Danny Guthrie gets chance against Spurs

Danny Guthrie gets chance against Tottenham - NUFC Latest News - Newcastle United - ChronicleLive

ALAN PARDEW will hand Danny Guthrie the chance to revive his season against Spurs at St James’ Park on Saturday.

However, Andy Carroll and Steven Taylor are rated "extremely doubtful" with thigh and hamstring problems.

Hard-working midfielder Guthrie caught the eye in the Wear-Tyne derby and, with Alan Smith ruled out of the encounter with Harry Redknapp’s side and Cheik Tiote still banned, the Shropshire- born player has done enough to impress his manager in just under an hour against the Black Cats.

Pardew – who also has Dan Gosling fit and available – told the Chronicle: "Danny Guthrie will play.

"He was excellent in the second half at Sunderland.

"And I hope he will take it into Saturday."

For what it's worth, there's your Newcastle update. Guthrie is 5 in the fantasy game and if I were looking for a midfielder at that enabling price I would take David Hoilett, who has been putting up good points for his price and whose Blackburn host West Brom this weekend.

Season Preview: Newcastle

Overall Outlook - Welcome back from exile to a team that, on talent, we could never figure out how they ended up in the Championship in the first place.  I guess they took dysfunctional to an entirely new level.  Hopefully for their sakes, they're ready to reverse some of the sins of their recent past and come back stronger (and perhaps more realistic) for their exile.  The talent on hand is certainly better than their fellow partners in promotion Blackpool and West Brom and it is also probably better than a few of the sides that finished the season toward the bottom of the Premier League last season but avoided the drop - we're looking at you Rovers, Wolves, and maybe West Ham.  That said, there's nothing that says that the Magpies' talent won't continue to be degraded by dysfunction once the going gets rough.  Still, my prediction is that they finish between 14th and 16th in their bounce back season.

Why not more NUFC transfers out?

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The Chuckles Gossip

Hull want to sign Habib Beye from Newcastle...

Among other items found in the always amusing Football365 gossip column is this note about Habib Beye being a target for Hull. Sort of makes you wonder why more of NUFC's useful pieces (insert your own joke here) haven't been the subject of more rumors. I suppose it may have to do with the fact that the club is in such a mess that no one is sure who is making the decisions but still, Transfer Rumors tend to be pretty much baseless so why not more involving Newcastle?

I'd personally think that Beye (Villa?), Bassong (who, to be fair, has appeared in the rumor mill pretty regularly with Arsenal, Spurs, and Fulham all rumors), Guthrie (Sunderland?), Geremi (Pompey), Guttierrez (Stoke or WHU?), Ryan Taylor (Everton?), and Nolan (Big Sam reunion at Rovers?) would all be useful additions to Premier League sides. They may not all be starters and some are likely overpaid for the role that they are currently best suited for. That said, it would seem that NUFC need the money and there are plenty of teams that need to improve the depth of their squads.

Just something to ponder this morning while we're waiting for some actual news. Plus, I figured I should write something about a team other than Arsenal as I warm up for the new season.