From your ToonArmyUSA Roving Reporter in attendance at the Glenn Roeder Talk-in at Kingston Park on Thursday, July 13.

"On Monday, July 17, NUFC will anounce the signing of a new player to wear the black and white shirt". He will be well-known (a big name) with EPL experience. Another 5 new players will join the club before the season kicks off on August 19.

Milner and Luque will both feature in the Lillestrom match on Saturday.

The defence will be Given; Carr, Taylor, Bramble, Babayaro. No other players were mentioned by Glenn for Saturday. Strangely, he didn't want to talk about his choice in midfield for Saturday. With an abundance of midfield players, maybe he hasn't decided on his starting midfield.

He said that Milner was very fit on the first day of training, and he was very impressed by him..........sounds to me like he is definitely staying on as a Mag. He also said that Taylor was "looking the part", although he needs to improve technically. He is a winner and will improve being surrounded by better players. He also said Taylor "enjoys hurting you".

He said Luque needs to repay the fans........so it appears he will be giving him a chance to show what he has (not that anyone is interested in buying him anyway). He did say, Luque's hamstring injury was one of the worst he had ever seen.

Glenn thought the fixtures to Christmas were "to die for". Let's hope he is right and we get the results for a good start.

He did refer to Owen, Boumsong, and Moore, as well as Lee Clark's role this season, and Terry Mac.

Expect more roving reporting from our man in Toon.

So another season starts on Saturday, with no doubt more up’s and down’s than your average rollercoaster.

While there have been many concerns this summer about the lack of transfer activity, we must remember there is still a month to go before the Premiership season kicks off and new signings or not, our next opposition from Norway shouldn’t pose too much of a problem.

Having seen the likes of Viana, Guivarch and Marcelino (to name put a few) sign for millions and leave for next to nothing in recent seasons, you can’t blame Roeder and Shepard for waiting to get the right people in.

Plus, if any of our momentum from the end of last season carries over and if half of our long term injuries clear up (although with Dyer and Owen looking to miss vast amounts of the season this doesn’t look likely!) then we could be in for a solid season, with a good cup run or two.

So whether it’s Owen, Ameobi or Harper in attack, lets get behind the team and give them our support.

Howay the lads!

Think you know the score?

July 11th 2006

ToonArmyUSA is pleased to announce the launch of Prediction Corner - an interactive online game that allows you to predict the scores and scorers of all competitive Newcastle United games this coming season.

In addition to the bragging rights of North America, we'll also be giving away prizes throughout the competition. For more information and to fill in your first round of scores, visit the prediction corner page.

First Opponents Confirmed

July 9th 2006

Final score from the Keflavíkurvöllur Stadium, Iceland - Lillestrøm 2 - IBK Keflavik 2 (Lillestrøm win 6-3 on aggregate).

That means Lillestrøm will be our first competitive opponents of the season. They visit St. James Park next Saturday, with the return leg a week later.

World Cup Interview

July 7th 2006

Our club president was lucky enough to get tickets for the 2006 World Cup in Germany and just as the tournament starts to wind down, we asked him a few questions about his experiences. Read the full interview here.

He also took a number of pictures from the Korea vs. France and the England vs. Sweden games. These pictures can be viewed here.

Owen KO

July 6th 2006

Hard to think of a season without crippling injuries, and 2006/2007 looks like it wont be any different.

Media reports from England suggest that Michael Owen could miss the whole of the season as he now recovers from a minor operation which he had to have before he has his main op to repair his anterior cruciate.

So with Shearer and Chopra gone and the Intertoto cup less than two weeks away, the search for a new striker (or three) is well and truly on. It looks likely that Milner and Luque will step up to the plate, the latter on which certainly having a lot to prove if he is to have a future on Tyneside.

Ice Melt

July 2nd 2006

Final score from Norway - Lillestrøm 4 - IBK Keflavik 1.

Lillestrøm appear to be heading for Tyneside after beating Icelandic side IBK Keflavik despite not playing a full team. Although IBK won 4-1 in the previous round, they look unlikely to turn over this large deficit. The second leg is Saturday, July 7th.