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Free Malaysia Today
2 days ago
- Sport
- Free Malaysia Today
Howe says Newcastle players getting on with it amid Isak exit talk
Alexander Isak bagged 23 league goals last season for Newcastle. (EPA Images pic) SINGAPORE : Newcastle United's players are professionals who will not let ongoing speculation linking striker Alexander Isak with a move away from St James' Park affect their focus as they prepare for the Premier League season, manager Eddie Howe said. Isak, who bagged 23 league goals last season, only behind Liverpool talisman and Golden Boot winner Mohamed Salah (29), was left out of Newcastle's squad for their pre-season tour of Asia. The 25-year-old, capped 52 times for Sweden, joined Newcastle from Real Sociedad in 2022 and has since netted 62 times in 109 appearances across all competitions. After Newcastle's 3-2 defeat by Arsenal in Singapore yesterday, Howe told reporters the tour was 'business as usual' for the players. 'You don't get a chance when you come on to these tours to think of anything other than training, the next game, the level is so high that even in these games we have to be very well prepared,' he added. 'We have to try and be at our best. So naturally, I think we're going to miss a player of Alex's quality and the group are going to feel that. There's no denying that. 'And I can't sit here and claim that they (the players) won't. But they're a very professional group of players and they're doing brilliantly as far as I can see in terms of managing the situation.' Newcastle, who qualified for Champions League football after finishing fifth in the Premier League last season, are next in action against a K-League XI in South Korea on Wednesday.
Daily Mail
22-07-2025
- General
- Daily Mail
EUAN MCCOLM: Thirty years ago I had my first clash with a member of the 'lanyard class'. Sadly, it was only a taste of things to come
It was supposed to make my life easier, but within an hour I was the most loathed man in the room. Thirty years ago, while working as a reporter for a newspaper in the North-East of England, I was compelled by my employers to attend a 'stress management' course. Over two days inside a stuffy meeting room at St James' Park, I would be taught techniques to make me happier and more efficient. The course leader decided to begin proceedings with a general knowledge quiz. This, he said, would place us in a real-life stress situation. The quiz was not in the slightest bit stressful. The aftermath, on the other hand… I came top in the quiz, by some distance. I'm not saying my fellow stress managers were idiots but I'm hardly the fizziest drink in the fridge and I didn't get a question wrong. Having marked myself out, by knowing the name of the capital of Brazil, as having airs and graces, I was treated with suspicion by the others. Over the following two days, we sat in that airless room listening to a man with the most punchable face I'd ever seen suggest a variety of ways in which we might reduce our stress levels. What he did was this: every night, as he drove home, he'd pass a service station a mile from his house. At this point, he would tell himself that he was no longer in 'the work world'. If this wasn't enough, he might light some candles and have a long soak in the tub. Reader, I am what you might call a smart-a*** and so I took great pleasure in irritating this charlatan, who was being paid handsomely so that my bosses could tick a box that said they were doing the right thing by their staff. When he asked whether, if I was in a plane and the engines died, I'd parachute to safety, I played it deadpan. 'Dunno,' I said. 'But if you don't, you'll die,' he said. 'I get that,' I replied. 'It's just I don't know whether, in the moment, I'd be able to jump.' 'But the plane's going to crash,' he continued, his exasperation mounting. 'Yeah, I know,' I said. 'And I hope I'd be able to do it but, you know, how can I say I would?' I was annoying everyone in the room by this point. A woman from advertising sales snapped that she'd jump and the course leader told us all this was evidence that, under terrible pressure, the human mind can find reserves of strength. I went for lunch alone on the first day and then let the afternoon drift past in a hoppy haze. On the second day, the stress management expert managed his stress by ignoring me. When I returned to my desk after two days of sessions, my news editor demanded to know what stories I had for the coming Sunday's paper. Well, none, I said. I've been on a stress management course. Under pressure to catch up, I felt more stressed than before. It isn't healthy to hold grudges but, three decades on, my contempt for the man who ran that course has only intensified. He was at the vanguard of the trend for employers to bring in consultants and workshoppers. Rather than creating genuinely comfortable working conditions and paying decent wages, companies could run a series of expensive – and pointless – courses and declare themselves committed to the Government's 'Investors in People' scheme. The contemporary equivalent of those consultants are the activists who, over recent years, have been let loose across the public and private sectors to conduct courses on equality and inclusion. Just as my bosses didn't give a hoot about my stress levels 30 years ago, today's employers don't care about the damage these consultants cause. This lanyard-class is perfectly personified by Isla Bumba, equality officer at NHS Fife. In evidence last week during the tribunal of Sandie Peggie – suing the health board and trans-identifying doctor Beth Upton for sexual harassment and discrimination after she was suspended for complaining about the presence of a biological male in a female-only space – Ms Bumba exposed the vacuity of these box-tickers, employed to ensure their employers comply with whichever target or objective is currently in vogue. In the case of Ms Bumba – a £60k-a-year equality officer with seemingly no understanding of the Equality Act – this meant giving advice that not only left Sandie Peggie victim of a shocking witch-hunt but also left her employers, funded by the Scottish taxpayer, open to costly legal action, such as the tribunal now taking place. But the hapless equality officer cannot be a scapegoat for her employers. The chief executive of NHS Fife, Carol Potter, and the board –chaired by Pat Kilpatrick –must all go. And they must go as publicly as possible. This is not only necessary for the good governance of NHS Fife, it is essential if the grip of gender ideologues on public bodies is to be loosened. Carol Potter, Isla Bumba, Pat Kilpatrick and every member of the NHS Fife board must become examples of what happens when those in authority ignore their responsibilities to both employees and the law. Right now, lurking in offices across Scotland, there are overconfident and under- qualified men and women who hold in their hands – and seem indecently eager to exercise – the power to destroy careers. These people, with their courses and their talk of 'best practice', are a danger. Fortunately, there already exist robust equality laws which, among other things, protect the sex-based rights of women. There should be no need in any organisation with a functioning legal department to employ someone to ensure compliance with the law, especially when that individual doesn't have the faintest idea what they're talking about. For decades, workplaces have been invaded by clipboard-wielding, power-tripping consultants and experts who – in order to justify their salaries – make life unnecessarily difficult for the rest of us. Once you've clashed with one of these exhausting little tyrants, no number of stress management courses will help you forget.
Yahoo
22-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Magpies' clashes with Liverpool and Leeds selected for live television coverage
The Magpies will now welcome reigning champions Liverpool to St. James' Park on Monday, 25th August - two days later than originally planned. That game will kick-off at 8pm BST and will be broadcast live on Sky Sports. And the trip to newly-promoted Leeds will still take place on Saturday, 30th August as initially set, but will now kick-off at 5:30pm BST instead of 3pm BST. That clash at Elland Road will also be shown live on Sky Sports. Any further changes to United's 2025/26 schedule will be communicated at the earliest opportunity.
The Sun
18-07-2025
- Sport
- The Sun
Dream Team bosses would do well to remember Lewis Hall's blazing pre-injury form
IT'S never too early for Dream Team managers to start weighing up options ahead of the new season. Continuing our SCOUT REPORT series, we're taking a closer look at Lewis Hall (£4.5m). 3 Dream Team managers would be forgiven for momentarily forgetting about Newcastle's left-back as he's been sidelined since February. Hall suffered a nasty foot injury that required surgery just prior to the Magpies' Carabao Cup final victory over Liverpool. Consequently, the 20-year-old missed the last three months of the campaign but, barring any setbacks, he is expected to be fit when the Toon get underway at Villa Park on August 16th. When deciding upon their XI for Gameweek 1, Dream Team bosses would do well remember Hall's performances before his season was cut short. He averaged 5.6 points-per-game in 2024/25, a rate bettered by just three defenders, one of them being Trent Alexander-Arnold, who is sadly no longer a Dream Team asset following his transfer to Real Madrid. 3 Hall contributed seven assists in all competitions, putting him joint-fifth in the metric among players in his position. One wonders where he would have ranked had he not missed a third of the season. Add in 12 clean sheets and a healthy return of 25 bonus points and it's no wonder Hall racked up 189 points in swift time. A common opinion among the St James' Park faithful is that Hall is destined to start for England at the World Cup next summer, such was his pre-injury form. And Dream Team bosses weren't shy when it came to backing the ex-Chelsea defender last season. A particularly fruitful burst of 55 points in five games during the festive period resulted in him becoming one of the most selected players in his position. 3 It will be interesting to see what ownership Hall commands come Gameweek 1 although it's worth noting that Eddie Howe's side start their campaign with two relatively tricky league games against Aston Villa (a) and Liverpool (h). It might be that gaffers keen on Hall wait until Gameweek 3 when Newcastle travel to Elland Road to face newly-promoted Leeds, with league outings against Wolves and Bournemouth to follow. Additionally, Newcastle will start their Champions League campaign in September. Hall and company did not have European commitments in 2024/25 and while they are likely to face tough opposition, a busier schedule should yield extra points. At the time of writing, Hall features in just 0.3% of teams.
BBC News
18-07-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
'He always scored against Sunderland'
Throughout Friday, we are revealing who former Newcastle defender John Anderson has selected in his list of the Magpies' five most underrated players of the 21st third place is Shola Ameobi. Raised in the Fenham area of the city, the striker made just shy of 400 appearances for the St James' Park club between 2000 and 2014, scoring 79 goals."He was a young boy when he came into the side and it was really difficult when you look at who he was playing alongside and who he was trying to replace," Anderson told BBC Radio Newcastle."He scored huge goals in Europe - and always scored against Sunderland."He took some harsh criticism here. He played an awful lot of games and probably should have scored more than he did, but he never left anything on the pitch and always worked his socks off."And second place goes to Sean Longstaff. It looks like the midfielder's time at his boyhood club could be coming to an end, but he has made 214 appearances after making his debut in 2018."It is always difficult when you are a homegrown lad because the expectations are always a little bit higher," Anderson said."He got into the side and was steady - won the ball and kept it moving. There was nothing flashy about him but can be relied upon to do a job."I don't think anyone can argue that Longstaff hasn't had a fair amount of criticism - but I think he has been there when we needed him."Come back later to see who Anderson has at the top of his to BBC Radio Newcastle's top-five special on underrated playersAnd access top-five shows on managers, centre-backs and hardmen here
