NON-LEAGUE
BISHOP Auckland manager Ian Chandler has had a busy few days as he moulds his squad for the new Northern League campaign.
The former Whitley Bay boss has confirmed last season’s top-scorer Chris Winn has signed a new deal with the club.
Winn was a key part of the club’s successful battle against relegation last season and also helped them reach the final of the Brooks Mileson Memorial Northern League Cup.
Chandler has also continued his revamp of the squad with three new additions.
Former Jarrow Roofing mainstay Jamie Marshall has moved to the Heritage Park club to help out defensively.
Marshall has earned a reputation as a quick and strong right-sided player.
He will be joined by former Whitley Bay player Chris Salmon and striker Jordan McClarence, whom the club have even described as similar to former England striker Peter Crouch in his style of play.
Speaking about the deals, Chandler said: “Sometimes in pre-season you can stumble across a player who maybe has not played at this high level before but makes an immediate impact.
“Jordan may be this player, at 6ft 4in he has the attributes to be a real threat from set-pieces but to add to this he has excellent ball control.
“He is possibly a real find and I am really looking forward to seeing him in our pre-season games.
“I am delighted to have added Jamie to our squad.
“He had a tough season last time out with Jarrow Roofing but is very much looking forward to the new campaign with Bishop Auckland.
“He has a great attitude and will prove a big plus for us.
“I am also delighted to have secured Chris for the forthcoming season, he played at Synners (Billingham Synthonia) then Whitley Bay last season.
“He will give us even more competition for places, but again his pace will be a huge factor for us.”
Meanwhile, Auckland have also added goalkeeper Adam McHugh to the transfer list.
The Two-Blues have confirmed they are not expecting a fee for the former Spennymoor Town and Blyth Spartans stopper. AS we prepare for Newcastle’s players to return to the fold for pre-season training a major breakthrough...
The club, we are told, are about to make a significant announcement they have lined up a new sleeve sponsor to take us into a make-orbreak Premier League season.
Well, there’s a relief. We can all rest easy now. Big job of the summer done.
Now I am not knocking anything which brings in a few quid.
There is no arm in a sleeve deal. It is just the silence is deafening where it really matters to the fans. In the transfer market.
Sure, a free transfer guy has arrived from a relegated club - Ki Sungyueng once of Swansea - but that sort of business, while it might have value long term, is not going to send fans’ pulses racing after a long wait for a big splash.
Meanwhile we learn someone is bailing out.
We are told Real Sociedad are about to trigger a release clause in Mikel Merino’s contract. He is going home.
Yet, strictly speaking, that is not true. Someone is bailing out. Real Sociedad are about to trigger a release clause in Mikel Merino’s contract. He is going home.
Hmm . . . if Merino does not want to play for United then fine. Off you go. If he sees Real Sociedad who finished 12th out of 20 in La Liga last season as a career leg-up from Rafa Benitez’s Newcastle who play in front of 52,000 fans every home game then that is his cock-eyed vision.
However Merino has form. He signed a five-year contract with Borussia Dortmund who boast the highest average club attendance in Europe with 80,000 bouncing fans yet got out quicker than Usain Bolt from the blocks. Supposedly homesick, he joined Newcastle in England! With us Merino penned another five-year deal, then prepared to take to his toes. Both times his people had insisted upon a get-out clause . . . £6.8m at Dortmund, £10.5m here. The release clauses indicate he is hardly committed to the long term despite signing lengthy deals. Two starts in Germany became 14 in the Premier League here with one goal scored when an opposing defender headed against Merino’s brow for the ball to ricochet into the net.
Maybe the Spaniard, only 22, will come good. He has genuine ability and vision, no question about that, but he is in the queue behind Jonjo Shelvey and Mo Diame and that is the reality of life.
Much more alarming than Merino’s impending departure is the suggestion Championship promotion-chasers Stoke City and Middlesbrough are lining up to bid for Matt Ritchie.
Can United afford to lose a regular member of their first team with a natural appetite for hard work?
Newcastle, of course, are never cute in transfer negotiations when it comes to the size of the sell-on clause they insert or getting a replacement before allowing an outgoing. Bottom line is they are the most frustrating club ever come transfer windows. Not a solitary single thing has changed during the reign of His Master’s Voice.