Steve Brucie (nasty to see him, to see him, nasty) has admitted that his biggest challenge as the new head coach of this blogger's beloved (though, tragically, unsellable) Magpies will be winning over the club’s diehard fanbase. No shit, Sherlock? Hey, did you work that out on your own, Brucie, or did you have help? Cos, if it's the former, that might qualify you for being one of the great minds of your generation. However, Brucie says that he is determined to grasp his 'big opportunity' with both hands. Until, like several predecessors, his new boss decides that it's time for a change and he gets his sorry ass handed to him on a plate in the form of redundancy. The former Sheffield Wednesday boss was named as Rafa The Gaffer Benitez's successor earlier this month, sparking a furious response from large sections of Th' Toon faithful. And, for 'large sections' read 'pretty much all of them.' Most of whom are somewhat pissed off about having a manager whom they liked, respected and admired and who has a CV that included winning the Champions League, La Liga, the UEFA Cup, the Europa League, the FA Cup and the Copa Italia replaced by someone who likes to play his 'I'm a proud Geordie boy, me' card when he feels like it and ignore it at other times, who has, in the past, publicly abused the Newcastle supporters whom he claims to be one of and whose CV includes winning promotion with Birmingham City and Hull (after getting both of them relegated). There has been talk of disgruntled fans boycotting the club's opening game of the Premier League season against The Arse on 11 August, although whether this actually happens is - validly - open to question. As this blogger had noted on several occasions in the past, football fans are often their own worst enemies in this regard in that our fandom - and support of lost causes - always tends to work against us. Speaking to arch Ashley apologists talkSPORT on their Kick Off show on Monday night, Brucie (nasty to see him, to see him, nasty) claimed that he 'understands the frustration' surrounding his appointment - admitting he isn't 'everybody's cup of tea' - but vowed to 'do all he can' to push his boyhood club on and prove to be a success in the job. Or, in other words, exactly the same generic 'I'm a proud Geordie boy, me' crap that he has been spouting in every interview he's given since he got the job in the first place. Brucie said: 'It's all been a bit of a blur so far, but I've really enjoyed it. My dad used to say to me I was mad full stop getting into management. I really couldn't turn this job down again. The easiest thing to do would have been to say no, but I wanted to have a crack. Newcastle never leaves you and I wanted to have a go. I was happy and settled in Sheffield, but the Wednesday chairman [Dejphon Chansiri] understood my decision and we shook hands and wished each other all the best.' That'd be the same Sheffield Wednesday currently threatening to take legal action against Newcastle over the appointment of Brucie, would it? He continued: 'My biggest challenge is to win over the support and the challenge to the team is to try and take it forward in the way we are going to play. The big thing that disappoints me is getting labelled with this "dinosaur" thing. We played three at the back at Crystal Palace twenty years ago and one off the front. We were one of the first teams to do it. You get labelled with this dinosaur tag and being old school. There is nothing wrong with old school. But of course you have to embrace what the whole job is about now. The biggest thing I have to overcome are these doubters.' On the threat of a fans' boycott, Brucie said: 'Whether that boycott will take place, your guess is as good as mine. I saw a so-called demonstration the other day - there were twelve people involved in it. It can sometimes be blown out of proportion. I'm convinced that, come the first game of the season, the supporters will be like they always are - right behind their team.' If not, necessarily, the head coach. A necessary difference, one feels. 'I'm not everybody's cup of tea with getting the job. I understand that, but I will give it as good a go as I can do. Hopefully the experiences that I've had over these past twenty years will stand me in good stead.' He added: 'One thing I do know is that the Newcastle fans, come the start of the season, will be there cheering on their team like no other club can. They have been been incredible with their support for the club over the years. I just hope I can keep them moving forward and give them something to shout about. Rafa was that popular with the fans here that whoever was going to come in had big boots to fill. There aren't too many Rafa Benitez's around who have been as successful as he's been and won the Champions League. So there was always going to be an adverse reaction. I completely understand that and it's up to me now to prove people wrong by getting results on the field. This is my big opportunity in management, there's no doubt about that. I've had to wait a while for it, but I'm determined to be a success at this magnificent football club. I hope I can get this football club over the line in terms of winning a trophy. I'm not that naive to think we can win the Premier League, but we've got to be having a go with one of the trophies.' So, there you have it, dear blog reader - not everyone's cup of tea, big boots to fill, wants 'a crack', yadda, yadda, yadda. Another right load of old toot.
Record signing Joelinton scored his first senior goal for the club as this blogger's beloved (though tragically unsellable) Newcastle came from behind to beat Hibernian at Easter Road on Tuesday evening in their fourth pre-season friendly. Sean Longstaff and Jamaal Lascelles were also on target in Edinburgh but there was worrying news for Steve Brucie (nasty to see him, to see him, nasty), as Matt Ritchie left the pitch during the first half with a hamstring injury which will require a scan. United's three man backline was breached after just ten minutes when Stevie Mallan beat Karl Darlow with a clean strike from the edge of the box. Ritchie went down shortly after with nobody near him and got up and walked straight off with Rolando Aarons replacing him at left wing-back - a position he struggled in when played there previously by Steve McClaren. Miguel Almiron went close in the fifteenth minute, heading a Jonjo Shelvey ball from the right narrowly wide. But, a minute later the scores were level and Joelinton had his goal, thanks a first time effort from close range from a great ball from Javier Manquillo on the right. Home custodian Ofir Marciano blocked another Almiron effort in the twenty fdourth minute with his foot but was helpless to stop Longstaff's firm shot from the edge of the area ten minutes before the break. Rather than the mass change of personnel seen at Preston Both Ends on Saturday, United made no half time substitutions and continued to push on - Fabian Schär and Isaac Hayden both augmenting the attacks. Joelinton should have made it three-one on the hour when he elected to pass to Hayden, rather than shooting and the goalkeeper cut out his weak attempted pass. Hibernian enjoyed their best period of possession but the intensity of the game inevitably dropped until Lascelles got on the end of an Aarons cross and thumped a header home from six yards with eighteen minutes remaining. Joelington's movement both on and off the ball caught the eye and the development of an understanding with both Almiron and Shelvey promises to be crucial to The Magpies' attacking aspirations this season. But, the victory was well deserved and notable for some displays of a level not always seen in games of this nature - Manquillo certainly seemed to be up for it and Yoshinori Muto tried hard to make an impression. The Ritchie injury, though, highlights the worrying lack of genuine depth in the squad and renews concerns that struggles in the transfer market will see previously discarded players back in the side by default rather than merit.
The Football Association is introducing 'sin bins' at grassroots level from the start of the 2019-20 season. The ten-minute dismissals will be issued by referees as a sanction only for dissent, while shorter punishments will be applied in youth football. They will be indicated by a referee showing the guilty player a yellow card and pointing to the touchline. 'Dissent is a key part of the game that needs to be tackled,' said the FA's chief executive Mark Bullingham. Sin bins were first piloted during the 2017-18 season and extended to a total of thirty one leagues the following year. It will be implemented up to step five of the National League System and tier three and below in women's football. The FA found that there was a thirty eight per cent total reduction in dissent across all leagues during the trial period. Bullingham added: 'Our pilot phase has proved that sin bins work well. The trial showed a huge impact on behaviour that we want to roll out to the whole game and make it more enjoyable for everyone.'
The Football Association has increased the minimum ban for anyone found guilty of racist abuse to six matches. The increase for the 2019-20 season comes in the wake of a forty three per cent rise in reports of racist abuse last season. As well as racist language, the minimum ban also covers any discrimination aimed at a person's gender, sexuality, religious beliefs or disability. The FA has also announced that people in technical areas can be issued with yellow and red cards. It is the first time the minimum ban for abuse has risen since a five-game suspension came in for such offences in 2013. The minimum suspension is only for a first offence and bans can be increased if there are any additional aggravating factors.
Police investigating rape allegations against Brazilian football player Neymar say they have closed the case. The São Paulo attorney general's office said the case was suspended 'due to a lack of evidence,' but will be sent to prosecutors for a final decision. The investigation was opened after a Brazilian model, Najila Trindade, alleged that the footballer attacked her in a hotel in Paris, in May. Neymar has denied the accusations, claiming that he is 'being extorted.' A spokesman for Neymar told AFP that he was 'not able to comment' on the police decision. The case has gripped Brazil, where it has dominated newspaper headlines. It first came to light in June, when the Paris St-Germain striker released a seven minute video on Instagram revealing that he had been accused of rape. He also published Whatsapp messages and images that he claimed to be of the woman. In the video he claims that he had to make them public to 'prove that nothing really happened.' Trindade then went public, giving a television interview and releasing footage and a video clip purportedly showing an altercation between the two. Police later filed a defamation suit against Trindade, who allegedly insinuated the force was corrupt, according to news agency AFP. The model was also dropped by several lawyers. Prosecutors now have fifteen days to evaluate the case before a judge makes a final ruling.
Gareth Bale has stroppily pulled out of Real Madrid's trip to Munich for a pre-season tournament, following the collapse of his proposed move to China. It is understood that Bale is 'not in the right mental state' to play after Real president Florentino Perez prevented him from joining Jiangsu Suning. Last week, Real boss Zinedine Zidane said that the thirty-year-old was 'very close to leaving' having fallen out of favour. Zidane added his exit would be 'best for everyone.' But, particularly for Bale who was set to pick up a signing on fee the size of the gross national debt of several third-world countries. The thirty three-time Spanish champions will play Bale's former club Stottingtot Hotshots on Tuesday in the opening game of the tournament that also includes Bayern München and Fenerbahçe. Danny Rose is included in Spurs' squad, despite being left out of the pre-season tour party of Asia in order to seek a new club. Bale joined the Spanish club for eight five million knicker from Spurs in 2013 in a world record deal at the time. He has three years left on his contract with the Bernabeu club where he has won four Champions Leagues, one La Liga title, a Copa del Rey, three UEFA Super Cups and three Club World Cups. The Welshman scored three goals, plus a penalty in a shootout, in four Champions League finals for Real as they won the competition in 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2018. However, injury problems have limited him to seventy nine La Liga starts in the past four seasons. He played forty two matches for Real Madrid last season in all competitions but was booed by the home supporters at times during the campaign. It has been reported Real blocked Bale's move as they are demanding a transfer fee for the player. Former Real Madrid and Wales manager John Toshack has told BBC 5Live that criticism of Bale is 'justified' and that he should have 'engaged himself' with Spain and the Real supporters during his six years at the club. 'Come out Gareth, do an interview, speak yourself,' said the seventy-year-old. 'You've been here six or seven years now. You don't speak the language. That's an insult to the people that you're working for. It's not gone down well at all here in Spain, and it saddens me.'
Angry South Korean football fans are reportedly 'seeking compensation' after Cristiano Ronaldo failed to take to the pitch during a Juventus pre-season friendly. Ooo, aal vexed and with their mad right-up, so they were. The superstar was allegedly contracted to play for forty five minutes when the match against K League All Stars was announced, organisers say, but he stayed on the subs' bench throughout. Fans became angry when he made no sign of lacing up his boots, even chanting the name of his rival Lionel Messi. Some have now reached out to Seoul law firm Myungan to file a lawsuit. They are seeking compensation of seventy thousand Won (that's around forty eight quid) per ticket, one thousand Won for the ticket commission fee and one million Won each for compensation for 'mental anguish.' 'Normally in such cases the plaintiffs will be refunded the price of the tickets, but I put this under a special case since the company, through false advertising, took advantage of the football star's fans,' a lawyer from the firm - which, honestly, does not part-take in chasing ambulances under any circumstances - told Reuters. 'As for the mental anguish part, I'd like to say some of them are raucous fans, the real avid fans. So for them it is very painful because they love Ronaldo and want to protect him, but they can't, given the situation,' he added. 'For now we have two plaintiffs who sued the company, but I have been getting a lot of calls today and I assume there will be some sixty thousand more.' Robin Chang, CEO of The Fasta, the Korean agency which arranged the game, broke down in tears to broadcaster SBS and confirmed that the contract stipulated the Portuguese star would appear for forty five minutes. However, Chang claimed she only found out that the thirty four-year-old would not be making an appearance ten minutes into the second-half. 'When I went to argue with [Pavel] Nedved, the vice president of Juventus, all he said was "I also wish Ronaldo ran, but he doesn't want to. Sorry, there's nothing I can do." I was so frustrated,' she claimed. South Korea's professional football governing body, K League, said a letter of protest has been sent to the Italian champions for 'violating the contract.' Many fans have been voicing their anger at Ronaldo on social media. 'He betrayed the sixty thousand audience and belittled us,' one fan who attended the match whinged on Instagram. 'I'm no longer a Ronaldo fan.' One imagines that multi-millionaire Ronaldo is p0roper gutted by your no longer being his fan, mate.
Former Brazil forward Ronaldinho has had fifty seven properties seized and his Brazilian and Spanish passports confiscated over unpaid taxes and fines, according to reports in Brazil. The twice World Player Of The Year was fined nine-and-a-half million Reais (just over two million smackers) for, allegedly, illegally building a pier at his lake house in the city of Porto Alegre, the newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo claimed. But as well as the environmental fine, big-toothed Ronaldinho is also 'being pursued by creditors' seeking to recover over 1.6 million quid 'in other debts, such as council taxes.' A judge in Porto Alegre told the Reuters news agency that because the case was under judicial secrecy rules, no details of the newspaper report could be either confirmed or denied. Ronaldinho was the 2004 and 2005 World Player of the Year and enjoyed the prime of his career at Spanish giants Barcelona. He won the World Cup in 2002. The captain of that team, Cafu, is similarly facing financial problems, having had various apartments which he owns in Brazil seized by the authorities. Ronaldinho's net worth is estimated at eighty to =one hundred million knicker and he is reported to charge around one hundred and fifty grand for a single promoted Instagram post.
A former football agent involved in the late Emiliano Sala's move to Cardiff City from Nantes in January has failed to appear in court charged with two counts of fraudulent transfer of property. Willie McKay arranged the flight that crashed in the English Channel, killing Sala and pilot David Ibbotson. He is accused of buying a fifty four thousand knicker car and a nine thousand quid watch while declared bankrupt. McKay's solicitor told Manchester Magistrates' Court that his client would not be attending 'because of the press. If he had been ambushed outside this court today it could have severely affected his mental well-being,' Michael Levy claimed. One or two people even believed him. McKay faces two charges under the Insolvency Act, including spending nine thousand one hundred smackers on a Rolex Date Just II watch for his wife in Leeds on 14 December 2014, while bankrupt. The second charge states that a day later, he spent fifty four grand on a Jaguar XK5 car in Doncaster. Steven Palmer, chair of the bench, told the court: 'We find no good reason why we should proceed in [Mr McKay's] absence. We are going to adjourn to allow him to attend. We expect him to attend.' Palmer said the court would issue an 'attend or warrant' letter, adding: 'If he does not attend we may arrange transport for him.'
Fort William, Britain's worst professional football team, have finally ended a seventy three-game winless run stretching back over eight hundred days. The Highland League side, who had a minus two hundred and twenty one goal difference last season, triumphed five-two against Nairn County in the North of Scotland Cup. Prior to this win, their last victory came four campaigns ago when they defeated Strathspey Thistle four-one. 'Unbelievable stuff,' declared the club's official Twitter account. 'A great night at Claggan Park tonight. An unbelievable feeling. We would like to thank everyone who came along. And we would like to thank everyone online, around the world who have celebrated with us. Your support doesn't go unnoticed.' Within minutes of the final whistle the club, whose eighteen hundred-capacity ground is nestled in the shadows of Ben Nevis, was trending on Twitter as word spread of their famous victory. Last week Fort announced a tie-up with Inverness Caledonian Thistle and the loan of nine players. At least two on those were on target against Nairn. A BBC Scotland documentary, The Fort, followed the club's disastrous run last season that delivered just two draws and a minus seven points finish due to a deduction for fielding an ineligible player three times. Fort William midfielder Scott Hunter took to Twitter ahead of Wednesday's game, writing: "Thanks 'o everyone for their comments, support and love for the BBC doc and Fort William FC. Eyes of the world are on our result tonight.'
