Go Figure: The Week In Numbers

0 - Games lost by Newcastle United since Kevin Keegan dropped Alan Smith.

Big Sam Wins Race For Smith

"We're getting the band back together!"

Newcastle are believed to have beaten Middlesbrough, Aston Villa and Tottenham to the signing of Manchester United striker Alan Smith.

Magpies boss Sam Allardyce has been a busy man since taking the reins at St James' Park, and is now reported to have added Smith to his list of new recuits, which includes Mark Viduka and Joey Barton.

The Toon chief has moved for Red Devils hitman Smith after discovering that strikers Michael Owen and Obafemi Martins have get-out clauses written into their contracts.

And 26-year-old Smith, who signed a five-year deal in 2004, is ready to leave Old Trafford after being told he will not be offered a new contract.

The former Leeds forward has many admirers, with Gareth Southgate, Martin O'Neill and Martin Jol all keeping tabs on his situation.

But he is believed to have been lured to the North-East by the promise of regular first-team football, which he is unlikely to get at the Theatre of Dreams due to the summer arrivals of Portuguese ace Nani and Brazilian star Anderson.

First Viduka, now Smith. Kewell is available from Liverpool. Danny Mills is persona non grata at Man Citeh (nil). Ian Harte wants to return from Spain. David Batty... well, I guess he already paid his dues at NUFC. "Bakke and Brann have a "gentlemen's agreement that Bakke can leave Brann if a big club want to sign him." (Insert your own joke about "does NUFC qualify" here.) Gary Kelly is still at Leeds who are now in the second (third) division, and NUFC do need a new fullback.



It's all falling into place for David O'Leary... I mean Sam Allardyce.



So does this mean that Owen and Martins are likely to leave, and not just available to leave?

Oops, that's Rowan and Martins. Either way, it's a comedy duo.

Viduka Closing In On Toon Move

Middlesbrough striker Mark Viduka is understood to have agreed in principle to join north-east rivals Newcastle.

His 19 goals last season - seven of them in his last five starts - were key to Boro's successful fight against relegation from the Barclays Premiership and took his tally for the club to 42 in 100 appearances, 20 of them as a substitute. [emphasis mine -j.]

That's the key. Viduka plays hard when his next payday is the issue. So you invariably get goals from him in August, December, and April. Then he'll go quiet for months at a time. I sure hope Big Sam realizes this. Maybe they'll structure his contract in such a way that he only gets paid when he scores. Or they'll make him sign a series of short-term (like a month at a time) deals. Anything they can do to keep him focused.

Now, is Big Sam going to bring his 4-3-3 to Newcastle? Viduka is certainly the mold of the big center forward he likes. See Davies, Kevin. (As an aside, what would Big Sam have done with Shearer? Wow. Imagine his glee at having the original at his disposal.) But are Owen and Martins the wide attackers he wants? Certainly Duff and Milner would be naturals. In fact, wouldn't a front line of Duff, Viduka, and Milner playing in front of Parker, Barton, and Butt suit Sam nicely? It would be like Bolton but with better quality players. But how do you leave out £17 million worth of striker? Going to be interesting, especially for fantasy managers, how Big Sam works it out.

And can we start the Speed to Newcastle rumours right here and now? He's a former and still much beloved player. He knows and thrives under Allardyce's system. Makes much more sense to me that Sam would go back to Bolton for Speed, rather than Nolan or Diouf.

As for Boro, they now have to replace (and hopefully for them, increase) Viduka's goal tally. Perhaps they should be looking for a bit more mobility to complement Yakubu. In fact, they might just have to replace Yakubu too if his on again, off again relationship with the Nigerian national team is on again for January's African Nations Cup. I think they could do worse than look to prise Louis Saha AND Alan Smith from Manchester United. That would give them the options they would want, and by offering for both players, might sweeten the deal for ManU who have already spent a ton of money, but are still looking for another striker themselves.