Mikel Merino visited Choppington Primary School for the Super Movers campaign, sponsored by the Newcastle United Foundation yesterday.
It’s terrific to see players like Merino supporting this kind of thing in the community, and it’s aimed at getting schoolchildren to be more physically active.
The young central midfielder is a smashing lad who could well have a great future at Newcastle.
But we must remain part of the Premier League this season.
Otherwise, it’s almost certain Mikel will leave the club.
Mikel Merino – at Choppington Primary School – love the school uniforms
This is what Mikel has said as reported in the Shields Gazette – both about Newcastle and the Super Movers campaign:
“Every match is different, but the way they lost the last game, and they almost tied against us at St James’s Park, makes us believe a little bit more about the possibilities,”
“It’s such a big game against such a big club and such a big team. It doesn’t matter really the dynamic they have, we’ll approach it in the same way.”
“They are two of the most important football icons in Spain (Pep Guardiola and David Silva),”
“So, for me, it’ll be a great match. It’s going to be a really big game for us. We’re going to try to win all three points, and we have the clues of how to do it.”
“To see these kinds of players and managers play and coach is amazing. I’m going to try to do my best if I have the luck to play, and then we’ll see what happens.”
“It’s different training indoors than outside (because of the snow).” “But the main thing is that we’re focused on the game. It doesn’t matter on which pitch you train, the focus is the same.”
“I had fun (at Choppington),” “It’s always really fun to dance (train?) with the kids. “The movement they are trying to create with this project is amazing.”
“I think it’s a great idea for the kids to be active, to move and to be fit.”
“This is great, I support it, I think it’s a really good thing for them because they can study at the same time they have fun and this is the most important thing.”
Here is Mikel getting some training (dancing?) in with the schoolchildren (Rafa will be pleased) – he looks fit for tomorrow’s game!
#NUFC‘s Mikel Merino has been meeting pupils at @choppingtonps as part of the @BBC & @premierleague #SuperMovers campaign @bbcnewcastle pic.twitter.com/l6Yj6jYQcz
— Matthew Raisbeck (@raisbeck10) January 18, 2018
Good stuff there from Mikel Merino.
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164 comments so far
AncientC
Jan 19, 2018 at 10:23 AM
Comment #1Charlie, Staveley has investors money to protect. Why should she just pay another £50 million? It is not only her career and good name on the line, it is partially her own money too.
If you were an investor, and had nothing to do with Newcastle, would you party to £300 million investment in Newcastle, especially looking at the points total and the upcoming fixture list?
Staveley isn’t buying the club to throw money down the drain. Be realistic.
ronaldo aarons
Jan 19, 2018 at 10:25 AM
Comment #2Mark Douglas
@MsiDouglas
·
34m
Mike Ashley’s legacy of NUFC is of constant lies, false dawns and failure and now it is time for him to negotiate seriously with Ms Staveley to allow a worthy custodian to to take over NUFC to begin to rebuild itself as the football club we love and know it can become.
Jib
Jan 19, 2018 at 10:28 AM
Comment #3NUFC house in Tranwell woods near Choppington
jimmysmith
Jan 19, 2018 at 10:29 AM
Comment #4The club stays up, then its worth 350 million and if Stavely wants it that’s what she will have to pay. I’m not a fan of Mike Ashley, but he has put over 250 million into the club, and since then the epl has exploded. She’s bid 3 variations of 250 million and it simply isn’t enough to secure the club.
Jib
Jan 19, 2018 at 10:33 AM
Comment #5Why do people assume that Staveley is a worthy custodian
Ashley NEEDS to go Ashley wants to go
The Capital Partners in her company title worries me
Do folk think the Reubens own big chunks of
Newcastle city centre cos they love the Geordies ?
I’d much prefer US ownership
John Henry and the Glazers understand TV driven
franchised sport
They aren’t frightened by huge salaries and transfer fees
Ibizatoon
Jan 19, 2018 at 10:33 AM
Comment #6Anyone fancy giving a comparison to selling a car prior to getting a new MOT a go?
AncientC
Jan 19, 2018 at 10:34 AM
Comment #7On Friday morning, a source close to Mike Ashley told SSN:
“Our sole focus is to support Rafa Benitez in the current transfer market with all the resources at our disposal.”
What a joke: literally. At Newcastle fans expense no less.
Mister Tuff
Jan 19, 2018 at 10:34 AM
Comment #8Tranwell Woods is nowhere near Choppington – it is beside Morpeth.
Ibizatoon
Jan 19, 2018 at 10:36 AM
Comment #9Jib…Yesterday (i think anyway) you dismissed a posters (was it “i”?) future vision for NUFC, which is fair enough. Not sure what your vision is though, if you like the idea of American ownership?
Fair point on the Reubens involvement in Newcastle being about profit and not love of Geordies. Still, for me, it’s not about who loves Geordies, Ashley hasn’t to date and has said he can’t take us forward. New ideas are needed, clearly.
JP...from The Rock
Jan 19, 2018 at 10:37 AM
Comment #10For the love of God we won’t hear the end of this transfer talk now lol OFFER THAT LYING CLOWN KNOWN AS FAT ASH £300M with no clauses and be done with him already!!!
So sick of the will we / won’t we / we could / there’s a good chance / if we and / well maybe’s of this neverending saga!!!
Meanwhile while we stand still watching on this fight between Ashley and Staveley our relegstion rivals in Brighton are going to sign a forward from PSV for over £10m and Swansea are looking to sign a winger from Angers!
Sort it out Ashley FFS!!! Invest like you said you will you filthy lying cu*t!!
OFFER £300+ and no clauses and that’s it done and dusted and we can start enjoying football again.
hibbit
Jan 19, 2018 at 10:38 AM
Comment #11Ibizatoon
like magscar i’m from the older generation of fans and things have definitely changed going to a game but don’t let anyone kid you there not all a step backwards a lot have been great improvements and added to the enjoyment of visiting st james
magscar
Jan 19, 2018 at 10:38 AM
Comment #12hibbit
I simply post as see things at a particular time if others want to perceive them as in one camp or the other then there is little I can do about it. I like you have been supporting through several owners’ tenure and rarely enjoyed most of that time but am still here. I may be “Black and White” but i try not to view everything so simply.
Don’t see why querying why Staveley ‘s “camp” claim a new offer was made through the Express but Caukin seems unaware of it in his piece should be mistakenly viewed as siding with Ashley. It is an obvious difference in PCP’s press briefings and deserving of clarification. I would have welcomed a no clauses £300M new bid as it seems it might have been a way through impasse.
I would be genuinely interested in your take on what went wrong ( without giving your source away) as you were convinced that the deal was still on. Not stirring at all but it would be good to hear a view away from the bias of current press reporting. Have your sources simply decided not worth passing on or has information dried up for wahtever reason.
Seems to be negotiations have moved outside of the social networking arena to mainstream media – not sure if that is good or bad but I don’t like having club bandied about in the press as it is really complimentary.
ronaldo aarons
Jan 19, 2018 at 10:38 AM
Comment #13I hear AS is a worthy custodian because my friend saw her lift Thor’s hammer. #ITK
AncientC
Jan 19, 2018 at 10:39 AM
Comment #14“The club stays up, then its worth 350 million and if Stavely wants it that’s what she will have to pay.”
Jimmysmith, how do you reckon Newcastle to be worth £100 million more than Southampton if Newcastle stay up. What a whole season of PL money to pick over?
Southampton have a squad worth nearly twice as much as Newcastle, have a proven youth production line, are an established PL team etc. The only thing Newcastle have on Southampton is bigger stadium. You could be talking £5 million difference a season.
I think your numbers are a little off.
Mister Tuff
Jan 19, 2018 at 10:39 AM
Comment #15I think Staveley has got to up her bid to £300 million. No clauses and take the gamble we stay up.
Ibizatoon
Jan 19, 2018 at 10:41 AM
Comment #16Hibbit…Thanks for the info. I’ve no doubt there will be pro’s and con’s and each fan will view those differently.
For the fans who prefer the older, more traditional feel to the club, you’d have thought they would be happier with the club in a lower league, away from the financial / business side of things which occupies the PL these days. Mind, all that money does buy some pretty talented players and thus good football to watch ?
Charlie in the Gallowgate
Jan 19, 2018 at 10:44 AM
Comment #17Ancient
I am just fed up with the bartering/haggling –
I either want Ashley to stay – invest in the club
or
Stavely to buy the club and invest – If they were really interested in the club they would of paid up and invested in the transfer window as far as I am concerned
Because I am sick pissed off with the whole unsure mess we are in at the minute – whatever we have a very good manager and a chance of moving forward and at the minute we are going to struggle to stay up.
Jib
As for the consortium like you worried about the investors Reubens – have got no interest in Newcastle and the football team it is all about making money and like Ashley how many games will they come to. Most likely after the commercial value of the ground and surrounding area, the TOON own plus the training complex.
AncientC
Jan 19, 2018 at 10:44 AM
Comment #18I think Ashley has to accept £250 million or suffer the consequences. He is very lucky to be getting an offer of £250 million. It is a more than fair offer, and it is Ashley that wants to sell the club. The club just isn’t worth £300 million, not even it safety was already secured.
Jib
Jan 19, 2018 at 10:45 AM
Comment #19Mr Tuff
Tranwell Woods is nowhere near Choppington – it is beside Morpeth.
hahaha
Of course you are right
7 miles is a HUGE distance
😀
hibbit
Jan 19, 2018 at 10:45 AM
Comment #20magscar
fair do’s i’ll just leave it at that
have a good day
jimmysmith
Jan 19, 2018 at 10:46 AM
Comment #21Newcastle is way bigger than Southampton, and that was then and this now. I think the 350 figure I have mentioned is what it’ll take for her to get the club. It’s actual value is a slippery thing, and none of my concern.
AncientC
Jan 19, 2018 at 10:47 AM
Comment #22Jib is worried that a new owner may want to make a profit out of the club. Making the club profitable sounds great by me. The profits come from sponsorship deals in the higher echelons of the table. Ashley has tried the survival model and it isn’t profitable. Tottenham is the model to follow, a club we should have been competing with anyway.
ronaldo aarons
Jan 19, 2018 at 10:48 AM
Comment #23Jib
I may be wrong but Reuben’s involvement as an investor doesn’t mean they’ll have a hands on role at the club does it? I think the fact she has other investors means she will be the ‘owner’ and their investments will be paid and then some in the long term. She made quite clear to caulkin that the club is a long term investment.
AncientC
Jan 19, 2018 at 10:50 AM
Comment #24Jimmysmith, size and history of the club don’t mean anything to a buyer. It all comes down to value, and right now Southampton is a much more sound financial bet than Newcastle. Southampton has higher value assets too. To think that Newcastle with a much weaker squad and facing relegation is worth the same as Southampton is ridiculous, and yet that is what Staveley is offering. She must have more money than sense to even offer £250 million.
one fine day
Jan 19, 2018 at 10:50 AM
Comment #25On a lighter note
2. .0 England in the one dayas
Phew
Well done woaksey
Mister Tuff
Jan 19, 2018 at 10:50 AM
Comment #26I would have thought it was quite obvious that the Express exclusive a couple of days ago suggesting a new bid of £300 million was speculation/jounalistic guesswork – Staveley has spoken about the bids she has made – i see no reason to doubt her account of the bids made to date.
I’m sure Caulkin after interviewing Staveley would seen no reason to mention what is obviously a false report in the Express. Simple explanation I would have thought.
magscar
Jan 19, 2018 at 10:50 AM
Comment #27Ibiza
I have always given you the benefit of the doubt in that you do not simply seek to wind me up from a polarised viewpoint as others have and still do occasionally now so accept that you simply feel different to me.
Age, going to matches, living through different era’s all play a part in forming viewpoint and interestingly but then not surprsingly posters of my age don’t necessarily hold exactly same view as me despite that.
I read and came on Blog because i live away ( not as far as some) from “Home” and NUFC is in my blood and in my families but get fed up that despite ED’s trying to have Blog of opinion there are several who can’t bear other’s viewpoints if it doesn’t involve sworn hatred of and swearing at our owner (or manager) on a public Blog to prove their support. Not a prude but I am bigger than that in my personal life and won’t stoop to it behind a keyboard when I can simply find words to express myself or USE CAPITALS 🙂
Spoof
Jan 19, 2018 at 10:50 AM
Comment #28AncientC
£50m is a lot of money to you and I, however these two brothers are supposedly worth £14b so to them it equates to about 0.3% of there net worth, add the fact that due to the upcoming tv deal the value of the club would probably increase to possibly £350m if we stay up then I find it difficult to agree with your view that £300 would be throwing money down the drain, to me keeping us up woul? give a £50m instant profit.
It all depends on staying up, as it stands I would suggest that is 50/50, but this £250m offer was made in November so if it was upped in December and Rafa was given support then that 50/50 figure would be much more favourable, sorry mate, but I cannot agree with you on this one.
ronaldo aarons
Jan 19, 2018 at 10:51 AM
Comment #29Southampton sold 80% at £210m. That means 100% takeover of club is little over £260m. Do some people really think we are worth nearly £100m more than them at £350m.
jimmysmith
Jan 19, 2018 at 10:53 AM
Comment #30She won’t get it for 250, simply because its way below Ashley’s valuation. I think he’ll hold out now until we are safe or otherwise, and if we are safe then Ashley will sell for 350 if its bid, because that is the price he appears to think its worth to him, and really that’s all that matters.
lochinvar
Jan 19, 2018 at 10:54 AM
Comment #31Classic negotiations, albeit with millions of pounds.
If the club has been realistically valued by PCP in their due diligence process at £300m and knowing that is also their own and Ashley’s back stop figure then starting at £250m and working upwards towards an agreement say between £280m and £300m is not an unrealistic way of concluding the deal.
The January transfer window and Premier League TV rights are distractions.
What is more difficult to estimate is the potential of NUFC for the future and how that is priced. But if football is moving towards a franchised group of European clubs then that is a consideration in negotiations for both sides.
ronaldo aarons
Jan 19, 2018 at 10:54 AM
Comment #32AS has offered £300m with a clause in for relegation. How is this not reasonable at current state of the club?
Spoof
Jan 19, 2018 at 10:55 AM
Comment #33AncientC
Southampton are below us in the table mate !
AncientC
Jan 19, 2018 at 10:56 AM
Comment #34Spoof, the Reubens are not involved as investors, and even if they were, investors expect a return on their investment.
Even the Man City owners were not stupid enough to overpay for Newcastle. Why would anybody else? Where does this belief come from that potential owners can just throw an extra £50 million at something above that thing’s value?
jimmysmith
Jan 19, 2018 at 10:56 AM
Comment #35Ancient that’s simply not true. Newcastle has far greater size, support and potential than Southampton, and as I said that was then and this now, and the only figure Stavely has to concern herself with is the one Ashley is willing to sell at.
AncientC
Jan 19, 2018 at 10:56 AM
Comment #36Spoof, there weren’t when they were taken over.,
AncientC
Jan 19, 2018 at 10:57 AM
Comment #37jimmysmith, what did I state that was untrue? Be specific.
jimmysmith
Jan 19, 2018 at 10:58 AM
Comment #38Because its potentially 100 million less than Ashley is prepared to sell at Ronaldo. No dice.
Blackley and Brownlie
Jan 19, 2018 at 10:58 AM
Comment #39“We are exhausted, frustrated, and running out of patience.” say AshleyOut.
Fans are struggling to find the enthusiasm. Because Ashley’s deliberately draining it out. It’s like filling your bath with hot water when someone’s nicked your plug. You can turn the taps on full pelt to keep the level up but eventually the water runs cold and there’s no enjoyment anymore.
Those bloody blinding, flashing, dancing, distracting, nauseating, new advertising hoardings have not helped my mood.
ronaldo aarons
Jan 19, 2018 at 11:00 AM
Comment #40Jimmy
You miss the point that AS isn’t desperate to buy. Ashley chose to sell the club. He was not convinced to sell the club, he wants to sell more than AS wants to buy. If his valuation was reasonable where are the other potential buyers queuing up.