merlin

Not any more - the Top 4/5 can spend big money but the rest are living on overdrafts and borrowed time. Just wait and see....

The whole situation is now in a state of flux - it is obvious that players will have to be sold to raise money to strengthen, but its hard to see how this can be done without weakening the side in other critical areas. Being realistic, the only players we would get decent fees for are ;- Jonas(poss 5m, depending on the WC) Coloccini(ditto) Carroll(poss 6m) S Taylor(poss 7-8m because he has a more proven PL record than the others) Barton would fetch a fee, but we would be lucky to get 3m for him ; Nolan, poss 3m at best. We could also sell Enrique for upwards of 5m but he is a player we REALLY need to keep. Losing the 4 I first mentioned would bring in poss 25m - around the total that we really needed to spend to ensure PL football WITHOUT losing players....as you can see, Hughton has a VERY tough task in front of him. Ideally, I would sell Krul(we have Foster), Best(yes, I know..)Simpson, R Taylor and other fringe players, but we are not going to raise more than 5-10 m doing that. We will need to sign Bosman players as I said in the Statement thread,but Ashley is unlikely to pay the wages they will demand. Fun times ahead.....

This is what I believe this statement conveys Dave. The words 'no capital outlay' mean that there will only be signings made from any monies that come IN to the club...whether this includes Sky Prem funds is open to interpretation but at first glance it appears that the only signings will be those funded by outgoing transfers OR by signing players on Bosmans. If that is the case, then Hughton should be getting in touch with Kris Boyd and Kuranyi's agents ASAP because those type of players are going to be grabbed by other clubs such as our dear friends on Wearside or the likes of Brum. Whatever the interpretation, Hughton's skills as a manager are going to be well and truly tested in the coming season - as a result of reading this statement I would revise my view of what the club can achieve over the coming season because finishing 17th is going to be a major achievement. I have no problem whatsoever about the Board's stance over Press and Agent communication etc - about time some professionalism was introduced in those fields - but it looks as though whatever talent the club feels it has on the books is going to have to keep NUFC in the Prem.... Some painful match-days ahead, methinks....

When we signed him, Shearer was just about the best CF in Europe - he is a better leader of the line than Rooney(physically stronger)and he and Lineker at their peak would have been devastating - esp with Beardsley behind them.

Whoops - missed out Peters

Banks Newton Cooper Gerrard Charlton J Moore Ball Beardsley Gascoigne Shearer Lineker

WC is the best International tournament in the world - bar none. Always enjoy watching it but not every tournament is as good as the last - this doesn't really depend on whether England do well or not, but it helps ; Mexico 86 was excellent, some great matches even though we got knocked out by the infamous Argie hand. There are always some surprises... Trouble is that England are the International equivalent of NUFC - raucous over-confident fans buoyed up by local media hype with players who think they are better than they are, then the big let-down when it comes to the big occasion - esp if it happens to involve pens..! Hated the whole set up when Sven was(supposedly)in charge, but the ghastly WAG camp-followers were the centre-piece of the whole pantomime. When we won in '66 and played well in Mexico 70 but lost, everyone was behind the side because in those days the players were part of a disciplined outfit and were capable of beating most teams - today the likes of 'The Sun' and other down-market media have turned it into a sleazy carnival, but at least Capello has brought proper discipline and focus to the side and I think they may at least perform as if they mean it this time. Inevitably, there will be controversy - I expect the refs to bend over backwards to ensure the South Africans stay in until at least the QFs...for a variety of reasons but mainly for the money created by spectator interest...remember S.Korea !?? Reckon we should get to QFs with a bit of luck and no major injuries because there is no stand-out candidate - even Brazil are a bit of an unknown this time.

Spurs will take some shifting from the top 4 now - as a London club, they have a huge advantage over clubs like NUFC, Everton etc and they will be able to sign better players more easily. Unless Liverpool are taken over by mega-rich ambitious people, they will struggle to keep Spurs out of the Top 4. As for our prospects, we are basically aiming for Europa League at best and that won't be for a few years.... To be fair, Redknapp has done a good job in the short time he has been there and they HAVE supported him. They have good players too, so those that hate them will have quite a few years of teeth-grinding to face, I fear !

I agree with your conclusion - Babel is still young and in my opinion has been ill-used by Liverpool. He would create a lot of danger alongside Carroll and players with his background are definitely not unintelligent players - Ajax youth training doesn't do unintelligent players..... Reservations are 1) His relatively poor scoring record and ; 2) That I also agree with your first comment...!!

how so ? edit...forwards aren't always as naturally agressive.....not always maybe but often are. full backs often aren't as big and strong as midfielders...so what ? defending is as much a skill as attacking and what players do off the ball is often more important than what they do on the ball (it's often more than half the job). the best teams are organised throughout and attack and defend as teams. I agree defending is as much a skill as attacking, I just think they are different skills and that attacking requires more of what you might call 'technical ability'. They are fundamentally different though... defending is psychologically about being destructive - stopping play, getting in the way, blocking, destroying. Attacking is fundamentally creative. I guess I'm biased because I've always appreciated good attacking play more... you make a lot of good points about the importance of defending, it's obviously vital. You cannot succeed at any high level in football without a good defence - yes, you need a balanced side and forwards generally have a better level of close control and speed off the mark(which they need to get past top defenders) but defenders generally are better at reading the game because they have to anticipate danger before it arrives. Bobby Moore was a great defender mainly because of his great reading of the game but he could also tackle brilliantly - as in the 1970 WC game v Brazil in which he was outstanding. As for the tackling thing, I have only ever seen one forward who could do it reasonably well(i.e. without fouling his opponent)on a regular basis and that is Peter Beardsley - remember his tackle/winning of possession/chipped goal v Brighton in 84 ? All the top sides build from the back - Clough, Revie, Shankly AND Fergie have done this and it works because unless you have brilliant forwards/midfielders like Brazil 1970, you stand a better chance of picking up points in difficult away matches if your defence can frustrate the opposition ; they in turn can only break such a defence down if THEY have top forwards and only 4 or 5 sides in the Prem possess these. Everyone wants their side to play brilliant attacking football, but this is like expecting everyone to be able to buy a villa in Bermuda - its not realistic, and you have to do the best with what you are able to afford.

This is closest.

There is merit in adopting a physical style of play when newly-promoted, but it needs organisation AND the right players to do this successfully. Leeds in the 60s were hated for years because they were a very physical side(Big Jack, Norman Hunter, Bremner and Giles - much dirtier than people think because he could also play - spring to mind), but they knew exactly where to stop without incurring too many cautions. I don't believe we have the necessary players to do this at present. In today's refereeing climate, Leeds wouldn't get away with half they did then. Carroll is a good physical target man but unless we either have another big man who is as much a goal threat as he is, OR a proven fast Prem quality striker alongside him, we will not reap the benefit from his unsettling of defenders. Also, you need a MOBILE midfield who get up quickly to support the big strikers - a player like Dorrans is ideal for this because he has pace and skill but NONE of our midfield really fit this bill apart from maybe Guthrie and he is not in Dorrans' class. The midfielders need to offer a goal threat so that the opposition defence cannot simply rely on snuffing out the big guys up front. Midfield is crucial if you want to play this way because the players have to be both strong tackling and quick - they have to do a lot of work tracking back & forward. Finally, our CDs are not really physical or quick enough to get away with tight marking on Prem forwards - Colo reads a game reasonably well, but got caught out by the pace of Prem forwards and was often wrong-footed by them...hopefully he will do his homework next season before facing the opposition forwards so he knows which side they prefer. The Everton example is a good one - Moyes concentrated on making them hard to beat and play against in his early years so that they could sign better players as they improved their position in the Prem but they also had some good kids coming through and still do. Stoke are a very physical side but they lack Everton's skill factor now. They will be difficult to beat next season but may have a more difficult time than they had this year. Wigan, since Martinez joined them, are a better footballing side than many think and they may do better next season if they keep players. It's all up to Hughton and his signings as to how we play and how successful we will be.

Did you take the trouble to actually READ all of the post......? If you had, maybe you would have had a proper comment to make.

Players like Martins are the living proof of what was wrong with Newcastle United - bought for an excessive fee as a cast-off from a REALLY big club who replaced him with 2 truly world class strikers in Crespo and Ibrahimovic. NUFC signed Martins because we had a second-rate manager in Roeder and a Chairman who was to Newcastle United as the late Cyril Smith MP was to hang-gliding...and Smith was a VERY heavy man...! Roeder needed a so-called 'star' name to accredit himself with the fans and no one who fitted that bill was going to sign for him OR Shepherd so they got Martins for 10m thinking(correctly, in many cases)that the fans would think he was the best thing since sliced bread because he cost a big fee and came from Inter. The fact that so many fans would have Martins back after he proved not fit to lace Shearer's boots as either a goal-scorer OR a footballer in the Prem shows how successful Shepherd and Co were at selling the idea of the 'King's New Clothes'...Martins at best was a player who scored great goals - but not often enough and who did NOT contribute as much to the team as he should have done ; in short, a loose cannon who promised more than he delivered. I would have thought we had had enough of that type of player and at least, because of the budget restrictions, that type of signing is a thing of the past at NUFC - we want a TEAM - NOT a group of individuals.

No. Wasn't good enough when he was here, why should he be good enough now? Agree - headless chicken who has been WELL sussed in the Bundesliga ; wouldn't touch him with a barge-pole. 6 goals in 6 starts, sounds like defenders have had a right laugh with him. Please, do your research instead of just posting the nonsense that lingers inside your head all of the time. I'm afraid its YOU that has a monopoly on 'nonsense lingering in the head' - you had a long-running battle with macca recently, and you got more hysterical and detached from reality with every posting but you have exceeded yourself with this - If Martins was the stunning success you make him out to be, why was it that the Germans didn't play him ALL the time...6 MATCHES ? You use this as a yardstick for his success, but obviously the manager of his team was not as impressed as you and not surprisingly - German sides demand FAR more than a flash in the pan every few games, they want CONSISTENCY, something Martins has consistently failed to produce over a period of more than one season. They also want a good first touch, not that of someone who couldn't trap a medicine ball..! If I were you, I would learn from that age-old saying - engage brain before operating mouth - do us all a favour and learn a bit about football, something NUFC fans were once famous for.

This is probably closest to the mark - IF McClaren has been trying to learn Dutch and speaking it with the players etc., he may well have adopted their mode of speaking when lapsing back into English, but if he hasn't been learning the language he doesn't need to speak as he did because most Dutch would understand him perfectly well anyway. I have lived in Oz for 6 years, but have VERY little, if any, accent although you do adopt some of the sayings. This is probably because I am not working and therefore not talking to Aussies each and every day - kids that come here with their parents adopt the accent within 3 months because they are with Aussie school-mates every day.

The club should be aiming for 45-48 points, which means winning 10 home games and picking up at least another 4 points from home draws. This then leaves us needing to collect 11 plus points from away games - not an unreasonable ask, but one that will only be achieved by the team strengthening we know is needed. It sounds easy on paper, but if you look at who we have to play, it is FAR from easy...remember, we failed to beat WBA in 3 games and lost one of them - WBA will be the bookies' second fave for relegation in my opinion, so it shows how tough the task is.

The club has won respect from other CCC clubs - most comment I have seen on independent sites has been congratulatory and acknowledging that NUFC were worthy winners of the league. Those from PL clubs who bothered were generally pleased we were back in the Prem, but the general view among PL fans next season will be to treat us as cannon-fodder. There will be few accusations of 'delusion' against our fans for the simple reason that big signings are unlikely, so we will not be viewed as a threat. The only fans bothered about us will be the Mackems(inevitably)and clubs like Brum, Wigan and the Hammers with whom we will be competing to stay up. It will take dramatic events on the field(in the best way)before PL clubs' fans start taking NUFC seriously.

No. Wasn't good enough when he was here, why should he be good enough now? Sadly we are still lacking: http://img191.imageshack.us/img191/1271/blackpowersalutejpg.jpg Doesn't matter WHAT colour the power is and we have enough of that up front with Carroll. We need skills and pace not just power....

No. Wasn't good enough when he was here, why should he be good enough now? Agree - headless chicken who has been WELL sussed in the Bundesliga ; wouldn't touch him with a barge-pole.

Everyone enjoys it when the team is winning - also, for those visiting CCC grounds for the first time it was probably quite refreshing. Nevertheless, being in the CCC is a backward step for a club like NUFC and success in the Prem is the ONLY way to judge a football club of Newcastle's size ; being a big fish in a small pond is just under-achieving.

If I had the choice of who to replace Jonas with, I would go for Wright-Phillips ; far more pacey, and creates more danger in the box(witness his impact on Saturday;s game with Villa). Sadly, I don't think NUFC would pay his wages or likely fee, and doubt that the player would come to SJP. Players like Ambrose are no better than what we have.

No. It is true in my opinion that some fans will call for Hughton's sacking in October if we are in 15th - which would be wrong because he's the one who got us back into that league so he deserves a chance of a full season in that league. Doubt VERY much that people will be calling for Hughton's head if the club are 15th in the Prem in October, or even at Christmas - if we are 18th at Christmas, they certainly will and if the team hasn't been strengthened in a few areas, they will be correct provided he has been given money to spend.

Your theory can be turned on its head, Cajun - if the selling club puts a higher value on their WC player than buying clubs are prepared to pay, the sellers will end up with egg on their faces if the player has a POOR WC, or his team are eliminated early. In any case, a player should not simply be judged on what he does over a few WC games - the buying club should have done their homework long before that by watching him in league action regularly - Oh, wait, this is Newcastle...! Remember that outstanding WC winner Gui'Varch..! Didn't we have Guivarch signed sealed and delivered before the 98 WC started? No.

Your theory can be turned on its head, Cajun - if the selling club puts a higher value on their WC player than buying clubs are prepared to pay, the sellers will end up with egg on their faces if the player has a POOR WC, or his team are eliminated early. In any case, a player should not simply be judged on what he does over a few WC games - the buying club should have done their homework long before that by watching him in league action regularly - Oh, wait, this is Newcastle...! Remember that outstanding WC winner Gui'Varch..! None of this detracts from my central point that players a club wants should be sorted out ASAP after the season finishes. Also, when you watch WC games, listen to commentary - you will find that they will often remark that 'so & so player is joining club X after the WC' so clubs OFTEN get agreement from players they want BEFORE major tournaments. They said this about Modric during the 2008 Euro Tournament because it was thought he was joining NUFC...then Spurs gazumped us over his wages...... Incidentally, I NEVER rated Gomis.....