Plenty of stories regarding a rift between Keegan and Ashley/Wise from the papers and ol’ king Kev hasn’t been adverse to showing some press conference frustrations. Ashley has been a target of a lot of press speculation over his apparent approaches to various consortiums and foreign groups. He doesn’t particularly help his cause with a lot of fan impatience over the lack of new faces and investment. Well, new faces we did get initially but it was the Chairman, Chris Mort, who saw himself out of the gates of St James’ Park. His replacement, Derek Llambias has been just as anonymous if not more so. On the senior team, the new faces didn’t exactly rush in but we did see some troublesome long standing players leave the club, most notably Stephen Carr amougst the ones heading towards the exit. We still need to see if Ameobi leaves but chances are he’ll head off to Stoke City this evening. Along the summer we picked up a hand full of new faces namely , Danny Gruthrie, Jonas Gutierrez and until recently, Fabricio Coloccini. Hardly epic stuff on the face of it.

That brings us to players who are staying put. Steven Taylor signed a new contract whilst Michael Owen is still faffing about a new one. Personally, Ashley will have the upper hand in the contract talks if Owen doesn’t shake off the ‘sick note’ tag. Also, any concerns with Shay Given or Harper moving were quicky dispelled by the players.

It was a bad summer for Joey Barton. Keegan was quick to stand by him but fans were left slightly bemused that a problematic player, who picks up a £80,000 a month pay check really deserves a place in a top flight club. Barton certainly isn’t off the hook. The FA are currently looking at dishing out a hefty ban on the player as well as him facing yet more accusations of violent conduct from Ex City team mate, Jamie Tandy. Barton alledgelly stubbed a cigarette in Tandy’s eye!

There’s certainly a chance of seeing some more elevnth hour signings before the transfer window closes. I wouldn’t expect any big names. The expectations of Sunday’s fixture will be low due to us missing several key players at Old Trafford. Duff will probably be paired up with Martins up front and Smith will certainly still be in a black n’ white shirt despite Everton’s keen interest. Duff has been a relevation over the summer friendlies finding some scoring form that has eluded him since his move from Chelsea. I’m certainly up for seeing more from the Irish player throughout the new season.

I’ve just renewed my club membership and looking forward to getting the pack soon.  Apparently, there’s now a chance to have first picks on general sale tickets so worth a shot whilst accepting the price hike. Roll on the new season!

Spurs are doing fine in recent matches apart from being defeated by Man City. They did good against Chelsea and Pompey before that but not too bad. The Carling Cup holders for this season will be looking at Woodgate to hold the back line and Berbatov/Keane to provide the fire power up front. It’s going to be a tough day’s work for Faye and Taylor on Sunday. However, Spurs are not invincible and you could say have performed below expectation in the Premiership so far. They have had their fair share of defensive frailties despite the inclusion of Woodgate in January. Things have got better to some extent but they aren’t exactly inpenetratable.  Ramos will know what to expect in Keegan’s formation and will adjust accordingly. Not going to be easy but we expect the Mags to put up a fight at White Hart Lane.

Predcition: Draw

Fulham to this day have had a terrible away record managing no wins in eighteen games. It comes as no surprise that the slump in form has meant they are finding themsleves well in the drop zone. However, a win at Craven Cottage against high-flyers, Everton last weekend has done their confidence a world of good. They’ll be looking to captialise on that and using the lift against us. Hodgson doesn’t have much injury worries either. Both McBride and Bullard will cause problems for us. Jimmy Bullard, in particular would be looking for a good performance at St James’ as it was the scene of his horrible leg injury after clashing with Now ex-Newcastle midfielder, Scott Parker last season.

Newcastle aim to take the next step away from relegation zone with the first win under Keegan. In his own words:

“We didn’t lose and got a point now Fulham is a chance to build on that. When you start winning it’s contagious, losing is the same.”

A win is certainly a strong possibility after the positive display on Monday in the second half. The players and fans alike have been buzzing with excitement again after seeing a new squad set up (Martins, Viduka and Owen up front) actually work. With the availability of players like Duff, Smith and NZogbia, KK will feel a little spoilt for choice. However, I don’t think Keegan will undo a good thing and split the trio up. He’ll also probably be happy to keep arrangements in midfield and defence the same, although Faye might actually have an easier job trying to contain McBride then he did with McFadden. Like Sam Allardyce in game 1 before him, KK will be looking to beat one of his former managerial clubs so he won’t get nostalgic either.

Newcastle must beat Fulham tomorrow. My prediction 3-1.

Newcastle started off well with purpose but concentration dimmed as the minutes ticked and it was N’Zogbia who allowed Rooney to sneak through and finish a cross by Ronaldo. The Man U poster boy himself went on the score sheet twice. His second goal was the product of some slack passing by Faye. All this was overlooked by Sir Bobby Robson who was probably wondering how things could ‘ve have been different if he was sacked those many years ago. A brief ray of light, offered Faye with a goal from a corner set piece before Rooney scored his brace minutes later. Newcastle old boy, Saha finished us off with a clinical shot past Harper. Don’t blame Harper here as the defending was all over the shop again.
I am going to try and draw some positives from this match so to begin with the St James’ Park crowd did their best to lift the team. It probably contributed to our brisk start. However, players didn’t live up to their billing as usual and lapses in concentration costed us dearly yet again. If I did highlight some player performances, I would pick out Damien Duff and Milner, who both worked hard throughout. There is another injury worry for Shay Given meant he was subbed by Harper, who did an admirable job in the second half despite letting in the goals.

That’s now our tenth defeat in succession and caused by weak defending. Hopefully, our new assistant coach, Chris Hughton from Tottenham would be able to look at the defending situation, but then again didn’t Spurs have bad defensive frailities as well? Whatever happens, KK and the team need to keep their cool and start working for results.

Next up is we face up to Mark Hughes’ Blackburn Rovers at SJP.

The Premier League and club representatives gathered to discuss extending a season to play 10 extra league games abroad. The ambition ‘international round’ plan are a way of promoting the Premier League globally and bringing additional revenue from new fans abroad. The league has already attracted a following in countries like China but the move will benefit all the clubs and not just the “top 4″. What this will mean to crowd control and other unsavory activities associated with international football is anybodies guess but I can only think of positives with such a move.

The African Nations Cup draws to a close. We are expected Beye and Faye to return to the squad against Villa whilst Martins also comes back but as I heard is nursing a slight ankle injury. Geremi is still in the tournament as Cameroon take on hosts, Ghana.

However on a plus side, Given and Carr will be both all clear in a week with Carr returning to regular training very soon.

Damien Duff, who seems to have been injured forever is looking at being ready in about three weeks for the Blackburn match on December 1st. No word on Peter Ramage as yet who will not probably feature until late in the season after suffering a knee injury in the draw at the Riverside.