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Luke Edwards is Chief Sports Writer of The Journal and uses his blog to give a unique and entertaining insight into events at Newcastle United and Sunderland.

As well as football, Luke also regularly takes a wry look at the biggest sports stories from across the North-East and beyond. From cricket to rugby and basketball to boxing, some are criticised and some are praised.

Sometimes provocative, sometimes laugh-aloud funny, but always interesting Luke Who's Talking also gives you the chance to interact with Luke and have your say on all the major sporting issues.

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August 2007 Archives


A New Chairman A Long Term Project And Those Transfer Funds

Posted by Luke on August 2, 2007 11:57 AM

For those of you who bother to actually read The Journal rather than just this blog you will have noticed that I had a very interesting chat with Newcastle United's new chairman Chris Mort this week and I'm interested to know what you think about it.

Considering it was his first in-depth interview with a journalist since he arrived at St James's Park I was very impressed with, not just what he said, but the way he said it. He is intelligent and articulate, as you would expect from a lawyer, but he is also cool and calm and I feel there is a steely determination behind his bookish exterior.

He is certainly the opposite to Freddie Shepherd, who was big, brash and bold and whose mouth too often seemed to operate before his brain had clicked in.

Continue reading "A New Chairman A Long Term Project And Those Transfer Funds" »

What To Do With Kieron Dyer?

Posted by Luke on August 6, 2007 2:02 PM

Like him or loath him - and I know there are number who can’t stand him - I don’t think anyone was happy with what happened to Kieron Dyer on Friday.

Whether there is sympathy for his desire to be closer to his family, a general feeling that he has gone stale at Newcastle United or a burning hatred of the player, most supporters would have accepted that a £6m move to West Ham was mutually beneficial.

Newcastle were getting a decent fee for one of their biggest earners, which has already been invested in a replacement - more of that later - and West Ham were getting an England international who, at 28, is supposedly in his prime.

Continue reading "What To Do With Kieron Dyer?" »

Take That Edwards

Posted by Luke on August 7, 2007 5:36 PM

It is not often that the people I write about in the world of sport, both with praise and criticism, get the chance to get their own back.

A few players will sulk and refuse to speak to you, sometimes a manager will try and humiliate you in a press conference and, every now and again, a chairman will ban you for daring to criticise him, but generally speaking we sit in our press boxes and are free to act as both judge and jury in our assessment of talent and ability.

But every now again, the words you write - sometimes with a smug smirk on your face it has to be said - come back to haunt you and Tuesday brought my comeuppance. Certainly, as a I saw Neil Killeen - nicknamed killer or the bull, neither of which sounded very good for me health - and Graham Onions warming up, I instantly regretted my decision to describe the pair as “second string” during a Championship game last season.

Continue reading "Take That Edwards" »

How Much Did He Cost?!

Posted by Luke on August 9, 2007 1:31 PM

There have been plenty of jokes about Scottish goalkeepers through the years - apparently something to do with England winning 9-3 at Wembley in 1961 - but Sunderland supporters will hope Craig Gordon doesn’t become the latest.

At £9m, the Black Cats have made their most ambitious signing yet under Roy Keane, a signing which has certainly made its mark and, as a declaration of intent, breaking the British transfer record for a goalkeeper shows the Wearsiders mean business on their return to the Premiership.

However, while it is undoubtedly a positive signing and a big coup for a club which has had its fair share of troubles in the transfer market this summer - David Nugent and Leighton Baines spring to mind - it is also one which inevitably comes with a risk because of the size of the fee.

Continue reading "How Much Did He Cost?!" »

Predictions For The New Season

Posted by Luke on August 10, 2007 1:16 PM

The futility of the pre-season friendlies are already little more than a memory, the new signings are - almost - all in place and finally the real action begins after a summer of transfer speculation, court threats, takeovers and that sport called cricket.

I’ve got to be honest, I can’t stand pre-season because it’s football for the sake of, well, very little. It doesn’t mean anything, you spend half your time dealing with misleading information about transfer targets and the other watching unfit footballers with suntans going through the motions in a friendly against some uninspiring team or other.

All pre-season is about, as the name suggests, is preparing for the new season, the proper stuff, the bread and butter or as the Americans would say in an undoubtedly annoying way, the real deal.

So with the new season upon us, it’s time for my pre-season predictions which will probably be about as accurate as a drunk trying to pin the tail on an imaginary the donkey but anyway..... Feel free to leave your comments with your own predictions for the new season.

Continue reading "Predictions For The New Season" »

Not A Bad Way To Make A Debut

Posted by Luke on August 13, 2007 11:51 AM

If there was a guide to help footballer's win over sceptical supporters it would inevitably include a chapter called 'Coming Off The Bench On Your Debut And Scoring An Injury Time Winner Over Much Fancied Premier League Team From London.'

Okay, so it would probably have a snappier title than that, but things couldn't really have gone much better for Michael Chopra at the weekend could they?

I think it is probably only natural that some Sunderland supporters questioned the wisdom of spending £5m on a striker who was not deemed to be good enough for the Premiership 12 months earlier and who, as we all know, was an ardent supporter of Newcastle United long before he ever became a player for them.

Continue reading "Not A Bad Way To Make A Debut" »

Bitter And Twisted But Thanks For The Three Points

Posted by Luke on August 13, 2007 12:33 PM

Do you know what the favourite drink in Bolton is? Lemon juice, the bitter the better apparently! I might have made that up, but there was certainly plenty of bitterness at the Reebok Stadium on Saturday, which only made Newcastle's comprehensive victory even sweeter for Sam Allardyce.

Quite why football fans feel the need to boo and jeer former managers/players/ballboys I don't know. Sometimes it is justified - I present Robbie Savage as Exhibit A for the prosecution - because sometimes players and managers do dump on clubs.

However, when you have achieved as much for a club as Sam Allardyce did for Bolton as a player and a manager, surely it is just better to remember the good times than become consumed with anger and hate just because the guy decided to leave for a new challenge?

Continue reading "Bitter And Twisted But Thanks For The Three Points" »

Michael Owen And A Skoda

Posted by Luke on August 16, 2007 12:19 PM

There are three phrases used more than any other when it comes to writing about Michael Owen, which in various forms generally mean goals, injuries and comebacks. Having spent £17m to sign him from Real Madrid two years ago, there have been precious few goals and depressingly frequent references to the others for Newcastle United.

As a signing for United Owen, whether he likes it or not, has offered about as much value for money as fake Faberge egg. Both might cost a huge amount of money, but ultimately both purchases leave the buyer feeling conned. Given that he was supposed to be the precious jewel in United's crown, Owen's time in the North-East has been an unmitigated disaster.

Continue reading "Michael Owen And A Skoda" »

Finally Something To Celebrate

Posted by Luke on August 19, 2007 3:50 PM

May I be the first to congratulate Durham on their Friends Provident Trophy success over Hampshire. Ok, so I'm not going to be the first am I, but I'd like to congratulate them anyway because it was a fantastic triumph and a memorable achievement the whole region can - and should - be proud of.

After years of watching Newcastle and Sunderland blunder their way through yet another trophy-less season this was the first time I'd watched a North-East team win - barring promotions - anything.

It was a special moment, albeit one in which I couldn't use my usual phrase book of disappointments, embarrassments, let downs, humiliations, pain and devastation. No matter, I'm sure I'll be able to get them out again when Newcastle lose in the quarter-final of some cup competition or other!

Continue reading "Finally Something To Celebrate" »

Early Days But Some Mild Cause For Concern

Posted by Luke on August 20, 2007 4:24 PM

There is nothing quite like a 0-0 draw to dampen enthusiasm, crush expectations and quell excitement, but before everyone gets carried away on a wave of pessimism just remember it could be worse – Newcastle could have lost 3-0 to Wigan Athletic!

While United’s momentum was being checked by Villa, Sunderland’s was being brought to a grinding halt at that most depressing of football arenas – the JJB Stadium. The result was even enough to briefly put everyone’s relegation favourites top of the Premiership. The early days are so often the strangest.

So Newcastle fans, before you make the monumental blunder of thinking it is a good idea to ring up the Three Legends for a good moan and groan about Sam Allardyce and the players, it is worth pointing out that four points from the first two games is a pretty solid start and that, under Glenn Roeder, the Magpies would almost certainly have lost to the claret and blue lot from Birmingham.

Continue reading "Early Days But Some Mild Cause For Concern" »

I Hope Newcastle Haven't Been Sold When I Get Back

Posted by Luke on August 21, 2007 1:59 PM

I've already had enough of the football season and need to recover after Durham's Friends Provident Trophy success so I'm heading off on another holiday!

Before you ask, I'm heading to Majorca for a week and yes I do sometimes work hard. As ever, if there is anything you want to get off your chest while I'm away, I'll have my laptop with me and will check from time to time. There might even be a poolside rant I need to have.

I guess the most pressing thing on the agenda at the moment is the persistent rumours that Mike Ashley is already looking to sell the club. However, we can only take what chairman Chris Mort said at face value and he insisted it was a long term project for the both of them. I hope he's right.

Then of course there are the new rumours about Obafemi Martins and Manchester United, although, and I might be wrong, I feel these stories about him are the work of an over imaginative agent!

The Canny Lad Toon Bar

Posted by Luke on August 27, 2007 10:48 AM

There are some things that should only be done on holiday like karaoke, bingo and getting ridiculously competitive about a game of water polo or pistol shooting against beer bellied, out of shape fellow holiday makers. And then there are things which shouldn't be done on holiday but are, like going down to the pub to watch football on the telly.

You will be pleased/mildly interested/ couldn't care less just get on with talking about the football/ to know that I've managed to do all of the above with the exception of the karaoke during my week in Majorca. One drunken and hideously out of tune rendition of Michael Jackson's Billie Jean earlier this year fills my quota of sing-a-long embarrassments I feel.

Continue reading "The Canny Lad Toon Bar" »

Michael Owen Will Be Newcastle's Top Goalscorer This Season!

Posted by Luke on August 30, 2007 11:28 AM

So that's Barnsley out of the way for Newcastle and while it was hardly a spectacular success against limited opposition, the Tykes were at least dispatched patiently and efficiently enough.

It's far too premature to be talking about trophies and trips to Wembley, but at least the dream lives on for the time being and it is another game unbeaten for Sam Allardyce.

While my old friend Sven-Goran Eriksson may have drawn considerably more plaudits for his excellent start at Manchester City, Allardyce has made a solidly encouraging beginning to his time on Tyneside. Like the performance against Barnsley, it hasn't been thrilling and it hasn't had many fireworks, but it has done enough to suggest he has got things moving in the right direction.

Continue reading "Michael Owen Will Be Newcastle's Top Goalscorer This Season!" »