Bramble, Olivier Bernard, Jenas, Dyer, Bellamy.
Shola Ameobi is going to be a great player. Woody [Jonathan Woodgate]
is 23. These kids are going to get better. I've built a team for the
future. I've bought Milner but I won't get the benefit of him. It'll
be the next manager. I've got a bright young side."
While the doctors and cleaners toiled to purge his workplace of the
highly contagious conjunctivitis, Robson, 71, was trying to convince
himself that there may yet be a twist in the plot. "I will work
extremely diligently - if this is my last year - for the
club and for the chairman. I will try to give them a great season.
I love the club. I love the club." Notice the `if'.
And if Shepherd has a hidden agenda (some say it's the sack, unless
Newcastle rampage their way to Christmas), Robson's contribution to
the game will be extended in some other dug-out, on some other windswept
training ground. He leaves me with this thought: "I'll tell the
world when I'm going to retire, and it'll be when my head, my heart
and my legs don't work simultaneously. When one of those doesn't work
I'll know it's time to go. When I can't get round the pitch and I
can't face the battle. I get up at 10 past seven every morning and
I can't wait to get to work.
"Yeah, there will be other challenges. I feel I've got another
two or three good years left in me. I have a need to go to work. I
have a need to work with players. I have a need to be at football
every Saturday afternoon.
"If I feel at the end of the season like I feel now - full
of energy, full of vitality - yes, I'll keep working."
It's not in his nature to hear or accept `no'. His character, his
nature, is built around `yes'.
Source: Telegraph
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