 SOME of Newcastle United’s most promising youngsters could find a temporary home at Brunton Park next season, Carlisle United manager Greg Abbott has revealed. Part of Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley’s blueprint for the Magpies is to develop young players within the club’s academy. Whether discovered locally or bought in at an early age rearing such players is cheaper than buying the finished product. The likes of striker Andy Carroll, goalkeeper Tim Krul and defender Tamas Kadar were among those to play in Newcastle’s first-team last season. Now that the Tynesiders are back in the Premier League chances may be more scarce – though far from non-existent – and manager Chris Hughton has indicated to the Cumbrians he would like some of his promising talents to brush up their skills in League One. Abbott is a former coach at Leeds United’s highly-regarded academy and his role in developing Manchester City’s Adam Clayton, Chelsea’s Tom Taiwo and Stoke City’s Ben Marshall last season did not go unnoticed. All three initially joined the Cumbrians on loan, though Taiwo’s move to the League One outfit was made permanent in January. Goalkeeper Krul made nine appearances on loan at Carlisle in 2008-09, and greatly helped the Holland Under-21 international’s development. The deal would have been extended had the sale of Shay Given to Manchester City not necessitated his return. Having a club close at hand which can be relied upon to nurture their players is also of great benefit. Fraser Forster spent most of last season on loan at Norwich City. United were pleased with the arrangement and are considering allowing him to return next term. The Hexham-born goalkeeper spent half his week training on Tyneside, the other half in east Anglia – but simply traveling to Cumbria and back would clearly be far easier. The benefits for Carlisle are obvious too. Clayton and Taiwo were two of their best players last season, and did not cost a penny in transfer fees. Newcastle are just one of the clubs who have already indicated to Abbott they would like to loan him players next term. “I’ve told Manchester City, Newcastle and Sunderland players would be better off playing at this level – and their managers totally agree,” Abbott revealed. “All three have said if they can get them in our team we would rather have that than them playing in the reserves, so it’s a good situation for us. “The more links you can have with Premier League clubs the better, and we have made rapid strides in that respect with the likes of Newcastle and Sunderland, who have been very good to us.” Meanwhile, the agent of Vladimir Weiss is hoping to hear from Newcastle as the time to consider his options for next season nears. The financial situation at St James’ Park dictates that loan signings will be the order of the day this summer. And the 20-year-old Weiss is one of those under careful consideration. The Manchester City winger was on loan at Bolton Wanderers for the second half of last season, where Owen Coyle’s reluctance to play him and fellow loanee Jack Wilkshere in the same team severely restricted his involvement. With another raft of big-name signings guaranteed at Eastlands, City will be looking to loan Weiss out again, but not to sit on the bench this time. His agent, Juraj Venglos, says there has been no contact yet from Newcastle, however. “On Newcastle, I only know what has been reported,” he said. “We haven’t heard anything, and things will only be decided after the World Cup. I don’t know anything until then. “But Vladimir just wants to play football – and of course he wants to play at a big club. But he must make the decision himself and it will only come after the World Cup.” The Slovakian is a key figure in his country’s World Cup campaign, which will end on Thursday unless they beat Italy. | 
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