new signings?

[Ronaldo]

Alan Brazil?

[kencar]

3 trialists named in the Press & Journal

Central defender Andrew Milne, 19, was released by Leeds United, while Irish centre back Callum Morris, 20, and Ashington-born left back Darren Lough, 20, both head north after being released by Newcastle.

P&J LINK

Edited July 6, 2010 by kencar

[Harry Chibber]

3 trialists named in the Press & Journal

Central defender Andrew Milne, 19, was released by Leeds United, while Irish centre back Callum Morris, 20, and Ashington-born left back Darren Lough, 20, both head north after being released by Newcastle.

P&J LINK

Don't think he could be anymore transparant... fair play for keeping the fans in ze loop. I'm a bit worried that he isn't looking at anyone with a bit more experience to help out the first team but experience costs money and we don't seem to have that at the moment.

From the sounds of it Heston Blumenthal will be able to cover all 4 positions upfront and at only 20 years of age he could be an absolute steal... or another Behrami but I am hopeful because he wears a head band

:) :P :P

[Libero]

Should we have a seperate thread for trialists?

Anyway, bit of info about some the trialists, Andrew Milne is a Scottish defender with 2 U18 caps and whilst never playing for the first team at Leeds, played 14 times for Darlington in two loan spells.

The former Fulford School pupil was named man of the match on his Football League debut during Darlington?s 1-0 defeat at Bradford City last month but returned to Elland Road, where he is out of contract in the summer, after suffering a recurrence of an ankle injury in his next match against Torquay.

About his ambitions for 2010, Milne said: ?I?m out of contract at the end of the season so I want to get some more experience and then see what happens with Leeds. If Leeds allow me to go out again and Darlington still want me, I would have no hesitation in going back there on loan to get more experience.

From the Newcastle United website:

Darren Lough

Born: 23 September 1989

Date Signed: July 2006

Solid left back, strong in the tackle and keen to support the attack when possible.

Darren made his reserve team debut against Wigan (A) on 24 January 2007 but suffered an unfortunate leg break against Millwall in the FA Youth Cup at St. James' Park in February 2007.

Made his first senior appearance (as a substitute) for United in the 3- 1 away friendly win over Hartlepool on 17 July 2007.

Clocked up over 30 games for the Academy and Reserves in 2007/08.

Callum Morris

Born: 3 February 1990, Newcastle

Date Signed: July, 2006

NUFC Debut: n/a

A stalwart of the Academy Under 18 team throughout 2006/07, Callum, a powerful tough tackling centre half made his reserve team debut in Northumberland Senior Cup against Walker on 16 October 2006.

Clocked up over 30 games for the Academy and Reserves in 2007/08.

Made his bow for the 'first team' in the pre-season game at Hartlepool on 19 July 2008.

Called up for the Republic of Ireland U19s in August 2008 (through Irish parentage) and played three friendly internationals in Athlone against Spain, Portugal and Ukraine.

[Libero]

3 trialists named in the Press & Journal

Central defender Andrew Milne, 19, was released by Leeds United, while Irish centre back Callum Morris, 20, and Ashington-born left back Darren Lough, 20, both head north after being released by Newcastle.

P&J LINK

Don't think he could be anymore transparant... fair play for keeping the fans in ze loop. I'm a bit worried that he isn't looking at anyone with a bit more experience to help out the first team but experience costs money and we don't seem to have that at the moment.

From the sounds of it Heston Blumenthal will be able to cover all 4 positions upfront and at only 20 years of age he could be an absolute steal... or another Behrami but I am hopeful because he wears a head band

:P :P :D

From P&J article

Butcher is reluctant to spend any money on transfer fees but will do so if required.

He added: ?Sometimes you identify players and you need to pay a fee, but it goes against my beliefs in a way.

?The only fee I paid at Motherwell was ?3,000 for Colin Meldrum, I may have to smash that record.

?If it benefits the club I will pay a fee as I want great competition for places next season.?

Also looks like weve had two bids for Tuffey knocked back in the last week so there might be some money there, ?5k or something :)

[cal234ey]

Sky sports news has done a piece on us signing Blumstein which was on earlier and it will be played again shortly. There are quick interviews with Richie Foran and Butcher on it.

[AJS]

3 trialists named in the Press & Journal

Central defender Andrew Milne, 19, was released by Leeds United, while Irish centre back Callum Morris, 20, and Ashington-born left back Darren Lough, 20, both head north after being released by Newcastle.

P&J LINK

Don't think he could be anymore transparant... fair play for keeping the fans in ze loop. I'm a bit worried that he isn't looking at anyone with a bit more experience to help out the first team but experience costs money and we don't seem to have that at the moment.

From the sounds of it Heston Blumenthal will be able to cover all 4 positions upfront and at only 20 years of age he could be an absolute steal... or another Behrami but I am hopeful because he wears a head band

:) :P :P

It does concern me as well that we are not bringing in experienced players. There must surely be some players unattached that may find us desirable, then again mayb'e not. Still, looks like it may be a fun pre season.

[Council Juice]

To be honest I think we've got a lot of experience as it is. Esson, Proctor, Tokely, Munro, Golabek, Duncan, McBain, Foran are all seasoned pro's and the likes of Hayes, Rooney, Odiambho, Sanchez and Cox will all benefit from having a season or so under their belts.

Sure it would do no harm to get an old head in with a bit of experience but I think Butchers philosophy is young hungry pros eager to prove themselves.

It worked fairly well for him at Motherwell in dark times and it may be his preferred outlook.

[BananaMan]

Callum Morris plays centre back for the RoI under 21 team. Watched him play several games and he impressed me with his speed, agility, heading and tackling ability. Commands the penalty area and communicates well to his team mates. Couldn't believe Newcastle let him go. Young, hungry and determined to prove himself, just what the doctor ordered.

BananaMan

[Libero]

To be honest I think we've got a lot of experience as it is. Esson, Proctor, Tokely, Munro, Golabek, Duncan, McBain, Foran are all seasoned pro's and the likes of Hayes, Rooney, Odiambho, Sanchez and Cox will all benefit from having a season or so under their belts.

Sure it would do no harm to get an old head in with a bit of experience but I think Butchers philosophy is young hungry pros eager to prove themselves.

It worked fairly well for him at Motherwell in dark times and it may be his preferred outlook.

I'd tend to agree with you there, there are 6 players there with at least 5 years SPL experience and others such as Golly, Foran and Rooney who have played in the SPL before. 9 players with SPL experience in itself is a good core of experience IMO

While we could maybe do with another experienced player or two i agree that by the looks of the trialists and signings Butcher has made, it could well be upcoming, hungry youngsters that he may be looking to add

[Council Juice]

Well if me Tel and Libero all think it is then it must be the way to go.

[Libero]

Well if me Tel and Libero all think it is then it must be the way to go.

absolutely

[Libero]

Callum Morris plays centre back for the RoI under 21 team. Watched him play several games and he impressed me with his speed, agility, heading and tackling ability. Commands the penalty area and communicates well to his team mates. Couldn't believe Newcastle let him go. Young, hungry and determined to prove himself, just what the doctor ordered.

BananaMan

sounds like a decent player

[Yngwie]

It does concern me as well that we are not bringing in experienced players.

Yes but there's more to it than that.

How did England's vastly experienced squad fare compared with an inexperienced Germany team based around players in their early 20's with only a few caps? And we did OK last season with pretty inexperienced players like Rooney, Hayes and Cox.

I'm certainly more excited by the type of player we are going for than if we were getting journeymen who'd played for St Mirren, Killie, Motherwell etc etc.

[Joe DiMaggio]

A lot of players we brought in last season weren't experienced and that worked out not to bad. Also I remember Butcher taking in quite a number of trialists last season without much ever coming of them. So these guys must have impressed him quite a bit to earn deals.

[RossP]

I'm continually delighted that we haven't signed Bob Malcolm or Lee Bullen! They're experienced players, but I still wouldn't have them anywhere near our team.

I'd still quite like Pavels back though...

Edited July 6, 2010 by RossP

[Renegade]

Who is new GK coach??

Heard he arrives at the club on the 15th July, dont have a name but he is a mate of Butchers? any speculation?

Peter Shilton!?

[Libero]

Who is new GK coach??

Heard he arrives at the club on the 15th July, dont have a name but he is a mate of Butchers? any speculation?

Peter Shilton!?

Chris Woods?

[Scotty]

somebody mentioned the GK coach's name on another thread somewhere but I dont have time to do a complete search right now ........

[Renegade]

Someone reported that it was Jim Leighton the other week IIRC.

[AJS]

It does concern me as well that we are not bringing in experienced players.

Yes but there's more to it than that.

How did England's vastly experienced squad fare compared with an inexperienced Germany team based around players in their early 20's with only a few caps? And we did OK last season with pretty inexperienced players like Rooney, Hayes and Cox.

I'm certainly more excited by the type of player we are going for than if we were getting journeymen who'd played for St Mirren, Killie, Motherwell etc etc.

Suppose when you word it like that it makes more sense. I do hope they cut it in the SPL if they sign.

[tokelyisvictorious]

Liking the sound of the three new trialists. More Butcher-style headbands than Blumentstein, but I'll settle for that.

By the way did Ian Black have any substantial experience when he moved up here? No-one out of Hayes, Cox, Proctor, Wyness, Duncan had what I'd call substantial playing experience before we offered them a chance.

Anyone know what was said on the Sky Sports News interview?

[Renegade]

By the way did Ian Black have any substantial experience when he moved up here? No-one out of Hayes, Cox, Proctor, Wyness, Duncan had what I'd call substantial playing experience before we offered them a chance.

I don't think Black had much experience either really. I believe he played in the Blackburn Reserves a few time and trained with the first team, but that was about it.

[tokelyisvictorious]

From what I can scrape together about the 3 trialists :

Darren Lough (taken from the Darlington forum):

"Lough would be a very good signing, he's a good, solid left-back who rarely gets beaten and is comfortable on the ball. Great attitude too, and can play centre-back if needed. Just lacks that yard of pace and bit of flair you need to make it in the Premier League/Championship, but I definitely believe he's a Football League player so he'd be more than good enough for the Conference."

Newcastle fans seem surprised that Morris has been let go. A couple said he looked like a really good player. And Andrew Milne had a couple of comments on the same Darlington website:

"Milne got better as he went on and was always committed. I'd be happy if we signed him as he can play every position across the back line."

Don't know if Darlington fan's opinions are anything to go by considering the season they've had, but all three players have won admirers which can only be good.

[Alex MacLeod]

Just a thought.........if Newcastle had kept a hold of their players and put them out on lone they'd have to pay some of the wages plus insurance etc. If Butchers mate at Newcastle comes to agreement that he'll arrange to let the players go with the provisio that they are signed for a year and an option that, assuming they shine, Newcastle re-sign them after that year then everyones happy. the players have a chance to fight for a place. the club they go to gets a year out of them and Newcastle get back players who have improved and are match fit.

Its like puting them out on loan but without the liability. Does that make sense?