Scottish Mag

The People... I think one of the rages reported on Pellegrini and Flores the other day only for the Fat one to deny it..

MARK HUGHES is the No.1 contender to become Newcastle boss this summer - ahead of Martin O'Neill. And that will present the former Manchester United and Chelsea star with a huge dilemma that could trigger a major summer managerial merry-go-round. Hughes has done an outstanding job at Blackburn since taking over from Graeme Souness last season. And the former Welsh international boss is now expected to be handed the chance to follow Souness again - this time into the St James' Park hot-seat. Chairman Freddy Shepherd has almost run out of patience with O'Neill and has drawn up an alternative short-list. And Hughes tops the pile. Although Glenn Roeder has steadied the ship with some impressive results after taking over as caretaker boss, Shepherd is looking for a long-term solution - and Hughes is the man he wants. That will cause massive unease at Rovers, who have been delighted with the quiet authority Hughes has shown in turning Blackburn into a team who are close to securing a place in next season's UEFA Cup. It will also present 'Sparky' with a major decision - whether to stay and finish the job at Blackburn, especially if they make it into Europe, or take control of one of the Premiership's biggest clubs. One of the frustrations for Hughes is the lack of a big support at Blackburn, who cannot compete with the 50,000- strong Toon Army which regularly fills St James' Park. Hughes is quietly ambitious and already has been marked as a potential successor to Sir Alex Ferguson when he finally decides to end his reign at Manchester United. Hughes would have no conflict with the retiring Alan Shearer - tipped as a future Toon boss - and he would be given a bigger transfer budget than at Rovers. If Hughes does decide to accept an invitation from Shepherd it could spark a series of moves - with jobs at Fulham, Middlesbrough, Charlton, Aston Villa, Birmingham and, of course, Blackburn all potentially up for grabs. If he stays loyal to Blackburn, Toon chief Shepherd will turn to the other names on his alternative list. They include Sam Allardyce, Paul Jewell, Alan Curbishley and Villarreal boss Manuel Pellegrini.

Newcastle United now face competition from Middlesbrough for Martin O'Neill in what could develop into a Tyne-Tees battle for the Irishman. That's the news The Chronicle can reveal tonight as the managerial roundabout is now likely to include Middlesbrough, with Steve McClaren favourite to move up to head coach with England when Sven-Goran Eriksson quits after the World Cup in the summer. Our exclusive story a week past Wednesday that McClaren was going to be offered the England job reverberated around football, and it seems to be now accepted that the Boro boss will be his country's No 1 later in the summer. Now our information is that Middlesbrough chairman Steve Gibson realises this and is making preparations for a new manager at The Riverside - and that O'Neill has been spoken to. All that is missing is interest from Sunderland for O'Neill, who admits to having being a fan of the red-and-whites in his days as a youngster in Northern Ireland. But as much as Sunderland supporters would love O'Neill in the hot seat at the Stadium of Light, they are not even in his thoughts because of the position they now find themselves in. However, Middlesbrough are a different kettle of fish, and not only that but Fulham have made no secret of the fact they are more than interested in taking the former Wycombe Wanderers, Leicester City and Celtic manager to Craven Cottage. Fulham believe they do have one advantage over the rest of the contenders because their chief executive, Dave McNally, worked closely with O'Neill at Parkhead. There is talk that England could announce their new manager as early as Wednesday, and the situation could be a lot clearer after that. In the meantime, the speculation over England and United continues on a daily basis - and most of it is wrong. A United spokesman told me today in advance of this afternoon's first league match with Wigan Athletic at St James' Park: "Any talk over the weekend that we have picked our new manager is not only premature and speculation but it is also wrong. "Our position has not changed. At this moment in time nobody has been ruled in and nobody has been ruled out. "Certainly reports yesterday that we are putting pressure on anyone are just not true. Nor is the report that we will be talking to the Valencia or Villarreal managers. We have no plans to talk to these two gentlemen." Despite all the speculation Freddy Shepherd has remained cool and calm but the United chairman must know that if Glenn Roeder takes United into Europe against all the odds, he will have to look seriously at taking his caretaker tag off him. Shepherd already has an important date on Tuesday night when, with Michael Owen, he accompanies Alan Shearer to the HMV awards. Shearer will accept the HMV Lifetime Achievement award, sponsored by Nationwide, at a football extravaganza in the posh Grosvenor House Hotel in London. Two of Shearer's former United managers, Sir Bobby Robson and Kenny Dalglish, will also be in attendance.

to make it believable though you'd need to Photoshop a big fat bloke eating a pie into the seat in front of Ritchie, then remove him 20 minutes into the game? where the hell does he go????? 121411[/snapback] The guy who eats the pie by picking all the pastry off the top of it then he goes straight into the meat and gravey with his fingers, scooping it out before shoveling it into his mouth as the gravy drips down his jacket...hes a right "clatty" bastard..

Newcastle defender Jean-Alain Boumsong fears he may miss the World Cup boat after losing his place at St James' Park. Boumsong has been a fixture in France coach Raymond Domenech's side for some time and is planning to shine in Germany. However, the centre half has lost his place on Tyneside after some disappointing displays in the black and white of Newcastle. Titus Bramble and Craig Moore are likely to continue their partnership against Wigan on Saturday and Boumsong has spoken to Magpies chief Glenn Roeder about his position. "He came to see me because he doesn't want to jeopardise his World Cup hopes," said Roeder. "It's a big issue for him. "I've known players in his position to get angry but, to his credit, he wasn't. He wanted reassuring that I hadn't lost faith in him and I gave him that reassurance. "I don't need reminding there's a World Cup and that he wants to be part of the France squad." Australian star Moore is also looking to press his world Cup claims after finally shaking off his injury troubles and he will not give up his place without a fight. Roeder added: "He's in a similar situation to Craig - he needs to be in the side to help ensure he goes to the World Cup. "I'd have no problem bringing him back into the line-up but, long-term, it's probably someone else's decision whether he stays or goes."

http://www.bolegbros.co.uk/apprentice/view...vietitle=Sharon

jesus half this board must be bangin tenners out like mad and all from a couple of PMs. hope chinese whispers aint kicked in can i have a tenner on Ian Atkins 120897[/snapback] They have been suspended just now, so looks like they could be cutting them again...

The Scottish bint Sharon..

66/1 now..

To be honest whilst i still think O Neill is Plan A and FS first choice as new manager i think it will be between Houllier and Ranieri if MON chooses to got to England/Fulham.

Its Barry Fry tbh Stick your life savings on him...

Dunno if i am convinced that is the correct man, but hes 125/1 with bet direct

Houlliers 30s with most others btw

Well the only one at 30s on Willie Hills is Steve Coppell!

Get posting for fuck sake.. You cannot come on with a story like that and not say a name.

Cheers..

Can anyone help me find what this font is, i thought it was century gothic but it is slightly different. Cheers

NEWCASTLE have earmarked striker Dimitar Berbatov as a possible successor to Alan Shearer. The Bulgaria international, 25, plays for German outfit Bayer Leverkusen and is valued at around £10million. Toon have yet to decide who their new manager will be but they are already on the look-out for a man to fill Shearer’s boots. Caretaker boss Glenn Roeder has sent his scouts to watch Feyenoord’s Dirk Kuyt in recent weeks and Ruud van Nistelrooy is also in the frame. Berbatov, who helped Leverkusen to a surprise appearance in the Champions League final four years ago, is joined on the St James’ Park wish-list by Nigerian teenager Isaac Promise, who plays for Turkish side Genclerbirligi. The attacking midfielder, 18, had trials at Manchester United and claims Newcastle have already approached him. But any possible deal was scuppered by red tape. Shearer, meanwhile, reckons Newcastle will be hell-bent on avenging two of the most disappointing defeats of their season on Saturday. Toon lost in the league against Wigan earlier this season and were also dumped out of the Carling Cup by Paul Jewell’s under-strength side. Three points would put Newcastle level on points with the Latics, who still see themselves as contenders for a European place. Shearer said: “I think it’s fair to say we’re due a win against them. “We’re on a good little run at the moment, having won our last two games, but we will have to be on our guard against Wigan because they can cause problems.

The big question is "would he chuck her off a bus"??

The fact it says in the titles that it was filmed on a university campus was a bigger giveaway tbh...

Jean Alain Boumsong has been spared playing in the Newcastle United Reserves tonight - because he is one of the fittest men at the club. The French international has missed United's last two games with Spurs and Middlesbrough and after being on the bench against Martin Jol's side he watched Sunday's proceedings from a seat in The Riverside stands. Glenn Roeder would have been perfectly entitled to play the £8.5m signing in tonight's Reserve game with Manchester City at Kingston Park to keep him ticking over in view of the double header against Wigan Athletic and Sunderland over Easter. However, the caretaker manager told me today: "Jean Alain is a very fit player and he has played a lot of matches for us this season so there is no need to play him in the Reserves tonight. "In fact I would not do that to him and really I don't like playing senior players in the Reserves unless it is absolutely necessary for them to get in some match practice. "Boum is quite naturally disappointed at not being in our starting line-up against Spurs and Middlesbrough but he has responded in the right manner. He has trained well and there are no complaints from me at the amount of effort he is putting into his training." Both Roeder and chairman Freddy Shepherd have a chart at their fingertips which reveals the percentage of games every United player has under his belt this season. Before he was dropped against Spurs, Boumsong had the highest of the United outfield players - 91%. Obviously these are difficult times for Boumsong, who is naturally worried that his omission from United's starting line-up will affect his World Cup situation with France. He is still a first-choice central defender for France and at the moment his situation at St James' Park does not appear to be having an averse affect on this. But Boumsong's long-term future as a United player also has to be in doubt and, after his mistakes this season have been frequently highlighted on Match of the Day, there will not exactly be a queue of Premiership clubs waiting for him should he be made available in the summer.

Newcastle United stayed calm after their No1 target for the vacant managerial post at St James' Park Martin O'Neill was touted today as favourite for the England job. And Freddy Shepherd was equally cool when Sky Sports finally woke up to the fact that, as revealed in the Chronicle on March 4, Inter Milan manager Roberto Mancini wants the United job. But Sky Sports can go back to sleep because Mancini is in a long list of foreign managers in the Ladbrokes betting who will not be appointed by United. Leading Italian journalist Gabriele Marcotti, of the renowned Corriere dello Sport and La Stampa newspapers, waxed lyrical about Mancini on Sky yesterday, saying how perfect he would be for United, but the Inter Milan manager does not speak English and this is obviously not something in his favour. Meanwhile, all the talk today on the England front was that O'Neill was now favourite to replace Sven-Goran Eriksson after he was pictured running into a supposed hush-hush meeting with FA supremo Brain Barwick yesterday. However, the Chronicle understands that, as we revealed last Wednesday, Middlesbrough boss Steve McClaren is in pole position for England and that the job is his to lose.

Spoken like a true fan of Souness..well minus the tactics