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LATEST NEWS
Injury news
Speed out of Barca clash
Gary Speed will miss Wednesday's important match with Barcelona at St James' Park after picking up a groin injury. Speed was forced to leave the field after 66 minutes in the Toon's 2-0 win away to Charlton Athletic and the injury comes as a major blow to Newcastle and Speed as the team prepairs for the crucial do-or-die match with Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League. Speed is however expected to be back fit in time for the Toon's home league match with Blackburn Rovers next Saturday afternoon.

Speed said very briefly on the matter: "The groin is still sore today and I'll be having an injection in it. It looks as though I will miss Wednesday night but I expect to be back on Saturday." Thankfully for Sir Bobby though Hugo Viana is ready to come in from the wing in his preferred position in the center ofr Speed and Laurent Robert is also expected to return after missing the Charlton game because of a slight knock he took against Inter in the 2-2 draw at the San Siro last Tuesday.




Manager forgives
Sir Bobby forgives El-Khalej
Sir Bobby used Saturday's trip to The Valley to extend the hand of friendship and forgiveness to Moroccan Tahar El-Khalej. It was the defender who almost shattered Kieron Dyer's World Cup dream last summer after his horror tackle on the Newcastle United midfielder on the final day of the 2001-02 campaign. El-Khalej was a Southampton player then but has since moved on to Charlton, where he was an unused substitute as we defeated them 2-0. Prior to kick-off, the Toon Army responded with jeers when his name was read out, but Robson made a point of shaking hands and embracing the African as he made his way to the visiting dug-out.

And what of Dyer? Well while Dyer still believes the knee injury he suffered at St Mary's stopped him playing a full role for England in Japan, he also accepted a handshake from his one-time assailant. Sir Bobby said briedfly after the match: "I know the boy from my time in Portugal. He played for Benfica while I was manager of Porto. It's all right now. It's in the past."




No u-turn
Shearer says no to England
Alan Shearer has put an end to the speculation he's ready to come out of retirement for the England national team by saying once and for all: "After much consideration I feel it is only right and fair to make it absolutely clear that I do not wish to be considered for future selection by the England coach." This point has been raised in the past, the media has often hinted at a Shearer return as England have failed to find an decent replacement up front for Shearer since he retired nearly 3 years ago but each time Shearer says no.

The difference this time was some quotes made by Shearer after the Inter Milan game which emplied he was considering the u-turn. Shearer was asked about his comments and he replied with: "My comments following Newcastle United's midweek match were made in good faith and truly reflected my enormous enjoyment of football this season, but I honestly believe my remaining football ambitions can be fulfilled at club level with Newcastle United in the Premiership and in the Champions League."

"I would like to express my gratitude to the many people who have made kind and complimentary remarks about my recent form, and I would like to wish the England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson and the England team the best of luck for the European Championships qualification campaign."




Player charged
Bellamy puzzled by FA
Craig Bellamy last night claimed he was the victim of his unfair reputation after expressing his bewilderment at the FA misconduct charge now hanging over his head. The Welsh international was at his electrifying best in Saturday's 2-0 win over in-form Charlton, creating both goals, but he was again given a rough ride by the opposition and their fans for his role in winning Newcastle's first-half penalty, despite clearly being fouled in the area by Jason Euell and Mark Fish. The incident was less than 24 hours after Bellamy discovered he had been reported by referee Andy D'Urso for using foul and abusive language after the defeat at Middlesbrough 12 days ago. And he is adamant he does not deserve the hounding he feels he is getting.

He said: "I'm facing a misconduct charge which I cannot understand. I cannot believe the referee has reported me. All I've been thinking about since I found out was where was I supposed to have done what he says. I feel as though I've been picked on because of my reputation. I'm annoyed but I've got to get on with it and play my football. I've gained a reputation for being a bad boy, but I've also gained a reputation for being a good player and that is the most important thing."

"There is no way I dived for the penalty and the replays show that. I got booed at Charlton and I get boos everywhere. If other fans don't like me it's because I'm a threat on the pitch. The most important thing is that the Newcastle United fans appreciate me and it meant a lot that when the Charlton fans were booing me they were singing my name. They realise I give my all for the team and that I want to win. I didn't dive and I didn't respond to the rough treatment I got."




Title race
It's in the Gunners hands
Sir Bobby has refused to get too excited after we narrowed the gap on leaders Arsenal with the 2-0 win at Charlton. The victory and the Gunners' defeat at Blackburn means we are five points behind the reigning champions. But while the manager knows his side are inching closer to the big two he feels Arsene Wenger's men will still claim the title.

He said: "Man U and Arsenal have stronger squads but we've caught up with them. I'm very happy with my squad. I still think Arsenal will win it. I don't think we can win it but it's close and we're making progress. The two teams above us would have to slip up - if they don't slip up we can't win it. We've got a lot better since last year when we finished fourth. We know where we are, we know where we want to be and they are just ahead of us. But the quality of the squad and our younger players is getting better. You look at Speed Shearer, Given, Solano - they give us experience and the rest are just 21, 22, 23. Just look at Bramble, Dyer, Woodgate and JJ."

We also extended our unbeaten run after European games to 21 matches on Saturday, despite the fact the tired limbs that had come back from Italy in midweek were not helped by a four-and-a-half hour drive through London to get to the team hotel on Friday. Bobby commented briefly: "Rest and relaxation is very important - we try to get them home as quickly as we can. It didn't help that it took us four-and-a-half hours from City Airport to our hotel. We could have driven down quicker. We look at their tiredness, we look at those looking weary and we get the right response from the players. We have good motivation and we've got good character in the team - and we've got that pace. You can have ability but pace plus ability is essential."




Player form
Solano happy with performance
Winger Nolberto Solano believes he has rediscovered his best awayday form after netting for the team in the splendid 2-0 victory at Charlton Athletic on Saturday. Before the weekend, the Peruvian hadn't started a Premiership game on the road for the Magpies since the 4-3 Boxing Day defeat at Bolton Wanderers. Manager Sir Bobby Robson had sacrificed Solano and the practice of playing two wingers away from St James's Park since that defeat, but an ankle injury for left winger Laurent Robert and concerns over Kieron Dyer's hamstring condition gave Solano an opportunity in South London.

And the 28-year-old seized the chance, giving an accomplished display in the right flank and capping his performance with a 49th-minute goal to wrap up the points. He said: "It was nice to get the chance to play and it was nice to score. The manager has said to me he needs the same as I gave him last season and I hope I showed that. It's important for me I prove I can play well for the team as the squad is so strong now."

He also added his thoughts on the chances in the title race: "Nothing is settled yet, no one knows who is going to win the league at this point. As long as we have the chance then we have to try and catch Arsenal. Nobody expected them to lose at Blackburn but it just shows what a hard league the Premiership is. It's given us a chance of recovery and that's why our win over Charlton was so important."




Title talk
Curbs believes in us
Alan Curbishley spoke after his team's 2-0 defeat to us on Saturday to say how he believes we are capable of winning the Premiership title this season and must be taken seriously. He said: The nice thing for Newcastle is that no-one's taken notice of them but they've crept right into the frame with eight games to go. They have to be taken seriously: they've got a squad capable of winning the title. The combination of Alan Shearer and Craig Bellamy was too good for us. We came up against Thierry Henry last week and Bellamy poses the same problems. Newcastle will always be a threat when they have someone like him about."




First team
Toon win in London
Charlton 0-2 Newcastle
The team won it's second match in London this season as we defeat in-form Charlton Athletic 2-0 at The Valley. A penalty from Alan Shearer and a tap in from Nol Solano were the goals with Craig Bellamy setting up both. We were the better team for the majority of the game, creating some good chances through Bellamy's constant running keeping in control with our rock solid defence. The win brings us back within 5 points of Arsenal and within 3 of Man Utd firmly creating a 3-horse race with just 8 games to go.




Not for sale
Cort still in plans
Sir Bobby has once again dismissed talk he is ready to sell striker Carl Cort. Cort was bought for 7m pounds in the summer of 2000 from Wimbledon, however ever since that move Carl has been extremely unlucky, suffering major injury after major injury. Recently his fitness has improved, he's played a large chunk of reserve games this season as well as a few appearances for the first team too. But it's not been enough to force him up the pecking order, in which he's currently behind Shearer, Bellamy, Ameobi and Lualua with Chopra not far behind him if not level with him!

However if the Toon is knocked out of the Champions League after Wednesday nights game with Barca then there's a chance Carl will be loaned out for the rest of the season to a division 1 team. Robson insisted: "I still see Carl having a future here. He's having a rough time but we're not looking to push him out. He's still a good age at 24 and has got at least eight great years left."




Double standards
UEFA FARCE!
Unbelievably Inter Milan will face no punishment after the incodents last Tuesday at the San Siro stadium. Inter's fans shouted racist remarks at Newcastle's black players, in particular Titus Bramble and Olivier Bernard who were often taunted with monkey noises when they had possession of the ball. They also pelted the travelling Toon Army with coins, bottles and at one time they threw a lit flair into the Newcastle crowd!

Now should this have been a smaller club they'd have had the book thrown at them, but this being Italian Giants Inter Milan, and UEFA being the cowards they are when it comes to punishing big clubs, Inter Milan are getting away without punishment. UEFA's pathetic statement was: "Neither our delegate at the game nor the referee has included any details of racial abuse or missile-throwing by Inter Milan fans in their reports."

Now UEFA are going to investigate striker Lualua after he claimed that Inter striker Christian Vieri said a racist remark to him towards the end of the game (believed to be "black bastard")! Now It's not enough that UEFA let the big club get away with all of this, but now they are taking it out on Lualua, who plays for the smaller club, so they can make the big Italian club feel good again! All we can say is c'mon Bayer next week, give us the justice UEFA wouldn't!




Player retirement
I'll retire at the top
Alan Shearer has insisted he has not yet made a decision on how long he will play on with Newcastle. There is already talk of the United skipper extending his career for at least another two more years after the end of this season. But he said: "I've got a year left on my contract and then I'll have to see what happens after that. I'll finish at the top - I've made that promise to myself. I won't go down the leagues."

And as for the prospect of management - and a possible succession to Robson's Magpie throne - Shearer added: "I'll cross that bridge if and when it needs to be crossed. But at the moment I just want to play and enjoy it. There's a great feeling around the football club at the moment, not just among the players and the staff but around the whole city. There's a buzz around the place. It's without doubt the best pool of players I've been involved with at Newcastle, and I'm enjoying playing as much as I ever have done."




Player form
Bernard was worth the fight
Olivier Bernard is starting to justify Newcastle United's bitter summer battle with West Ham United, according to Sir Bobby Robson. Robson reacted furiously to attempts by Hammers boss Glenn Roeder to poach the young defender from St James' Park last July. Roeder, acting on the advice of Bernard's advisors, believed the full-back was out of contract and therefore free to move to Upton Park for a nominal fee. Bernard originally agreed to the move, but was forced to return to Tyneside after Newcastle won a tribunal case which ruled he was still under contract with United.

But the 23-year-old has not allowed the scandal to effect him, establishing himself as Robson's first- choice left-back with a series of eye-catching displays, most recently in the intimidating atmosphere of the San Siro. Robson is delighted with his progress and argued his stubborn refusal to allow him to move to West Ham has been fully vindicated over the past few months.

He said: "The way Olivier Bernard is playing at the moment is exactly the reason why we fought West Ham so hard in the summer. We found him, we brought him here, we paid lots of attention to him and we developed him as a player. He was almost taken away from us, but we fought them on it and we won the case. We always felt he had the potential to be a very good player, he's left-footed, strong and quick. We did all the homework and the spadework, we weren't prepared to just let another club come in and take him away from us after that."

"He's done very well, he's in the team and he was worth fighting for, but we knew that or we would have let him go. He's made big strides in his development this season. You saw that clearly against Inter Milan in midweek where he was involved in a fierce battle with Sergio Conceicao. He won that battle, the only problem was he got a rough deal from the referee which he didn't deserve. We were delighted with him though, it was a very good performance indeed. He is also very good going forward. He scored the winner against Chelsea and was a whisker away from getting an equaliser against Middlesbrough as well."




Player charged
Bellamy charged by FA
Craig Bellamy goes into today's Premiership visit to Charlton under threat from yet another suspension after the Football Association confirmed the Welsh striker has been charged as a result of his behaviour at the end of this month's game at Middlesbrough. The striker was one of several players who surrounded referee Andy D'Urso on the final whistle after Boro midfielder Geremi had clinched victory for the Teessiders. A spokesperson from the FA said briefly: "This relates to events after the Middlesbrough versus Newcastle Premier League match on March 5. Bellamy has 14 days to respond to the charge."




Typical TV
Toon angry over TV snub - Again!
Toon fans have hit out at TV bosses for switching Newcastle's crucial clash against Barcelona to an obscure satellite channel. The Champions' League match on Wednesday was due to be shown on the ITV News channel, which had already angered many supporters who do not have access to it. But the TV company has now decided to air the sell-out match, which could see Newcastle go into the quarter finals, on Granada Plus - because of the possible war on Iraq.

ITC spokesman Gary Double said: "The match was originally scheduled to be aired on the ITV News channel but it's been moved to Granada Plus because of the possibility of war. The war situation is becoming more serious by the day and we took the decision so that the news channel can report on it."

Mark Jensen, editor of Newcastle United fanzine The Mag, said he was disappointed as the change meant fewer people would be able to see the match. He added: "This is part of an ongoing problem and shows lack of respect for Newcastle fans who can't make it to the actual game and who rely on TV. Newcastle at home to Barcelona is a game that could mean we go through to the next round. I don't think there are many games that come bigger than this. The fact that it's not on TV for all to see is a disgrace. The way they treat Newcastle fans seems to get worse and worse."

Frank Gilmour, chairman of the Independent Supporters' Association, said: "Newcastle rarely features as the main game on ITV. Last Tuesday's away game with Inter Milan was shown on Tyne Tees in this area, but the rest of the country had Arsenal against Roma. I'm upset that next week's match will be shown on Granada Plus. Many people don't have that channel and as a result won't be able to see the game. It will mean fans will have to watch it in a pub or find a friend who has the channel."




Transfer news
Con-man not coming
Sir Bobby Robson has revealed Inter Milan have offered their winger Sergio Conceicao for 5m pounds to us, but after the Portuguese internationals antics against us at the San Siro, which helped Inter to a 2-2 draw with us, Sir Bobby has ruled out any move for the player.

We had rejected the chance to sign the winger last january when we were offered him by Inter as his wage demands would be too high as many players in Italy are on obscene wages but any chance of a future move has now been ruled out after his play acting, diving and cheating against us. Olivier Bernard played him out of the game with hard, but perfectly fair tackles, which left Conceicao out of idea's, well not quite. The player was left with one idea, cheating. The Portuguese star decided if he couldn't beat Bernard, he'd cheat Bernard by play acting every time he touched him, by diving every time he went near him and his cheating ways against us have made sure we never go after the cheat.




Injury news
Safety-first with Dyer
Kieron Dyer has been given the green light from the medical staff after a scan revealed his hamstring is fine. However Sir Bobby has told the midfielder that he will always adopt a safety-first method when dealing with any potential injury problem with Dyer. Dyer's had a couple of injury problems wince joining the Toon, most notably was his shin splints problem and as a result, Sir Bobby has promised never to risk the superstar if there's any worries.

Dyer wil travel with the team to Charlton and probably be used as a substitute if he plays in the game, and Sir Bobby and Dyer are both very thankful after hearing the good news from his scan but Dyer will still be cautious against Charlton to make sure he doesn't do any more damage and allows his hamstring to heal properly. Sir Bobby said briefly: "The scan is clear, which will be a big load off Kieron's mind, and he will be in our squad for the game at Charlton. Kieron has been worried about it and this is only natural when he feels any pain after the injuries he has had in the past."




Racism talk
Vieri claims innocents
Inter Milan striker Christian Vieri has denied Newcastle United's allegation that he racially abused Lomana LuaLua in Tuesday's Champions League game in the San Siro. However, UEFA are investigating the situation after United made a formal complaint against Vieri, backing LuaLua's assertion that he was subject to racist abuse as the game flared up in the dying minutes after Inter had controversially been awarded a free-kick just outside the penalty area.

But Vieri insists he is innocent and will deny any charges, should UEFA decide there is a case to answer. He said: "Even though we were in a turbulent phase of the match, I didn't say any words of a racist nature. I just tried to distance the player, who had even been booked in that moment, by telling him to move back. Besides, this row sparked at the end of the match. LuaLua didn't say anything on the pitch and didn't give any sign of reaction."




Ugly incodents
Inter's ugly side probe
UEFA will investigate claims that Inter Milan striker Christian Vieri racially abused Newcastle's Lomana LuaLua in the dying stages of Tuesday's 2-2 draw in Milan. The Italian international, who speaks fluent English, squared up to the striker after the African contested a late free-kick and players from both sides became embroiled in an ugly confrontation. Referee Lucilio Batista booked LuaLua for his involvement but Magpies officials later lodged an official complaint against Vieri, alleging racial abuse.

Meanwhile UEFA will also probe into the racial chants and noises made by Inter fans towards Newcastle's black players. Players like Bramble and Bernard suffered the worst abuse having monkey noises made when they touched the ball and these actions by the fans will be looked into by UEFA. Finally, to complete Inter's ugly side the Inter fans will also have an inquirey on them after complaints by Newcastle fans about how Inter fans threw coins, bottles and a lit flair at them during the match.

Though you'll forgive me for being skeptical over whether UEFA will take all this serious, Inter are afterall a big club, "Italian Ginats" and UEFA have double standards when it comes to bigger clubs!




First team
Toon draw in Milan
Inter Milan 2-2 Newcastle
Two goals from Alan Shearer were not enough to help the Toon to victory in the Champions League tonight as Vieri and Cordoba cancelled out both leads in the game. The Toon went a goal up just before half time through an Alan Shearer tap in after great work down the right by Craig Bellamy. Shortly into the second half though the defence failed to pick up Vieri after a cross was whipped in and Vieri's header made the score 1-1.

Soon after we had the lead again as a Laurent Robert cross was not dealt with well at all by Inter's keeper Toldo and Shearer tapped the ball home again to put us 2-0 up. But Inter salvaged a point when a free kick was whipped in and Inter defender Cordoba rose well at the back post to head home another equaliser. The game stayed that way until full time which leaves Inter in poll position to join Barca in the quarter-finals.