Joe Kinnear makes shock return to The Magpies

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In an extraordinary development the Newcastle United manager for the 2008-2009 season, 66 year old Joe Kinnear has been appointed the Magpies’ new director of football for recruiting players. Joe is much admired by owner Mike Ashley and MD Derek Llambias for his turbulent spell in Newcastle which was aborted due to ill-health. Whether manager Alan Pardew is involved in this restructuring or feels undermined by Joe’s influence in assembling the squad, remains a matter of intrigue.

Newcastle was seen struggling last season and it is expected out of Pardew to see them get a top 10 finish. Pardew’s reaction is awaited. Kinnear confirms with Sky Sports News that the deal is sealed with owner Mike Ashley and he intends to meet Pardew during the course of the week. Newcastle, who finished fifth from bottom last campaign, are yet to announce Kinnear’s appointment.

The former Wimbledon manager said his intention was to improve the team, tactfully adding that he would not interfere with selection or tactics. He considers himself a good judge of players and a better tactician. Having been involved with anything and everything to do with football, he intends to make Newcastle way better than the present state of affairs they are in.

Kinnear continues that when he sees a good player, he knows a good player. Should the present crop of players in the club not be good enough in his judgement, he would skilfully allow them to move on. On a positive note, he feels that there would be no nagging issues between him and manager Pardew. Kinnear’s intention is not to pick the team. The sole purpose of his appointment is to make sure Newcastle gets the best possible team on the field.

Yoan Gouffran captures the heart of the Toon Army

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Yoan Gouffran is still a young footballer but since the 26 year old star signed with Newcastle United, fans have been all over him, and he said that he had never witnessed anything close to what he experienced on that day.

After his initial start in his Toon career, he captured the hearts of fans with some hard working performances at the stadium in order to prove her worth to the team, wearing his black and white shirt and providing a perfect counter to what the Chelsea formation gave him on the terrain.

His display managed to help the team by providing three points and keeping up a 100% winning start for his new career as part of the team. He was part of Alan Pardew and his 4-3-2-1 formation in the match which proved to be quite challenging, but Gouffran took the reigns and came out looking great at the end, to the amazement of fans everywhere.

Gouffran was an unusual arrival to the team, speaking only basic English and being somewhat unknown before taking center stage, but he told the press that he was already loving his new life on Tyneside, after taking part in a lap of honour following the victory over Chelsea. Many reporters already compared his professionalism to Alan Shearer or Gary Speed, and that he was very quick to absorb information.

In some of the statements he made, he said that his most important thought was to keep fighting for the team, and to believe that he has to come out fighting and remember what playing for this team means for the fans. The troops came out strong against Chelsea and even though they only managed to get 1-0 up before the half-time, they then dominated the game, ending with a great victory.

 

The Magpies are flying high in the Premier League

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Newcastle United are currently sharing equal points with Chelsea in the Premier League and together both teams are sitting in fifth place. Alan Pardew is hoping that the success of the team is going to mean they take another big step in European football in the near future.

The next match the team are going to be playing is on Saturday, when they face Wigan, a team who are already dangerously close to relegation. Newcastle recently beat Liverpool and if they win a point when they play Swansea, they are going to be able to overtake Liverpool in the league.

If the team manage to stay in fifth place or above then they are going to be guaranteed entry into the Europa League. This is something that Pardew has said he would be delighted to see.

Chelsea are managing to retain their position in the FA Cup as well as the Champions League although it is expected that their fixtures list, which is very intensive, is going to have a detrimental effect on their ability to play.

Pardew has commented, “I think we are going to be facing some very challenging matches in the future. Many of these are going to be at away venues where the team don’t tend to perform as well. We definitely have some difficult games ahead but I’m confident that if the team continue to play as they are then they will be able to get into the Europa league.”

It has been five seasons since Newcastle last played in the Europa League and it is something that fans of the football club are already dreaming of. Pardew continued, “Despite my hopes I know it is very important that we focus on the next game and not get lost in the potential future of the club. Fans can dream, but we focus on the next game.”

Manchester United still top club money wise

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Manchester United still top club money wise Manchester United may not have earned a place in the Champions League and will have to scrape to keep their Premier League title, but they still have been able to keep the lead as one of the most valuable clubs globally.

In this year’s Forbes Magazine list of the top twenty football teams, the Old Trafford club held onto top position with a value of £1.19bn, which is a two percent decrease from last year.

England landed seven clubs on the list, although the Premier League is known as the most indebted club league throughout Europe.

Showing up on the list was Arsenal in third, Liverpool in sixth place, Chelsea in ninth, Tottenham Hotspur in 12th, and near the bottom in 19th place is Manchester City.

The last team on the list was a surprise as Newcastle United made the list even though they are currently in relegation for the Championship.

Forbes business sports writer, Peter Schwartz, stated that Manchester United deserves a bit of praise for its continual resilience and its place as one of the largest global sporting brands.

Schwartz continued to say that the club has made itself one of the first class brands out of all world sporting brands with great marketing and new kit deals that have helped them continue to hold their status even in the face of the global recession.

Over the last season the twenty most valuable clubs together generated a total of £422m in operating income and combined revenues of £3.57b.