Danny Guthrie was the Newcastle goal hero, scoring in the early part of the second half  to secure the points for his team. Leicester survived two  penalty appeals for hand ball, the first when a shot from Taylor clipped Gallaghers arm and then for a more blatant handball by Brown which went unpunished.

Newcastle started the game with a weak looking team, missing the likes of Coloccini who has joined up with the Argentinian squad, but also without Butt, Gutierrez, Ameobi and Carroll through injury.

Caretaker manager Chris Hughton was happy with the win but said after the game that Newcastle are still keen to bring ‘one or two players in’ before the transfer window closes. He added that he is totally confident that no other players will be leaving the club at this stage.

“We had two players in mind and were hopeful something could be sorted out last week but that has not come to fruition. We will now look elsewhere and have identified other targets.”

The two players who have turned down moves to Portman Road are widely reported as being Sunderland players Dean Whitehead and Daryl Murphy.

Ipswich are about to embark on a two match pre-season tour to the Republic of Ireland where they will play Waterford United and Cork City. Roy Keane said after his sides recent defeat in a friendly against Finn Harps. which Ipswich lost 2-1, “I learned a lot about one or two of my players. I’m taking stock very quickly of what we have and what we don’t have.”

Gordon Strachan resigned from the post after the last game of the season and being a boyhood Hoops fan, Owen Coyle was immediately touted as one of the favourites.

However, in some news that will please Burnley fans greatly, the Scotsman has distanced himself from the speculation. He said that everyone is ‘putting two and two together and making five’. Just because he supported Celtic as a boy, doesn’t mean that he will take the position.

There is no doubt that his long-term future is uncertain, but as for what Owen Coyle’s next step will be – he is going on holiday. He is taking a well-earned break and doing so ‘as Burnley manager’.

As for the club themselves, well they are obviously very keen to keep hold of the man who has guided them to the top flight. They have offered him a contract extension and stated on their website that they have ‘not received any official approach from Celtic’, nor would they welcome one.

In the end though, it will all come down to what Owen Coyle wants to do. If he decides that the Celtic job is too hard to turn down – he will go.

However, to manage in the Premier League is also a huge opportunity and one that doesn’t come along too often.

Suggesting that the move is near completion, Stephen Wright is set to make an appearance for the Sky Blues when they take on Livingston tomorrow night. Should he impress in this game and the one against Kilmarnock on Saturday, he should complete his move to the Ricoh arena before the opening game of the season against Norwich City.

If Stephen Wright does sign on the dotted line, he will join Freddy Eastwood as a new arrival at the club. Speaking of the former Southend striker, I hope he does well this year. I don’t think he was given enough chances at Wolves to impress and at Coventry if he is given enough games – he will deliver. I am confident about that.

So what about Coventry’s hopes for the season? Well, according to the Championship football odds, they are more likely to get relegated than promoted. Considering they only avoided dropping to League One on the final day of last season – this is hardly surprising.

However, Chris Coleman is a good manager and he will be expecting a lot more from his team during his first full season in charge. The former Fulham boss will be expecting lots from the likes of Leon Best, Julian Gray, Elliot Ward and of course Freddy Eastwood. If these players perform to their maximum and a good team spirit is developed, then relegation shouldn’t be an issue.

Promotion talk is premature though and if I was to consider the outcome of Coventry’s season right now I would predict a mid-table finish. It will be an improvement on last year and considering how competitive the Championship is, that would be a good achievement for Chris Coleman’s men. In my opinion anyway. Whether Stephen Wright is part of this should become clear in the next few days.

Mpenza has also been linked with moves to Bolton, Reading and Leicester this summer.

Though according to his agent Rachid Tajhout, Mpenza has already met with the Tractor Boys and he told BBC Radio Suffolk they were hoping to receive an offer from Ipswich Town in the next week or so.

Emile Mpenza has made 30 appearances for Manchester City, scoring only six goals, following his move from Qatar in February 2007.

Derby County manager Paul Jewell is apparently looking to offload up to 10 players after their poor season in the Premiership ended in releagtion to the Coca-Cola Championship.

David Jones made four appearances for Man Utd. and played for the England Under-21s before moving to Derby last year.  But he has only scored seven goals in 47 games for Derby.

With Paul Jewell at the helm Derby will be some crtitics favourites to gain automatic promotion next season, though Wolves will certainly be one of my tips.

De Canio was the third QPR manager this season, when he took over in November from caretaker boss, Mick Harford, who in turn succeeded John Gregory.

When De Canio took over, QPR were at the wrong end of the table. But it is obvious that De Canio’s mid-table finish (QPR ended 14th in the Coca-Cola Championship) is not good enough for the future plans of co-owners Bernie Eccleston, Flavio Briatore and big money investor Lakshmi Mittal.

Luigi De Canio’s record as QPR manager:
Played – 35
Won – 12
Drawn – 11
Lost – 12

I believe QPR will be looking for automatic promotion to the Premiership next season and will need a manager with English football management experience. I also believe they will be looking for a mixture of youth and experienced big names to confirm their ambitions.

Luis Figo switching from Inter Milan stripes to West London hoops has already been rumoured, as has the ex-Chelsea & Watford manager Luca Vialli. But available English managers such as Sam Allardyce and Steve McLaren will surely be perfect for the job.

What is obvious to anyone is that Eccleston, Briatore and Mittal are not going to be content ploughing money into QPR while they remain outside the Premier League.

I will be putting a football bet on QPR for automatic promotion next season.

Loftus Road has seen its fair share of football genuises in the past. If I were the owner I would not only be talking to Luis Figo but already paving the way for him to wear the no. 10 shirt to follow in the footsteps of QPR legends from the past Stan Bowles and Rodney Marsh

But the former Barcelona and Real Madrid star insisted:

“It is a surprise for me, so I don’t know what to say about it.”

But then went on to say, “It’s nothing real at the moment!”

QPR are possibly the richest club in the UK, let alone west London. Next year I expect there to be some big name signings, and even though it may be a curtain call for Figo, wouldn’t it be great to see him involved in some championship football uk.