From today's Guardian

Bobby Robson waved a piece of paper from a podium inside St James' Park yesterday afternoon. But it was not a declaration of appeasement, it was one of intent.

On it was written the remaining fixtures of the top six sides in the Premiership and Robson said that he had just been discussing those matches with the young man sitting beside him. His name is Jermaine Jenas and at £5m he became the second most expensive teenager ever in British football yesterday when he joined Newcastle United from Nottingham Forest.

It is, as Robson kept repeating, a lot of money for an 18-year-old. "The weight of the transfer fee is on my shoulders - he just plays," Robson said when Jenas was asked the inevitable question about the burden of expectation.

But in waving his piece of paper and talking about Jenas as the final piece of the Newcastle jigsaw "for this season", Robson unintentionally revealed for the first time in public that Newcastle consider themselves serious contenders for the title.

Robson had dead-batted the straightforward questions on the title as usual, but in announcing that he had mentioned the run-in with Jenas and highlighted the fact that "Manchester United have five at home and seven away; we've seven at home and six away", Robson was saying something he has not said before: Newcastle think they can win this race.

Manchester United have yet to go to Elland Road and Stamford Bridge in two of those games. Newcastle have to travel to only one of the top six, Liverpool. Robson's team, currently second, also face Arsenal at home.

Later Robson was to say: "Can we win the championship? I don't think so, no." But his earlier mathematics told a different story.

Whether Jenas is fundamental to Newcastle's camouflaged ambition is debatable. Robson called him "one for today and one for the future" but indicated that Jenas will play some part in Saturday's home game with Southampton. That will be nine days before Jenas's 19th birthday, which coincidentally is the same day Robson turns 69.

If he does make his debut then, it will be the latest stage in a meteoric rise for the Nottingham-born Jenas.

Before this season he had made only one senior appearance for Forest. Yesterday he said that the target he had set himself at the beginning of this season was to get into the first team at Forest. Not only did he do that, playing 31 games, he was also made captain by the manager Paul Hart.

Having led the England Under-19 team and played for England at every level from Under-15 and up, Jenas has shown, as he put it, "certain leadership skills" already. Dressed in a black shirt and white tie, positioned between his agent Paul Stretford and Robson, and faced by a room full of cameras and journalists, Jenas came across as an impressive young man. It was possible to see why he could be so young a captain.

Courted by Leeds United in particular for months, Jenas could have easily become blase about the attention he has been receiving, but he was pleasantly eager about his rapid elevation. "It does become hard to believe sometimes," he said. "I did set myself some goals at the start of the season but there have been little bonuses here and there."

Some £5m is not a figure Newcastle could describe as little. It is likely the fee will be paid in instalments, with a minimum 50% down. With seven of their next nine games shown live on television, Newcastle can anticipate an extra £2.5m income and this may be from where the Jenas money has come from.

Only a fortnight ago Robson was saying he had nothing to spend. But Newcastle's chairman Freddie Shepherd then contacted the Forest director Nigel Doughty, who was just boarding a flight to the United States.

"Whilst sitting on Concorde about to fly to New York," said Shepherd, "Nigel Doughty made a telephone handshake with me to confirm the deal and subsequently kept to his word despite coming under pressure from another club."

Since that conversation Newcastle have received money from Derby County for Warren Barton and yesterday the 35-year-old midfielder Robert Lee was thinking over an approach from Derby that would bring another £250,000, rising to £500,000, into St James'. Lee's departure would also leave the No7 jersey vacant for "the kid", as Robson kept calling Jenas.

Jenas will fill Lee's role. Despite Robson's statement that "I may not see the best of the kid - I bought him for the next manager in a way", the manager added: "I'd have no hesitation about picking him for the first team. I haven't bought him to play in the reserves. I'm really excited about him. We can make him a first-class player, though he's not far from it now."

Nor are the other Jermaines: Defoe at West Ham and Pennant (also born in Nottingham) at Arsenal. Born within four months of each other at the end of 1982 and the beginning of 1983, each has had big money spent on them at a tender age.

The Jermaine generation is coming and even at a record fee Newcastle are ecstatic they have a slice of it.

-- Anonymous, February 05, 2002

Answers

It seems as if it's not only the lournalists who think we can win it - even YBR thinks we can if you believe Michael Wlker above.

-- Anonymous, February 05, 2002

With seven of their next nine games shown live on television...really? blimey.

-- Anonymous, February 05, 2002

Funny name Jermaine. It means 'bud' or 'seed', from old French, but it looks like the feminine form to me. Connections abound - Jermaine, Germaine Greer, Germain, PSG, France, Zola, Zola Makongo, Germinal, Jermaine....

Nurse!!

-- Anonymous, February 05, 2002

Pete

Is your post entirely germane to this thread?

-- Anonymous, February 05, 2002

Can someone tell me if they have ever "dead-batted" anything before?

-- Anonymous, February 05, 2002

Not in the slightest Toon Expat ;-) The Jermaine Generation...almost an oxymoron. Uh oh.. I'm off again. at least he's not German.

-- Anonymous, February 05, 2002

dead-bat: the involuntary movement of the eye lids after death. To render small airborne mammals lifeless. Or possibly a cricketing term for playing balls with limp wrists.

-- Anonymous, February 05, 2002

Hmmm...I'm not convinced, even as a metaphor

"Robson had 'involuntarily moved his eye lids after death' the straightforward questions on the title as usual"

"Robson had 'rendered a small airborne mammal lifeless' with the straightforward questions on the title as usual"

I'm not sure about the cricketing one either as you can play with a dead bat, but surely then one would have "Robson had played the straightforward questions on the title with a dead bat as usual". Linguistic and metaphorical gymnastics required to have dead-batted anything I think.

Anorak-sia Nervosa...

-- Anonymous, February 05, 2002

I quite like the metaphor. Nothing wrong with creative language if it conjures up a decent image, surely? I thought English teachers encouraged that sort of thing nowadays?

-- Anonymous, February 05, 2002

I dont think I have enough video tapes!!

-- Anonymous, February 05, 2002

I think I'm going to have to give up eating so I can afford all the trips to DC!

-- Anonymous, February 05, 2002

don't give up eating, SooperKev won't love you any more

-- Anonymous, February 05, 2002

Tragic

-- Anonymous, February 05, 2002

Bats are protected species, it's £2000 per bat fine for killing them, I'm not sure if it's on a sliding scale for slightly maiming but they're really difficult to hit anyway but at that price I'm not sure I'd want to.

-- Anonymous, February 05, 2002

Delighted to see Lawro in the Mirror today. (Though I would have been terrified to see Lawro in the mirror today). I haven't forgotten his early season convo with Stubbsy (drinks in my local, Stubbsy) on FF along the lines of: Stubbs "Newcastle going well Lawro - where do you se them finishing?". Lawro (with dismissive shrug) "Top 'alf". And then a few weeks ago, he was forced to revise his opinion, conceding we might make a UEFA place, but not CL. Today he states as a matter of fact that we'll finish fourth.

-- Anonymous, February 05, 2002

Can anyone remind me of just when Alan Shearer was supposed to be leaving again?

Didn't Ken used to give Lawro hassle along the corridors of BBC Sport?

-- Anonymous, February 05, 2002