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Friday September 17th

CSKA SOFIA 0 NEWCASTLE 2 Newcastle perform brilliantly and get their first win in 15 games with goals from Solano, (Free kick) and Kets who came on as a sub for Ferguson. Dyer gets 10/10 and everyone else 9/10 . Robsons revolution has begun.

Thursday September 16th

WORLD EXCLUSIVE .... Hristo Stoichkov pleads with Robson to sign him up for the toon. Amazingly Hristo Stoichkov, the TempreMENTAL Bulgarian World Cup and Euro 96 star sensationally burst into Newcastle's training session last night to plead with Bobby Robson to sign him up for the remainder of the season. The two men had a long chat in the centre of the Bulgarian Army stadium. They were firstly joking on about the "DIRTY TRICKS" by the Bulgarian staff who, refused to switch the floodlights on at the start of the training session saying they were saving electric, and then only supplied them with a handful of footballs saying that was all they could spare. They also refused to give Newcastle a video of the last match, which they are required to do under UEFA rules. It would have been pretty useless though as the team that played in their last game at the weekend will bear little resemblance to the one that will play today. They were short of the seven Yugoslavs that normally play , who were away on international duty. Onlookers then overheard Stoichkov say "you wanna sign a good striker Bobby?" Robson thought it was a joke at first but soon realised Hristo was being serious when he said " I want to play more football, I haven't quit yet , I don't mind being on the bench some of the time, hey I'm not a young guy no more"asking Stoichkov, "How much would you want" which Hristo shrugged "Make me an offer" . Stoichkov played for six seasons at CSKA from the age of 18, making 119 appearances and scoring 81 goals. He was banned for life in 1985 after starting a huge fight in the Bulgarian cup final of that year. He was reinstated less than a year later. In 1991 he was sold to Barcelona for a record Bulgarian fee of £2 million. Stoichkov became a huge star for the Catalonian's helping then to win four consecutive Spanish league titles and the European cup in 94. His trademark fiery temper meant that he was sent off no less that 11 times for Barcelona, despite this he remains a legend at Barcelona to this day.  Also in 1994 he hit the world stage with some stunning play and set pieces in USA 94. The following year he was sold to Parma but he didn't like it in Italy and he returned to Barcelona the following year, Now managed by Bobby Robson. The two became good friends .  In Euro 96 at St James' park he was in hot water again subjecting France's Dessailly to some racial abuse. He commented at the time, on how much he would like to play for a team like Newcastle United, then flying high under the management of Kevin Keegan. Over the last few seasons he has faded from the spotlight .Having returned from a short spell in Japan, Hristo insists that he hasn't retired yet and wants one last season at the highest level. the pair shook hands and Bobby Robson returned with the team to the Hotel, to find no toilet paper and no running water in what was supposed to be a five star hotel. Today 202 fans have made their way to Bulgaria to support the team. the match kicks off at 6.45 GMT tonight. To make way for Stoichkov on the team bus, Bobby Robson looks likely to try to cash in on Silvio Maric. The Croatian misfit was left out of the Squad that flew to Bulgaria apparently because he was late in arriving for a lunch date with Bobby Robson and the rest of the team mates. Although relaxed and friendly will his players Robson will not tolerate anyone breaking any of the rules, and so put his foot down with the wantaway Croatian. Des Hamilton has taken Maric's place on the bench. The team for todays game is expected to be the team that played on Saturday at Chelsea with the exception of Steve Harper who finally looks like he has recovered from and injury to his elbow. CSKA are the bookies favorite to win the game tonight, My money is on a high scoring draw or narrow win for Newcastle. Both teams have good strikers and bad defences although if newcastle can keep it tight at the back as they did against Chelsea, they could pull off their first win since Easter. A summary of the game will be here shortly after the match ends.

Tuesday 14th September

Marcelino could be fit enough for a start in Sofia, Given and Dumas not ready for Europe but could be fit to face Sheffield on Sunday. Shearer doesn't train after a knock on Saturday, but it's just a precaution, he will be OK for the Bulgarian match. and what of Robson's transfer targets? With all the talk of Bobby Robson wanting a Geordie 11 at Newcastle United, he may surprise a few people regarding his first signing.Top three targets are An Irishman, A Scot and an Argentinean. Reliable sources in Middlesbrough believe that Keith O'Neill may well be offered to Newcastle as bait for Duncan Ferguson, if they manage to get a work permit for Juninho. Young Irish winger O'Neill hasn't featured much since he went to the riverside eight months ago. He has been sidelined with niggling injuries since he joined but the management see O'Neill as surplus to requirements if they should land Juninho this week. Bryan Robson is still an admirer of big Dunc and may well offer a part exchange deal for Dunc involving Keith O'Neill. A good left winger must surely be high on Bobby Robson's shopping list. With no cover for Stephen glass we are struggling to get those crosses in for Shearer. Bobby Robson knows all about Keith O'Neill, having watched him play for Norwich when he was based in East Anglia last year. Another weak position at the moment for newcastle is central defence. newcastle are down to the bear bones at the moment, with Warren Barton, having to play out of position on Saturday, we have only Goma and Dabizas. that is why Colin "Braveheart" Hendry was targeted last week as a possible loan signing from Rangers with whom the Scottish centre back can barely get a game. Rangers would probably prefer to sell the player , but at 34 and being priced at around £2 million there won't be many takers. With newcastle having 4 key defenders out of action then a loan deal could be a good option for both clubs. Finally we have the young Argentinean midfielder Lucas Commineli. He is currently on trial at newcastle and is looking quite promising. At £500k he is in the bargain basement dump bin that Newcastle currently find themselves shopping in. Again at the price, if he could be just what we are looking for as we have little cover for Rob Lee or Gary Speed in the centre of the park. A couple of injuries in this department and we could have real problems. However if it were me I would opt for Everton soon to be out of contract player and available for £1.5 million . .DON HUTCHINSON, big , hard, and a geordie, worth every penny . AND FINALLY, The new black and white HOME strip, may well be replaced at the end of the season. it was destined to last two seasons but the sponsorship deal with the breweries which is due to be extended at the end of the season has hit financial difficulties and if a deal can't be reached then a new shirt sponsor next season may be introduced. Apparently Newcastle get around a million a year from newcastle breweries, who currently sponsor the shirt. but with the growing TV coverage and the increase in the size of the stadium, newcastle united are wanting around £2 million a year. If newcastle breweries pull out then United won't find it too hard to get another big Sponsor. Both Tampa with their slogan, " Chose Tampax when you're going through a bad period" and Viagra with their slogan " VIAGRA keeping them up through the hard times" are both keen to cash in on Newcastle demise..

Monday 13th September

RUUD GULLIT's (not so secret) Lover. READ Part one of this weeks hot story, With Bobby Robson virtually admitting that he won't be doing much wealing and dealing in the transfer market for a few weeks, things are rather quite. Robson has said that he would like to get 11 geordies at St James' park, but are there 11 geordies good enough? Well I've had a bit of a think and if we had a couple of decent defenders then possibly there are . Mind you I had to go slightly further afield to make it. How about this for a current Geordie(ish) 11 . .....................................Harper............................... S Watson ................. Howey ...................R Elliott S Stone ... Gazza ......L Clarke... D Hutchinson  .......... M Jansen ........ Shearer ..... P Robinson Subs. Simeonson, Beharall, McClen, A Thompson, A Armstrong. Would that team be any better? Well I am sure that one or two would be preferred to what we have already, but I think that It's the midfield where any changes will take place. Robson wants to get some wide men in to supply crosses for the front two players, and as we only have Stephen Glass then a wide man is likely to be his first target. He doesn't seem too happy with the likes of Maric, Solano or Domi . First impressions are that they would be the likely players to fund any new signings. As for his statement about wanting 11 Geordies, could he be thinking about re signing Steve Watson or Lee Clarke, or possibly going for Don Hutchinson or Steve Stone? And Finally .... Bryan Robson is said to be still interested in Drunken Ferguson, but won't pay the £7 million that Newcastle paid for him. I wonder if they would offer enough to be able to go for Matt (almost a geordie) Jansen from Blackburn.

Saturday 11th September

Chelsea V Newcastle, Bobby Robson's first game and his first team selection is:- ...............................Wright................................... . Goma ............. Dabizas.............. Barton Solano......  Dyer ... Lee ........ Speed ........... Domi .................... Ferguson ........... Shearer.................. Brief summary of events here as they happen. Dabizas is playing as a sweeper, Barton is marking Zola and Goma is on Sutton.. Dyer looks lively, but no real chances for Newcastle in the first part of the game. Solano gets booked after 10 minutes, but Graham Poll, the ref seems to be fair with decisions today. Chelsea come close when Dabizas gives away a stupid Free kick against Zola on the half hour mark, Goldbaek almost gets it on target, but Dabizas makes the block. At the other end Speed gets on the end of a Solano corner, but it goes just wide. Shearer made a break , but couldn't find Ferguson. Domi then broke but had a bad pass to Shearer.  Wise was booked for fouling Shearer, the crowd start booing Shearer whenever he gets the ball. Chelsea have had a few corners which Goma has beaten Sutton to. Warren Barton just got hacked Zola, Free kick, Speed fouls Babayaro, PENALTY....to Chelsea. Le Baldy scores. Dabizas got a booking for the foul (Speed's foul) as did Barton. Just after the restart Lee plays a fine cross to Ferguson, his header is saved magnificently by De Gooey. Just before the break Warren Barton fouls Zola , again, It could have been a penalty, but the ref was lenient. Half time Petrescu comes on for Chelsea at the beginning of the second half. He is given too much space by Domi and almost gets a volley on target. Dyer makes a good run but it comes to nothing , he needs more support. Robson starting to get annoyed with some of the players , Domi in particular, he responds by getting a good run down the left, doesn't see Dyer in space. A chance wasted. 55 minutes Poyet comes on.. who looks like our best prospect. as he continues with his probing runs . one hour gone and he is taken out by Lebouf, yellow carded, Solano should have made more of the Free kick Instead it is cleared, dyer again picks up the loose ball and runs into the area This time he is brought down by the goal keeper. No Penalty, Dyer booked for "play acting?" Sutton is taken off, Enter ... Torre Ande Flo he has been cancelled out by Goma, who is getting better after every game. 75 minutes gone , Robinson comes on for Ferguson. Maric comes on for Lee. Solano gets injured and is replaced by Aaron Hughes. Chelsea turn the pressure onto Newcastle and Zola almost gets Chelsea's second Wright makes a couple of good saves from Zola. Newcastle try their best to get the equaliser, but Maric does his usual job of wasting balls. Torre Andre Flo has a chance in injury time but Wright makes a fine save and it ends one nil. Game over. Best players, Goma and Dyer and Wright. Worst Domi and Maric. All in all the 3 man defence did well against one of the best sides in the league. One point is a bad position to be in but we never really thought we would win, the bookies had us at 7 - 1 So i suppose One nil, it's getting better ... The Sheffield game is now vital next Sunday. I can't see us losing that one. Between now and them newcastle go to Sofia, and hopefully the first win of the season.

Thursday 9th September.

I am still exceedingly depressed about Newca.... I mean England's game against Poland. The Goalless. draw against Poland in the final game of their campaign isn't going to be good enough. A full analysis here a bit later . England must now hope that Sweden will field a strong team against Poland and win the final game in the group on 9th October, enabling England to qualify along with Sweden. Swedish coach Tommy Soderberg has revealed that his team will go "flat out" for a victory against Poland in the game that will decide England's Euro 2000 fate. "We concentrate exclusively on our own performance," Soderberg said. Winger Niclas Alexandersson vowed to perform, saying: "England is such a big football country that for the interest of the tournament it's better if they are there." But Wimbledon boss Egil Olsen wrote off England's chances. "They (England) are shit" he was reported as saying. The team was late returning to England today, fueling speculation that Shearer will not start the game against Chewsee on Saturday. With Shearer having played two games in the last seven days, it is believed that he will be rested, and just used as a sub later on in the Chelsea game.

Tuesday 7th September

It's Euro 2000 week, and Rik's Euro 2000 pages are at this very moment being updated. Click on the logo for the latest match reports. The Sunday papers are full of shite again today, you would have thought now that they have hounded Gullit out of a job then they would start to pick on another club? No not all of them. They are either sucking up to Alan Shearer, saying that he is the best thing since Manchester United or they are starting to take pot shots at Bobby Robson short contract and the Newcastle board. The story that Martin O'Neill will be manager at the end of the season is quite funny. They speculate that Robson will not be offered a new contract at the end of the season, but will instead plump for Martin O'Neill. Apparently the board hadn't realised that since the Leeds fiasco, there is a small buy out clause in O'Neill's contract enabling him to talk to bigger clubs if approached . If they had known this then they would have gone for him and NOT bobby Robson. I don't think that will be the case. Bobby Robson will be offered a yearly renewed contract each and every season, It stops them from having to fork out millions in compensation as they are currently about to go to an industrial tribunal regarding Dalglish's resignation. They simply don't want to be in the same situation again. take it from those that know, Bobby Robson will be the manager for as long as he brings success to Newcastle united. This keeping the seat warm for O'Neill , Shearer or a younger man is nonsense. Players.... There will be NO new players coming or going this month, in fact there will be very little movement in the transfer market for the rest of the season. Despite this there is still much speculation amongst the Sunday papers as to whom will be coming and going. The top "Out's" are Nolberto Solano to Valencia, Maric to Napoli and Alan Goma to Spurs... They ain't going nowhere, until Robson has a good look at them. On the "In" list, are Van Nistelrooy. the 22 year old hotshot who is top scorer in Holland (we had one of those before I think) who would cost a wopping £12 million from PSV. Another name mentioned is Spanish oldie Guillermo Amor, who could be available for a cut price £1 million . Then there is Luis Figo but that one would have to wait until December due to the Spanish markets being all but closed until then, I'll not even mention Ronaldo who has been singing Robson's praises but is less likely to come to Newcastle than I am to become a Sunderland fan. The other more believable "In" is Don Hutchinson who could be available for as little as £1.5 million from Everton. They have just got a replacement for the 28 year old Gateshead born Scottish Geordie as he is out of contract at the end of the season and will be available then for free. Liverpool and Newcastle will apparently both be interested in the hardman of central midfield, who incidentally had a cracking game last night for Scotland. Finally the Newcastle number two job will not be going to Peter Beardsley or Chris waddle , who both did there best to get into the public eye onto TV at the weekend. It will be going to Portuguese coach Jose Mourinho, that is if you believe what you read in the papers?

Saturday 4th September

Kieron dyer has a fantastic debut for England, setting up two goals for Alan Shearer who silenced his critics with a marvelous hat trick. All these people who have been slagging him off and saying he is finished should be ashamed of themselves. IF you were one of them then redeem yourself by giving him a vote as player of the year on the entry page of this web site. ....JUDAS.....

Bobby Robson was today welcomed at St James' park by hundreds of Newcastle fans, and dozens of journalists. On his appointment he said " I thought Barcelona was big - this has pipped it . I am proud and honored and thrilled, its great to be back" he went on to say "I realise I have a massive job ahead of me. It is a great challenge. I am up for it. I am not afraid of it, I don't underestimate it, I'd like to thank all of the fans for their support , especially Rik and his friends for all the encouragement and for putting a good word in for me to the board of the directors. I am going to enjoy working here. the priority is to bring about a change of fortune, stabalise the club and ensure that premiership status is maintained and that we have made progress. There is no panic. It is retrievable and I am confident that I can do it" He will be paid around a million pounds to keep Newcastle United in the premier league. He has only got a 9 month contract but this will be renewed in May as long as Newcastle United are showing signs of improvement. Bobby Robson will have limited funds this season, It is not expected that he will be delving into the transfer market for a few months as he says he wants to assess all the players at the club and give them all the chance to show him that they are good enough. Every one will start with a clean sheet and that includes Alex Pistone, Lionel Perez and Derrick Hamilton along with the technical staff that work with him. Steve Clarke will for now remain as assistant, and Shearer will remain as captain. Meanwhile in the England camp , Kevin Keegan has named Kieron Dyer as the right back for tomorrows game. Alan Shearer will of course be captain in the following team to play Luxembourg ............................................Martyn.................... Dyer...............keown............Adams .......... Pearce Macmanamanaman .. Beckham.. Batty ...Parlour ........Fowler ...................................Shearer the Rik's place Euro 2000 pages will be updated before kickoff and throughout the course of next week

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