Scrolling through the BBC Sport website this morning on my break I was staggered to see that they’re back to reporting on Manchester United looking at Lewis Hall. It genuinely made me blink involuntarily a little bit, like I might be seeing things.
The story read that the Manchester side “will revisit a deal for Newcastle and England left back Lewis Hall, who is keen to move to Old Trafford”. So, quite a lot to unpick in so few words there.
Firstly, I’d ask what deal? I didn’t realise that there was a deal in the first place. And I’m aware that as a mere fan I have no special insight into the goings on inside St. James’ Park, but I cannot recall a ‘deal’ ever being on the table. I remember that the media, especially a certain Manchester United podcast, practically salivating all last summer about them trying to get Hall, but nothing about an actual “deal”. Almost like it could just be a figment of someone’s imagination…
Hall clearly isn’t “keen on a move to Old Trafford”. In fact he’s said signing his contract was “an extremely proud moment” and said that staying at Newcastle was a “no brainer” adding that it was “an absolute pleasure” to play for Newcastle.
His family links to the club are well known and every performance seems not only to enhance his reputation, but cement his place as a hugely important player for the club.
I’m sick of seeing these ridiculous links; even more so when it feels like common knowledge that Manchester United wouldn’t be willing to pay anywhere near what we’d ask.
In a world where certain clubs seem to be handed every advantage possible, it feels unlikely that the powers that be could find any other way to help them out. And yet, here we are in the self styled ‘best league in the world’ where now even the media are helping our beloved ‘big 6’.
Time was that ‘tapping up’ a player was an offense. So how come there’s been such a sea change that now clubs can just have their interest and supposed contact with players plastered all over the media before our very eyes?
Newcastle have been the victims of this kind of thing with several players over the last couple of years. And of course, I realise that players might just want to leave, but when they’re paying someone to leak messages like ‘he only wants Arsenal’ then things have gone too far.
I’d thought that the end of the transfer window could be the end of my irritation with this kind of thing. Turns out I was wrong because for the last week I’ve still been seeing Lewis Hall’s name linked to Manchester United. And what prompted this article is the guff below from the BBC Sport website.
We’re over a week on from the end of the window and we get this! And the context makes it far worse than it first appears.
This week, it was announced that Hall has signed a new contract that will keep him at the club until 2031. This will mean that he’ll be handsomely rewarded for his service at his boyhood club; the club that his family supports. There’s also no release clause and therefore no obvious signs of even thinking of being released to go elsewhere.
On signing Hall said, “It’s an absolute pleasure to play for this club and represent the supporters”, “It’s a really good place to be” and “I think we can go on to achieve really great things.” Lewis Hall is clearly happy at Newcastle United, but even this won’t be enough for some who will no doubt continue to speculate that he’ll be leaving in summer 2027.
After the win at Millwall in midweek Hall was interviewed post match. Here’s what he said. “There was a lot of negativity before everything happened and as soon as the gaffer came in, he’s been top, as well as all of the coaching staff. The way he’s got us playing is amazing and I can speak on behalf of everyone – we’re really enjoying playing under him.” It doesn’t take a linguistics expert to work out that Lewis Hall is happy at Newcastle United. But I’ll repeat it for the YouTubers at the back – LEWIS HALL IS HAPPY AT NEWCASTLE UNITED!
Looking further back, after our win at Spurs the other week, during a post match interview Matthias Jaissle was told by Peter Schmeichel, “We’re (Man Utd) looking at your left back.” When he’d gotten over the initial shock that Peter Schmeichel appeared to be brazenly telling him who he could keep at the club, Jaissle replied emphatically “No way”. Still the online campaign continued with the likes of Alan Partridge clone Mark Goldbridge and various YouTubers and e-fans openly talking about ‘the Lewis Hall transfer’ like it was an inevitability.
In another twist, Jaissle was quoted as saying that he was “…in love with what I’ve seen from him so far.” So on top of all of the other positives we’ve now pretty much got ‘Lewis and Matthias sitting in a tree…’. Surely the message doesn’t get any clearer?
How can it be right then, that when so much love is in the air between player and club that the likes of the BBC, TalkSport, Ben Jacobs, Alex Crook as well as various other social media outlets linked to Man Utd, continue to insist on trying to ram their made up agenda down our throats?
I’m tired of vocabulary like ‘food chain’ and being told that we should know our place. B*ll@!ks to that. I’m sick to the back teeth of transfer speculation that should just stay firmly in the minds of the fantasists out there. Make the enquiry or pay the money. Otherwise, this unsettling of players really has to stop. He’s signed the contract, he loves the club, he loves the gaffer, the gaffer loves him and we love the both of them.
Oh, and by the way, LEWIS HALL IS HAPPY AT NEWCASTLE UNITED!
