Simpson and Smith are wanted men

According to today's People, West Ham and Rangers are set to court two of our players in the summer. In more than three and a half years on Tyneside, Alan Smith has mustered a passable impression of a professional footballer for all of six months, and that at Championship level, so the Scots would be welcome to him and any transfer fee would be a bonus.

The Hammers' alleged pursuit of Danny Simpson is another matter, though. While he's never going to be the Premier League's best right-back, he's usually dependable and solid, with a decent cross. It's hard to see what might tempt him to leave St James' for Upton Park, but, depending on the size of any offer, I suppose there's a chance that Jabba might decide to cash in - particularly if he noted Gateshead manager Ian Bogie's comment that their recent loan signing James Tavernier "can grace the right-back slot for Newcastle United for years to come".

Meanwhile, the Mirror claims we're targeting AZ Alkmaar target man Kolbeinn Sigthorsson. If Brian McNally's to be believed, Graham Carr is intent on going Dutch again following the success of Cheik Tiote's purchase - a wise tactic, I think, when up-and-coming talent and value for money are key.

In other news, former Toon players Scott Parker, James Milner and Craig Bellamy were all involved as England comfortably beat Gary Speed's Wales 2-0 in their European Championships qualifier, though Rocky was declared not fully fit by Fabio Capello and had to be content with being an unused substitute. Matt Jarvis didn't make an appearance either, meaning our pre-match wish went unfulfilled - but there was injury misfortune for our next opponents Wolves elsewhere, Kevin Doyle picking up a potentially season-ending knee injury while on duty for the Republic of Ireland.