Malaysia’s T. Ananda Krishnan To Buy Newcastle United Football Club

According to the Sun (UK), billionaire, Ananda Krishnan is closing in on a deal to end Mike Ashley’s nightmare two-year Toon reign – and hopes to make an announcement early next week. The £95million deal for the club represents loose change to the 71-year-old, who is South East Asia’s third-richest man worth £4.5billion.

If the deal goes through as expected next week, the Maxis owner will be the second man form South East Asia after Thaksin Shinawatra (Manchester City) to own an English football club. Newcastle United recently failed to maintain their Premier League status and will be playing in the Championship League in the upcoming season. Expectations are always high at St. James Park and fans will expect that the club to go straight back to the Premier League next season. Ananda Krishan will surely take note of this and hope that he can pleased the fans more than Mike Ashley did when he was in-charge at Newcastle.
A RECLUSIVE Malaysian billionaire has jumped to the head of the queue to buy Newcastle.

Media mogul Ananda Krishnan is closing in on a deal to end Mike Ashley's nightmare two-year Toon reign - and hopes to make an announcement early next week.

The £95million deal for the club represents loose change to the 71-year-old, who is South East Asia's third-richest man worth £4.5billion.

Other consortia remain in the running to buy the crisis club.

But after making the first significant move in the drawn-out sale, Krishnan is the favourite to take control after meeting Ashley's drastically-reduced asking price - almost £40m less than the sportswear tycoon paid in 2007.

The owner-in-waiting is believed to favour Alan Shearer to be the club's manager.

Like Ashley, Krishnan has kept a low profile as he has built up a powerful business portfolio which includes major interests in oil, entertainment, telecoms and shipping.

Over the years, he has donated millions of pounds to charities and a source said: "Mr Krishnan shuns public exposure and likes to keep a low profile for someone of his stature."

Figures have yet to be confirmed but a significant kitty would be made available for Shearer to use in the transfer market.

Aston Villa 1-0 Newcastle

Down Toon: Gareth Barry's shot is going wide, until a wicked deflection off Damien Duff (right) beats Steve Harper

Newcastle's 16-year spell in the top flight came to an end as Damien Duff's own goal doomed them to defeat at Aston Villa.

Duff deflected a 38th-minute shot from stand-in skipper Gareth Barry past his own goalkeeper Steve Harper to seal their fate.

It meant Magpies legend Alan Shearer had failed to work the miracle he was brought in to try and achieve with eight games remaining.

Newcastle have paid the price for a season of instability ever since Kevin Keegan decided to quit as manager in early September and Mike Ashley decided to put the club up for sale.

Joe Kinnear was brought in to try and rescue the situation until his heart problems terminated his involvement and led to Shearer getting the call.

But it was always going to be an uphill task to reverse a season of under-achievement and turmoil in such a short space of time.

Now Shearer has to decide whether he wants to take on the task of trying to help the Magpies regain their top flight status and is due to have talks with Ashley early next week.

He clearly has a massive rebuilding job ahead of them with the future of 15 players, reportedly on £50,000 or more a week, to be sorted out ahead of the less glamorous life of trips to Peterborough and Scunthorpe in the Coca-Cola Championship.

For Villa they can look back on another season of progression despite a late fade-out after automatically qualifying for Europe for the first time in 11 years.

But Martin O'Neill will need to add further quality and quantity to his squad in the summer if he is to seriously challenge for a Champions League place.

Before the kick-off Villa fans gave an emotional send-off to skipper and central defender Martin Laursen, who has been forced to retire because of a knee problem.

Gabriel Agbonlahor came close to giving Villa the lead after only two minutes when he powered a header over the bar from close range following a left-wing centre by Barry.

Villa dominated the early stages and knocked the ball around in confident style - but Brad Friedel was called upon to make the first meaningful save when he deflected a low drive from Duff around the post after he appeared to be initially unsighted.

Villa defender Carlos Cuellar then came to his side's rescue when he blocked a shot on the turn from Peter Lovenkrands on the line.

Obafemi Martins volleyed powerfully over the bar from 12 yards out after good play by Mark Viduka, before Harper reacted quickly to turn over a powerful drive from Craig Gardner.

Newcastle defender Steven Taylor became the first player to be yellow carded after 34 minutes for bringing down Agbonlahor 30 yards out.

Milner's free-kick went straight through the defensive wall but Harper was alert to the situation and able to save at the foot of a post.

The decisive goal came after Nicky Butt conceded a corner, appearing to indicate Harper had not given him a call.

The danger appeared to have been averted when Taylor headed out Ashley Young's centre - but Stiliyan Petrov headed the ball back to Barry, whose fierce shot struck Duff and completely wrong-footed Harper before finding the corner of the net.

Agbonlahor nearly doubled Villa's lead when his flick from John Carew's centre flew just wide of the far post - but Martins almost levelled in injury-time when he headed wide from Butt's free-kick.

Villa began the second half on the attack and Harper was forced to fingertip away an inswinging and powerfully driven corner from Young at full stretch.

Young took advantage of the Newcastle defence backing off to line up a shot from 20 yards out but he curled his effort past the post.

Harper was relieved when Milner dragged his low shot wide when unmarked 20 yards out as the Newcastle defence were prised open with ease.

Newcastle fans chanted "attack, attack, attack" but there was little evidence of their side threatening the Villa goal.

Shearer brought on leading scorer Michael Owen - who has been struggling with a groin injury - in place of Kevin Nolan after 66 minutes.

But Carew should have sealed Newcastle's fate when he miskicked with the goal at his mercy from an Agbonlahor centre.

David Edgar was sent off in injury-time for bringing down Ashley Young - his second bookable offence - and soon after the Magpies' fate was sealed.

Newcastle 0-1 Fulham

Fulham goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer saves a shot from Newcastle United’s Obafemi Martins

Newcastle boss Alan Shearer found himself back in relegation trouble after Mark Viduka was controversially denied an equaliser.

Trailing 1-0 to Fulham as a result of Diomansy Kamara's 41st-minute strike, the Australian thought he had levelled five minutes after the break to give his side a lifeline.

However, referee Howard Webb harshly chalked off his effort for a foul by Kevin Nolan on keeper Mark Schwarzer to dump the Magpies, who played the last half-hour with 10 men after defender Sebastien Bassong had been sent off, back into the mire with just one game remaining in which to save themselves.

Newcastle, who had soon to be out of contract skipper Michael Owen missing with a groin injury in what might have been his final game for the club, went close 12 minutes from time, but Schwarzer pulled off a fine save to deny Obafemi Martins, who had earlier hit the post, and then kept out Nicky Butt's injury-time effort.

They now face a trip to Aston Villa next Sunday knowing even victory might not be enough if other results go against them and with their Premier League status hanging by a thread.

Tyneside was shrouded in dark clouds, both literally and figuratively, as the final whistle sounded and a crowd of 52,114 filed out not knowing whether they will return to watch top-flight football next season.

The euphoria of Monday night's 3-1 victory over derby rivals Middlesbrough, which dragged the club out of the bottom three, had quickly been put to one side with no-one in the Newcastle camp in any doubt the job was nowhere near done.

For much of the first half, Shearer's men looked the more likely to take the initiative, but when they left the pitch at the break, they were trailing and back in trouble.

It might have been so different had Martins' 15th-minute shot not come back off the post after he had played a neat one-two with Nolan, or had Viduka managed to hit the target when presented with a free header, albeit from distance, by Danny Guthrie's cross 10 minutes later.

However, Fulham, who arrived sitting in seventh place in the table and in with a real shout of securing a place in the Europa League, had not just come along for the ride, and served warning of their intent six minutes before the break.

Erik Nevland ran on to Kamara's clever back-heeled pass and curled a shot towards the far post, and keeper Steve Harper was delighted to see it drop inches wide as he flung himself across his line.

But the Magpies did not heed the warning, and they fell behind two minutes later in controversial circumstances.

Danny Murphy's pass found Nevland in acres of space on the right and with the home defence appealing in vain for an offside flag, he raced away before squaring for Kamara, who evaded Bassong and Steven Taylor on the line to fire into the roof of the net.

Former Magpie Aaron Hughes blocked a Jonas Gutierrez shot as Newcastle attempted to hit back immediately, but St James' was once again bathed in anxiety as the players left the pitch at half-time.

Shearer's players returned in determined mood and might have been back in it within two minutes when Martins volleyed a Guthrie cross towards goal, but could not hit the target.

However, they thought they had levelled with 50 minutes gone after Viduka twice got the better of his former Middlesbrough team-mate.

The striker saw his header from a Guthrie free-kick cleared off the line by Dickson Etuhu, but there was nothing anyone could do to keep out his header from the resulting corner with 50 minutes gone.

But the Australia international's joy turned to misery within seconds when Webb ruled Nolan had impeded Schwarzer on the line, although television replays suggested the decision was harsh with the keeper not even appealing.

Newcastle laid siege to the Fulham goal as they sensed the time had come, but they were wasteful in promising positions with Gutierrez particularly guilty.

However, disaster struck on the hour when central defender Bassong was sent off for hauling down Kamara 40 yards from goal, and the Frenchman could have few arguments.

Martins got in 12 minutes from time only to be denied by Schwarzer, and the keeper pulled off a superb injury-time to keep out Butt's effort

Newcastle 1 - 3 Arsenal

Toon in the dumps but Wenger's happy again

Arsene Wenger began and ended the evening with that famous sardonic smile; one which would not be out of place should it be captured in oils and hung alongside the Mona Lisa.

The Arsenal manager popped into the press room before the game to monitor the afternoon results. Just to be sure Manchester United had lost at Fulham and Chelsea were losing at Spurs, he checked all three tellies.
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TWO GOOD: Goal heroes Samir Nasri and Nicklas Bendtner celebrate

You didn't have to offer him a penny for his thoughts - his slightly smug expression spared such extravagance.

'The other results provided us with a good opportunity - even if it is only a chance in a billion,' he said later. 'We are an improving side full of spirit and great quality. People don't realise how young we are - we had six players in the team between 20 and 22.'

If the news that Michael Owen had inexplicably been left on the Newcastle bench by Chris Hughton did not cause Wenger's grin to spread even further, it should have. His team's performance, full of free expression and style, certainly did.
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Wenger admitted he was surprised by Owen's omission. 'I don't know why. Maybe it was his physical ability,' he said. Whether it was bravery or foolhardiness, Newcastle's caretaker boss was taught a lesson in the folly of gambling when a situation cried out for the fourth highest scorer in Premier League history.

Referee Mark Halsey handed the home side an unexpected lifeline in the 23rd minute when he harshly awarded a penalty for Arsenal keeper Manuel Almunia's challenge on Ryan Taylor. You could sense Owen twitch in the dug-out. But Obafemi Martins strode up to become Newcastle's fifth penalty-taker of the season - and Almunia would have more problems picking daffodils than he did saving what was little more than a pass back.

The former Liverpool, Real Madrid and England striker hardly looked amused. Speculation is rife he took the news of his demotion badly, although Hughton insisted his decision had been received 'in a professional manner'. Owen's body language told a different story. Newcastle fans should make the most of him - he will not be around much longer.
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The hosts still gave as good as they got in a pulsating first half. Arsenal's defence resorted to panic measures and Kevin Nolan, returning for Newcastle after a three-match ban to make his 300th league appearance, went close to setting up Owen's stand-in, Peter Lovenkrands, in the 37th minute. But the ball hit the Dane on the backside bang in front of goal.

Newcastle needed superb blocks from Steven Taylor on Andrey Arshavin and Robin Van Persie to prevent certain goals, although he was lucky to be on the field for the second after a forearm smash on Arshavin in the 31st minute escaped the referee's attention. The second period was even better than the first.

Two goals in the space of 13 seconds set up the drama to follow. Nicklas Bendtner's header from a swirling Arshavin free-kick gave Arsenal a 57th-minute lead, but Martins cashed in on a William Gallas clanger to equalise.

Then two Arsenal goals in three minutes condemned Newcastle to at least a fortnight in the relegation zone, with Van Persie's slick passing providing both.

The Dutchman worked a superb one-two with Abou Diaby in the 64th minute before the French midfielder fired home. Then Samir Nasri benefited from Van Persie's spoon-feeding to squeeze the ball between Newcastle keeper Steve Harper and his near post.

If Harper was to blame for that, he redeemed himself with a series of point-blank saves as Arsenal, by now on a gluttonous rampage, could have doubled their tally. In between those Arsenal goals, Owen came off the bench as a 65th-minute replacement for the injured Taylor, but the damage had already been done.

Nolan shock at Trotters exit

Former captain Kevin Nolan has revealed his shock at Bolton Wanderers agreeing to sell him to Newcastle United during the transfer window.

The long-serving midfielder was sold to the Magpies for £4million last week and admitted the move to St James' Park came completely out of the blue.

Nolan had not asked to leave the Reebok Stadium and was surprised when the club told his agent that they were willing to sell him.

He told the Bolton News: "(My agent) told me Newcastle were on and did I fancy it.

"I asked him what the club had said about it and he said they were negotiating.

"It was a bit of a shock. There had been rumours in the past but they were always quashed, so I must admit I was disappointed that the club were prepared to sell me.

"I saw myself being at Bolton for many more years, but I've had time to think about it and it might be something I needed and something Bolton needed.