Unbelievable

but he's not a quality defender. So it is a lot of money. This. I would hate to see Mathijsen at our club. Very, very average..

Gomes? Dodgy keeper? I'd say Gomes is definetly not a dodgy keeper. Certainly a VAST improvement over Robinson. Good shot stopper but flaps more than an eplileptic Duck. Absolute nonsense. I´ve seen him for years in Holland now, playing for a rival team no less, and he is curently one of the best goalkeepers in Europe beyond a doubt. He won titles for PSV almost singlehandedly. I would say replacing Robinson with Gomes with all other things being equal would mean about 10 points more in the Premiership for them..

Imagine the reactions if Bin Laden himself would sit amongst the fans wearing a Toon top! We need somebody to photoshop that image.. mackems.gif

what's your point ? Just saying I've asked you questions that you didn't bother answering in the past and I know plenty of others have to. Err, no he wasn´t, not really anyway.. He mainly had to fund his acquisitions by selling players.Net spend so far on the playing staff (transfer fees) over a one year period has been well under 10 million, which is quite low considering what clubs around us have spent.. fact Maths not your strong point, eh? Enlighten me..

Err, no he wasn´t, not really anyway.. He mainly had to fund his acquisitions by selling players. Net spend so far on the playing staff (transfer fees) over a one year period has been well under 10 million, which is quite low considering what clubs around us have spent..

Surely not! Ashley´s shit smells of roses don´t you know..?

Sounds like the club is handling this really well..

Most people are delighted with signings like this particular one even though they'd never heard of the player before and it certainly doesn't qualify as a great statement of intent. Make of that what you will. I'm delighted it shows planks like you that what you read on teh internets isn't the be all and end all about what we're doing. Unfortunately you don't seemed to have taken it on board. Then again it's no surprise really. Harsh, considering I am not exactly crying with the wolves at every newspaper article that puts our club in a not so favourable light. All I am concerned about is our on the pitch activities, and so far Mr Ashley in his one year stewardship of the club hasn´t exactly blown me away with what he has done to that side of the club. Nor am I convinced he knows what the club needs. I mean, he wears the name of our worst player by a mile on the back of his shirt.. Don´t care about the press, but do care about the quality and depth of our squad. Are you happy with it? I asked you a question earlier about what you thought was required to make this a successful transfer window, which you seem to have conveniently ignored..

Most people are delighted with signings like this particular one even though they'd never heard of the player before and it certainly doesn't qualify as a great statement of intent. Make of that what you will.

No, I would have been perfectly happy to have our squad complete before the start of pre/season training providing we had got the right players in (quantitatively and qualitatively). If the club then came out and said this was all the business we would do and we had got all or most of our first choice targets that would make me feel very comfortable. If people (you?) would react to that the way you describe I would come on here and tell them to chill just like a lot of people are doing to me and others now. Of course, the reality is completely different sadly. You say there is no pleasing some, I say there is no pleasing everybody all the time. Again, I´m sort of abusing this thread to make my point. Jonas may well turn out to be a very good player for us, and I certainly hope he will, and come the last day of the transfer window we may well all be overwhelmed by our transfer activity (again, I live in hope), but so far I haven´t seen enough to suggest this will be the case and so I will remain ´on the fence´..

And I wonder why you have the rule for trolling when you don't even inforce it. What rule is that? Must be this one: http://www.newcastle-online.com/nufcforum/index.php?topic=20035.0 Can count yourself in on that as well now And my mistake, was sure there was a rule about trolling. Yeah Dave, ban us all please. The world will be a better place.

And I wonder why you have the rule for trolling when you don't even inforce it. What rule is that? Must be this one: http://www.newcastle-online.com/nufcforum/index.php?topic=20035.0

Oh yes, let's look at quantity rather than quality. Besides from that, how many players have these clubs let go, and were they as low on quantity as well as quality as us before the window started?

Your point being? I would say there is a significant difference in ambition between signing Germany's best player over the last decade and a mid 20's Argentina fringe player. How many times do I/we need to say: it's not about the price of this particular player, it's about a) the level of ambition shown with this transfer and b) our continued underspending on the playing staff. Shall I remind people of our playing staff enforcements in the January transfer window when we were in dire need of some reinforcements: a couple of youngsters and the world renowned Lamine Diatta, whom we've already let go (panic buying anybody?). In the last summer window our income from transfers was higher than our spending. This summer, I hope there will be no hiding place, because this squad can't afford to be further weakened. You're making a fool of yourself. How's that? We failed to reinforce the defense and midfield in the January window (failing to land Woodgate) even though this was critical at the time, so took a player on a 3 month contract in February after the end of the transfer window (like we did with Bernard earlier). Said player has barely featured and already left, so we are back were we started. The very definition of panic buying if you ask me. Or do you believe this is genuinely a sign of an ambitious long term vision? We didn't sign Woodgate, so do you think we should have got no one in at all to carry us over until the summer. Diatta was only ever an extra body, signed on a short term deal to give us a chance to have a good look at other players rather than panic buying and getting someone in without having a good look at them first. I would say getting Diatta in as cover for 3 months was the very opposite of panic buying. What had the club been doing before the Jan transfer window? Plan A failed, and it turned out we had no plan B except signing a player who had never played at the required level as a stop gap. If that's not panic buying I don't know what is.. I am quite obviously not saying we should not have got anybody in, I am saying we should have identified long terms solutions long before the January window opened and acted decisively.

Dave, serious question: when will you classify this summer transfer period as a success? What positions will need to be filled (first team players or squad strengthening players)? What kind of players should we be looking at (Premiership experience? International experience? From smaller leagues?) What kind of investment in the playing staff do you feel would be sufficient to achieve your aims for next season, and what are those aims..?

Your point being? I would say there is a significant difference in ambition between signing Germany's best player over the last decade and a mid 20's Argentina fringe player. How many times do I/we need to say: it's not about the price of this particular player, it's about a) the level of ambition shown with this transfer and b) our continued underspending on the playing staff. Shall I remind people of our playing staff enforcements in the January transfer window when we were in dire need of some reinforcements: a couple of youngsters and the world renowned Lamine Diatta, whom we've already let go (panic buying anybody?). In the last summer window our income from transfers was higher than our spending. This summer, I hope there will be no hiding place, because this squad can't afford to be further weakened. You're making a fool of yourself. How's that? We failed to reinforce the defense and midfield in the January window (failing to land Woodgate) even though this was critical at the time, so took a player on a 3 month contract in February after the end of the transfer window (like we did with Bernard earlier). Said player has barely featured and already left, so we are back were we started. The very definition of panic buying if you ask me. Or do you believe this is genuinely a sign of an ambitious long term vision?

Your point being? I would say there is a significant difference in ambition between signing Germany's best player over the last decade and a mid 20's Argentina fringe player. How many times do I/we need to say: it's not about the price of this particular player, it's about a) the level of ambition shown with this transfer and b) our continued underspending on the playing staff. Shall I remind people of our playing staff enforcements in the January transfer window when we were in dire need of some reinforcements: a couple of youngsters and the world renowned Lamine Diatta, whom we've already let go (panic buying anybody?). In the last summer window our income from transfers was higher than our spending. This summer, I hope there will be no hiding place, because this squad can't afford to be further weakened.

'Cos it's cool to moan now then sneak away quietly if things turn out alright. And if things don't, 'I told you so'. Basically, by predicting doom people can't lose. Or people express their concerns (not the same as moaning) because they are genuinly concerned..? Seriously, people go on about how much Ashley has spent on us, but including the buyout fee and debt payoff was just the price needed to acquire the club and doesn't directly affect us as supporters. So far, we have barely invested in the playing staff under this new tenure, and I seriously hope the people at the top realise what is required and act accordingly. After one year of sitting on the fence (or being pessimistic according to some, I'd prefer to call it realistic myself) I am yet to be convinced by what Ashley wants for this club..

It´s a quote from a dodgy chairman (http://www.mallorcacharteredsurveyors.com/en-news.asp?id=28) desperate to recoup some money to make up for his failings whilst in the process of selling up the club. It sounds rather like whinging to me, and I don´t know what to make of it.. Anyway, as I´ve said before, it´s not about this particular signing that I am increasingly concerned, it´s about our comparative low spending and our cost cutting culture compared to our competitors. So that's a no then. Case closed. Fair enough, guess I deserved that. Will you still be laughing if Harry gets SWP for let´s say 8 million now he´s supposedly missed out on Jonas? I know I won´t..

It´s a quote from a dodgy chairman (http://www.mallorcacharteredsurveyors.com/en-news.asp?id=28) desperate to recoup some money to make up for his failings whilst in the process of selling up the club. It sounds rather like whinging to me, and I don´t know what to make of it.. Anyway, as I´ve said before, it´s not about this particular signing that I am increasingly concerned, it´s about our comparative low spending and our cost cutting culture compared to our competitors.

I sure am. I need to to be able to tell you I told you so later on.. Do you remember last summer´s and this January´s transfer windows, because there is a pattern to be found..? What's the pattern? How many players who paid off their own contracts did we get? How much did we invest (substracting income from players sold)? How much did our competitors and the top 4 invest?

I sure am. I need to to be able to tell you I told you so later on.. Do you remember last summer´s and this January´s transfer windows, because there is a pattern to be found..?

Wtf!

Your point doesn't even make sense anyway. If you're not sure he's any good, why then complain at the fact he looks like not costing us much? Care to respond to my point about Portsmouth getting an £8m bid turned down for him btw? I'm not on about this particular player. I haven't seen much about him and there is always the small chance that he has just been nothing special until his mid 20's only to become a high class player afterwards. I'm not complaining about this particular player not costing us to much; I hope he has a role to play in our squad, but I will happily admit I AM worried about us chasing targets of this ilk while clubs that we are supposedly competing with are signing players of a much higher pedigree than us at the moment. A while ago we were all laughing at Parky (I believe) for saying we were going to need 100 million to get back in the top four. With the way other clubs are spending money like bever before he may well have been right, and if Ashley thinks he is being smart by lowering our cost structure and getting in players of this level on the cheap I seriously hope it doesn't backfire badly. All in all, I just don't understand all the enthousiasm about this deal. The 8 mill bid by Portsmouth is all paper talk (and we are all to keen these days to discard paper talk as rubbish), and in the end this is a player that we all HOPE will prove to be a good signing, not one any of us was hoping we would sign. In many people's minds he's already our first choice right midfielder: based on what I ask? Erm, no it's not. A direct quote from Mallorca's president. So this one player is indicative of our entire summer plans is it? ITK? Who are these 'higher pedigree' players? Modric and Jo I suppose, who else? I'd like to see that quote please.. One player may not be indicative, but it's hardly a great statement of intent either.. The players you mention are of a pedigree we hardly possess in our squad and have moved to teams we are supposed to be competing with. Also, I have painfully witnessed the tremendous quality Gomes is over the years in the Dutch competition and will tell you he is easily one of the best goalkeepers in Europe. As it stands, I would take Man City´s, Portsmouth´s, Everton´s and Spurs´squads over ours any day of the week. I hope you are right and I am wrong about our intentions this summer, but so far our actions in this and the last two transfer windows don´t fill me with great confidence, and I don´t think Jonas´capture is a particular reason to celebrate..

Your edit makes even less sense.. Nowhere have I suggested he is shit. There's nothing much to suggest he is of the class to make us compete at the top end of the table either unfortunately, which is all I was pointing out. Some people on here will make you believe somebody they had never heard of the day before they signed for NUFC is everything we have been crying out for the day he signs..