Rumour has it that the Toon are in for Swindon’s young striker Charlie Austin. The 20 year old joined Swindon from non-league Poole Town. He’s recently came to the limelight because of his 16 goals in 22 starts.

Austin has been watched by Newcastle several times this season, most recently last weekend against Hartlepool.

He certainly fits Mike Ashley’s transfer policy – a young up and comer, who the club could sell on for a profit. But is this the kind of signing we need to be making? If we’re to stay up in the Premier League (should we get promoted) we need to sign proven Premier League players. While Austin would certainly be a good buy for the future, the task of leading our front line next against Premier League defenders needs to be done by a proven player, otherwise it could well be a season of survival.

The people linked with Newcastle United are either perpetually stupid or completely inept.

Barry Moat has finally broken his silence regarding the Newcastle United takeover and his failure to buy the club. In comments released yesterday Moat admitted that he too would consider selling the naming rights for St. James’s Park. Anything to make a few quid eh Barry?

It’s clear now that Barry Moat is more of the Mike Ashley variety and not the clever, astute businessman we all hoped he would be when he was first linked with buying the club. Let’s get one thing clear for any other businessman, tycoon or consortium interesting in buying NUFC: The name of St. James’s Park is not for sale.

Will someone show me where I can spend a few bob and invest money in the NUST? I have a better chance in the takeover of the club than Barry Moat ever had.

The Journal today published an article with quotes attributed to none other than our favorite cockney geezer, Derek Llambias.

With most sane Newcastle fans venting fury at the clubs efforts to sell naming rights to St. James’s Park next season, the club appear to be trying to alleviate some of the damage.

Llambias, when speaking to Sky Sports, explains the decision:

`We are just looking to explore and maximise all our revenues.“We’ve got a great opportunity at the moment because our sponsorships are coming to an end. So we have a kit sponsor, we have shirt sponsors and then we have stadium right sponsors.

“So our intention is to put a package together that would include for instance stadium rights with a jumbo screen included in that sponsorship which is great for the fans as well.

“Our intention is to have – for instance sportsdirect.com@ St James’ Park.

“We were never going to lose St James’ Park, it was always going to be @ St James’ Park.

I shouldn’t need to point out the obvious here, but why are we supposed to believe this load of guff when all they’ve said in the past has been total bollocks? Even if what Llambias has said is true, let’s say they only want to put the sponsorship name in front of St. James’s Park, it’s still making money off the the history and heritage of this fine football club.

We can’t let Mike Ashley continue to ruin Newcastle United. Support the lads on the field, give the fat blokes upstairs a protest like they’ve never seen before.

We’ll say this once if we have to say it a thousand times – it’s St. James’s Park or nothing.

Just when we thought things couldn’t get any worse, news tonight emanating from St. James Park is that Mike Ashley has removed Newcastle United from the market and the club is no longer for sale.

Here is the press release in full from the club’s official website:

Dull. Uninspiring. Inept.

All words than can sum up tonight’s performance. It’s really gone beyond who scored for / against us anymore. It’s now down to attitude and application. Sadly for Newcastle United fans, both our coaching staff and players are completely incapable of showing either.

Marlon Harewood, who was void of any kind of class at all against Nottingham Forest was rightly dropped. Therein lies the problem. Once we drop one player, the person who comes in to replace him is equally as unmotivated and lacking in talent – and we lay that blame at the door of Chris Hughton, Colin Calderwood and most of all, Mike Ashley.

The failure to invest in both coaching and playing staff is now bearing fruit. A club down the road have sacked their manager and they’re fourth in the Championship. What’s going to happen if we fail to win this weekend? The St James’s Park hot seat could reach boiling point – it’s going to be interesting to see who cracks first.

To those players who wanted Chris Hughton to be given a crack at the manager’s job, I hope you’re happy – because it certainly doesn’t show.

You see that great big ditch down there? The one big enough to swallow St. James’s Park? That’s how far my heart sank when I heard the news that Chris Hughton was offered the manager’s job on a permanent basis.

Firstly, this is a huge backwards step and reeks of the lack of ambition wafting out from the Gallowgate. If there was ever a sign that we are a disfunctional club with no ambition whatsoever, this is it. I mean, it’s hardly inspiring is it? The only, and I really do mean only, positive you could take from this, is that the players who were wanting Chris Hughton to be made gaffer (the same Newcastle players to blame for shoddy performances), will now get their way. They better bloody put in decent shifts or there’ll be hell to pay.

Chris Hughton is a nice guy and a good coach. He is not a manager. Newcastle fans, is this really where you see our future? From where I’m standing things are looking bleak right now.

Hope beyond hope is that Barry Moat manages to obtain the resources to takeover NUFC and then we can build for the future.

Ashley out.

Mike Ashley, Newcastle United’s much maligned owner has dropped the price of the club to £80 million. Ashley has given Barry Moat one more week to come up with the funds to buy the club (even though a few weeks ago we were told he had made a formal offer and that money was in the bank).

If nobody comes up with the cash, and let’s face it, things aren’t looking good, we could be stuck with Mike Ashley for who knows how long? Where there were some doubts over Ashley’s intention to sell the club, I think he’s now made his intentions clear.

Dear Mr Moat & rich Americans – please, come up with the money to buy our club. It really is a great city, with great fans. We’ll pay you back with our loyalty (honest). All we want is someone who knows how to run a football club and make smart decisions. Is that too much to ask?

Both the Daily Mirror and the Times are reporting that Barry Moat has launched a formal takeover bid for Newcastle United. Moat is said to have significant financial muscle from American investors and has received guarantees from Barclays that he will be given working capital to run the club.

The offer is said to be a small amount less than the £100 million Mike Ashley is asking for Newcastle, and the Toon chairman now has to make a decision – sell up and leave, or dig his feet in until Newcastle get promoted.

We don’t have a game for another two weeks. By that time we could well be seeing Alan Shearer in the dugout and a new owner in the director’s box. Here’s hoping.

The Mirror on Sunday are reporting that Mike Ashley is finally ready to relinquish control of Newcastle United. This comes after the club having to pay Kevin Keegan £2 million this week. Along with the report of the takeover news, the Mirror also reports that should Mike Ashley be unable to sell Newcastle before the New Year, he will award Chris Hughton a £5 million transfer war chest.

However, the Telegraph on the other hand are reporting that fans are plotting a buy-out of the Newcastle Chairman. They also report that Barry Moat is still in talks with the club regarding his takeover bid. I’m sorry, but I just don’t see how a fans trust can generate enough money, nor clout, to move forward with becoming part of any takeover. It’s a grand venture – which Newcastle fan wouldn’t want to have a say in or own a small part of the club?

If I had my choice, I’d much rather have more experienced custodians put in charge of my club – Geordies or not.

The ongoing saga between Kevin Keegan and Newcastle United reached a conclusion today with the ‘winner’ being Kevin Keegan. It was decided that the former Newcastle boss was constructively dismissed. In other words, the club owe Mr Keegan two million quid.

However, what’s more revealing and possibly a damning inditement at just how much of a shambles the club is, was revealed by Keegan’s statement after the panel’s verdict. In it, he explains that he was forced to sanction the signing of a player ‘to do a favour’ for two South-American agents.

I think the club have came out of this one with with their reputation definitely tarnished, and their wallets lighter, but the monetary payment could certainly have been a lot worse. Hopefully, now that the Keegan saga has reached a conclusion, we can make significant progress with the takeover of Newcastle United. Something I’m sure we can all agree on.