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Courtesy of Sporting Life.com

THE SUN: Sol Campbell has snubbed Liverpool by failing to turn up for transfer talks. DAILY STAR: Aston Villa boss John Gregory has agreed to pay £4.5million for Coventry's Morocco star Mustapha Hadji. THE MIRROR: Harry Redknapp is amazed that no-one wants his old job as West Ham United boss. DAILY EXPRESS: Everton striker Francis Jeffers is set to turn down a move to Newcastle United. DAILY MAIL: Sir Alex Ferguson is set to heal his rift with Brian McClair by offering him a coaching job at Manchester United. THE INDEPENDENT: Glenn Roeder is the front-runner to take over as manager of West Ham United. THE GUARDIAN: English Premiership teams have gained an extra place in the Champions League for the 2002-3 season. THE TIMES: Patrick Vieira will decide whether to leave Arsenal after speaking to manager Arsene Wenger today.

-- Anonymous, June 13, 2001

Answers

And the chronicle has managed to get a dig at sunderland in a review of a curry house in the entertainer section.How bitter are you badgers? The wanker,ahem author,of this missive rejoices under the name of Dave Morton. Is that esparanto for dipshit? Or am i thinking of supermac again?

-- Anonymous, June 13, 2001

Is this thing with Supermac a recurring problem for you superkev, or just a passing crush?

-- Anonymous, June 13, 2001

DAILY SPORT .. Lovely Lynne (38dd) from middlesex has 4 in a bed romp with dirty northern football players.

-- Anonymous, June 14, 2001

Superkev - why not buy the Sunderland Echo if you don't like what is printed in a Newcastle-based newspaper?

-- Anonymous, June 14, 2001

They don't sell the Sunderland Echo outside of the ghettos

-- Anonymous, June 14, 2001


This little beauty from the chronic claims we have 52,000 St holders;

Bobby in danger of being left behind

Jun 13 2001

By Ross Gregory, icNewcastle

 

It is the middle of June and Newcastle United are already knee deep in a transfer crisis.

While several clubs in the Premiership have begun to strengthen their squads for next season, it looks increasingly like Bobby Robson is going to get left behind.

Rumours have come and gone, but so far no new players have been ushered through the door at St James's Park.

The news that Francis Jeffers will not even be talking to Newcastle, despite Everton accepting a £8 million bid for the 20-year-old, is the latest blow to Robson's plans.

Desperate to bring in a quality forward given the injury doubts surrounding Alan Shearer and Carl Cort, coupled with the exit of Kevin Gallacher and Daniel Cordone, he has so far come up against a brick wall.

First choice purchase on his list, Leeds United's Geordie frontman Michael Bridges, has broken down with a knee injury, scuppering any plans to bring him back to Tyneside. 

And now that the exciting, prodigious talent of Jeffers has refused Newcastle's overtures - seemingly holding out for a bid from Arsenal - it has left Robson and chairman Freddie Shepherd floundering.

United fans have seen Spurs swoop for Teddy Sheringham and Gustavo Poyet, Manchester United complete the £19 million signing of Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Sunderland sign Nicolas Medina and Dutch prodigee Baki Mercimek, as well as agreeing a fee for French striker Lilian Laslandes.

Chelsea are looking to tie up the £11 million signing of Frank Lampard this week, Derby are poised to capture Fabrizio Ravanelli.  Even managerless Southampton have broken into the transfer market to snap up Swede Anders Svensson.

It is enough to leave 52,000 season ticket holders wondering just where the club has gone wrong.  It seems like only yesterday some of the top names in the world were jumping at the chance to move to Tyneside.

Tino Asprilla, Phillipe Albert, David Ginola, Alan Shearer, Les Ferdinand and David Batty all needed little encouragement to jump on Kevin Keegan's black and white bandwagon, but how times have changed.

Newcastle can no longer compete at teh top end of the transfer market.  Players they would have been in with a very good chance of capturing had they been available five or six years ago - Sol Campbell on a free, Robbie Fowler, Olivier Dacourt, Lampard, Jeffers, even Juan Sebastain Veron - would now not even look twice at a move to Tyneside.

The lure of London, the prospect of playing European football, the chance to play alongside players of equal ability - these are all reasons why the top stars no longer want to come to Toon.

It now seems likely that Robson will have to go basement shopping abroad if he wants to boost his strikeforce.

He has been linked with a number of foreign forwards over the last few weeks, but none of the names mentioned are likely to get the pulses of the Toon Army racing.

icNewcastle revealed that United's chief scout Charlie Woods has had Norweigan playmaker Morten Berre watched on a couple of occasions, while Malaga's Uruguayan striker Dario Silva - who sounds like he should have a single in the top 10 - is another player mooted over a possible move to Tyneside.

Robson himself has checked out the progress of Vitesse Arnhem striker Victor Sikora, only for his agent to tell icNewcastle that there was little chance of the Dutch international moving to the North East.

And the latest rumour from the continent is that Anderlecht's Polish-born goalscorer Tomasz Radzinksi is being watched is also unlikely to fill the hearts of United fans with much joy.

Newcastle need to act quickly to quell the growing unease on the terraces, but what is needed is a big-money signing, not some bottom-end-of-the-market player who nobody has heard of.

They need to get back to making multi-million pound moves - or the gap between them and the top will quickly become even wider than the frightening size it already is.

Do you agree with Ross Gregory's opinion?  And who do you think Newcastle should go out and buy?  Email us with your views and check out the Your Comments section.

 
 



-- Anonymous, June 14, 2001


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