[black]Diamond[/black] wrote:
There's a LOT of money floating on this deal. Every announcement like this is going to have a huge effect on the market - lots of people will have money on this.
By announcing the request to the FA, Newcastle could just be playing games, trying to put pressure on the FA, playing with the betting odds, whatever.
They could have done it in private (and may already have done).
No, it's not a done deal.
The thing is, the club haven't actually said anything officially on this at all. It all started when Newcastle Evening Chronicle broke the news last week that Roeder had the job, provided the green light was given from the Premier League over the Pro Licence situation. Freddy Shepherd keeps coming out with the same stock response that they will only make a comment when they have something official to announce. It's no secret, however, that they enquired to the PL about the appointment of Roeder on a permanent basis and now appear to have been knocked back.
The players and, again according to the local press, the majority of the Newcastle fans seem to be behind Roeder now though and I doubt this story is going to go away even in light of the above decision. It was rumoured, again in the local press, that they may get around a knock back from the Premier League by appointing Tommy Craig (who already has the pro licence) to give Roeder the time to get the qualification. Personally, I wouldn't mind if Roeder did get it, he's definitely earned a crack. Having said this, we've still got to replace Shearer for next season and i'm not sure that Roeder, as a manager, is going to be a huge draw for quality players.
Anyone's guess what'll happen next but Shepherd initially said the new manager would be announced before the last match of the season. Very much doubt this will happen now
