Friday July 4th, 2008                                                                     last update 14:58 BST

An Everton spokesman confirmed this and suggested that a compensation deal is likely to be thrashed out:

"There is an issue over an option on the contract and the clubs are in on-going discussions over a solution.

"We believe it is something that can be sorted out to allow the appointment to be made."

From the Daily Post, Saturday:

Steve Round is ready to accept the role as David Moyes’ number two – although Chelsea and FC Twente are set to make late attempts to change his mind.

Everton manager Moyes interrupted his holiday to call Newcastle first team coach Round and ask him to fill the role vacated by Alan Irvine last November.

He has been given permission to speak to the club as Moyes looks to install his new assistant ahead of the return to pre-season training next Thursday, after Round’s current contract at St James’s Park expires on July 1.

But Chelsea and Twente – who Round’s former colleague Steve McClaren took charge of earlier this week – are also in the hunt for his services.

The Stamford Bridge link comes amid uncertainty over the future of Steve Clarke - who was Rudd Gullit's assistant at SJP and briefly, Newcastle caretaker boss.

It's claimed that he could yet end up at Goodison if there's no role for him at Chelsea and Round doesn't take the Everton job.

Sentenced:
Barton plea 
bargain pays off  

Update: Ousmane Dabo had this to say after the sentencing:

"I almost lost an eye. It was a terrible day and although I was not traumatised, I wanted the trial to come round.

"There was no confrontation, as Barton pleaded guilty straight away, and I did not need to give evidence. That says a lot about me - it shows that my version of the truth is the truth. I am happy with the outcome.

"He admits he behaved in a cowardly way, and he is a coward. We met one another on Monday. He was in one corner and me in another. He did not talk to me or apologise, but it did not trouble me to see him again."

"English clubs teach you lots of lessons, but in this case they truly lack ethics and morals.

"Newcastle have invested a lot in this guy and they do not want to lose a lot of money. The club does not care a damn about the law and it shocks me."

Day two of Joey Barton's trial for the assault on former team mate Ousmane Dabo ended on Tuesday with the Newcastle midfielder being handed a four month jail sentence, suspended for two years.

Barton was also ordered to carry out 200 hours community service and pay Dabo £3,000 compensation.

In passing sentence Judge Mushtaq Khokar said:

"As a professional footballer you are someone who is talented and greatly idolised by young and old alike whether you are playing at Manchester City and now at Newcastle United.

"You are constantly in the public eye. You have a high profile, there would be instances of provocations ... being an idol brings with it responsibilities which you have to carry with you all the time.

"You want to be setting an example, particularly to those who idolise you, particularly youngsters who look up to you."

An official statement from NUFC read:

"The club now intends to hold discussions with Joey and his representatives at the earliest possible opportunity.

"Until such time that this meeting has taken place, there will be no further comment from the club."

Barton was due in court on Monday but changed his plea to guilty shortly before the hearing, admitting one charge of assault, occasioning actual bodily harm (ABH).

Barton admitted punching Dabo in the head and knocking him to the ground at Manchester City's training ground, after the pair had squared up to each other following an incident in a practice match.

Witnesses claimed he then lay on top of his dazed team mate while continuing to rain punches on his prone body. 

Barton could be released in the next few weeks, having already served nearly half of the six month sentence handed to him for the assault in Liverpool on Boxing Day.

CCTV footage of that assault has now been released by police as it's unable to prejudice the outcome of any ongoing criminal proceedings. See here.

This was Barton's third court appearance this year, having recently been cleared of vandalising a taxi when his cousin, Joshua Wilson admitted causing the damage.

Pre-season:
PSV (h) confirmation

The club have now confirmed that they will face Dutch side PSV Eindhoven at SJP on Wednesday August 6th with a 7.45pm kickoff.

The second of our home friendlies takes place on the following Saturday, when Valencia are in toon - with this now being confirmed as a 3pm start.

New kit:
Free UK p&p on
new away shirt

We are delighted to confirm that once again we are able to offer FREE UK postage & packing on all pre-orders of the new away shirt, as well as holding prices again for the seventh year in a row.

To pre-order your shirt for release on July 24th please follow this link.

Gossip:
Rumours round-up

A relatively quiet weekend on what has so far been a very quiet close season:

The Sunday Sun claim that last week Newcastle officials met representatives of FC Basel's Eren Derdiyok. The 20 year-old striker played for Switzerland in Euro 2008.

Meanwhile, another alleged target, St. Etienne's Bafetimbi Gomis, is not for sale, according to their co-president Laurent Romeyer.

As we suggested last week, Shola Ameobi's "done deal" to West Brom looks to be off with former mackem Kevin Phillips close to agreeing a one-year deal. This may rekindle Ipswich's interest in Shola.

Fulham's England full-back Paul Konchesky is reportedly available for £2.5m and Newcastle are one of a number of clubs said to be interested. The Cottagers' Steven Davis, who was on loan at Rangers last season, is another name still being linked with us. 

And finally, former Chairman Freddy Shepherd is reported to be on the verge of taking over at RCD Mallorca, which would give our pre-season meeting at the start of August an interesting twist.

However, there remains doubt in some circles as to the level of genuine interest in the Spanish side, with the recent denials of the Shepherds seeking to do a deal to purchase Leeds United not convincing all observers.

Not wanted:
Outcast @ the ArenA 

New Ajax boss, Marco van Basten wasted little time in clearing out the dead wood at the Amsterdam ArenA, confirming that Albert Luque was surplus to requirements and available for transfer.

Luque scored four times in 16 appearances for the Dutch side since his move to Ajax in August 2007, but after a dressing room altercation with a team mate found himself frozen out of the first team picture.

Luque found the net just three times in 34 appearances in two miserable years at SJP and drifted out of contention for his national side - who have prospered in his absence.

If the Dutch giants are looking for a Luque replacement, it occurs to us that the unique talents of Shola Ameobi would fit in fine with the laid-back Amsterdam attitude - not to mention the fact he sometimes looks as if he's wearing clogs on the field..... 

2008/09:
Pre-season

Friendlies now confirmed by NUFC:

First Team:

Sat 19.07.08 Hartlepool United (a) @ 3pm.
A semi-regular jaunt down the A19 to face League One opposition, this was our opening fixture of last season when 6,030 fans saw Newcastle record a 3-1 success.

Ticket prices tbc - last year was £15 for adults. 

Sat 26.07.08 Doncaster Rovers (a) @ 3pm.
Our first visit to the Keepmoat Stadium comes as Rovers
prepare for life in the Championship. Ex-Mags Lewis Guy, James Coppinger and Ben Smith are all in their squad.

Rovers old boy Kevin Keegan was in charge the last time we visited Donny in a first team friendly, drawing 1-1 at their former Belle Vue home back in August 1992.

Donny are selling tickets to home fans for £15 (£5 OAPs & Bairns) - details of the away allocation sale awaited.

Multi Media Sports Cup in Mallorca, Spain:

We return to the Son Moix (now renamed the ONO Estadi) in Palma, Mallorca where a 3-0 victory in the UEFA Cup came back in March 2004.

The four-team event features German and Spanish teams as well as ourselves (originally being a German/English event until Manchester City pulled out).

Games are played for the normal 3 points for a win, plus a point for each goal scored. Any draws after 90 minutes are decided on penalties, with 3 points to the winners.  

Fri 01.08.08 Newcastle v Hertha Berlin (8pm)
Fri 01.08.08 RCD Mallorca v Hannover 96 (10pm)  

Sun 03.08.08 Hannover 96 v Hertha Berlin (8pm)
Sun 03.08.08 Newcastle v RCD Mallorca (10pm)

(Newcastle games will be live on )

This will be the second successive pre-season that Newcastle and Hertha have had similar programmes - with both clubs having training camps in Stegersbach, Austria last July - although they didn't face each other in a game.

Wed 06.08.08 PSV Eindhoven (h)

The Dutch side are in England to face Everton and make another friendly trip to Tyneisde, following on from their 3-2 pre-season success in July 2006.

That followed appearances at SJP in the Champions League in 1997 and UEFA Cup Quarter Final in 2004. 

Sat 09.08.08 Valencia (h) @ 3pm.

Reserves:

Fri 11.07.08 Bishop Auckland (a) @ Archibalds Stadium. Confirmation that this game is now off.

Tue 15.07.08 Newcastle Benfield (a) @ Sam Smiths.

Mon 21.07.08 Gateshead (a) @ International Stadium.

Mon 28.07.08 Blyth Spartans (a) @ Croft Park.

Wed 06.08.08 Newcastle Blue Star (a) @ Kingston Park.

Wheely good cause:
C2C for Sir Bobby

The latest in a series of fund-raising events in the region to aid the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation involves "a group of overweight, beer drinking Newcastle United fans from Wylam" (their description, not ours!)

This motley crew will cycle the 146 mile Coast to Coast (C2C) route between Whitehaven to Tynemouth from the 11th July 2008.

If you'd like to help them  reach their personal target of £5K to go to the costs of building a new cancer unit, then please logon and donate here

Old boy makes his connection:
Just the ticket for Calvin 

Former Newcastle Academy and reserve striker Calvin Zola Makongo has completed a move from Tranmere Rovers to Crewe Alexandra at a cost of £200K.

The Congo-born player left Tyneside in 2004 for Prenton Park, after having spent some time on loan at Oldham in the final year of his time at SJP.

Zola was in the last year of his deal at Rovers and has made the switch to the Railwaymen after a successful application for a work permit.

2008/09:
Away season tickets

Some clarification on how this scheme will work:

The top 1,500 fans in the existing away ticket loyalty scheme were given the option to sign up to receive a full season's worth of away tickets automatically - with direct debit payments being taken only when each ticket is sent out - not as any sort of advance lump sum.

No additional charge is being made for this by the club ie. they will bear the cost of posting the tickets out.

However for any of those 1,500 fans who don't sign up to the scheme, nothing changes - they can continue to apply for and receive tickets on a match by match basis and don't lose their "place" on the loyalty scheme.

It then follows that anyone who doesn't qualify for an away season ticket won't be offered one if fans higher up the queue elected not to sign up for the scheme.

There's no closing date for people who qualify to sign up for this scheme, so anyone not wishing to do so now could join later in the season, next year etc.

We've asked the club how multiple applications will be dealt with to ensure fans sit together etc. and they confirm that people will be able to create a so-called "friends and family" group for this purpose.

As mentioned previously, the club have now dispensed with the traditional away ticket voucher application system and will now sell them online and via the phone to those who qualify.

In order for this to work, fans will be able to find out where they appear on the loyalty scheme list (each fan has a certain number of points), with the club then inviting applications based on the number of points.

Again this raises questions about multiple applications, logons etc. and the club will be addressing those in a future announcement.

PS: All of the above is nothing more than an amended process of selling tickets - there's no change in the criteria for people getting them or public sale etc.etc.

Voluntary movers: Anyone who has requested a seat change for next season will have their request actioned once ST holders who are being relocated by the club have been accommodated - subject to availability.  

General: If anyone has any particular grievance or issue then call the club on 0191 261 1571, attend the Box Office in person or email them via custserv@nufc.co.uk

Former favourites gathering:
Black & White Reunion

Wednesday July 9th sees another charity reunion dinner of Toon old boys by Players Inc. staged this year over at the Lancastrian Suite in the Dunston Brewery.

Magpies past and present will be in attendance, including:

Steven Taylor, Tony Green, Liam O'Brien  Robert Lee, Ron McGarry, David Craig, Steve Howey, John Beresford, Ruel Fox, Brian Kilcline and Paul Bracewell.

Charitable causes to benefit from the event include the NSPCC and the Toma Fund and tickets are £35 each ticket (£350 table of 10) & VIP ones at £65 (£650 table of 10). 

Bookings via 07950 180922 or playersinc@hotmail.com and if you mention NUFC.com then they'll knock 10% off.

Dress is smart casual and the evening is compered by John Gibson, with some tunes from Busker.

2008/09:
Strip stuff

There's no change to our home strip this season, but inevitably not one, but two new change kits are being released in the coming weeks / months.
 
The "away" kit is a purple colour which is now confirmed as going on sale on Thursday July 24th 2008.

Meanwhile the "cup" kit is silver, with no release date yet.  Presumably this will only be sold by official club outlets.