Paper Talk - Wednesday July 6

By Jebediah
July 6 2005

Jebediah’s roundup of Mondays tabloid newspapers, and a look at the stories and rumours involving Newcastle United.

Another day with no news of players coming in, just a couple of updates on previous rumours about players leaving.

The Star has added a new twist to the Bellamy to Everton story, saying that it is not wages that are the stumbling block in the move, but actually it is that the striker is worried that he will be played out on the right, which he infamously does not feel is his position.

Everton used a 4-5-1 system in their Champions League qualification campaign, and with James Beattie having only recently signed for the Toffees, Bellamy might see first team football as a problem. He would also compete with Marcus Bent, who surprised some in his first season at Goodison, scoring a handful of goals and proving a more than useful player.

This story seems slightly ironic, bearing in mind Bellamy believes in his own ability so much that he has been waiting for an offer to come in from one of the top three Premiership clubs, yet apparently now he is worried about not getting in to Everton's first team in his preferred position.

Other news of a potential Toon exit is that Charlton are ready to bid for Newcastle midfielder Lee Bowyer, from The Sun. The tenacious midfielder has taken much of the blame for his on the field bust up with collegue Kieron Dyer, and apparently Souness would be ready to offload him if a bid came in. The fee being mentioned is £1.5m, which would signal all of that to be a profit on the player who was signed on a free.

Bowyer would be returning to familiar territory, as it was Charlton who sold the player to Leeds United, where he made a name for himself.

Only other 'news' regarding Newcastle in todays papers is that the players trained on the beach yesterday, accompanied with pictures on the squad minus Bellamy and those players who were on international duty after the Premiership campaign ended.