Scottish Mag

Newcastle United Given Carr Ramage Boumsong Babayaro Bowyer Solano Clark N Zogbia Luque Shearer Subs Elliott Brittain Chopra Harper O Brien Fulham Niemi Knight Rosenior Pearce Jensen Boa Morte Legwinski Elliott Radzinkski McBride Helguson Subs John Malbranque Warner Volz Goma

Team from - Given, Harper, Caig, Carr, Elliott, Babayaro, Ramage, Boumsong, Clark, Bowyer, Brittain, N'Zogbia, Solano, Luque, Chopra, Shearer Titus Bramble was a late addition to the injury list so Peter Ramage will partner Jean-Alain Boumsong in the centre of defence.

Its ok we still have Chopra....

The horrendous fitness curse which has dogged Graeme Souness all season struck again last night as it emerged that Shola Ameobi's hip problems are worse than initially thought and could spell a premature end to the striker's season. The 24-year-old travelled to London with his Newcastle team-mates yesterday but, while his black-and-white colleagues spent the afternoon finalising their preparations for today's Premiership encounter with Fulham, Ameobi visited one of the country's leading surgeons for a rigorous examination. The problem is understood to be similar to the one which has afflicted Sunderland's Kevin Kyle and, while there has been no indication that United's unfortunate frontman will spend anything like as long as the 16 months on the sidelines his Wearside counterpart has endured, there are genuine concerns within the Magpies camp. An operation has been discussed and, whilst surgery is by no means certain at this stage, should Ameobi be forced to take that course of action he would become the eighth member of Newcastle's senior squad to have gone under the knife since the start of the season. The best Souness can hope for is that Ameobi will be sidelined for the next month. Should he require an operation, the striker will not play again this season. It is only the 14th day of 2006 but Michael Owen, Steven Taylor and Scott Parker have already undergone various operations this year. It is an unprecedented catalogue of injuries which have wrecked Souness' hopes of engineering a successful season. Ameobi has not kicked a ball since United's 2-2 draw with Middlesbrough on January 2 and, following his consultation in the capital, it seems his return to Premiership action is not imminent. The former England under-21 international had keyhole surgery on his hip last summer but, with the procedure having failed to solve the problem, it is feared that, like Kyle, Ameobi could require a full-blown operation to resolve an injury which is preventing him from running and kicking a ball in a satisfactory manner and which is also understood to be affecting him in his every day life. Ameobi is believed to be in constant pain, and has been told that the problem needs to be treated once and for all. His doctors were last night still awaiting the results of tests conducted at a top London clinic and, while an operation remains the last resort, it seems a very real possibility at the current time. While Ameobi has been a peripheral figure for the Magpies this season, that Souness is without Owen, Taylor and Parker - all of them automatic choices in his first-choice side - means his absence is a considerable blow. The United boss is keen to strengthen a depleted squad which will again be without Emre at Craven Cottage this afternoon. But having received no bids for any of his own players, Souness cannot finance moves for anyone else's. Charlton Athletic have approached Newcastle about the possibility of signing Lee Bowyer, but the Addicks want the midfielder and £2.5m in exchange for Danny Murphy. Souness has been told by Freddie Shepherd that any new additions, even loan signings, will have to be funded by the sale of existing players. That, he says, has made for an easy January so far. "It's not been difficult at all because I haven't had any money to spend and unless someone comes in and wants to buy one of my players there's nothing I can do about it, I'll run with what I've got," he said. "No-one's offered money for any of our players as I understand it so there's no decisions to make." A lack of finances have not stopped Souness from looking, and sources in Switzerland insisted last night that FC Thun's emerging left-back Jose Goncalves is a target. The 20-year-old Portuguese faced Arsenal in this season's Champions League and is keen on the Premiership. Everton are also interested but Thun are expected to resist any loan deal.

Graeme Souness's future may be in doubt as Newcastle manager, but can the club find the £5 million they might need to pay him off and get a replacement - it cost £1.65 million to bring Souness from Blackburn - let alone the £20 million needed to replace an ageing team? Newcastle, the second-best supported club in the country with 50,000 fans every home game, rarely make a profit, they have just lost their best asset, Michael Owen, for most of the rest of the season, they will probably not play in Europe next year, and mid-table mediocrity beckons. Their debt is around £90 million. The only people doing well at St James' Park are the directors. Sixty-four per cent of the club is owned by the Hall and Shepherd families and the one executive director, Freddie Shepherd, is also the major shareholder. Two of the four non-executive directors are members of the Hall family. Last year Douglas Hall was paid £496,000, and Shepherd £552,000. They also get handsome dividends. Although the club have recorded retained losses of £48m as at June 30 last year, the directors declared a total dividend of £3.95m, the same as the previous year. Net debt at June 30 was £66.7m, including £47m of senior loan notes secured against future season ticket sales and corporate hospitality receipts. Add to this the net £20m spent on players last summer. Owen cost £16m, twice what Liverpool offered Real Madrid, Luque cost £10m and Nobby Solano £1m. Take away Jermaine Jenas, sold for £7m, and this still leaves outgoings of £20m. This means the average net debt position is probably close to £90m. This is matched by the value of £93m put on the stadium. The playing staff is valued by the directors at £40m. For 2004-05 turnover was £87m, of which £50m went on salaries, £23m on other operating expenses £23m and £14m on writing down the value of players in amortization. With interest of £4m a year there was a loss, but dividends were still paid, and this means Newcastle have a net asset value of 22p per share. The share price is 47.5p and it has gone as high as 60p. But who would want to buy the club? Hall and Shepherd would probably be looking for 60p a share, valuing the club at £75m. This maybe one for rich Russians, but not for others.

I`m starting to think hes not going anywhere. However on current displays i can`t even see how we are going to beat Fulham away or Blackburn at home. If this is the case surely Fat Freddie will have no option but to get rid..

Are we really trying to build the premierships shortest team? Emre, Dyer, Nobby, Owen, Babayaro, Carr and now possibly Thompson?

From .com

Will you sit in the passenger seat just to make sure he gets there?

Either way if he continues to play well he surely will only be allowed to leave at a decent price...

Cracking game..

Sink to their level? On evidence of our performances this season i would say we have found our level under Souness, certainly not a premiership side.

I am sick of saying it and it's getting on the wifes nerves too. Yesterday I was looking all sad and the wife was really worried and asked me what was wrong and I said "I cant believe he is still manager". She told me to get a life. 75904[/snapback] Aye i keep doing my old boys head in continually moaning about the fact hes still in a charge...

Even if we scrape through surely this is enough to see the back of Souness...

Craig Bellamys scored again i see...

Boos have started...

Portsmouth have now thrown their hat into the ring for Newcastle United midfielder Lee Bowyer. And it means there is now a three-way Premiership fight for the 28-year-old Cockney. Charlton Athletic's interest in the once-capped England international has been there for some time, and The Chronicle revealed on Christmas Eve that Birmingham boss Steve Bruce was also keen on him. Bowyer completed a three-match suspension after today's FA Cup tie with Mansfield Town at St James' Park, and there could be some movement next week. Money is so tight these days that by hanging back for a week, buying clubs could save on Bowyer's £35,000-a-week wages. United are down on numbers, especially in midfield - they have Kieron Dyer, Emre and Scott Parker as long-term injuries and Amady Faye away on African Cup duty with Senegal - so they could really do with keeping a hold of Bowyer. But it looks as though the hard-running midfielder will be off for a number of reasons, none more so than he has expressed a wish to return to his native London. However, while United got him for nothing on a Bosman they are still looking for around £1m for the player who has scored 10 goals in a black-and-white shirt. One player who has got his way with a move out of England is Laurent Robert, who signed a three-and-a-half year contract with Benfica on Thursday. This means that after being on loan to Portsmouth since August, Robert has now finally cut his ties with St James' Park. And he has remained eccentric right to the end, ringing Freddy Shepherd yesterday afternoon to thank the United chairman for all that he had done for him. Speaking of Shepherd, the chairman told me today that at this moment in time there are no bids lying on the table at St James' Park - and that United do not have offers in for any player. This is in direct contrast to 12 months ago when United brought in both Celestine Babayaro and Jean Alain Boumsong in the first week of the January transfer window.

Thats assuming it was Souness who signed all the players and not just FS on a power trip again...

Boston United striker Noel Whelan has admitted that he is battling an alcohol problem. The 31-year-old former Leeds United and Middlesbrough star has checked into the Sporting Chance clinic in a bid to overcome his addiction. The charity, established by Tony Adams five years ago, specialises in helping sportsmen and women with personal or addiction problems. Sporting Chance chief executive Peter Kay said: "The only reason we are making this public is that Noel has nothing to hide and is facing up to his problems. "It takes immense courage to say life has become a little bit tough and admit that you need some kind of support. "I take my hat off to anyone who has the fortitude and strength of character to ask for help. "Noel has asked for our support and we will continue to support him."

No mention of Toontastic? Ritchie man, you missed a golden opportunity! 75657[/snapback] No, but what i had put was spotted over on the other board...