I’m sure the hundreds of protesting Newcastle fans who made their voices clearly heard after Saturday’s humiliation against Sheffield United will be suitably pacified now that they know that Geordie top dog Freddy Shepherd has been in to see Glenn Roeder and the players and has reminded them exactly what he and the club expect of them.
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The news is that Parker will start against Croatia today, replacing the suspended Stephen Gerrard and forming part of what is likely to be a 5 man midfield in an expected 3-5-2 formation. Although I?m slightly worried, as our players do seem to have a penchant for acquiring injuries whilst on international duty (most infamously Owen, but also Steven Taylor last season for the U21?s), I am also glad because it seems ages since a Newcastle player was involved in the England squad.

After thinking for a while I was shocked to remember that there was of course Owen not too long ago. However it seems by the length of time it took me to think of him he just doesn?t count in my mind, he has played very few games for England whilst being at Newcastle. After being overlooked for so long I hope our talismanic captain has a better game than our ?starlet? defender Steven Taylor did yesterday in his U21s match against Germany, during which he was sent off.
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Newcastle United received a massive boost for their plan to claim ?20m compensation from the Football Association for Michael Owen’s injury sustained at the World Cup when the powerful G14 syndicate pledged their support to the fight. It’s no coincidence that newly elected G14 chairman David Dein is also the main powerbroker at Arsenal who also are considering a similar bid for compensation from the Swiss FA over Phillipe Senderos’ injury which has kept him out of an Arsenal jersey so far this season.

The G14 have an ulterior motive in supporting Newcastle of course, their concern doesn’t really lie in the difficulties the North East club are having with their expensive signing from Real Madrid, instead they want to make sure they get a test case against the football associations which shows that they are due compensation for allowing their players to play in international matches, fixtures which the G14 clubs view as completely unimportant and inconvenient.
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Following Newcastle United’s announcement to the Stock Exchange that assistant manager Kevin Bond has been relieved of his duties with immediate effect, should we look on the BBC’s Panorama programme with a fresh outlook after their much maligned Premiership bungs inquiry now appears to have borne fruit, starting with Bond’s sacking?

I was among the football watchers who were initially enthralled at the tales of underhand payments and corrupt football managers as told by the BBC’s undercover team byt by the end of the Panorama programme the only hard evidence we seemed to have accumulated were that the BBC had launched a vendetta against Bolton manager Sam Allardyce, aided and abetted by his opportunistic and slow witted son Craig, and that Harry Redknapp thought Andy Todd was a “tough bastard”. Hardly earth shattering news for Premiership opponents or rival fans it has to be said.

While Panorama centred on Allardyce they give only a few minutes to the former Portsmouth coach Kevin Bond and a carefully edited taped phone conversation which seemed to imply that Bond would be agreeable to some illegal payments and that he might be willing to speak with his then boss Harry Redknapp about the same. hardly conclusive evidence but seemingly good enough for Newcastle United to sack Bond over and it’ll be a day in court for Mr Bond now as he tries to prove that firstly Panorama were in the wrong to try and discredit him and secondly, that Newcastle jumped the gun and unfairly dismissed him from his job as assistant manager and will have caused irreparable damage to his professional reputation.
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I am trying to work out whether the BBC headline, ?Roeder plotted Ameobi opener?, is entirely serious.

Glenn may have expected the Everton defensive line to play the offside trap during at least one set-piece opportunity during the match, but did he really envisage a completely incompetent linesman forgetting the offside rule? And the Referee as well? I doubt it ? the hilarious comedy sketch that was the opening goal in last Saturdays 1-1 draw with Everton was capped by two wonderfully synchronised pieces of comedy acting by Ameobi and Moore. Finding himself with the ball at his feet, no whistle (as of yet) and only the keeper to beat, Strolla stopped and, along with Moore, gave a sideways look to see if the linesman really was that inept. He was. And a somewhat bemused Shola still had the time to put the ball in the net, just.

?It happens. I make mistakes and today the referee’s assistant made one,” was David Moyes? shockingly placid comment on the matter.
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In an uncharacteristic act of petulance Craig Bellamy has taken a not so thinly veiled swipe at the club and fans he used to think he owned by saying people in Newcastle are still bitter at losing him to Blackburn and would hate to see him succeed anywhere else.

Bellamy reignited his war of words with Newcastle last week after a tunnel row with Newcastle coach Terry McDermott who accused the former Magpies striker of being a “little upstart” and claiming (quite correctly IMHO) that “Everywhere he (Bellamy) has been he has been in bother and it is starting again at Liverpool.”

Bellamy just can’t seem to stay out of the negative limelight and whether he’s brawling with students and women in nightclubs all over the UK, spitting and snarling at referees and officials on the pitch or windig up the opposition in the tunnel, it’s plain to see that he is an odious little man and one of the worst examples of modern day professional footballers.

I’m sure there are plenty of Newcastle United fans who love to answer Bellamy’s accusation face to face especially after he now claims that “This (Liverpool) is the club I have always wanted to play for and maybe there are people who are not too happy about that.” Unsurprisingly the little scumbag is now claiming that the club he’s at is the one he always dreamed of playing for, cue Photoshopped pictures of a young Welsh child with no neck in a Crown Paints Liverpool kit arguing with his own teammates and officials in a primary school match during the 1980s.

I have no time for the vast majority of modern footballers but there is just something about Craig Bellamy above all others that makes my blood boil and after yet another display of his fabulous personality I think there may be a few more Geordies who may share the same opinion as I do.

You?ve got to feel for Steve Harper. A very good goalkeeper and a great backup to the almost irreplaceable Shay Given, he has the dirty job of hoping that the latter gets a serious injury so that he can get a run in the team and maybe, just maybe, he can claim the No.1 keeper?s jersey. The trouble is for Harper, who started only his 3rd Premiership game in 5 and a half years last Wednesday, is that he cannot stop making mistakes when he does come in for a (rarely) injured Given.

I seem to remember a mistake he made against Villa a couple of years back and in the 2004/5 season his unfortunate kick rebounded to Jermaine Defoe who slotted in from close range, resulting in a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Spurs. Harper said himself that he was ?absolutely devastated? after that mistake and now he has to deal with this - although we never looked like winning against Liverpool at Anfield, I?m sure Harpers confidence could have done without the knock that comes from conceding a goal from all of 70 yards out which finished the game off at 2-0.

?Shay has been outstanding but I’ve never resigned myself to the fact I am No 2. I work my socks off and then I’m like a bear with a sore head when the teamsheet is put up because I want to play.
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On Saturday Newcastle United, 1-0 up after 80 minutes, ended their third Premiership game of the season in defeat at home, against Fulham.

Cause for concern? Well let?s see: Fulham (after Jimmy Bullard?s early exit through injury) didn?t have a player on the pitch that had scored previously in this fledgling season, they are also notoriously bad away from home (they didn?t win away till April last season) and both their goals were created by our defensive frailties rather than their attacking prowess. ?Newcastle United?s defensive frailties?, now there?s a phrase that strikes a familiar tone, I wonder why?

Ah yes, in the back of my mind there is some distant memory of it from last season?. and the season before that ?.and??and well basically without signing any defenders worth noting (Olivier Bernard is not worth noting) over the summer results like this were to be expected. Even against teams tipped to be relegation fodder (Fulham relegation odds are 11/4), one goal is not going to be enough. So if we can?t get points from Fulham at home where can we get them? There belies the problem, this may have been a freak result but I am not that optimistic and bar some decent defensive signings in January I think we will really struggle this season.
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Harry Stevens is State of the Game’s new Newcastle United columnist

Jonathan Woodgate, Thomas Graveson, Wayne Bridge, Mark Viduka, Robert Huth, Lucas Neill and Zat Knight were all linked along with a host of others with the toon during the transfer window and although slightly buoyed by the signing of Duff I can?t help but feel a bit deflated. After so much speculation we have signed five players: Damien Duff (5 million), Obefami Martins (10 million), Giuseppe Rossi (loan), Olivier Bernard (free) and Antoine Sibeirski (undisclosed), of whom only the first two I could say I am really happy with.

Five players and a little over 15 million spent doesn?t sound too bad but things don?t look as rosy when you consider that A) We have a squad that is in desperate need of strengthening at both ends of the field with quality and experience (preferably of the premiership sort) and B) Sibierski has hardly set the premiership alight, Rossi is only on loan, Martins is almost an unknown quantity and Bernard couldn?t cut it at rangers (even Boumsong could cut it at Rangers!). So we didn?t bring in some players we could have done with, that?s ok, we can all sit and hope that come January we are relatively (will Dyer ever be fit?) injury free we can finally make some decent additions to our squad, a central defender and striker being the most wanted.
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Football Punter has gotten over his nightmare at backing both West Brom and Middlesbrough yesterday and has been hot on the trail of the best odds for outright winners of this season’s UEFA Cup after having had time to digest the first round draw as covered live for the British clubs by State of the Game.

Football Punter runs his eye over the available odds from VC Bet and looks for any opportunites for fans of the British clubs to make a few quid off their side in Europe this season.

Spurs may be joint favourites with Sevilla on their European return but what about Newcastle United, West Ham United, Blackburn Rovers, Rangers and Hearts, not forgetting European stalwarts such Ajax, Feyenoord, Celta Vigo and Bayer Leverkusen?

Football Punter has all of the details on UEFA Cup 2006/2007 outright betting.

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