First (last?) deal secured
By toontastic On Tue 30 Jan 2007 |
Newcastle United completed their first signing of the January window with the loan deal of America’s Oguchi (Gooch) Onyewu from Standard Liege. The player has signed a loan deal which will take him to the end of the season but with his contract at Standard Liege running out in June he looks certain to stay on should he make the grade.
Onyewu will wear the number 15 last worn by Giuseppe Rossi our last loan signing from Man Utd.

Gooch looks ok but it baffles me why Roeder plays certain players and not others. Edgar’s good work has been rewarded by being thrown back into the reserves. His contract is up in June and it wouldnt suprise me if he takes his talent else where in the Premiership. Who would believe it? You get called up for you’re home debut an hour before kick off, out of postiton, marking Ronaldo and not only do you mark him out of the game you score a 30 yarder to win us a point, any thanks or respect from Roeder…no chance !! Good luck David, lets hope you get treated better at you’re next club cause you aint got a future with the club you love so much while he’s in charge !!
Sent in on: February 5th, 2007 at 4:53 pm
bobby new it, souness new it, roeder no’s it and the fans are just plain blind… bramble is a piss head & he will never develop into a decent players because he 1 doesnt give a and 2 why should he we play him regardless so why does he need to cut out the mistakes.
if he concentrated on football more instead of looking half asleep in every game he plays in he may actualy be a decent player but until then hes just another reject
Sent in on: January 31st, 2007 at 1:11 pm
Despite obviously causing much great amusement, I stand by what I said about Ramage/Bramble:
“Ramage…(great future) and Bramble…(could be great)”
RAMAGE - He’s very reliable & a good age. Don’t judge him when he’s playing at left back (or right back, or even from performances over the last month while he was playing on injured). He’s not the fastest or a skillful kind of defender. He’s just a solid performer that tries hard & keeps it simple. Good qualities to have in one of a pair of center-backs.
BRAMBLE - Any Newcastle supporter that says they haven’t at some point had high hopes for Bramble, either is telling fibs or doesn’t actually watch Newcastle play. He is without doubt the most frustrating player Newcastle have had in the last 10 years for me. At times during a match I think he’s the equal of any Premiership defender, then 2 minutes later we hit a “Bramble Patch”. I completely agree that he should have got himself sorted by now & with time it’s looking less & less likely he’ll ever be the defender he always shows promise to be. Hence my comment “Could be great”, maybe I should have ended it with “but how many more chances does he deserve?”. I think he’s worth keeping while the youngsters continue to improve.
Sent in on: January 31st, 2007 at 12:34 pm
I’m glad we’ve bought a centre back but I think we needed a left-back alot more since we only have Babayaro (injured and crap) and Bernard (injured.)
Sent in on: January 31st, 2007 at 12:05 pm
good luck the night lads hope we do well by the way i think martines has tried his best to score as many goals as he can this season so good luck from me my dad and the rest of the toon fans coom on son
Sent in on: January 31st, 2007 at 10:48 am
I think we needed a centre back but we also need a left back urgently. We can get away with solano or taylor at right back but we cant carry on the way we have been at left back.We get ripped apart by any half decent wingers.
I also find it hard to beleave that we havnt bought a striker to play alongside oba. Sib is washed up, he scored a few goals but his legs have gone and he isnt great at holding the ball up. If oba gets a knock then we are in trouble.Also whats the deal with luque? roeder wont play him but he wont let him go either. There must be astriker out there that can do a job for us until the end of the saeson, look at what kanu has done for pompy
Sent in on: January 31st, 2007 at 9:57 am
Current NUFC Centre-Backs (in my pecking order)
4.Bramble (Gamble? could be great)
Could be great?
*cough* *sputter* *faints*
Sent in on: January 31st, 2007 at 8:51 am
Many comments saying Gooch isn’t a household name.
Neither was Hyypia when Liverpool signed him.
Boumsong and Marcelino were big name defenders.
I’m happy with the signing, he’s a beast and should held with our soft centre at set pieces and crosses. He will also provide a threat attakcing wise so looks a good piece of business
Sent in on: January 31st, 2007 at 7:53 am
im happy with the signing, hes an international and i like his attitude.
I think we did need a centre back, you cant keep expecting 19 and 20 yr olds to organise a back 4.
If we pick up babel or piquonne ill be a very happy man.
As for ramage having a great future, very amusing, it reminds me of a lot of supposedly up and coming young players that come through the ranks at newcastle play a season because of injuries and dissapear down through the leagues. Eg.Griffin,andy o brien,dalglish,paul robinson
Sent in on: January 31st, 2007 at 3:23 am
Looks a good deal for the circumstances.
LB is a priority tho…only a few hours left…
Sent in on: January 31st, 2007 at 2:05 am
Not a signing to set the pulses racing - he’s not exactly a household name!
But I, like probably the majority of toon fans ain’t seen him play, so lets get behind him and give him our full support.
There is going to be a lot of pressure on this lad when he first pulls on the black and white shirt thats for sure!
All the best gooch, welcome to the mad house
Sent in on: January 30th, 2007 at 9:10 pm
Gooch is big and very strong in the air. If there is one thing the Magpies need it is to prevent conceding goals through the air from set pieces, hopefully Gooch will contribute to such prevention. On the other hand, he is not exactly super quick on his feet and doesn’t always pick the best angle of defense. You may recall he got clobbered with some painful decisions in the US v Ghana WC game. The EPL is going to be an adjustment after his last stop for sure.
Sent in on: January 30th, 2007 at 6:57 pm
It appears that many of you are not familiar with Gooch and are a little hesitant at the signing. I’m a yank and am very familiar with him.
He is a very physical defender and good in the air. While he may not be 100% polished, he has good instincts and positioning. Going forward, his throw-ins are equivalent to crosses and he has good attacking heading skills on set plays and corners.
On the downside, sometimes referees call fouls on him because of his size, whether or not there really has been an infraction. However, I can assure you that one month from now, you will be singing his praises.
Sent in on: January 30th, 2007 at 6:50 pm
Just sprayed my keyboard with coffee from laughing at ChrisL’s assessment of Newcastle’s central defenders. Ramage…(great future) and Bramble…(could be great)
Yeah right. Since when has defenders who are slow, prone to making basic errors, having little or no concentration and being generally useless ever made for having a “great” central defence.
I agree with Chris that at least one full back should have been brought in on loan or bought because as much as I love Nobby, a right back he aint, especially if that waster Carr cries off injured again.
Sent in on: January 30th, 2007 at 6:39 pm
Don’t worry, Goosh is a great player and you will be satisfied with him.He plays very well,is rough on the adversary and his trow-in are very long.His transfer to Newcastle is a great loss for our club and all the Standard fans will regret him.I hope that it will very quickly have the occasion to prove its qualities to you and you will not be disappointed.
I wish him to make a great career and to become quickly a real Magpie.
Good luck Gushi and thank you for these 3 beautiful years in Sclessin,
P.S : sorry for my bad english
Michel, Standard fan.
Sent in on: January 30th, 2007 at 6:23 pm
Rocha for spurs looked like a better deal for me. Leon Barnett at Luton would have been a nice gamble, but given the Bramble gamble, and the current lack of funds it was probably a no-go. Ryan Babel is a possibility one day then a complete no-go from day to day according to Alan Oliver, but I think Frederic Piquionne will end up at SJP, given his defiance at St Ettienne, although his goalscoring record isn’t great he appears to have the attributes to compliment Martins.
I agree completely that full backs should be made a priority, and I’m dissapointed we didn’t battle for Warnock, I know Roeder wants real class, but I can’t see how Warnock asn’t an option at about 1.5 million, hes tried and tested, and although not a world beater, he’s solid. We better get Bridge in the summer, I really can’t see him staying at Chelsea long term with Cole there. Hmm, dissapointing transfer window, but it’s better than monaing about players that costs us 10 million and haven’t performed. This rebuilding process better bear fruits.
Sent in on: January 30th, 2007 at 5:10 pm
Much has been said and written recently about the quality of reporting in the local media.
We all know Mr Oliver is an idiot, but it’s worth looking at this link on the icnewcastle website.
It’s Luke Edwards’ blog - he’s one of the Journal sports writers - as he doesn’t seem to share the same tendency for a Newcastle United Thomson House love in as those on the Chronicle and Sunday Sun.
The address is
www.lukewhostalking.co.uk
Sent in on: January 30th, 2007 at 5:03 pm
Was I the only one expecting a full back well before a centre back on the shopping list? I don’t think so. How many times have we turned up for matches this season with 4 center-backs across the back or 3 & Solano? What’s sad is how much better the team’s been without our existing recognised fullbacks (Carr/Babayaro).
Current NUFC Centre-Backs (in my pecking order)
1.Ramage (Great future)
2.Taylor (Great future)
3.Moore (worth another season)
4.Bramble (Gamble? could be great)
5.Huntington (young with good potential)
6.Edgar (young with good potential)
I don’t know anything about this ‘Gooch’ Lad & hopefully he’s a world beater. But even if he is, surely both a Left & Right back are the priorities?
Myself I feel that the left wing (Zoggy, Duff, Luque, O’Brien) & center-backs are 2 positions that are looking just fine for now & will only get better with age/experience over the next 2 seasons.
Do we even need a new striker? I think we will in a years time as Sibierski fades, so maybe that’s reason enough to get a young one in now. But the priority has to be a full back for each side please Glen?!
Sent in on: January 30th, 2007 at 4:51 pm
Is he better than the young lads or Bramble & Moore. I hope so. We still need a left back & a striker
Sent in on: January 30th, 2007 at 4:24 pm
are we supose to be happy by this signing? hes a retard Boro them selves rejected him.
but then again the club has no money, every1 now wants stupid money for players becoz of the new Premiership TV deal & the chairman is a complete tool.
so second thoughts perhaps hes a world class signing my bad on earlier sentances
Sent in on: January 30th, 2007 at 3:47 pm
Decent signing I reckon, but would like to have seen at least 1 full back arrive along with centre half we have loaned and a striker!! i have the feeling i wish for too much………
Sent in on: January 30th, 2007 at 3:37 pm