“I have been offered a two-year contract and it is something I am mulling over at the present time

I have told Mike I am not going to go back to football for at least another three months and we will look at the situation then.”

He continues…

“I told him I would refuse to go back for pre-season friendlies as I was not up to it for medical reasons. I needed to take time out and re-assess the situation and take it from there. But obviously in another three months the picture might be completely different.”

And there’s more…

“In the meantime if Newcastle feel the need to go and get another manager then so be it,” he said. “But should that happen I will be on the look-out elsewhere and as we all know the only time you do get asked to take these positions is when someone else loses their job.”

Although his condition and subsequent by-pass surgery rules him out, his appointment would not be popular with fans who had hoped that Alan Shearer would take the post.

It’s already a very confusing and frustrating picture painted at the club for fans and this only adds to the mess created by Ashley & Co. Could this mean that Ashley is going to give up the sale and  continue at the club? Or is Ashley laying the ground work for an alternative plan if the Keith Harris’ phone stops ringing (if it ever did ring in for enquiries in the first place). In the meantime, Newcastle are about to start their Championship campaign under-strengthened and without a proper manager this Saturday. If any cracks show, it will be televised across the nation live on BBC 1 at teatime! Crikey!

You can read the official club statement here.

To me it was a little late coming but Mike Ashley finally acknowledged his role in the whole relegation saga. In a statement, Mr Ashley said:

“Seeing Newcastle United relegated from the Premier League has been a catastrophe for us all,” he said.

“I fully accept that mistakes were made during this and previous seasons and I am very sorry for that.

“I would like to say sorry to our magnificent supporters who have turned up in their thousands, home and away, up and down the country and who have given the team amazing backing throughout.

“And I would also say sorry to all of the club’s hard-working staff, who have gone about their jobs all year long.”

He later stated that securing Alan Shearer’s services for next season were high on his to-do list. Considering that reports are once again re-surfacing of a possible take over, I’m annoyed that Ashley wants to cut ‘n’ run and not stay for at least another season to try and fix things. We all know the time when we endured a frustrating time earlier in the year when the people at the top failed to communicate anything to the fans or team. This is still rumour which I hope is not true. If he can turn Newcastle back into a winning side I believe it’ll give Ashley a much needed injection of credibility which he sorely needs.

Negotiations with Shearer at the Darsley Park training ground are on-going and wrestling transfer cash is yet again a sticking point as it was for Keegan and Kinnear during their brief tenures. I hope that Shearer manages to take a job which doesn’t involve any heavy handed-ness from Ashley or Llambias. Those two have already publicly said that they screwed things up and putting too much power in their hands has lead us to relegation already. I’m sure myself and other fans are urging related parties to get on with it and start rebuilding the club from the ground up. The more time they waste the less chance we’ll have to hit the ground running come August.

An update on the players side, a few have spoken ou t as to regards to staying or not. Viduka will probably either retire having lost his place on the Oz international team and unlikely to receive another contract. Peter Lovenkrands’ agent has already expressed that the striker wants Premier league football next season. Good chances he will be out. I believe a few  players will await the Shearer decision before deciding their future. Taylor, Duff, Beye are all keen that Shearer stay on. We’ll have to be patient.

5. Shearer – should he stay or should he go? I think a successful run of eight games would surely be enough to convince Ashley that Shearer should be the man at the wheel come the new season. Get that contract written up and signed asap.

4. Michael Owen – He’s been hesitant to get a contract renewal but with Shearer on-board for another season why not sign a rolling season -by-season contract? He won’t be playing in Europe but then again where else would he go?

3. Get rid of the dead wood – It’s time to shed some of the flops and has-beens in the team. We’re talking Smith, Barton, Viduka.

2. Buy New players – obvious one really. I don’t think Ashley will break the bank but with Shearer as manager, we should be able to attract some good talent to play for the team.

1. Sort Yourself out Ashley. To be blunt, Ashley’s rein on Newcastle this season has been a complete disaster. Throwing money in the club is all well but Keegan, Allardyce and Wise to name but a few bad incidents. The guy needs to get smart and read up on some NUFC history. He has to stop pissing around and show more better leadership at top. For God’s sake, communicate better to the fans when we really need to know what’s going on! Hopefully, Kinnear will move to the executive and put a football brain in the board.

Our team is in dire need of some inspiratioal figure leading on the team. We can’t rely on Owen or Hughton to turn things around. Losing against Bolton and then Hull a few weeks back was a disaster. Arsenal, I don’t mind although we did hold our own.

If Joe Kinnear has his doubts, I hope he  would do the decent thing for the team and step aside. No one will blame him and it would probably be the best outcome for everyone in dangerous times.

Meanwhile, Mike Ashley and Llambias has strongly denied reports that NUFC will be docked points if relegated and going into administration. Both are on the charm offemsive to win back support (and season ticket holders) after this season’s complete meltdown. If we are relegated, they’ll probably be the most hated people in Newcastle if they aren’t already.

With three points dropped and a string of difficult games to follow (Man Utd on Wednesday anyone?), I don’t feel as if the points will come fast anytime soon unless the team notch up a few clicks from today. I think Ashley had better start looking at getting some help for Chris at least in the short term. Be that Venables or Poyet perhaps?

Llambias also held a two and half hour meeting today to talk to fans (wow, a first!) and try to dispel some of the rumours flying around. It’s  welcomed change to the stony silence we have had from the club. Hopefully this would not be the last time we get to speak to Llambias directly on club matters. He are a select few quotes:

“We want to be solid competitors at the top. That’s the way we are going. We aim to be knocking on the door again.”

“When we took over, we had repair work to do and holes to fill. That has been huge step. We have put in quarter of a billion into the club.

“We didn’t think the club had any foundation, there was a poor Academy and we are now building for the future.

“We are not neglecting the club.”

He didn’t reveal what kind of transfer kitty would be available in the summer for Kinnear to spend.  Personally, I think that’s right. We aren’t even in the position to talk transfers until I can safely write in this blog that Newcastle will be a Premiership outfit next season. Safety first and then let’s talk cash!

Kinnear  will now have to undergo bypass surgery on Friday and will most likely be ordered to rest for the remaining months of the season. This is the latest example of misfortune which has blighted the club recently and we’ll look to Ashley yet again to guide us through this.

We wish Joe all the best and have a speedy recovery.

No more details as yet and hopefully nothing serious.

UPDATE: Joe Kinnear was taken to hospital but medical staff didn’t find anything serious. He’ll stay in hospital for more observation but it is looking like he will be out early next week.

As reported in the Chronicle:-

Kinnear said: “I’d like to thank everyone who has been asking how I have been feeling.

“Although I missed the game my grandson was giving me a running commentary.

“It was a great win for us and I told Chris to pass on my congratulations to  the players.

“Chris came to see me on Saturday evening.”

Meanwhile managing director Derek Llambias says: “Joe was in good spirits and listening to the game.

“He was more bothered than the team winning than anything else.

“He was nice and relaxed and hopefully back in a few days.”

Kinnear on the other hand is starting to feel the heat that other managers have faced before him. His in-yer-face comments about his predecessors is old news to fans frankly; everybody has been saying it for years now and Kinnear can’t really use that as an excuse. What’s evident is that players are badly in need of form. The disenters need to be silenced and some transfer activity needs to happen now. If we go for budget players then that’s great as long as they have the pride to wear the shirt and give justice to the ever-suffering Newcastle fan. We are nearing the last week of January and fans have yet to see something exciting happening. What fans are getting instead is drivel on the pitch and in the papers and heading for another new low. We hear once again of some strife in the team, hopefully it was N’Zogbia on the recieving end but to be honest, I wish everyone gets a good kick up the ass!

We’vejsut signed up Peter Lovenkrands foruntil end of the season.Questions could be raised about how the Rangers old boy would do on Saturday. However, at the end of the day, the transfer window is about to shut and still we have a thread bare team to fight us out of the relegation spot. We’re possibly going to off load Shay to Man City on a mega bucks deal for fresh funds but I feel it may be too late.