Source: Northern_Echo
No talk of wage cuts on Tyneside
CHRIS Hughton last night angrily denied suggestions that Newcastle's senior players will be asked to take a pay cut at the end of the season.[LNB] A series of reports have suggested that the likes of Alan Smith, Kevin Nolan and Jonas Gutierrez will be offered an extension to their current deal if the Magpies win promotion to the Premier League, but on lower wages than they currently earn.[LNB] Speculation over the club's financial planning intensified yesterday morning, when owner Mike Ashley, who has invested £30m since the start of the season to keep Newcastle afloat, arrived at the club's Benton training ground by helicopter.[LNB] However, senior Magpies sources have moved quickly to quash any suggestion that wage cuts that will be on the agenda once contract discussions begin in earnest in the close season.[LNB] And as he prepares for tomorrow's Tees-Tyne derby with Middlesbrough, Hughton has dismissed any talk of his senior players being asked to renegotiate their current contracts for a less lucrative deal.[LNB] I was made aware of the financial stories (yesterday) morning, and they are not particularly helpful, said the Newcastle boss, who welcomed Jose Enrique and Wayne Routledge back into full training yesterday As far as I know, there is absolutely no truth in it.[LNB] It just seems to have been plucked out of thin air. The only thing we are interested in at the moment is football contracts and things like that will not even be discussed until the end of the season.[LNB] We have 12 games left, and we can't afford to let anything distract us from our objective, and the sole objective is to win enough points to get promotion.[LNB] In the past, other clubs have asked players to add an extra year to their contract, so that the total outlay over the duration of the deal can be spread over a longer period of time.[LNB] Therefore, while an individual's weekly wage goes down, the total value of the contract is not decreased.[LNB] It would be extremely unusual for a club not in administration to ask their players to take a straightforward pay cut, but Ashley set a £10,000-aweek pay ceiling on any January transfer deals, and a large number of Newcastle players currently earn significantly more than that amount.[LNB] Whether they would be willing to accept a reduction in wages is open to conjecture, but it is understood that there will be no automatic bonus for winning promotion this season.[LNB] Newcastle's position at the top of the Championship would be strengthened considerably if they were to win tomorrow, and Hughton is sweating over the fitness of Enrique, Routledge and Alan Smith as he ponders his starting line-up for the Riverside.[LNB] The first two are expected to be available after training yesterday, with Enrique having recovered from the tight hamstring that forced his withdrawal in the first half of last weekend's win over Barnsley and Routledge having shaken off the calf problem that has sidelined him since the middle of last month.[LNB] Smith is a much more serious doubt, and having been unable to train yesterday, the skipper is likely to miss tomorrow's derby on Teesside because of the ankle injury that also kept him out of the 6-1 win over the Tykes.[LNB] Alan has not trained yet, so that will be a close call, admitted Hughton.[LNB] Jose and Wayne both trained though, and we'll be assessing their availability over the next day or so.[LNB] Joey Barton will not be considered tomorrow, despite having played the opening 45 minutes of a behind-closeddoors friendly with Hibernian on Monday. The England international is expected to be involved when Newcastle reserves travel to Hartlepool next Tuesday.[LNB]
