Steed Not Coming

[David Kelly 1260]

According to Anal in the chronicle (it's ICNewcastle if anyone wants to post the link).

 

I can't say I'm too arsed tbh but everything is pointing to us being well and truly skint and we will be relying on loans, cheap deals and free transfers (which makes our not going for JFH rather curious).

[Scottish Mag 3]

Newcastle United have pulled out of the race to sign Fulham's French international Steed Malbranque leaving the way free for Middlesbrough to snap up the attacking midfielder.

 

But Glenn Roeder is beavering away in his attempt to bring some much-needed new blood to St James' Park before the start of the season.

 

Indeed, when I spoke to the United boss at 9pm last night he was still at the training ground with his assistant Kevin Bond making non-stop phone calls as the new season edges closer and closer.

 

Ironically, one of Roeder's early targets, Chelsea's Robert Huth, has failed a medical at Middlesbrough and will now not be heading to Teesside, and it remains to be seen whether new boss Gareth Southgate will succeed in signing Malbranque.

 

Fulham have seen West Ham and now United drop out of the race for Malbranque and find themselves in a difficult position after manager Chris Coleman ordered his Belgium-born midfielder to train with his youth team this week after he refused to sign a new contract.

 

A Craven Cottage insider told me today: "It is accepted at Fulham that Steed Malbranque will not be joining Newcastle United as was first thought."

 

Freddy Shepherd has always come up with money for his managers, but Roeder must know deep down that he has absolutely no chance of getting anywhere near the £50m his predecessor Graeme Souness spent in his 17 months at St James' Park.

 

He must also know that, unlike most of his predecessors, he cannot afford to make any mistakes in the transfer market in the next couple of weeks.

 

Now that the Malbranque deal has fallen through I would love to see United to have a go for Shaun Wright-Phillips who could be prised away from Chelsea on a loan deal.

 

But one of the problems here is that Chelsea do not report back for training until July 27 and because he has such a huge squad Jose Mourinho is under no pressure to make any decisions about any of his players.

 

The loss of Michael Owen just a couple of months after Alan Shearer retired cannot be under-estimated, and there is no answer to how United can replace the England striker who cost them £17m less than 12 months ago.

 

United would like Darren Bent from Charlton Athletic, but there is no chance of the England international arriving at St James' Park as he now has a £15m price tag around his neck.

 

United's five targets were listed in a leading national newspaper today as David Beckham, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Steed Malbranque, Miroslav Klose and Dirk Kuyt.

 

But I don't expect any of these five will be looking for a peg in the St James' Park dressing room in the coming season.

[sweetleftpeg 0]

Indeed, when I spoke to the United boss at 9pm last night he was still at the training ground with his assistant Kevin Bond making non-stop phone calls as the new season edges closer and closer.

 

So we're not panicing yet then. Oh joy.

[TheInspiration 1]

That's funny, I seem to believe Oliver saying Middlesbrough had pulled out from their race to sign him.

Edited July 12, 2006 by TheInspiration

[Craig 6700]

Now that the Malbranque deal has fallen through I would love to see United to have a go for Shaun Wright-Phillips who could be prised away from Chelsea on a loan deal.

 

Who the fuck does Alan Oliver think he is???

[Matt 0]

It's amazing that Oliver gets away with it. They should really start printing the Chronicle in crayon.

[Guest alex]

Now that the Malbranque deal has fallen through I would love to see United to have a go for Shaun Wright-Phillips who could be prised away from Chelsea on a loan deal.

 

Who the fuck does Alan Oliver think he is???

158803[/snapback]

Shepherd's mouthpiece.

[skhwoody 0]

Have we pulled the plug on the deal, was there ever a deal, or has he blanked us... what happened ?

[Bizza 105]

Now that the Malbranque deal has fallen through I would love to see United to have a go for Shaun Wright-Phillips who could be prised away from Chelsea on a loan deal.

 

Who the fuck does Alan Oliver think he is???

158803[/snapback]

Shepherd's mouthpiece.

158818[/snapback]

 

Shepherd's codpiece tbh.

[Holden McGroin 6794]

SWP isn't really a priority tbh as we have Nobby and Milner for that role.

 

Need strikers.

[khay 10]

SWP isn't really a priority tbh as we have Nobby and Milner for that role.

 

Need strikers.

158954[/snapback]

 

 

SWP played up front while he was at Man City did he not?

[Jusoda Kid 1]

Now that the Malbranque deal has fallen through I would love to see United to have a go for Shaun Wright-Phillips who could be prised away from Chelsea on a loan deal.

 

Who the fuck does Alan Oliver think he is???

158803[/snapback]

Shepherd's mouthpiece.

158818[/snapback]

 

Shepherd's codpiece tbh.

158929[/snapback]

 

Shepherds piece of ass tbh

[niina 0]

Too bad, as Steed is a good little player. But anyway, he won't solve our scoring problem (well maybe from midfield area, but still...)

[Guest Fog on the Tyne]

Getting rid of Butt, Faye and Bowyer whilst bringing in Malbranque would be pretty good business. It's a pitty Newcastle United doesn't work like that.

[The Mighty Hog 529]

Playing the waiting game on Malbranque, by the looks of things:

 

Newcastle will continue to monitor Steed Malbranque's problems at Craven Cottage as the troubled midfielder's transfer value begins to plummet.

 

But any hopes Darren Bent had of making a summer move to St James's Park look to have been dashed after Charlton Athletic chairman Richard Murray insisted last night that he would never consider selling the striker to a club outside the Premiership's elite.

 

Although United's interest in Malbranque has cooled during the course of the last 48 hours, the French international's continuing woes mean that Fulham's hopes of raising £5m from his sale have all but disappeared. The news that the 26-year-old has been banished to Austria to work with the West London club's youth team having being told by Chris Coleman that he was not welcome at a first-team training camp in Devon has underlined the depth of the conflict between player and manager.

 

It looks as though there is no way back for Malbranque at Craven Cottage following his refusal to sign a new deal and, with his value decreasing by the day, Fulham will have little option other than to reappraise his price tag in the coming weeks.

That will play into the hands of United who know that it would cost the Cottagers almost £2m in wages to force the player to see out his current contract. Given that Malbranque will be a free agent next summer, to do so would make little business sense. Glenn Roeder has long admired the Frenchman's talents, but Newcastle's reluctance to meet the full asking price for a player who will be available for nothing in less than 12 months' time is understandable.

 

The Magpies boss will not actively pursue Malbranque's signature. With the midfielder's other suitors having dropped out of the running, it is a strategy that could pay dividends later in the summer as the reality of their financial predicament dawns on Fulham.

 

In the meantime, Roeder will concentrate his efforts on attempting to address his top priority of the summer - adding to a depleted forward line that will be without Alan Shearer and Michael Owen when the Premiership campaign begins on August 19. Despite reports that Javier Saviola has emerged as a target, the United boss has no interest in the Argentinian World Cup star.

 

Saviola's representatives appear keen to engineer a Premiership move for the Barcelona forward, who spent last season on loan with Sevilla, but Newcastle are not among a clutch of clubs said to have expressed an interest.

 

Roeder would be keen to strike a deal for Bent and will have been encouraged by reports that the former Ipswich favourite has told close friends that he would welcome the prospect of a move to St James's Park.

 

But, with Charlton's valuation prohibitive, Murray's reiteration of his determination to keep the England striker in South London last night means a deal will not happen this summer.

 

"Darren came to us from Ipswich and signed a four-year deal and said `I really want to be here and I think this is a great place for my career'," he said.

 

"If he goes from success to success, maybe one day we will not be able to hold onto him. That will be the time that he can maybe go to a top-four club, where it is a quantum leap.

 

"But I really believe that for the next year or two, this is as good a place as any. We will look after him, teach him and maybe at 24, 25, if the time is right, he goes on or, if we have moved on, we can satisfy his ambitions.

 

"If you have a star player who you really want to keep, you really only want to lose him to a club about who you can honesty say `We are not in their league'. If a middle-of-the-road club came along, whatever they offered for Darren, I would say `Why do you want to go there?' It's for the wrong reasons."

 

Fulham, meanwhile, have signed former Swedish Under-21 striker Bjorn Runstrom, 22, from Hammarby on a three-year contract.

 

Runstrom earned a move to Italian club Bologna when he was 16 and also spent spells at Chievo and Fiorentina before returning to Sweden.

 

Fulham boss Chris Coleman, who signed 20-year-old Leyton Orient defender Gabriel Zakuani on Monday, revealed Bjorn was bought with the club's long-term success in mind.

 

"I believe that Bjorn will be another great prospect for the future for Fulham," he said.

 

"We are committed to not only challenging for a top 10 spot this term but also to building for the future."