Mick

Been linked with him today.. Striker/winger at Ajax You’re going to slaughter him on twitter if we don’t sign him, aren’t you?

You have quoted Pardew commenting on when Ben Arfa did the same thing.

A real confidence booster there. If we go one down we all know it's probably game over.

That's a fail then.

I wasn't suggesting it was bad at all, we did what we had to and got the player that we needed. Both parties were involved in the contract negotiations and both agreed to it.

Probably but it was brought into this one for some reason, anyway it is a bit pointless as it doesn't really change anything.

You and skirge were the ones who were trying to appoint blame. You were agreeing with Skirge that Redknapp was to blame for the clause being made public, I’ve pointed out, and so have others, that Pardew was the one who made it public after all of us though that it had expired and you can’t seem to handle it. You said “This wouldnt be a story without Saggychops doing his usual tricks, his advisors also shoulder the blame for touting him everywhere since mind, dont particularly blame Ba for wanting to better himself but not by talking about it like he has.”

You said "Given that Pardew said it in a post match press conference after the Everton game."

Because it was back in September and I can't remember what the exact question was. I just remember him being asked about what the agent or agents had been saying and then the clause seemed to come out mid-sentence.

From The Mag. http://www.themag.co.uk/tyne-talk/ba-contract-clause-still-active-as-pardew-targets-agent/ Ba Contract Clause Still Active As Pardew Targets Agent Thursday 20th September 2012 by Mark Jensen In the build-up to our game in Madeira, Alan Pardew has surprisingly taken the opportunity to reveal that Demba Ba’s contract clause (widely believed to be a £7m buyout) is still active, rather than having ran out in the transfer window as was reported. Speaking to journalists ahead of the Maritimo match this is what the manager had to say; “The situation with him (Demba Ba) is ongoing in terms of his contract, as there is that clause in there and it makes us vulnerable. It is still open, the clause, in the next transfer window. Sometimes you have to be honest and I don’t think Demba has played particularly well, I don’t think Papiss Cisse has either, so Papiss might miss out next time.. Hopefully we will get a reaction from him too. At any of the top clubs you see the same thing, Robin Van Persie has missed some big games at Manchester United, it is about what is best for the team”. I hardly need tell you not to believe everything you read in the papers and it would be interesting to follow the trail back to where exactly the clause disappearing ‘story’ came from but for the here and now, why has Alan Pardew put this in the public arena at this point? In the summer I think most fans read the situation as follows; Demba Ba was happy to stay but the ‘people around him’ were actively trying to engineer a move due to money (for them!) that would be generated by a sale, throughout the summer the player didn’t do anything to suggest he was looking to move. In fact when Ba returned from his summer break he was keen to rubbish any claims that he was going to move. Maybe what Alan Pardew also said yesterday tells us why he has spoken out now; “I’ve told Demba I was disappointed with some of the comments around him but I will not let the words of anyone affect what I consider to be my good relationship with the player. I just think the agent stuff was people saying things they shouldn’t say”. I think we are dealing with two different situations here, yes I think Ba is undoubtedly annoyed that he was on the bench and also he doesn’t want to play wide left. However, the other part of the equation appears to be the agent(s) taking advantage of this to try and force a move elsewhere to activate their contract clause cash. Not for the first time I think Alan Pardew is cleverly using the press to get this out into the open and that the big problem is with the people around Demba Ba and not the player himself.

He was asked about comments that Ba's agents had made about him not starting against Everton, the question had nothing to do with the clause in his contract.

The clause came out during an interview with the BBC, it wasn't a written press interview and it was before the Maritimo game.

"Hello, we're a club with no money and a history of penny-pinching, we'll agree to anything you want so long as we don't have to pay out a transfer fee". "But if you do leave we'll make you out to be a bastard, just like we have done with other players who we've sold and we'll make sure the fans turn against you."

You can believe what you want.

I've found it, Pardew mentioned it after his agent kicked off when Ba was left on the bench. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/19655578 Demba Ba: Alan Pardew admits striker could leave in January By Ben Smith BBC Sport Newcastle boss Alan Pardew has admitted last season's top scorer Demba Ba could leave the club for £7m in January. The 27-year-old Senegal striker is believed to be frustrated at his current role at the club and talks over a new contract have reached an impasse. It was thought Ba's £7m buy-out clause expired on 31 July, but Pardew revealed it is still active in the new year. "There is that clause in his contract and it makes us vulnerable, " he said. "It's still open in the next window." The former West Ham striker's absence from the squad that travelled to Portugal for Thursday's Europa League tie with Maritimo is not linked directly to the ongoing situation. Newcastle are, however, exasperated by comments made by his agent Alex Gontran on Tuesday which suggested his client might seek a move away if he continues to play second fiddle to Senegal team-mate Papiss Cisse in the Magpies' attack. Pardew revealed he held talks with Ba before the squad left for Portugal and stressed that such statements would not be tolerated and that he wanted Ba to remain at the club. "'I have spoken to Demba [about his agent] and told him I was disappointed with some of the comments around him," Pardew added. "Sometimes it's out of his control and out of my control. "But we know each other well enough, and I've got no problems with him, because he is a team player who wants to do his best for the team. He has always been like that. "I just think the agent stuff was people saying things they shouldn't say, really. It doesn't really affect myself and Demba, because we've got a very good relationship." Ba's frustration is believed to stem from the second half of last season, when he was regularly deployed on the left to accommodate fellow Senegal international Cisse, who was signed from Freiberg in January. Despite starting the new season in his favoured position through the middle, Ba expressed his displeasure at being a substitute for Monday's 2-2 draw at Everton, where he came off the bench to score both goals.

I don't remember how it came out but thought that it was mentioned after one of our games and remember it came out of the blue, I do remember being surprised that it he actually came out with it.

You're right, that doesn't change anything though, does it?

The story was over after the summer transfer window, Pardew was the one who mentioned that he still had a clause in his contract.

Ba didn't sneak the clause into his contract, the club knew about it, the club went along with it and the club my lose him because of it.

You should watch us and then you would see that he cuts inside when he plays on the right.

He's the same on the left as he is on the right.

The same was said in the summer when we bought Anita yet here we are and our most used central defender is Williamson.

So we're after one player and it looks like it might be a forward, does that rule out the central defender we've needed for years?

You're checking, they'll not, they don't care as long as you have a valid ticket.