Newcastle United manager Sam Allardyce has confirmed every England fans worst fear. England striker Michael Owen needs surgery to repair his most recent injury; which will see him miss the next two Euro 2008 qualifying games against Russia and Estonia.

It had been feared that Owen needed to go under the knife for a hernia injury but he was given a clean bill of health on that front only to discover that he may have to have surgery on his latest injury; a tear on his Abductor muscle.

Allardyce believes that Owen will be out at least until the Magpies play Spurs in October. The first Premier League fixture after the Euro 2008 qualifiers that is if the player does not need surgery or that date would be dragged out even longer.

Newcastle United visited Pride Park expecting Michael Owen to continue his rich vein of form to score the goals that would see them reach the dizzy heights of the top four, ahead of Manchester United and Chelsea.

Scotland Striker Kenny Miller Returns From Injury

Former Celtic striker Kenny Miller made his debut after signing on transfer deadline day in August. Miller marked his debut in the best way possible, on 39 minutes he volleyed past Steve Hooper who was stranded off his line. Toon manager may now be regretting his decision to stick with Newcastle’s longest serving player between the posts instead of a more experienced goalie like Ireland’s Shay Given.

Newcastle were not without their chances, although few of them came from the ineffective boots of Michael Owen, who was replaced by Martins. The closest the visitors came to threatening Bywater’s goal was a chance that fell to Rozenhal.

Chairman of the board at Arsenal Peter Hill-Wood has told the club website that he has entered in to talks with Arsene Wenger about extending his contract beyond the twelve months he has left on his existing deal.

The Frenchman was linked with the Real Madrid position following the dismissal of Fabio Capello. The uncertainty surrounding his future has created instability in the dressing room at the Emirates Stadium. Players are considering their own futures as they watch their leader planning a future that may lie elsewhere. They have already watched the club captain Thierry Henry leave for Barcelona in a cut price deal, Henry being the latest in a procession of big names that have left the club in the last few seasons.

Arsenal have experienced difficulty in attracting new talent to the club, they have already been snubbed by Ryan Babel and William Gallas has voiced his concerns about the clubs inability to attract stars. Big players with reputations to protect would be best advised to steer clear of a club that will be changing the management in twelve months for fear that the new manager may not want to keep them around as he attempts to make his mark on his new squad and bring in his own playing staff.

Hill-Wood told Arsenal.com “I’m confident he’ll stay” he also said “Hopefully, in the not too distant future we’ll have something positive to say about it”. Cynics will say that this announcement will give the impression that all is well at Ashburton Grove, Arsenal will hope that it sends the right signals out to potential signings. So far they have only signed relative unknowns Fabianski, da Silva and Sagna, although die hard Gunners will jump to the clubs defence to remind us that nobody had really heard of Henry or Vieira before they were unveiled by Arsene Wenger.

With more departures on the card with speculation in the press over Ljungberg and Fabregas and Wenger hinting that Reyes will be playing elsewhere next season. It would seem that Arsenal would have it all still to do if they are to compete next season with more than just kids, especially when you consider the rest of the big four have brought in a galaxy of stars and the pretenders to the coveted fourth Champions League spot are also bolstering their squads in a bid to exploit the Gunners weakness. North London rivals Spurs have brought in Bent, Bale, Kaboul and Taarabt, while Pompey have recruited Nugent, Muntari, Distin and Hreidarsson and Newcastle have brought in Geremi, Rozehnal, Barton and Viduka.

The City of London asked local forces around the country to execute raids on Portsmouth, Newcastle and Glasgow Rangers as part of their investigation in to corruption in the game. The Police have indicated that this investigation is separate from the on-going Steven’s report that had unearthed dodgy dealings in transfers.

Newcastle were quick to release a statement indicating that they were assisting the investigation, but that the club was not the subject of the investigation and that they may have been a victim of criminal activity. However both Pompey and the Gers only released statements indicating their co-operation with the investigation with no further comment.

There will no doubt be immense speculation in the coming days about a variety of transactions involving the clubs and the different staff at those times, or perhaps the culprit is an agent that has sold players to the clubs being investigated, but until the police decide to let the fans know what is happening we will remain in the dark.

Sam Allardyce has signed Joey Barton for a fee of £5.8m from Manchester City, there had been some issues in completing the deal as City were reluctant to pay Barton a fee believed to be in the region of £300k.

Barton leaves the Eastlands stadium following a training ground row with Ousmane Dabo. The 24 year olds career has been blighted with incidents that have earned him a reputation of being a trouble maker. He will no doubt look to a fresh start in the north east an look to become a hero to the toon faithful.

Newcastle United made the announcement that everyone expected. During a press conference this afternoon they told the waiting press that Sam Allardyce is their new manager.

The former Bolton manager will be charged with the responsibility of bringing silverware to St James Park for the first time since 1969. He has a three year deal to begin with, but he knows that the task is massive and he has much work to do to bring the success the toon army crave.

Allardyce will have to secure the future of Michael Owen and try to lure some new playing staff while trying to clear the deadwood from the Magpies squad.

The Newcastle United board have accepted the resignation of Glenn Roeder. Following the controversy over his appointment and his lack of coaching qualifications his precarious position was compounded by injuries and poor performances.

Last week Sam Allardyce resigned from his position at Bolton and could be the first in the queue for the new vacancy at Newcastle United. The boos that rang round St James park after the defeat to Blackburn Rovers in the last home game of the season was the straw that broke the camels back for Roeder who will now have plenty of time to sit his exams for his UEFA coaching qualifications.

Newcastle United manager Glenn Roeder has dismissed newspaper reports that Kieron Dyer is to be transferred to Tottenham in the Summer Transfer Window. The Toon manager will have to sell to generate revenue to re-invest in his squad, after spending heavily last year with little or no reward as a result.

Should Roeder change his mind, Dyer would have to adjust his wage expectations as he currently earns more than twice as much as Spurs highest earner Robbie Keane. If he is to join former Newcastle team mate Jermaine Jenas at Spurs.

Not having to pay his £80k a week would allow Roeder to bring in a couple of less injury prone players on a more moderate salary, effectively strengthening the Newcastle squad on the cheap.

Spurs need to shed a few midfielders themselves but if they were to add to their ranks, Dyer may not fit the profile that Spurs are after. Director of Football Damien Comolli looks to sign young emerging talent, or slightly older players who do not look for the world on a plate as part of their contract demands.

Should West Ham United get relegated or if the Premier League terminate his registration, Carlos Tevez could be the missing lynch pin between the Spurs midfield and forwards that has been missing since the departure of Carrick to Manchester United. The Argentinean has been West Ham’s best player this season, single-handedly trying to keep them in the Premiership. His runs, range of passing and shooting ability are the missing ingredient that the Spurs midfield mix is missing. Tevez can also be drafted in to a more advanced role and could fill the shoes of Defoe or Mido should they leave during the summer.

As another season comes to a close the speculation of the future of some of restless talents in the Premiership begin to surface. Yet again it seems that there are some people who are determined to unsettle Jermain Defoe with talk of a move to Old Trafford to join up with old team mate Michael Carrick.

The move would make sense for Defoe as it would cement his place in the England squad as even mediocre players like Kieron Richardson can get in to the England team on the strength of being a Manchester United player. Defoe has become a target for Sir Alex Ferguson following the injury of Michael Owen and Newcastle’s reluctance to sell a player who has not really played for them since joining them from Real Madrid.

Toon chairman Freddy Shepherd has informed the press that he intends to invest in playing staff in the transfer window this summer. The news will no doubt delight the Newcastle faithful, who made their feelings heard after the home defeat to Manchester City at the weekend.

Glenn Roeder will be able to make his mark on the Newcastle squad, by bringing in a few new faces and get rid of the dead wood from the wage bill.

Shepherd told the evening chronicle “The squad will be strengthened in the close season”.