Ella is a Rock Star

And just to prove it, she needs shades to eat her breakfast on her birthday morning.

Keegan Returns

Bit of a shocker, and just breaking, but Keegan is back in management at Newcastle. BBC has the news here - this will definitely improve the amount of attacking the team does, but will we win anything this time around?

One of his more famous moments at Newcastle was following the away game at Leeds (which I happened to have gone down to, coz those were the days when I actually lived in England), when he got pissed off with what Ferguson was saying and went ballistic on Sky (see the video below for what I'm talking about). That was one of two classic post match listening to Five Live moments on the BBC (both times I was actually with Pete, who now gets to spend all his time on football) - the second being when Cantona karate kicked his way into the crowd when Man U were playing Crystal Palace.

The Boat Will Be No More

For all of my drinking life, The Boat (aka The Tuxedo Princess) has sat below the Tyne Bridge, enticing students and locals with cheap drinking specials, dodgy PA appearances, and the landmark known as the revolving dancefloor (the cause of many a drunken stumble).

There were so many rooms that it was easy to get lost (some were open more than others), it often lent to one side, and as I got older, I frequented the place less and less. It got a bit of a reputation for fighting, and so nearly lost it's license in 2005.

I guess all change is inevitable (and I'm dealing with that on another front, with the sale of the home I grew up in going through last week), and with the upgrading of the Quayside, The Boat is no longer welcome. Not sure when the closing down date is going to be, but the BBC has a few more details if you're interested.

Maybe they'll have a closing down party at Christmas when I go back, so we can pay our last respects or something. I'll have a triple vodka, lime and lemonade please..

Roeder Resigns (allegedly of course)

I must admit, I was a little surprised this morning when I found out Roeder had 'resigned'. I know the result (and from what I can gather, the performance as well) was terrible, and we're sitting at the low end of mid-table, but the fact that a manager is actually leaving at an ideal time is a little unusual for Newcastle. In the past few years, we've normally waited until the manager has spent all the funds for a year, gone through pre-season with everyone, and then had the usual bad start to the season before he goes. I guess this time, we're at least trying to get the order right.

Obviously, all the money is on Big Sam to come in and take over, although nothing has been confirmed yet - just seems a bit of a coincidence for Roeder to go one game after Mr Alladyce left his beloved Bolton. I have heard he's a pretty progressive manager, and very impressive to speak to, but to be honest, I just want someone who can come in and help the team win something. Of course, if it was that easy, we'd have done it before now....