ohhh_yeah

Turkish footballer Emre Belozoglu was handed a two-month 15 days suspended jail sentence on Tuesday for a racist slur he used against Ivory Coast midfielder Didier Zokora during a match in 2012. The court sentenced the Fenerbahce and Turkey national team midfielder on the grounds that the act constituted an insult crime of "religious, racist, ethnic, sexist or sectarian discrimination." The incident, in which Zokora accused Belozoglu of calling him the "N" word, occurred in April 2012 at a playoff match between Fenerbahce and Trabzonspor. Belozoglu was accused of racism three times during his three-year career at Newcastle United, but the English FA's investigations failed to prove the accusations. Belozoglu became the first Turkish footballer ever to have been handed a prison sentence for racism.

London "fashion".

Sonnen retires after a positive doping test. Talked smack to his previous opponent since he also had a positive. Self-awareness.

France.

"I spoke to Newcastle about Bony last summer. Newcastle should have bought Bony a year ago but they didn’t believe in him. "They could have signed him for £10million, but they said they weren't sure if he was good enough, that he was only playing in Holland (with Vitesse). "Now he is worth £20million. "The next step for Bony is a top-six team in England or a top team in Germany, Spain or France, or he will stay with Swansea. "We have a certain strategy. Bony is in a totally different place to Newcastle and wants to move to a club with ambition. "We have had no contact with Newcastle."

Jessica's the only one for me. You'll see. We'll rise above this piddling pecadillo. We're gonna be happy again. You got that? Happy. Capital H-A-P-P-I. .

fcbarcelonadotcom: But despite glowing starts to each campaign, Cesc’s contributions to the cause gradually decreased as each season drew to a close. From being someone who joined in with the attack, supplying and scoring goals, the magic tended to fade later on in each season. He only scored one, six and one goals in the last 24 games of each season. For some reason, he was never as good in the second half of a season as in the first.

Fabregas: “I firmly believe that Chelsea is the best choice. They match my footballing ambitions with their hunger and desire to win trophies.” “I would like to thank everyone at FC Barcelona where I enjoyed 3 wonderful years. It was my childhood club and I will always be proud and honoured that I had a chance to play for such a great team. "I do feel that I have unfinished business in the Premier League and now is the right time for me to return. Yes, everyone knows that Arsenal had the first option to sign me. They decided not to take this option and therefore it wasn’t meant to be. I wish them well in the future.”

If he does depart, I would want another keeper brought in. Rob Elliot: “No, I think it was being at Newcastle which helped me get the recognition and be part of the (international) set-up. Obviously I want to play more games than I have done but sometimes as a goalkeeper you have to accept that you have to bide your time and when you do get your chance you’ve got to try to do well,” he said. “That’s what I have been working towards. I have had some opportunities and I think I have done well and I would like to think that if Tim (Krul) did go and there was an opportunity to claim that number one jersey, that I would be first in line. “Tim has always been linked to big clubs and the fact that he is in the Holland World Cup squad is probably going to enhance his credibility even more. “He is a top-class keeper, he has shown that in the way he has performed but whether or not he will actually go somewhere else, I don’t know.”

In my city alone there is at least over two dozen artisan cheese makers. Would not even know where to find out the statistics for the restaurants that use the lush products.

(Do not know exactly why all of these cabbies are not picking up fares but I am led to believe that they are giving you full support in your fact finding mission.)

These fuckers here in the States are boiling my piss. The FDA has issued an executive decree banning wooden boards being used to age cheese. This is a huge blow to many of the artisans here in town.

No details yet but an acquaintance has had to leave early so that he could get his daughter out of her school. One student confirmed dead.

ITV Reporter: "How far are England away from a good team?" Roy Hodgson: " About 4 hotels."

Jean Louis Tiraud: "He is an excellent player with one defect, he was bought very expensively by Newcastle and his salary is high. The problem with the idea of a loan, is most clubs wait until the 31st August, because they are still trying to sell the player."

Jack Colback is an excellent addition for Newcastle United and will find it easier than people say to pull on a black and white shirt I was not short on options during the summer I decided to sign for Sunderland. Alan Curbishley wanted me at Charlton and Bryan Robson was trying to take me to Middlesbrough as well. I went to Gordon Strachan’s house in Stratford and he had a unique way of selling Coventry City to me – he told me we’d be in a relegation battle! However, Gordon had the right idea – he was honest and straightforward and he very nearly persuaded me to sign for Coventry by telling me with two good seasons under my belt he would help me play for a club at the very top of the European game. He’d done the same to Robbie Keane, so it was a convincing sell. I wanted to go to Sunderland, though. The contract offer was not as good as the other clubs, but I liked Peter Reid and his coaching staff – it was a club that was built on the right foundations and I just had a feeling they were going places. The last thing that came into my mind was the rivalry between Sunderland and the club I had been fanatical about when I was growing up – Newcastle United. I'd spent my own money to watch Newcastle from the terraces when I was training as a forklift truck driver, but football is a business. As soon as you become a professional you have to adopt a hard-headed attitude and the rivalries and the things you care about when you’re growing up have to be put to one side. That is football and I’m surprised more players haven’t moved between Newcastle and Sunderland in the last few years. It’s a fierce, horrible rivalry at times but you underestimate how much focus footballers have when it comes to something like this. You rise above it, and for Jack Colback he was a Newcastle fan so he will find it easier. He’s one of them rather than someone coming the other way like I was. We’re a selfish breed really and you have to look out for yourself. When a move is on the table which makes financial sense and brings you on as a footballer you take it and that is what Colback has probably had to do here. People will mention the Twitter picture of him holding up three fingers after the 3-0. So what? It was a bit of light-hearted mickey-taking. You’re entitled to enjoy winning a game and it shows he cares. Sunderland supporters are going to be annoyed at Colback for moving to Newcastle, but they really need to be annoyed with the directors who have allowed him to leave on a free. Footballers like Colback need to be treated properly and they had more than a year to get him tied down to a new contract which reflected the fact he was a first-team player and they didn’t do that. Now he’s walking away for nothing and that will hit Gus Poyet in the pocket. How much would Jack Colback fetch in the open market? A young, English midfielder who can play in a number of positions is a good asset and Sunderland might have raised £4m or so for him. That would have gone straight into Gus Poyet’s transfer pot but now he’s walked away for free and Newcastle have picked up a very good player. You can put a brave face on it as a Sunderland supporter but that is not a good situation – serious questions should be asked, if they haven’t already. If I was a Sunderland fan I’d want to know why that had happened. Roberto De Fanti was the director of football when the contract offer went in and I think that first contract offer seriously under-valued Colback as a player. That is the sort of thing whch just ruins your relationship with a club. I had to make a similar call at the end of my Everton career, but in truth it was an easy decision. I knew a few people would pick up on my allegiances and where I was from and I knew all about the rivalry between the two teams. Everyone told me it would be difficult for me going back to Newcastle, but I had already made a few controversial moves by then, picking Scotland despite being born in England and playing for both Everton and Liverpool. As a footballer, it shows a bit of the kind of bravery you need when you’re prepared to swap one rival for another when you know you’re going to get a hard time for it. I see Colback doing it for Newcastle, and whatever the supporters think, they should be impressed by his determination to play for the club. It takes a bit of bottle to make the decision he’s made. I was warned at the time I would never be able to set foot in Newcastle again, but that was never the case to be honest. Most people were relatively good about it and I still went shopping and spent time in town. We even went out a few times in Newcastle as a group of Sunderland players. We had minders but we would go out in Newcastle if we wanted to. I went out when my son was born and we went out for birthdays and the odd time to celebrate. We’d sit ourselves in the corner so we could keep an eye on what was going on. You got the odd person who would try and have a go at you, but generally, if you handled it right, you didn’t need to worry about it. Taking all emotion out of it, Colback is a solid signing by Newcastle. It is not going to push them into the top six on its own, but I like Colback and always have. There is something about him that wouldn’t look out of place in a good Premier League team and I think he adds to Newcastle’s squad. He’s not spectacular and perhaps not the most talented player available on the market this summer, but he’s comfortable in possession and he can pick a pass. I would categorise him as a 7/10 in everything he does and he rarely dips below that. Newcastle need more of those kind of players. There can be a lot of snobbery about players like Colback these days – good, hard-working midfielders who cover a lot of ground but can put their foot on the ball. Maybe they’ve gone out of fashion, but look at the good teams in the Premier League and they’ve lots of those type of players. Jordan Henderson does the job brilliantly at Liverpool. My Sunderland team was full of hard workers. Michael Gray, Chris Makin, Jody Craddock, Emerson Thome, Gavin McCann, Kevin Phillips, Niall Quinn – it was a team which worked hard week-in, week-out. Newcastle needed more of that because there were games last season when players seemed to down tools. You won’t get that from Colback.

Steve Harper's stache...

A man who knows what it's like to make the move to North-East rivals advises Jack Colback on what to expect at Newcastle United “I’ve got to say, I think he’s a good player. “He’s done really well for Sunderland when I’ve seen him play so that will be a positive signing. “He’s born and bred in Newcastle. “When you hear him talking you can hear that Geordie twang. “Listen, when you make that move you have to hit the ground running. “You have to start well. “The fans take to you if you do. “That’s what happened when I went the other way. “Once I got on the pitch I done the business.” Clark left Sunderland in 1999 after being pictured wearing a t-shirt regarded offensive by Sunderland fans and moved on to Fulham before a dream end to his career at Newcastle. Although there was a time when he was a favourite for fans at the Stadium of Light after helping the Wearsiders to promotion. He said: “In the end it went sour because of the situation. “But it went well on the pitch and that’s what Jack has to do.” “He has high drive and high energy. “If he gives everything and the Newcastle fans see that then that’ll be enough. “If he continues to show the quality he showed at Sunderland then that’ll be fine. “Just don’t wear any derogatory t-shirts, that won’t help his cause.”

Former Sunderland midfielder ready to live his Geordie dream AFTER posing for the customary new signing photograph in front of the players’ tunnel yesterday, Jack Colback took centre stage in one of the media suite’s interview rooms at St James’ Park. As he dealt with the questions about his controversial switch from Sunderland to Newcastle United, he was relaxed, excited and already at home in his new surroundings. As much as most fans of a Wearside persuasion will not like it, and there will be those on Tyneside reluctant to accept a former Black Cat too, the 24-year-old brought up in a Newcastle supporting family in Killingworth has waited for this day to arrive. When Colback was a young schoolboy, before he was attached to Sunderland’s academy, he had already been in the stands at St James’ to watch Kevin Keegan’s entertainers with his father, John-Paul. “Faustino Asprilla was my favourite player, but he wasn’t really my style! I’m a bit different to that,” said Colback, smiling and extremely satisfied to be Alan Pardew’s second signing of the summer following last week’s arrival of Spaniard Ayoze Perez. “I was born a Newcastle fan really, having been born around here. The majority of my family were Newcastle fans. My parents bought me the shirt. I remember getting the shirts and buzzing over the new one coming out “My earliest memories were the Keegan years and the relative success they had then. I remember the 90s when they beat Man U (in the Premier League 5-1) and Barcelona in the Champions League. Those are the sort of nights I want to be a part of, although I’m not saying I expect us to be in the Champions League soon. “I want to be able to play in front of 52,000 every week, getting to cup finals and stuff like that. I want to be a success here and part of a successful team. Bring successful times back to this club.” Despite being brought up on North Tyneside, he made the decision to join Sunderland’s academy at the age of ten after impressing for the reputable Cramlington Juniors. “My dad was very level headed and he would never shout and bawl on the sidelines when I was eight or nine to tell me to do this or that better,” said Colback. “He has always supported me, even when I signed for Sunderland. He has always supported me rather than the team I played for. It will be good for all of my family to see me walk out in a Newcastle shirt.” When he does that at the start of next season he will hope to repeat the achievements of the last midfielder to leave Sunderland for Newcastle. Paul Bracewell scored on his Magpies debut in a 3-2 win over Southend United on August 15, 1992. “If it happens where I can score on my first appearance then that would be ideal,” said Colback. “A lot will be said about me leaving Sunderland, but for me as a professional I just have to concentrate on my football and let everyone else talk. “I would like to win the Newcastle fans over sooner rather than later, scoring might help! I just want a good start to the season, win games and look more positive.” Colback wanted to get things finalised and confirmed at the earliest opportunity on returning from honeymoon. There had been enough speculation surrounding his future, with speculated interest from other Premier League clubs. The chance to remain in the North-East proved just perfect for the newlywed. “I will get to training 15 minutes earlier every morning as well, I can have an extra 15 in bed,” joked Colback, after signing a long-term deal at Newcastle. “It will be a new environment, a new team. Moving clubs is something that is part and parcel of football. It is something I am excited about and it’s the next chapter in my life, my family’s life. “It’s been quite a hectic summer, getting married was stressful enough. There has been a lot of speculation about what would happen. I made my choice to come here and it’s a huge opportunity to come to a massive team like Newcastle, the team I supported. It was one I could not let go of.” With pre-season training set to start in early July before the tour of New Zealand and Australia, it will not be long before Colback makes his Premier League debut for Newcastle – and a guaranteed hostile reception in the Tyne-Wear derbies will be guaranteed. “I am pretty sure I will not be going down well around Sunderland now if my name gets brought up in conversation with Sunderland fans,” he said. “That’s the decision I have made. I have to live with that. “Newcastle was the best footballing move on the table for me. I have decided to take that. You have thoughts about swapping the two rivals, which is clearly not ideal, but it was a decision I felt I had to make. “There will even be a minority of Newcastle fans I will have to win over and they might not take to me because I have those Sunderland connections. All I can do is play football and do what I do – and hopefully be a success here at St James’ Park.”