Cheik's mate

It may smack of "Hey, look, over here! Forget about the results and everything else, here's a nice, fluffy, feelgood news item!", but this does at least portray some of our players in a favourable light. Kian Heneghan's story is indeed inspirational - here's hoping it provides more inspiration to the team than the Silver Fox has been able to communicate over recent weeks.

The boy Den Good

Congratulations to Curtis Good, who can now boast as many full international caps as he can first-team appearances for Newcastle. The 20-year-old defender, currently on loan at Dundee Utd, made his debut for Australia on Wednesday night in a friendly fixture against Ecuador, putting in a performance that the Guardian's reporter rated as "solid" and lasting 66 minutes before succumbing to a hip injury.

While England toiled to an uninspiring 1-0 win over Denmark at Wembley, the game across London at the New Den served up splendid entertainment. Good's side led 3-0 at the break, but by the time our man was withdrawn, Ecuador had pulled two goals back, the second a spot kick after Aussie 'keeper Mitch Langerak was sent off. The South American side went on to equalise and then, three minutes into stoppage time, to grab a dramatic winner after Good's replacement Alex Wilkinson was guilty of giving the ball away.

The knock and the final result didn't seem to take much gloss off the evening for Good, who gushed: "You dream about it your whole life - it's the absolute highlight of my career. I felt so confident out there." It will serve as vital big-game experience - not least because his previous taste of such an occasion ended in acute disappointment, when he was hauled off at half-time as Bradford lost 5-0 to Swansea in last season's League Cup final. Hopes are high that Good might one day be ready to step into the first team - but let's not forget the sad case of another promising young foreign defender, Tamas Kadar, who failed to live up to his considerable potential and is now back in his native Hungary.

While Good was turning out for the Socceroos, Mathieu Debuchy was busy playing all but the final three minutes of France's 2-0 victory over the Netherlands. Loic Remy and Moussa Sissoko both also appeared, though only from the bench.

Elsewhere, Papiss Cisse and Mr T were on international duty for Senegal and Ivory Coast respectively - the latter mustering an impressive 2-2 draw in Brussels against a Belgian side many people (myself included) fancy to be a real force over the next few years, though the game was most notable for a staggering miss by Villa's Christian Benteke.

Finally, Fergie got a welcome reminder of what it's like to lace up his boots, enjoying a spell as a substitute as Northern Ireland laboured to a stalemate in Cyprus. Much as I like Lee Clark and want him to do well, it's baffling as to why he's excluding our winger from his Birmingham squad. Leaving him twiddling his thumbs on the sidelines is doing no one any favours.

Cheik in

Even if Mr T's had a rough time off the pitch of late, things have been going well on it - named as stand-in skipper in Sideshow Bob's absence and back to something like the form that made him one of the best defensive midfielders in the Premier League. And now he knows he'll be off to next year's World Cup, after Ivory Coast qualified for the tournament via a two-legged play-off victory over Senegal. Mr T was actually suspended, while Papiss Cisse played for the latter, but couldn't score - something that must have frustrated Demba Ba, left on the bench.

Elsewhere, Nigeria also qualified, beating Ethopia 2-0 on aggregate, but Big Lad will be sweating about a ticket on the Super Eagles' plane to Brazil, having been omitted from the squad despite his recent return to the Newcastle starting XI.

Dream return for Dreamboat

It was a good weekend for our French contingent, as Les Bleus filled their boots in a 6-0 friendly rout of Australia. Dreamboat marked his return to the team with a fine goal, his low shot swerving through a defender's legs and into the bottom corner after nice build-up play from Samir Nasri and Franck Ribery, and two minutes after half-time Mathieu Debuchy got in on the act with the fifth. Loic Remy should be pleased that his recent goalscoring exploits in black and white secured him a start, even if he'll have been disappointed not to get his name on the scoresheet as well as the teamsheet, while Moussa Sissoko came off the bench in the last ten minutes.

Elsewhere, there was also a goal for Papiss Cisse - no more than a consolation against an Ivory Coast side for whom Mr T played and was booked (naturally), but a goal nevertheless and hopefully a useful boost to his confidence.

Big Lad's on tour

While the nation was roaring on one 31-year-old late developer (in international terms) this week, another was scoring his first goal for his country. His younger brother may have been following in his footsteps by turning out for England U21s, but Big Lad has since pledged his allegiance to Nigeria and broke his duck in a friendly against Burkina Faso. Despite expressing delight in his post-match interview, he did also hint at a dispute with his employers - the clearest evidence yet that he was barred from playing for his country in January against his will: "It's unfortunate I missed the African Cup of Nations triumph. A lot of things happened that I don't want to go into."

Also on the scoresheet this week was Haris Vuckic, who netted in both of Slovenia U21s' fixtures - something that will presumably have caught the Silver Fox's eye, given that we've been short of goals as well as creativity in our opening few games.

You have to feel some sympathy for Shane Ferguson, for whom the international fixtures provided no respite whatsoever from what is already shaping up to be a tough season for Birmingham. First the Northern Irishman was asked to fill in at left back at home to Portugal and found himself part of a defence tormented and tortured as Ronaldo bagged a hat-trick and overhauled Eusebio's scoring record in the process. Of course, it didn't help that they finished the game two men light... Worse was to come, though, in the form of an embarrassing 3-2 defeat to lowly Luxembourg.

Also in action for their countries were Sideshow Bob, Moussa Sissoko and Mr T. It'll be interesting to see if the latter gets the nod ahead of Vurnon Anita for tomorrow's trip to Villa - or indeed whether both miss out if the Silver Fox decides to reintroduce Dreamboat at the expense of a defensive midfielder rather than sacrificing a more forward-thinking player.

Court circular

Two new Newcastle-related stories on the BBC website yesterday - sadly both were about legal rather than sporting matters.

First there was the news that Mr T is set to declare "I ain't no fraudster, fool" and contest the five charges against him for driving-related offences. The trial is set for October, by which time he may no longer be a Toon player - certainly his star has fallen considerably with us and I suspect we'd be more inclined to cash in if a reasonable bid was to be received.

And then there was confirmation that the Lone Ranger will be facing a rape charge. Yet more reason (should it have been needed) to be relieved we finally washed our hands of him back in March.

However, there's still no sign of any new additions to the first-team squad, as we get used to our default role as impotent mute bystanders while our targets - most recently Arouna Kone - move elsewhere. After the complacency of last summer, things need to start happening soon.

The prisoner

According to Wikipedia, Stockholm syndrome is defined as "a psychological phenomenon in which hostages express empathy and sympathy and have positive feelings toward their captors or abusers, sometimes to the point of defending them, and sometimes the feeling of love for the captor shows".

Why the pop psychology lesson? Well, Sideshow Bob's latest comments suggest he might be suffering from the condition: "I’m a grateful person and Newcastle have given me the opportunity of playing in the Premier League, which is the elite of football, so I will stay at Newcastle. I have talked many times with San Lorenzo about moving back with them. My desire is to move back but that¹s not going to happen next season. I didn’t move to San Lorenzo last season because Newcastle didn’t want me to leave.I’m not going to move to San Lorenzo now because Newcastle don’t want me to go. I have to respect that decision."

So the good news is that we won't be waving goodbye to our captain and the one player who holds everything together at the back. A relief, to be sure, though you do have to ponder the wisdom of denying him the move he clearly wants - will his frustrations manifest themselves in his levels of performance and commitment next season? Hopefully he's too professional to allow that to happen.

Meanwhile, the Independent have also reported that we've rubbished rumours from L'Equipe that Dreamboat - touted as Sideshow Bob's potential successor as skipper - is on the verge of a move back to his native France, to newly promoted and big-spending Monaco. The article is distinctly quote-free, however - as is an article in the Heil on Sunday claiming that Mr T has followed Papiss Cisse in kicking up a stink about having to wear a Wonga-branded shirt.

Look Hughes on our radar

Where there's a Will, there's a way? Perhaps, though if we really want to get our hands on Will Hughes it looks as though we'll have to fight off stiff competition and stump up a significant transfer fee of £10m+. The 18-year-old Derby midfielder has been earning rave reviews at Pride Park, but it's doubtful he'd be able to step straight into our first team and as such that sort of outlay might be considered too much.

Another player we're reportedly looking at is Reading defender Alex Pearce, available on a free but also wanted by his former manager Brendan Rodgers at Liverpool. The rationale seems to be less about bringing in a solid defender (after all, the Royals' defence was hardly watertight last season and, like his fellow centre-backs, Pearce never really cemented a place for himself in the side) and more about adding to our aerial threat in the opposing penalty area. It comes as little surprise to learn that we failed to score a single goal from a corner last campaign, though is no less depressing for that fact.

In today's Journal Mark Douglas claims that we might only be seeking to add a couple of new faces rather than radically reshape the squad - something that Paul half-suspected. Not a problem if our existing players manage to remain injury-free and rediscover their form - but that's a big if, as last season demonstrated. It would probably be better to be (comfortably) safe rather than (nearly) sorry.

A new striker seems to be the priority - perhaps a belated acknowledgement that Goofy, despite making a positive contribution to our run-in, isn't the direct replacement for Demba Ba that Llambiarse implied he was back in February. The identities of our primary targets on this front are unclear - interest in St Etienne's Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang appears to have cooled and he's now talking about Bayer Leverkusen, Swansea and Champions League finalists Borussia Dortmund as possible destinations, while Braga's Eder has a long-term cruciate ligament injury. Given events of the last year, we hardly want to be buying players who are already crocked before they come to us - it'll happen soon enough anyway...

One possible departure is Mr T, who is reportedly the subject of interest from Lokomotiv Moscow. As I suggested in my end-of-season review, not so long ago the prospect of losing the Ivorian, even for a fee in excess of £20m, would have been painful, but after a torrid campaign moving him on for a tidy profit might be the best option.

Trouble with a capital Mr T

It's been a while since we were last able to report on a Newcastle player in trouble with the law for car-related bad behaviour - so credit to Mr T for righting that particular wrong. No sooner has our man returned from the African Cup of Nations than he's been arrested on suspicion of fraud in connection with motoring offences and his motor impounded. And there I was, imagining that if he was to find himself in hot water for anything car-related it would be for trying to turn an old banger into an armour-plated tank in a barn before busting out and mowing down some baddies...

The news comes just a couple of days after Mr T told the Ronny Gill that no one's first-team place is safe. Coming from him, that sounds like an ominous threat - I wonder if a team-mate panicked and decided to grass him up to the police to save themselves?

Crunch time

So the Lone Ranger isn't the only player to get a ticking-off from the Silver Fox of late. He's also had stern words with Mr T about his disciplinary record following Sunday's red card down at the Dark Place: "It's not a laughing matter because he's one of our big players and I can't have him not playing. It could be costly and he needs to understand that." Of course it has already been costly - we already had the lead and, with a full complement of players, we should have comfortably seen off a desperately poor Mackem outfit.

Mr T's ability to break up attacks is second to none, and that does involve a certain amount of aggression in the tackle - something the Silver Fox also acknowledged, complaining about "the sanitisation of the game". But he does risk becoming a liability, and it's incredible to think that, having been booked in half of his games for the club (29 times in 59 appearances), he hasn't ever gone on to collect a second in the same match.

Looking to the positives, his three-match ban only applies domestically, so we can give him a run-out tonight and in the return fixture over in Bruges if we want. In terms of the Premier League, though, it'll give us experience of how to cope without him - good preparation for January...

Out of Africa

A reminder that it's not just England whose qualifiers for major tournaments are shrouded in controversy and farce: confirmation that Senegal have been disqualified from next year's African Cup of Nations, the spot taken by the Ivory Coast instead. That means that, as expected, we'll be without Mr T rather than Demba Ba and Papiss Cisse in January. While it's a worry to be deprived of our defensive midfield lynchpin, we did have to cope with his absence at the start of this season, and Vurnon Anita and Bigi have a bit of time to step up to the plate.

It'll be all riot on the night

Confusion appears to reign supreme following the abandonment of yesterday's second-leg qualifier for the African Cup of Nations between Senegal and the Ivory Coast. The game was stopped after 70 minutes, with visitors the Ivory Coast winning 2-0 (and 6-2 on aggregate), following rioting among home fans sparked by a controversial penalty decision.

It's not yet been confirmed whether the result will stand, but the likelihood is that we'll be without Mr T rather than the two Dembas come January. Of more immediate significance, however, is the wellbeing of the players. The Ivory Coast side had to be escorted off the pitch by riot police, but thankfully there aren't as yet any reports of injuries. Let's hope they're shaken rather than stirred.

'Non merci!

At last! Our first major transfer signing of the summer, and it's only midway through August... Contrary to expectations, the new arrival isn't Mathieu Debuchy but Dutch international Vurnon Anita, prised away from Ajax for a fee of nearly £7m.

Anita can provide cover in both full-back positions, but in negotiations with the Silver Fox he made it clear where he would prefer to be deployed: "They know that I want to play in a defensive midfield place and that's why they brought me here". With Mr T (like Dreamboat) reportedly facing a race against time to be fit, Anita could make his debut in the Ivorian's position against Spurs on Saturday - and of course the assurances he seems to have got from the Silver Fox suggest that he might well have been signed to replace our talismanic midfielder more permanently.

Selling Mr T for a whopping fee having brought in a cheaper, younger replacement would fit our business model perfectly, but we're under no pressure or obligation to offload him and I'd hope we don't rush into anything - not least because a deal might end up strengthening our rivals.

It's Seneg-all looking rosier

Two unexpected boosts for our prospects for the forthcoming season. First, Papiss Cisse and Demba Ba been surprisingly omitted from the Senegalese squad to face Team GB and others in the Olympics (while Fat Sam's new West Ham signing Mohamed Diame has been selected - heh heh heh). And second, we now know that January's Africa Cup of Nations will only deprive us of either our striking pair or Mr T, not both, after Senegal were drawn against the Ivory Coast in the final qualifying round. A serious stroke of good fortune on both counts.

Grounded?

It seems Mr T ain't getting on no plane, fool - unless that plane is chartered by us and is bound for European climes. Our Ivorian midfield enforcer has claimed: "my future is at Newcastle". But what he doesn't specify is how exactly long that "future" might be - does it extend as far as the summer, for instance, when eternally cash-rich Chelsea are likely to firm up their interest with a serious bid...

Llambiarse in mostly talking sense shocker

(Image courtesy of Community Friend)

So, we've had the weekend to reflect on Llambiarse's latest pronouncements. Where to start?

How's about the widely-reviled rebranding of the stadium? "Do you think me and Mike call it the Sports Direct Arena? We call it St James’ Park, because it IS St James’ Park." Well, at least the duo acknowledge that fact, I suppose, even if he did also drone on about the need to increase "commercial revenue" while avoiding hiking up ticket prices - if they'd done that, he suggested, then they truly would be guilty of "riding roughshod over people's love".

Nevertheless, the fact remains that it's aroused fierce opposition - from the city council, from local MPs, from fans who have demonstrated their displeasure by means of grafitti and tearing down the Sports Direct signage. As a supposedly cash-generating exercise, it's yet to generate any cash except as a way of promoting Jabba's business interests. A Council of Europe committee recently proposed that clubs should be barred from being heavily sponsored by companies with close ties to their owners - Man City were the example cited, but they'd probably be uncomfortable with our current arrangement too.

Llambiarse also claimed that they do genuinely engage with supporters: "We met a guy who drives from Bournemouth for every home match, so we invited him to be our guest and for them to ask anything they wanted. We’ve done it for other fans we’ve met in restaurants". That's all fine and well, but what about engaging with NUST and their aim of ensuring fan representation at board level or at least fan involvement in the running of the club? That would be far more meaningful.

Otherwise (apart from a cringeworthy comment about the "brilliant video presentation" they do for prospective new signings - "very sharp, it is great"), I think we have to concede Llambiarse actually spoke a lot of sense.

On our ambitions: "This season we targeted tenth or above. Next season it was going to be eighth. But our target will still be eight or above next year. We know where we can punch." That's absolutely right - we know we're punching above our weight this season, assisted by others (Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea in particular) punching below theirs, and it's important that we remain realistic and don't allow ourselves to be seduced into ignoring the context and demanding the impossible. Consolidation and then steady improvement are key.

Llambiarse urged that realism is equally important in relation to our chances of retaining our best players: "We’ll be losing one or two names this summer, but that’ll be regenerated back into the squad ... For instance, Tiote has been with us a year and a half. He is out there. People know he’s a good player. He’s proven in the Premier League, he’s not picking up as many yellow cards, he’s learning. How are we going to stop a big club from coming in for him? It’ll be very hard. One thing in our favour is that we now have a very good side and that might encourage the player to stay. But if someone knocks on the door and says they want this or that money, the reality may be that we have to trade".

This season's success has clearly been a double-edged sword - it has inflated the value of our players and perhaps made them more likely to commit long-term, but it's also brought them to the attention of bigger clubs across Europe. In view of the fact that we've just tied Sideshow Bob and Tim Krul down to lengthy new deals, and that Llambiarse spoke highly of both, I'd be a little surprised (though not shocked) to see them allowed to leave - but Mr T and Demba Ba are both players who I suspect we'll struggle to hold on to come the end of the season. (One caveat: Llambiarse's comment perhaps implies that actually we might be actively looking to sell a couple of players - which would be concerning, given that there's no real financial imperative or footballing reason for doing so.)

On the subject of our own transfer dealings, Llambiarse picked out the deal for Papiss Cisse as exemplifying our ideal: "January came and nobody knew Cisse was happening, which is how we like it - those are our most successful deals, without the interference, in terms of upping the price or someone coming in at the last minute". Business conducted in boardrooms rather than on the back pages of the papers - that's as it should be.

The club's hard-nosed negotiating strategy was also laid bare: "At the moment, players and agents know that our first offer is very close to the final offer. Once it’s off the table, it’s off the table and it only goes down. It’s never up, it’s always lower. There are more football players than there are clubs. The manager has his targets and we just move on". Obviously that inflexibility might mean we miss out on certain players, and the success of the approach is dependent upon Llambiarse and Jabba not over- or underestimating a player's value in the first place, but it seems to be working well enough so far and it's encouraging to know that we won't be held to ransom or (hopefully) find ourselves saddled with cash-draining baggage like Alan Smith.

Llambiarse was equally proud of the tough stance towards players or agents insisting on additional clauses: "We just do straight contracts. We do no overseas pensions, no image rights. We say, 'This is your money, now you go away and talk to your tax advisers if you must.'" The decision to scrap goal bonuses, he revealed, was partly prompted by the experience of watching Obafemi Martins in action: "Maybe that’s why he would always shoot from the halfway line! We used to see him on the ball and think, 'Oh look. He’s going to shoot again'".

Not content with changing the way we ourselves operate in negotiations, the pair seem to be intent on revolutionising the transfer system more widely: "We would like to see deferred transfer payments phased out, so that you just pay for a transfer over a year. Why pay for it over five years? Most do it. We prefer to pay it over a short period of time. This was put to the Premer League board in 2010 and was rejected by everybody. We are saying it should be discussed. You shouldn’t be spending money you haven’t got. It’s not the right way to behave". Fair point - and it's refreshing to see us trying to take a lead as regards financially responsible behaviour. The recently published accounts for 2010-11 show a reduction in our operating loss from £33.5m to just £3.9m, indicating that significant strides are being made towards making us a break-even club. While questions still remain to be answered about where exactly the £35m we received from Liverpool for Rocky went, the general picture is far rosier than it was a couple of years ago - and for that, at least, we should acknowledge Jabba and Llambiarse's efforts.

There was one final titbit from the latter: despite oft-repeated rumours, our owner isn't a Spurs supporter. Good to know - except that, in denying this, Llambiarse confirmed that Jabba's actually a Chelsea fan...

Coming home empty-handed

What a shame for Mr T. Selected for the final of the African Cup of Nations (and, somewhat oddly, sporting the number nine shirt), he played his part as Ivory Coast struggled to exert their superiority over underdogs Zambia. Needless to say, he picked up a second-half booking (soft) and could even have walked for an unsubtle foul not long afterwards.

The game still goalless at the end of extra time, Mr T stepped up to take the first of his country's penalties and made no mistake. Sadly, the same couldn't be said of compatriots and fellow Premier League players Kolo Toure and Gervinho, as Zambia and their male model of a coach Herve Renard won an improbable victory.

I pity the fool who next crosses Mr T. Karl Henry will be back from suspension when Wolves visit in a fortnight...

To complete a miserable weekend for Newcastle and Newcastle-affiliated players, Haris Vuckic endured a decidedly inauspicious debut for Cardiff yesterday. No sooner had I hailed the Bluebirds' loan signing as a smart piece of business than he'd conceded a penalty that put Leicester en route for the win, before being hauled off at half-time by Malky Mackay.

Nothing to declare

Senegal's horrific African Cup of Nations campaign came to a suitably awful conclusion last night, a third successive 2-1 defeat - this time to Libya - condemning them to finishing bottom of the group without a single point. Toon team-mates Demba Ba and Papiss Cisse didn't get the opportunity to start together, with the latter replacing the former and - as the pair have done all tournament - promptly wasting a good chance.

It'll be good to have you back, lads - but with our defence suddenly looking a bit suspect and Dreamboat likely to be rested by the FA for the next few games, we can only rue the fact that Mr T and the Ivory Coast are doing a much better job than Senegal of performing to their true potential.

Welcome back

Excellent news from the African Cup of Nations, where Senegal have been knocked out at the group stage. They posted two disappointing 2-1 defeats, the most recent an almighty upset as co-hosts Equatorial Guinea - ranked 151st in the world prior to the tournament - pulled off a shock result. All of which, of course, means that we'll both be reunited with Demba Ba and get to see his international strike partner Papiss Demba Cisse pull on a black and white shirt much sooner than expected.

A quick injury-free return for the pair is just about the best outcome we could have hoped for. That said, the early exit of one of the competition's most fancied sides is partly the result of the duo's failure to score against weak defences, Ba in particular guilty of squandering a number of chances over the two games. Here's hoping he can find his shooting boots - and his stash of strawberry syrup - when he's back on Tyneside.

Our problems at Fulham, however, were largely in defence rather than attack, and for that reason it's to be lamented that Mr T's Ivory Coast, the tournament favourites, registered an opening win and look set to be in it for the long haul.

AWOL AWL

As expected, we'll be without both Demba Ba and Mr T for this afternoon's visit of Blackburn, the pair having jetted off to the Africa Cup of Nations. Both were absolutely immense in the thumping win over Man Utd, so it's inevitable that there are concerns about how we'll cope in their absence.

Ba, the newly crowned Premier League Player of the Month for December, racked up five goals in six games in the final month of 2011, though only finished on the winning side once. Meanwhile, on Wednesday night Mr T lived up to his pre-match billing by Sky studio guest Saylor as an "animal" who strikes fear into the hearts of opposition players, motoring ceaselessly around the pitch and tearing into tackles.

But does the fact that we've been deprived of their considerable talents and qualities for five or six weeks justify a gripe about the Africa Cup of Nations and its timing? No, it doesn't. Having been hugely irritated in the past by the likes of 'Appy 'Arry, Arsene Wenger and Fat Sam moaning about losing key players to the tournament, I'm refusing to be hypocritical about this. The simple fact is that if you sign top-class African players, then you've got no cause whatsoever for complaint.

Of course it'll be upsetting if either or both return home injured as a result of their involvement, but that's just the nature of football. It's not a Little Saint Mick situation, where Ba and Mr T are pushing to play (or being forced to play) despite not being fully recovered from long-term injury. They're fit and in form, so it's perfectly fair enough if their national managers want to select them.

So good luck to both players and their respective countries, Senegal and Ivory Coast, and we look forward to welcoming them back in early February - by which time we'll hopefully have continued to collect points and still be in the FA Cup, and the Strawberry might have started serving the secret of Ba's success...