Episode 4 Late Kick Off North East and Cumbria

On tonight's Late Kick Off: This is an emergency - how FIFA's -- new

loan rules could Hammar our clubs. It would crucify us financially.

It is awards night. And from penguin suits to winter

woolies, but only one of our games was up casualty.

I am joined by Danny Mills, Steve Harper and Neale Cooper. I am so

relieved you're here, Steve. People will think this is a discussion

programme about male pattern baldness. How are you? You are out

on loan at Brighton but you may has been playing up again. It is just

old age. I went to the surgeon last weekend I do not need any more

surgery. I have had a couple of injections so I just need to get

the swelling down and get the muscle back up and I will it -- I

will be back in a couple of weeks. Was retirement concerning you?

you get to my age... How old are you? 37 next week. But you can go

on forever because you're a goalkeeper. Neale, welcome. Do you

have a bit of unfinished business at Hartlepool? Possibly. I am

grateful to be given the opportunity to be here again. I

have only been here for five weeks and it feels like I have never been

away. I have been made to feel welcome by the supporters and

everyone at the club. I will give it a big push from now till the end

of the season. Do you ever wonder what might have been? So close to

the championship in 2005. I know. These things happen. I am just

grateful to be given the chance again. I am thoroughly enjoying it

and doing my best to get us higher up the league. Is this true about

journalists contacting you? Somebody put your name into the hat,

you knew nothing about it, a journalist rang to say, what is

this about you coming back? And you thought, I will give it a go?

a phone call saying that the bookies were saying that I had the

best odds to get it. I had not heard nothing from anybody and it

came out of the blue. They ran a story in the paper and it just

seemed to escalate from there. I knew there were a lot of people in

for it but I thought, why not? I just sent a letter anyway and got a

couple of interviews. I am very grateful to be offered the job

again. Some bits must have changed, it cannot be the same. Not that the

club. A lot of the office staff are exactly the same. It is like

Groundhog Day when you go back. Of the players, there is Richie and

Micky Barron. Ritchie is still playing but also doing a lot of

coaching. Brown was just coming through when I left. It is a whole

new set of boys, and a really good bunch. They enjoy a laugh but they

also worked really hard. If you can get that fine balance, you do not

know what you can achieve. Steve, what a season at St James'. To be

one. Back off the Champions League. Phenomenal, an incredible season. -

- 1 point off the Champions League. People are expecting us to slip up

but the guys keep turning out the results. All of the players are

really mucking in, doing a shift. To finish in the top seven or eight

by the end of the season would be a wonderful achievement. What has the

manager done that is special this time round to get Newcastle playing

so well? A he is meticulous in his preparation. All of the managers I

have had before have been good at preparing teams but he just seems

to go that extra mile. He does a lot of the coaching himself. I

think he has appointed well with John Carter. The manager takes a

real hands-on approach. He is great with everybody, not just the guys

on the pitch. I like his man management style. He made you feel

special, no matter what. Is he still has seen? Yes. That is

important over the course of the season. You're going to use

virtually everybody. To be up there has surprised a lot of people, but

I do not think it surprised the manager because he has put the time

and effort in. If we can stay Lama can qualify for Europe it will be

phenomenal. And you have Andy Woodman as the goalkeeping coach.

Yes, he is unique, actually. He is doing a fantastic job with Tim. He

has been outstanding this season. Everybody is riding the crest of a

wave, and long may it continue. I am curious about the dynamic in

the dressing room, because there were factions a few years ago and

then there was a good, strong kind of English core, but now it has

changed again, there is a real League of Nations in there. Is

everybody staying together? Nobody splintering off? No, that would

show on the pitch as well. It is working. People are talking about

four or five big influences in the dressing room. We have big

characters and the work ethic is showing on the pitch.

The transfer window closed last week but that does not mean that

everyone stays put until the end of the season. The emergency loan

system allows clubs to strengthen their squads on a short-term basis

outside of the January and summer windows. FIFA have ruled that

emergency loans will not be allowed from the 2014-15 season. Our clubs

think that could spell trouble Newcastle United have the lead.

They are the stand-in strikers, the stop-gap stoppers, defenders of

last resort. An absolute outrage, what they're trying to do, but that

is FIFA for you. They make some absolutely crazy decisions.

provision allows our clubs to take players as short-term cover for

unexpected in this -- injuries or witnesses. Around 400 players each

season are temporarily transferred under the emergency loan system.

is a vital tool to bring in players from bigger, better clubs, to give

them an opportunity of first-team Many have made a temporary move and

thrived. Eight years ago, Stuart Dowling was loaned to Sunderland by

But the system itself is on borrowed time. In a statement to

Late Kick Off, FIFA said the emergency loan system is not

compatible with general principles of the FIFA regulations on the

status and transfer of players. In other words, it wants England to

come in line with the rest of the world. For us, it would be a

disaster. It would crucify us financially. It makes my job harder

because you know the Revenue is not going to be there at the start of

the season. Do you could overload yourself with players and cost

yourself financial problems. I do not think there has been a lot of

thought put into it. The bigger clubs might get away with it.

Smaller clubs will be massively against it. You must let us do our

trading all year round and scrub the window.

Graham Kavanagh's move to Brunton Park was in -- was initially an

emergency loan. The very history of Carlisle United would have been

very different had it not been for a special moment from an on-loan

goalkeeper called Jimmy Glass. corner kick comes in and the keeper

has scored! Jimmy Glass, the goalkeeper, has scored a goal for

Carlisle United! The system only allows emergency

loans to be made to clubs below the Premier League, but that does not

mean our top-flight managers are any happier. I think that would be

a problem because, for our younger players, the experience the game

when they go out on loan is essential. It allows them to play

at the level we a rat. We are lending some players out at this

moment to championship teams to further their education, for want

of a better word. Hopefully they can come back, having played 5, 6,

seven games in a relatively short period of time it can only be good

news. -- period of time. It can only be good news.

Manchester City are relaxed about the end of the rule. If the system

was taken away, I think a club like ours would be fine. If you are not

capable of getting the right players and you are struggling in

the league and you need more players, perhaps you have not done

your business right at the beginning.

At Middlesbrough, the manager says the system creating new

opportunities. Clubs will have to look at their systems. Maybe you

will have to dig deep into your own resources and a different system

will be forced clubs to play their younger players.

Great to hear the voice of the legendary late BBC Radio Cumbria

commentator Derek Lacey. The emergency loan window opens this

week, Neale, and stays open until the 4th Thursday of March for

Football League clubs. Greg is out raged. How vital tool is it for

clubs of your size to be able to borrow players when they have got a

gap because the squad is not big enough? I think it is very

important. I think what Greg has said is true. I have been watching

teams for the last three of four wakes, trying to get players on

loan. Maybe he does not know yet! I think it is vital. -- the last

three a four weeks. The man Agers of the clubs that you're taking

them from expect them to go when the team. It doesn't always happen

and that can be awkward. I think it is vital for a lot of the smaller

teams. You must have seen quite a few bodies go out of Newcastle over

the years, to go out and be honed. That is the argument from the big

clubs'' side. You get battle- hardened. That was the start of my

career - I went to Hartlepool and had three months in what was leaked

to them and then went straight to Huddersfield in what is now the

championship. I had a full season and then was in the first-team

squad at Newcastle. It works, or there are examples of its there.

The problem is, if they do not have the option of a loan, they will

have to have a bigger squad, which is more of a financial strain.

the other end of the scale, you have been on loan at Brighton this

season, which obviously... I would hope to do it again. When it closes

again in March, I would like that opportunity. We are all getting our

message is out tonight! I would like to go for the last month of

the season on loan somewhere. not think the system is bad at all.

I think it benefits everybody. You have big clubs getting their

younger players out for experience. The likes of Hartlepool get those

players in, have a better quality player, the fans are happy,

watching better quality football. More experienced players that have

been out on loan, younger players learn from them. I think it is a

winner. I hear you. Here is the problem: It

is a FIFA rule and FIFA make the rules for football. Somehow the

Football League have been getting away with this. The FA Premier

League has different rules to the Football League and we have three

or four tiers after that. Financially, it would cripple the

smaller clubs. Fans would disappear and clubs would go out of business.

You do not have to sell it to me but the whole point is that,

somehow, at the moment, the Football League had been getting

We talk about a player purchases being like purchasing a p sold

equipment from an oil company. He did not have a budget and have to

make a case. How does that work? They make a big picture and he says,

I was the Polish? He is supportive. I have gone out looking for players,

and if the club can budget to bring them in, then we have got to send,

obviously, all the details about the player and their strengths to

the company for them to have a look at. It really does look at it for

me business point of view? I do not think it is that bad. He just wants

to question the acquisition that you are trying to bring into the

club. There is nothing wrong with that. It is your decision. Will he

strengthen the team? Now you just look at Newcastle in the days of

the multi-million pound signings. It might have been a much maligned

by the fans at the time, but if you look at many of the signings, there

is more preparation and scouting done. At into character as well,

and important thing for Newcastle. That business model may be the way

football is going. You have to do ing boys into your club that fit

with what you have. I have seen boys into Hartlepool who are good

lad. You need to bring in the right characters. Newcastle is far bigger

than the likes of Hartlepool, but you cannot bring in people who will

upset your camp. If you would like to e-mail us with your thoughts on

the closure of the transfer window, the address is at the bottom of the

screen. If you fancy a break from Troy Barton's philosophising, we

are on Twitter. -- from and Julia Barton. Still to come, there is

always a good turnout when a female is a on offer.

Our cameras were at awards night. - - when a free meal.

20 years at Newcastle. A lot of that time as number two to others,

what is going through your mind at that time? What kind of the

mentality does it take to be able to play that role at a big football

club? I came in a very raw. It was my attitude that got me kept on. I

went on loan and was neck-and-neck, but then they just kept on. You end

up in some dark places, mentally. Under Graeme Souness, I played the

first game of the season in Slovakia -- in Slovakia, and never

played for the rest of the season. I thought I had a good game. It is

tough, and you start to doubt yourself. When you get the

opportunity, you tried to hard. It is hard, and looking back on it,

maybe I would change it. I was going to say, if you had your time

again, would you change it? All I ever wanted to do was play. That

championship season was fantastic. Half of the season last year was

really good. Looking back, who knows? You cannot change what is

done and, as I mentioned, there is still life in me yet. You did have

you how I in 2010. You were ever present in that team. That was your

high, obviously. That was a special season. The crowds were coming in.

It was a difficult time for the club, but the atmosphere in the

dressing room was something I will never forget.

Carlisle bounced back from the beating you give them. Are they

commercial contenders? I thought commercial contenders? I thought

they were defeated more than once in nine. They had a less defeats

and over 17 games had not lost a game. They would be looking to get

on the next lead, and it is competitive a new division. They

are a good side and like to play football. Miller was sent off early

in the game, but at that time, they were 2-0 up. I thought we played

were 2-0 up. I thought we played better when it was 11 versus 11. I

think we will definitely be up there contending if we get a little

run. We will try and get as high as we can. And borough lumber up for a

nil-nil against Crystal Palace. -- forays t 0-0 against Crystal Palace.

forays t 0-0 against Crystal Palace. With a smaller squad of young lad,

we said it was always going to happen. They might win it if they

play with a bit more freedom and expression. They came up against a

rampant Sunderland. Martin O'Neill has a terms that club around.

are flying now. If you miss any of are flying now. If you miss any of

tonight's show, we are on the height there. Warning, there is

For 31 years, north-east that all's glitterati has gone together to

celebrate the beautiful game at club -- across the region as the

North East football writers pay tribute to their teams, managers

and players, and he gets to swallowed usual attire for

something more luxurious. A what are you looking at my hair for?

I was having a little look. Turn the light off. Have you gone for

the day will bid tonight? You have gone for the Dilbert. --

have you gone for idea velvet. two brothers?

It is one of the rare occasions in the North East then we can come

together with their rivalry and raise money for a good cause.

is a fabulous place to play football. If you are not going too

well, you can get it as well. me something, do you carry this

around with you everywhere you go? When you go to the supermarket and

car were? It is actually, can you hold that?

It is too cold for me. Do you know where you're a ward is? You want

this a few years ago. I do not know. This evening was

actually postponed at last year after the sad death of Gary Speed.

Last year, it was Darren bench he got his grubby mitts on this little

beauty. They are so -- there is so much more to these awards than just

the big prize itself. He will have to help me, I have the

pamphlet that comes with the award, I'm not actually sure what it is

that you have won. This is in recognition of my testimonial year.

It is a real honour. It has been a real proud 12 months for me, on top

of the previous 10 seasons, too. You could feel the entity in the

room. When you got on stage, people were giving you one of the loudest

applause of the night. We feel at the hole there be north-east, if

but the country are behind us. The people do not realise that you're

at the Borough Academy and got released. I got a scholarship and

it has been good since then. A big thank-you to Tony Mowbray for

I want to thank we family, the staff and my team-mates. I enjoy

playing for one of the best club say in England.

You must a really good night mates. I am sorry you could not make it.

There was a shrewd tribute to Gary Speed, there was a round of

applause that went on for three minutes.

-- there was eight huge tribute to Gary Speed. We are still in a bit

of shock, really. Myself and Allen. A great player. And manager. He

looked set for a great spell as a national team manager. You're a boy

Ritchie Humphreys a right fully recognised. He is a dying breed and

we will never see his like again. Few people have stayed at a club as

long as he has, he has played over 500 games for them. A wonderful

that, and a great pro. You do not get many like a Red Sea, and I am

very pleased for him that he received the award last night.

planning for the future at the moment? You mentioned you had

planned. Yes I have. I have been refereeing school games but he will