Bye Bye Bellers: Reaction
The official website has confirmed
that Craig Bellamy has bid farewell to St. James Park, medicals and
miracles permitting.
Steve Bruce has commented on the deal, quoted saying the following:
"We have agreed a fee with Newcastle and we've got permission
to speak to the player.
"We will be having talks with him over the weekend and we hope we
can convince him to come to Birmingham City.
"He's a quality player, quality players don't become available very
often and that's why we've made the offer that we have to Newcastle.
"My board have backed me ever since I came here and they've done it
again."
Craig Bellamy is yet to comment.
Toon Accept Birmingham Bid For Bellamy
Newcastle's official website has confirmed
that the club have accepted a £6m bid from Birmingham City for Craig
Bellamy with the Midlands club allowed to speak to the player. Whether
Souness will now dip back into the transfer market remains to be seen.
F.A. Cup Match Preview: NUFC Vs Coventry City
What a week this has been for NUFC,
certainly doesn't surprise me, nothing ever does with this team. We
try to put the Bellamy/Souness dispute to the back of our minds for
90 mins this Saturday as we entertain Coventry City in the F.A. Cup.
Personally, I can't wait. I love the F.A. Cup to bits and i'd be surprised
if we went all the way, but theres nothing i'd love more than Alan
Shearer winning the trophy on his last ever game....although knowing
our luck he'd be injured for it anyway!
Saturday sees the long awaited return from fitness from Stephen Carr.
Time and time again we've been told he'd return but this time he's
in the squad. It causes a pleasant dilemma for Souness in defence.
Steven Taylor has been excellent in the unfamiliar right back role,
but as Souness points out in his press conference, we've missed Carr's
overlapping runs going forward. Taylor will be the first to admit
that he's not going to whip in a teasing cross. Personally, i'd put
Carr on the bench. The last thing we want is for him to play from
the start and pull up again, he needs easing back slowly.
The NUFC hamstring curse returned last week with new signing Boumsong
damaging his, its getting ridiculous, it really is. We'll more than
likely see the return of the O'Brien-Bramble partnership, but as we're
playing lower league oppostion we might just get away with it. It'll
be interesting if Babayaro plays, I think he probably will even if
he's not fully fit. We've got a quality replacement in the shape of
Bernard, but he's not flavour of the month and he's unlikely to play.
We didn't play particularly well against Arsenal at the weekend, but
we were away against the Champions and looked to be playing with the
intention of shutting them out rather than going for the win. I think
we'll see a return to the 4-4-2 system. The absence of Bellamy means
that we haven't really got anyone suitable to play on the right of
the forward three. We welcome new signing Amdy Faye from Portsmouth,
whom I imagine will walk straight into the team at the expense of
Lee Bowyer.
Bowyer has looked sluggish recently, but to be fair he's been no worse
than Dyer or Jenas, but its the change I expect. Faye is a solid defensive
player, and this will do Jenas the world of good. He looked good alongside
Butt, and he should look good with Faye. It just allows him to move
forward more which is where most of his talents lie. He's not a bad
defensive midfielder, but he's not really a good one at the moment
and Faye should allow him to push forward and create chances. On the
topic of chances, we'll more than likely see the usual home performance
with plenty of chances created, most of them missed! It'll also be
a good game for Kluivert to gain some fitness in, i'd start him with
Shearer, but it could well be Ameobi as he did in the Carling Cup.
Coventry lost their last game 2-1 to QPR, and are struggling in 21st
in the Coca-Cola Championship. That stat is irrelevant on Saturday
though, they'll be coming here hoping to cause an upset and if we
aren't careful they may just do so.
Likely Lineup
| Given |
| Taylor Bramble
O'Brien Babayaro |
| Dyer Jenas Faye
Robert |
| Shearer Kluivert
|
Head To Head
Graeme Souness vs. Micky Adams
Micky Adams comes to St. James' Park in his 2nd game as manager, and
has never taken a team to the 5th Round of the Cup before, lets not
break that eh? He's a good manager though and will have his players
up for this one as he tries to make an instant impression on the Highfield
Road faithful.
Titus Bramble vs. Stern John
Not so confident about this dual. John always looked quite dangerous
when he was at Birmingham & Forest, and although he may have found
his level in the Championship rather than the Premiership, he'll score
given half the chance. This game reminds me somewhat of the Crystal
Palace FA Cup game a couple of years ago when Morrison troubled us,
I can see John and his striker partner McSheffrey troubling us. However,
Bramble is in good form at the moment, and hopefully it'll shut out
the Coventry attack.
Squads
Newcastle - Given, Harper, Carr, Babayaro, Bernard, Hughes, Taylor,
Bramble, O'Brien, Dyer, Jenas, Bowyer, Faye, Robert, Shearer, Ameobi,
Kluivert.
Coventry - Steele, Duffy, Williams, Leacock, Staunton, Morrell, Negouai,
Hughes, Doyle, McSheffrey, Johnson, John, Whing, Adebola, Jorgensen,
Shearer.
Verdict
I'm predicting 2-0 victory for us, goals from Kluivert and Robert.
It won't be pretty, as Shearer would call it, a 'professional performance'.
But that'll do in the Cup.
Howay the lads, don't let us down this year!
 |
Tickets Available
Tickets are still available from the
box office for this Saturdays game against Coventry in the FA Cup.
They will be onsale on the day of the game so can be bought before
kick-off. How many have been sold so far we dont know but to quote
the box office "I can't tell you how many we have sold but I know
I've been really busy!".
Needless to say, we need a good turnout tomorrow and for everyone
to get behind the team and get through what could be a tricky tie.
No
Going Back For Bellamy
Quotes attributed to Graeme Souness:
"He can't play for me ever again. He can't go on television
and accuse me of telling lies.
"I'm not going to dwell on it, but I think in most walks of
life, that would be the case.
"I've covered it in my programme notes tomorrow for the game
and really people can read my side of the story and then maybe
can make their judgement on it."
Carr
Returns
Having been out since November with
a knee injury, Carr looks likely to make a welcome return having
been included in the squad against Coventry in the FA Cup this
weekend.
It would be a little unfortunate on Taylor who has been one
shining light in recent dark days, but if Carr does get to play
it would be unlikely that this was for the full 90 minutes.
O'Brien
Rewarded With A New Deal
Having already signed a new deal last
season, Andy O'Brien who was linked with a move to Aston Villa
recently, has signed a new 1 year contract extension tying him
to United until 2008.
Souness had this to say:
"Andy's signed an extension until 2008, which I'm delighted
about.
"He just wants to play for Newcastle. He loves the club. At
this time we've signed another centre-half, but this shows his
intention. He wants to fight for his place."
While a delighted O'Brien said:
"My first emotions at signing this new contract are that
I'm delighted, pleased and proud.
"I've loved my time at Newcastle United and I have so many happy
memories, be it scoring against Sunderland at the Stadium of
Light, that great 4-3 win over Manchester United or the night
we beat Feyenoord in the Champions League.
"They were all great occasions and I hope there are many more
to come."
This news will no doubt come as somewhat a bit of a shock to
those who deem the Irishman not good enough. Good luck OB. |
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