from: nufc.co.uk

We can confirm that results of the latest scan on Massadio Haidara show that the player has very fortunately escaped any significant bone or ligament damage following the dangerous tackle by Wigan Athletic's Callum McManaman on Sunday.

We are very pleased that the extent of his injury is less severe than first feared and is limited to bruising to the bone and soft tissue damage.

Depending on the speed of his recovery he should be fit to play again in early April.

Massadio will continue to be assessed over the coming days. He has been very lucky that he has not suffered more serious injury and this positive diagnosis in no way lessens the Club's views with regard to the severity of the tackle from which it resulted.

photo: nufc.co.uk

By Derek Llambias - Newcastle United Managing Director

There has been significant public reaction from media, industry figures and supporters to the tackle made by Wigan Athletic's Callum McManaman on Massadio Haidara during the first-half of our Premier League fixture on Sunday, 17th March, in particular comments made by Wigan's owner Dave Whelan.

I have the greatest respect for Dave, who has been in the game for a long time as a professional footballer and now owner. I am also aware that Dave's career was cut short due to injury.

I am therefore disappointed and surprised by the comments he made yesterday, in particular his assertion that the tackle by Callum McManaman "was a fair challenge".

It is our strongly held opinion that the tackle on Massadio was extremely dangerous and is the type of challenge that has the potential to cause serious harm and such was the force, and reckless and dangerous nature of the challenge, even end a player's career.

It was not a fair challenge. This view is shared by countless former players, referees and well-respected media commentators. Indeed it appears to be only Dave Whelan who takes a contrary view.

We are disappointed to learn that the FA is not going to charge the Wigan player. We were first notified of this decision by a national media outlet who received notification from the FA confirming the decision. This was prior to anyone from the FA having the courtesy to contact the Club to let us know.

It is clear from this decision that the current disciplinary procedures are not fit for purpose. Newcastle United, along with other clubs, have had players suspended for incidents reviewed after the game. Whilst not trivialising these incidents, they were not, in our opinion, of the seriousness of Callum McManaman's tackle on Haidara.

Whilst we understand that the current procedures give the FA limited options, it cannot be correct that the most serious offences - those which have the potential to cause another player serious harm - can go unpunished, even if the original incident was seen by match officials.

We will now be making a strong representation to the FA and the Premier League to see how a more appropriate, fair and even-handed disciplinary process can be introduced at the earliest opportunity to prevent incidents of this nature going unpunished in the future.

Our attentions at this time are firmly with Massadio. He only joined us in January, but in that short time he has impressed us immensely both on and off the field. Massadio was scanned yesterday and will continue to be assessed for the remainder of the week.

He will undergo a further scan next week in order to determine the extent of the damage caused. Contrary to comments in the media, there is currently no timescale for his recovery.

We would like to thank our fans for their heart-felt messages of support for Massadio. We are passing these messages on to him and we are sure they will help keep his spirits up.

photo: nufc.co.uk

WIGAN  ATHLETIC  -  NEWCASTLE  UNITED  2 : 1

Poraz Newcastle United-a na DW Stadium od Wigan Athletic-a rezultatom 2:1 ostao je u senci jednog od najgorih startova u istoriji fudbala. Naime, Callum McManaman je startovao otvorenim đonom na koleno mladog Massadio Haidara-e, pokidavši mu ligamente kolena. Sudija Mark Halsey nije čak ni prekunuo igru, niti McManaman-u pokazao žuti karton.

Poveo je Wigan u 18. minutu preko Jean Beasejour-a, koji je posle greške Santon-a mirno plasirao loptu u nebranjeni deo mreže Elliot-ovog gola, za 1:0.

Na poluvremenu John Carver je pokušao da dođe do McManaman-a, ali se uzgred sukobio i sa pomoćnim trenerom domaćih Barrow-om. Halsey je obojici pokazao crvene kartone, tako da su nastavak meča gledali sa tribina.

U nastavku igre, Cisse je imao vrlo dobru priliku, ali je bio sebičan, umesto da proigra tri svoja saigrača na petercu.

U 72. minutu svojim prvim golom za klub Davide Santon izjednačava rezultat na 1:1. Santon je šutirao, iskosa sa desnog boka sa desetak metara. Činilo se da svrake mogu i do pobede.

Međutim, u 90. minutu posle jednog kornera za Wigan, u petercu gostiju rukom je igrao Figueroa. Dok su se igrači Newcastle United-a bunili, Elliot je pokušao loptu da izbije u polje, međutim, pogodio je Arouna Koné-a, koji je sa jednog metra loptu ubacio u mrežu, za konačnih 2:1. Ni igranje rukom Figueroa-e sudija Mark Halsey nije video.


Konačan rezultat: 2 : 1


NUFC: Elliot, Debuchy (Haidara 13 [Perch 26]), S.Taylor, Yanga-Mbiwa, Santon, Gutierrez, Tiote, Marveaux, Sissoko, Gouffran (Sh.Ameobi 67), Cisse.
Subs n/u: Harper, Anita, Gosling, Obertan.

Wigan: Robles, Kone, Alcaraz, Maloney, Gomez, McManaman (McCarthy 57), Boyce, Beausejour (Di Santo 79), Figueroa, Scharner.
Subs n/u: Al Habsi, Caldwell, Henriquez, Stam, Golobart.

Sudija: Mark Halsey (slepac)

Gledalaca: 22,297 (4,500 Toon Army)

P.S.
Posle 30. kola, nalazimo se na 13. mestu sa sakupljenih 33 boda, odnosno šest bodova više od mesta koje vodi u drugi rang takmičenja.

photo: telegraph

U četvrtini finala Europa League igraće Benfica i Newcastle United. Prvi meč se igra na Estádio da Luz u četvrtak 4. aprila, dok je revanš meč na St James' Park-u, takođe u četvrtak 11. aprila.

Ostali parovi četvrtfinala Europa League:

Chelsea (England) v Rubin Kazan (Russia)
Spurs (England)v Basel (Switzerland)
Fenerbahce (Turkey) v Lazio (Italy)

Estádio da Luz

Hatem Ben Arfa je završio sezonu zbog povrede prepona (zadnja loža). Uskoro će biti podvrgnut operaciji.

photo: caughtoffside.com