Newcastle are set to embark on a pre-season tour in the US, playing against Sporting Kansas, Orlando City and Columbus Crew, but will do so without the help of Joey Barton.

Barton will now link up with the Toon reserve squad in the Netherlands for his pre-season warm-up.

As a football fan, there’s a part of me that feels a level of sympathy for unlucky Joey. There was, should I rather say, till I had a look at some of his less honorable antics.

July 2004: A mass punch-’em-up erupted in a friendly at Doncaster Rovers which saw Kevin Keegan criticizing Barton for causing it.

December 2004: During the clubs Christmas party, Barton used the eye of young teammate Jamie Tandy as an ashtray, stubbing his lit cigar into it. Barton was forced to pay a fine by Manchester City of four weeks wages (roughly £60 000) and was later sued by Tandy for £65 000 in wages. (Quite a pricey cuban it would seem)!

May 2005: Joey breaks the leg of a pedestrian (35 years old) with his car at 2am in the centre of Liverpool. (Wonder if he was aiming)?

July 2005: Barton takes a lashing of eight weeks wages and agrees to undergo a rehabilitation program after being found guilty of gross misconduct for his involvement in an altercation with a 15 year old Everton fan at City’s team Hotel in Thailand.

September 2006: Moons Everton fans after City’s 1-1 draw at Goodisen Park. Barton was fined £2000 and received a warning from the FA (slap on the…wrist, really).

March 2007: Arrested on suspicion of criminal assault & damage after an alleged dispute with a taxi driver on his way to his hotel in Liverpool after his match.

May 2007: Suspended by City till the end of the season after an assault during training on team-mate Ousmane Dabo, leaving him needing hospital treatment and requesting the police to press charges. His arrest for questioning by the Greater Manchester police soon followed.

December 2007: Arrested and charged with common assault and affray after a late night incident in Liverpool city centre, which led to six months jail time after his confession in May 2008.

With just a small glimpse of a long list of on and off the field offenses, It would seem that the black and white stripes are an appropriate uniform for a seasonal offender. (Maybe he’ll find something to calm him during his visit in Holland).

Nic Hoekstra

@TheKaptiv

pic: whoateallthepies.tv

The visitors were guilty of poor passing throughout, though Wayne Rooney and Ryan Giggs missed good chances.

And striker Javier Hernandez felt he was fouled in the box by Danny Simpson late on, only to be booked for a dive.

Newcastle deserved a point, though, and might have had a penalty of their own when Anderson felled Peter Lovenkrands.

Both decisions could have gone either way, with contact made on each occasion, but referee Lee Probert waved the appeals away to ensure an absorbing clash ended goalless at St James’ Park.

It is a result which could prove valuable for Newcastle, taking them as it does to the 40-point mark teams often cite as necessary to guarantee safety from relegation.

But for Red Devils boss Sir Alex Ferguson and his men it will be considered a case of two points dropped and means second-place Arsenal and third-place Chelsea could pull to within four and six points respectively of his side should they win their games in hand.

It remains a tall order for the chasing two, but as both face Man Utd in the run-in, neither will count themselves out of the title race just yet.

Arsenal’s dramatic draw with Liverpool on Sunday had appeared to leave the door wide open for Man Utd to open a hugely significant gap at the top of the table with a win at St James’ Park – and with the Magpies pretty stable in mid-table with six matches to go in the campaign, many might have expected a cakewalk on Tyneside.

Far from it. The visitors forged the two clearest chances of the first half, but the opening 45 minutes were far more memorable for an effervescent home display that defied those expecting the Magpies to roll over on their own patch.

Buoyed by a typically raucous home crowd and driven on the pitch by the likes of Joey Barton, Jonas Gutierrez and Cheik Tiote, Newcastle recovered from a glorious early Man Utd chance to cause the visitors all sorts of problems.

Magpies keeper Tim Krul should take no little credit for that for his fabulous point-blank save from Javier Hernandez, the Mexican denied from Rooney’s centre all of four yards out, but the hosts were equally grateful for an unusually error-strewn display from the Premier League leaders.

Giggs was particularly guilty of sloppy passing – and the chances flowed for Newcastle as a result.

Gutierrez almost rounded off a fine run in from the left with a 20-yard finish, his effort deflected wide, while Tiote, too, was denied from range, this time low down by Red Devils keeper Edwin van der Sar.

Barton and Shola Ameobi could also have done better when well placed inside the area, while Lovenkrands contrived to nod a free header wide 16 yards out with no Man Utd player close to him.

In between that, though, the men in red created the night’s second glorious chance of the night, only for Rooney to blaze over from inside the area after being laid in on goal by Hernandez’s neat flick.

And for all the home side’s good play, that and Hernandez’s early chance underlined a threat from Ferguson’s men that always seemed to be bubbling under the surface of an absorbing encounter.

But the hosts plugged away in the second half and a less sympathetic referee might have awarded a penalty against Anderson when the Brazilian appeared to catch Lovenkrands in the Man Utd box on the hour mark.

But, as the visitors gradually eradicated their passing errors and began dominating possession, a clear-cut opening for Ferguson’s team seemed only moments away – and so it proved when Patrice Evra burst into the area and cut back for Giggs unmarked 12 yards out, only for the Welshman to skew wide with the goal at his mercy.

From then on in, the match consisted mainly of Man Utd’s attack against Newcastle’s defence – Stephen Ireland’s volley from Ameobi’s knock-down aside, the midfielder’s 20-yard effort dipping narrowly wide.

But, in truth, the Red Devils rarely looked likely to break the deadlock and it summed up their night when Hernandez was booked in stoppage time for a dive as he rolled over Simpson’s lunge in the box.

It meant the visitors were forced to settle for a point that will only reinvigorate Arsenal’s and, possibly, Chelsea’s hopes of producing a late fightback in the race for the domestic title.

Sourcde + Pic: news.bbc.co.uk

After being charged on Monday with assaulting ex-girlfriend Laurie Henderson, Carroll – who will claim self-defence – was bailed by magistrates to live with Nolan at his house in Ponteland, Northumbria, until his next court appearance on January 10.

But just two days into his stay with the former Bolton midfielder, 21-year-old Carroll was the victim of an attack on his chrome-plated Range Rover.

Carroll had bought the car earlier this month to celebrate signing a new five-year deal with the Magpies, but vandals set it alight shortly after 7pm BST on Wednesday. Graffiti was also daubed on Nolan’s garage door.

A Northumbria police force spokeswoman said: “Police received a report from the fire and rescue service of a fire outside an address in Darras Hall.

“Officers attended and a Range Rover was found to be on fire. The fire was extinguished by the fire and rescue service and no-one was injured.

“The garage door of the property was also vandalised. Inquiries into the incident are ongoing and police are appealing for anyone with information to contact them.”

Source + Pic: soccernet.espn.go.com

Alan Shearer

Shearer’s spell as interim manager ended with Newcastle’s final game of the season at Aston Villa, but owner Mike Ashley was reportedly due to meet with the former England striker on Tuesday to discuss the terms of a permanent contract.

Ashley knows that Shearer’s popularity among Newcastle fans and his standing in the game will be major assets as the long slog to restore the club’s credibility and Premier League status begins in the close-season.

For the first time in 16 years, Newcastle are no longer a top-flight club, but Shearer has no intention of feeling sorry for himself.

The Newcastle legend, who took charge for the final eight games of the season after Joe Kinnear’s heart surgery, met the squad for an end of season debriefing on Monday and reportedly told them there would a major overhaul of the playing staff if he stays.

“If I’m here next season, there are going to be big, big changes,” the Times quotes him as saying.

Newcastle’s annual wage bill is estimated at around 74 million pounds and Shearer is willing to axe high-earning flops like Michael Owen, Mark Viduka, Claudio Cacapa and Peter Lovenkrands, who are all out of contract.

Fabricio Coloccini, Geremi, Obafemi Martins, Alan Smith, Jose Enrique and Jonas Gutierrez could also be sold.

Shearer added: “The problem this club has got is that the other Championship clubs have already started preparing regarding players and everything else.

“Newcastle are already lagging behind. The sooner a decision is made the better for everyone.

“We need to look at it with a clear head. I will give my opinion on what is wrong and what needs to be done.”

Source + Pic: supersport.co.za

Wins for Liverpool and Chelsea 24 hours earlier had encouraged thoughts of the title battle being opened up once more and Peter Lovenkrands 9th-minute opener for Newcastle would have triggered huge cheers on Merseyside and in West London.

But the stumble United’s rivals had hoped for failed to materialise on a night that saw Manchester City dent Aston Villa’s hopes of securing Uefa Champions League football next season with a 2-0 win at Eastlands.

United’s win restored their seven-point lead and the champions also have a game in hand to help them close out a third straight English title. Newcastle ended Edwin van der Sar’s record-breaking run without conceding a goal in a league match but were unable to defend their early lead.

The Magpies caused the visitors serious problems in an impressive 20-minute opening spell which yielded the strike from Danish winger Lovenkrands, the first league goal conceded by Dutch keeper van der Sar in 1 311 minutes of play.

Having weathered the storm, United equalised after Dimitar Berbatov set up Wayne Rooney for a 20th-minute strike and, ten minutes after the interval, the Bulgarian striker found the net himself with a tap-in from Park Ji-Sung’s cross.

Elano celebrated his return to Manchester City’s starting line-up by netting a first-half penalty as City ended Villa’s run of ten consecutive away victories in the league with a 2-0 win at Eastlands. With Robinho and Craig Bellamy sidelined by injury, City boss Mark Hughes opted to recall the out-of-favour Brazilian playmaker and he repaid the manager with a cool penalty conversion after James Milner had tripped Shaun Wright-Phillips.

England winger Wright-Phillips sealed City’s fifth successive home win two minutes from time to leave Villa with just a three-point cushion over Arsenal in the battle for fourth place and the final Champions League qualifying spot.

Stoke followed up last weekend’s fightback against Villa with a 2-0 win over Bolton that lifts them out of the relegation zone and dented their opponents’ hopes of staying clear of the survival dogfight. A well-taken early strike by James Beattie was followed by a late strike from Ricardo Fuller.

Tottenham bounced back from Sunday’s penalty shoot-out defeat by Manchester United in the League Cup final with a 4-0 win over Middlesbrough that significantly eases their survival concerns and leaves Gareth Southgate’s side mired in the relegation zone.

Robbie Keane opened the scoring with his first strike for Spurs since his January return from Liverpool. Roman Pavlyuchenko doubled the lead and a brace for Aaron Lennon saw Harry Redknapp’s side cruise towards safety.

West Ham’s push for European football next season received another boost with a hard-fought win at Wigan in a match that both sides ended with ten men.Carlton Cole gave West Ham the lead then got himself sent off before half-time for a second bookable offence. But the Hammers held on for all three points, with the help of Wigan being reduced to ten men themselves seven minutes after the restart as a result of Lee Cattermole’s reckless challenge on Scott Parker.

Blackburn earned a valuable point by holding Everton to a goalless draw but Sam Allardyce’s side still found themselves back in the bottom three because of Stoke’s win.

A stoppage time winner by substitute Manucho, the Angolan striker on loan from Manchester United, earned Hull an unlikely 1-0 win at Fulham and halted Phil Brown’s side’s slide towards trouble. It was scarcely deserved but Hull fans will not complain after a win that could look very important at the end of the season.

Source + Pic: supersport.co.za

Toon Army manager Joe Kinnear recently admitted he had failed to persuade Given to add to his 11 year stay at St. James’ Park and it now seems that he will sign an £86,000-a-week contract with Manchester City.

Source: soccernews.com