Advertise here

The good news today for Newcastle fans is that Sammy Lee has said that he will no longer stand in the way of letting Abdoulaye Faye leave for Newcastle, and the transfer is expected to go through imminently.

A fee was agreed over the weekend between the two clubs and the other items that were holding up the transfer - whatever they were - have been ironed out. We’ll wait to hear a confirmation of Faye’s signing on the Official Newcastle United web-site.

Big Sam is also looking for a new right-back after losing both Stephen Carr (hamstring strain) and Peter Ramage (knee ligaments) to injuries against Middlesbrough. Carr will be out anywhere from 2-6 weeks depending on the severity of the strain, but Peter may be sidelined for months - the knee is too sore to assess the damage at the moment.

We really have no idea who Sam will be after for right-back in the next three days - so we’ll just have to wait and see on that one.

• We take a look at which players Sam may be bringing in this week. We know he’s been after Bolton’s Faye for a while but he is also looking for a new right-back as cover for Carr and Ramage. Carr’s injury will last anywhere from 2-6 weeks but it appears that Ramage’s knee injury may be a lot worse. There are several players we look at that Sam may be interested in, but he will need to move quickly.

  Sam Allardcye - after Abdoulaye Faye and a new right-back

• Steven Taylor has been talking to the Newcastle Journal today and we feature what he says in another article. Looks like Steven welcomes the new players at Newcastle. Steven thinks Sam has brought in a lot of class and the squad now has only players who want to be at Newcastle. They also appear ready to support each other. That’s great to hear and although the last two results haven’t been all we wanted, you cannot criticize the level of effort seen from the team.

  Steven Taylor- pleased with the squad Sam has put together and relishes the competition

• It appears there is really good news this morning on the Abdoulaye Faye protracted transfer that seems to have dragged on for months. Sammy Lee, Bolton’s manager, has said he will no longer stand in the way of allowing Faye to move to Newcastle - and also has some good things to say about the Senegalese. seems that Lee wanted to keep Faye at Bolton so he cannot be blamed for that. But it shows us that Faye can be a vital player at Newcastle, not least because he is aware of Sam’s methods and wants to play again for the big man.

  Abdoulaye Faye - anxious to link up again with Sam Allardyce

• Some news never seems to end - and it’s like beating a dead horse at times. The newspapers today are still trying to get people to believe that Arsenal will sign Oba Martins. This time they are quoting a fee of ₤9M, because they say Newcastle are desperate to bring in new defenders following the injuries to Ramage and Carr. That this means no sense at all - since Newcastle can just turn down the offer because of Oba’s ₤13M release clause - doesn’t seem to stop this rubbish, which is really what it is. Seems like logic has no place in football during the last 3 days of the transfer window. Wonder if we’ll hear that Owen is moving on again?

  Martins - scoring spectacular goal against Bolton - and staying on Tyne-side

• Turns out that our site has been nominated for ‘Best Sports Blog’ as part of the Bloggers Choice Awards. If you would like to vote for us you can do so here. Ahmed Bilal’s site SoccerLens was also nominated and you can vote for Ahmed’s site here. I don’t know too much about these awards to be honest but I did notice Ahmed’s site has more votes than we do
• We’ll have our Newcastle vs Barnsley match preview tomorrow morning - but until then let’s have your opinions on the game and anticipated result on our match review piece in our Newcastle United Forum.
• Finally here’s some choice football quotes - to lighten up the day
  

  “No money in the world can buy a white England shirt.” - Alan Shearer

  “If Glenn Hoddle said one word to his team at half time, it was concentration and focus.” - Ron Atkinson

  “I’ve had this sneaking feeling throughout the game that it’s there to be won” - Ron Atkinson

Ed writes on the Newcastle United blog.