The Newcastle United lineup to face Swansea City is as follows:

Krul; Simpson, Perch, Coloccini (c), Santon; Obertan, Cabaye, Tiote, Gutierrez; Best, Ba.

There are returns to the Newcastle team for Coloccini and Tiote.

The subs are: Harper, Williamson, Abeid, Vuckic, Ben Arfa, Sammy Ameobi, Shola Ameobi.

Sad and tragic news broke today about the passing of Gary Speed, who took his own life.

Gary Speed had an illustrious career playing for five different clubs and receiving 85 caps for Wales.

I’ll always remember Gary Speed for his unsung hero’s role in Sir Bobby Robson’s midfield, his galvanising displays in the Champions League, and those headers against Kiev and PSV.

This tragic news of Gary Speed’s passing, plus the news about the tragic deaths of six Togo footballers, puts football into perspective.

Footballer. Son. Father. Husband. RIP Gary.

Watch the video below for some of Gary’s goals.

Newcastle United are third in the league, were even in second place for a couple of hours, and all is well on the football field. Fear not Toon fans, Mike Ashley and cohort Derek Llambias are always here to bring us crashing back down to earth. Sure enough, they are going to rename St James’s Park to Sports Direct Arena.

The benefits? According to Derek Llambias, the benefits will be in the region of £10 million, or enough for a striker. Wait a minute? What happened to the £35 million that we got from the Scousers back in January which we were promised would be invested back into the playing squad? Regardless, Mike Ashley’s tacky Sports Direct Logo will be plastered all over St. James’s Park.

I think back when I was a kid, and I used to sit on the concrete barriers in the Gallowgate, and getting knocked off every time there was a surge. We all have our own memories and remember our first game in the stadium we’ve come to know as ours.

The two blokes currently in stewardship of our club cannot remove 120 years of history and memories from our stadium, and that’s why it will always be St James’s Park.

When Andy Carroll left Newcastle United back in January the fans were told that all of the £35 million would be invested in players. Here are the players we’ve signed since then:

• Yohann Cabaye (around £5 mil)
• Demba Ba (Free transfer)
• Silvain Marveaux (Free transfer)
• Mehdi Abeid (Free transfer)
• Davide Santon (Undisclosed – thought to be about £5 million)
• Gabriel Obertan (£3 million)
• Rob Elliot (Thought to be around £250k)

In that same time period, we have let go or sold the following players:

• Sol Campbell (Free)
• Sheki Kuqi (Free)
• Kevin Nolan (£4.5 million)
• Joey Barton (Free transfer)
• Jose Enrique (£5.5 million)
• Wayne Routledge (£2 million)

Newcastle’s outlay on players appears to be pretty good, certainly Obertan, Cabaye and Santon are young, quality players. However, when you consider that our top goalscorers for the past season are no longer at the club, then goals become a concern – at least to everyone except Mike Ashley and Derek Llambias that is.

The one thing that has me infuriated with our inability to land a proven goalscorer during the transfer window is that we have had eight months in which to do so. I don’t hold Alan Pardew completely from blame because he’s been the one saying “judge us on September 1st.” Well Alan, it’s September 2nd and we’re no closer to having a proven goalscorer than we were when Andy Carroll left. Yes, Mike Ashley and Llambias are the money men and ultimately they’re the one’s striking the deal, but did Alan Pardew underestimate how tight fisted Mike Ashley would be? It certainly seems like it – I doubt even silver-tongued Pardew would spout the nonsense about judging the club after transfer deadline day if he didn’t expect significant progress.

Either Mike Ashley considers our good start to the season a sign of the future, or that he’s just unwilling to spend. Even still, it’s been 8 months! Putting in deadline day bids for someone who was pretty much a done deal is just the sort of desperate thing Ashley would do.

The worse thing about this though is that Mike Ashley has Newcastle United fans where he wants us. We keep going back for more, and he still continues to take advantage. Unless someone meets Mike’s valuation of the club, this could go on for a long time yet.

#AllWeCareAboutIsNUFC

Newcastle United beat Sunderland 1-0 thanks to a Ryan Taylor free-kick and move top of the Barclays Premier League.

News today emanating from St James’s Park is that cult figure Leon best has been sidelined for the rest of the 2010/2011 Premier League Season due to an ankle injury. Best is set to undergo surgery in London on Friday. This is a tough break for Best, who’s at least shown some interest in the Newcastle cause (our Premier League plight, not being pictured with his shirt off in a Newcastle nightclub). Establishing himself as a cult figure with the fans, Best has more than justified his place in the current starting line-up by scoring six goals. Whether that’s enough to keep him here come the summer remains to be seen.

Reserve striker Phil Airey is expected to make up the numbers in a makeshift frontline. Watch oot Villa! The Amble youngun’ is on the goal hunt.

John Carver and Cheick Tiote both committed their long term future to Newcastle United as they both signed contracts today. Tiote, who Newcastle signed from FC Twente last summer has been a revelation in midfield alongside Kevin Nolan. Tiote goes from an £8,000 p/week deal to a £50,000 p/week deal according to the Sun (we all know how reliable they are). The contract is until 2016/17.

John Carver meanwhile, who was brought in on a temporary basis by Alan Pardew, signs a five-and-a-half year deal to keep him at St. James’s Park for the forseeable future. It’s Carver’s hometown club, so we can only expect the signing of the contract to be a formality really. He would have had to really mess things up for a long term contract not to be offered.

However, before we all dance into the Strawberry and toast Mike Ashley for investing in the club, we have to remember that not long before he was sold, none other than Andy Carroll signed a long term contract. I hate to put a downer on things because I’m all for quality players committing their future at NUFC, but there’s something about this which seems too good to be true.

If we get Barton and Enrique on long term deals, then I may start to lighten up the tone. I just have that sneaky feeling that Mike Ashley isn’t finished messing with Newcastle just yet.

John Carver was today appointed Newcastle United assistant manager. Carver fills the number two spot that’s been available since the departure of Colin Calderwood to Hibernian, and is Carver’s return to football after serving as Gary Speed’s assistant at Sheffield United.

Carver brings a wealth of experience and is knowledgeable about the club after serving under Bobby Robson in what was the club’s most successful period since the Kevin Keegan days. The Chronicle are revealing that Carver will work as Alan Pardew’s assistant until the end of the season, what happens after that is yet to be announced. The short-term deal was said to be requested by Pardew so that he can get to know John Carver better, and see if the two of them can work together.

The appointment of John Carver as assistant manager is great news for Newcastle United – not only on the footballing side, but on the side of personnel. Carver clearly understands how important football is to the people of Newcastle, and is a shrewd appointment by Alan Pardew. He knows the players, the staff, and has a sound knowledge of football.

Are you happy with this appointment? Was Carver the best choice? Let us know.

When you have players who are playing well, and who make up the core nucleus of a team, the last thing you would do is sell them, right? But guess what? This is Newcastle United and apparently anything and everything out of the ordinary is capable of happening.

According to this article on Sky, the St James’s Park heirarchy (aka Mike Ashley and Derek Llambias), are prepared to let Mr. Joseph Barton leave the club on a cut-price £1.5m transfer in the January transfer window – West Ham and Villa are said to be monitoring the situation carefully.

Barton has been the creative spark we’ve needed this season, and has shown through his performances on the field that he is a fine footballer and that the plight of this club matters to him. Letting him go at all would be bad for the club, but a poultry £1.5m? That’s just outrageous. If the club want to sell players to raise money for funds, and cut the wage bill, why not sell the following players?

• James Perch
• Xisco
• Alan Smith
• Leon Best

Selling one of our most capable players just shows the arrogance of Mike Ashley. When Nolan, Barton, and Carroll have played, we’ve won more than we’ve lost. To take Barton out of that mix would be nigh-on admitting that you want the club to fail. Even Barton haters have admitted that he’s settled down this year and has played some decent football. But come on, just what has Alan Smith (40k p/week), Xisco (40k p/week) contributed to Newcastle United this season? And they’re going to be staying? (By the way, those weekly estimates are conservative – I reckon both Smith and Xisco to be on closer to 50k p/week)

If true, this is just one more reason why both Mike and Derek need to leave out club before it turns into even more of a farce.

Howay the Toon

Colin Young at the Mail Online wrote an intriguing piece regarding the future of Newcastle United. In it, Young claims that investors in Qatar are considering a buy out of Newcastle to continue to expand their reach into global football (what, the World Cup wasn’t enough?). A week ago Barcelona agreed to a £125 million sponsorship deal with the Qatar Foundation. Apparently, that Qatari Foundation have singled out Newcastle United as prime contenders as a club worth investing in.

Officially the club is off the market, but would Mike Ashley now accept a bid of at least £200 million? It would be interesting to see. The club’s emergence as a Premier League club, and victories over some big hitters, including last weekend’s win over the Scousers, has brought us additional attention. Would Mike Ashley now ask for more than £200 million because of our status, or would he take someone’s arm off at a chance to get himself out of Tyneside?

Let’s not forget though that Alan Pardew is on a five-and-a-half year contract at NUFC, and most likely, any potential new owners would want to bring in their own manager sooner rather than later. The last thing this football club needs though is more upheaval, especially after the week we’ve just had.

I’m sure I’m not alone when I say I want the current owners out, and I would love dearly if Mike Ashley slung his hook. Imagine, being taken over by wealthy Middle Eastern businessmen where money was no object. We can but hope.