merlin

Time will tell...you can be sure I'll remind you if he does move.!

Frankly disappointing and a worry....if Chelsea won't do the deal, who will ? Hard to see this being resolved to anyone's satisfaction if his agents etc don't trim their cut drastically because the insurance is always going to be high in his case. Main problem for NUFC is if he starts sulking because nothing happens and then we have an unhappy and unproductive player on our hands. So far,he has not let his wish to move affect his game too much but that could change. In any event we would have to wait until his contract ends to replace him because we have more pressing needs in defence and Ashley won't spend on forwards unless they are priced competitively if he isn't getting money from the Ba transfer.

Brilliant post, agree 100%. Incidentally, which country is your pool in, expat...!?

Not really something we should be thinking about - if Ba leaves we need a replacement anyway because we are still light of a striker since Best went. IF Ba is replaced adequately then Debuchy's arrival would undoubtedly make us stonger...hopefully, it will bring Cabaye out of his strop as welll which would be a double bonus. Simpson has been a liability for over a year and his limitations both as a defender and a support to the attack were there for all to see in the last 2 games.

When he first signed this was all true...made instant impact at Everton in his first game and dominated m/f. You don't lose that sort of ability so either he has had his head turned - very likely in my view - or he is not responding to our style of play or what he is being asked to do...

Spending s---loads of money on players has been proven to work.....it depends who is doing the buying.... QPR may not have much chance of getting any of these players now, but are you saying that they would still be a crap side if they did..?

I'm convinced that Tiote has had his head turned by either Man U or Chelsea, which is why his performances are poor. Ferguson tried to buy him last summer but refused to pay the 20m we wanted..... If there is anything in this, he will go but maybe in summer.

Not surprised at all to see Ba seemingly on the way out. He has not really been committed to NUFC since the summer and he and Cisse just are not compatible as a duo. To his credit though, he has kept scoring and working hard although he is NOT a good target man and neither is Cisse because neither can hold up the ball when it is played up to them and they have defenders at their back. Crucial to replace him properly and whilst Remy seems to be a skilful forward, it remains to be seen whether he will enjoy the cut and thrust up front in the PL. Unfortunately, the club have got themselves into the position of being beggars and beggars cannot be choosers. The time to buy players is when you are doing well and preceived to be on the up - more reason why the summer was wasted. On the credit side of this transfer, Ba's value and appeal to other clubs will decline after a year or so as he gets older and people begin to take account of his suspect knee so provided he is replaced properly I don't have too many problems with him leaving as he seems to be a bit of a lone-wolf mercenary. Unfortunately, I don't think Ba will be the last of the decent players to leave.....almost certain Cabaye will go in summer because he is currently disillusioned and we WILL miss his talents.

Any half-decent striker must rub their hands when they see we are visiting.....

"the f***"? So you're happy to admit that your hypothesis is potentially squillions out and might have no bearing on reality whatsoever but you're prepared to use it as a stick to beat Ashley with nonetheless, plus you'd have been quite happy to end up with just Colo and one good centre half with Taylor as the only backup, putting us back in a situation where one or two injuries means a totally makeshift central defence? Doesn't sound like a great way to display ambition and build up the squad to me. You bet it's a worthless road to go down - you haven't really made any sense whatsoever. If you're that happy to rely on 'kids coming through' then there's no problem is there? Real weirdness from all angles from you there why am i biting but run a poll to ask if people would be happy with colo, douglas, saylor and perch (4th choice) as your CB pairings at the start of this season and i think you'd have a resounding yes mate never said the prices were accurate and in fact it doesn't matter hence why you're clinging onto it...i could have been 10m in my estimations, it still needed to happen Well, that ambition-at-any-cost mentality is where we differ I suppose - and obviously where you and a lot of supporters differ from Ashley. That's fine - you think the correct thing to do is just lob more money at it no matter what, and I think that's a daft thing to do even if it means you have a shitty transfer window here and there. No problem, Freddie. you're off your napper man Relegation costs much more tollemache, surely you can see that? What was it they reckoned, 50 million or somewhere in that region? also, the thought that 10m would be too much to all but ensure a top class defence for the next 3 years So relegation is a likely consequence of not managing to buy a centre half in the summer? Disagree Then you are very much in the minority....it wasn't just the failure to buy a CH that has put us in a mess, but also the decision to persist and gamble on Simpson instead of buying Debuchy.

We didn't try hard enough then did we, and at this time it's cost the club potentially £7,500,000 in prize money. Also, the loss of not bringing in the two players we required will probably have a knock on effect and make it even more difficuilt to bring in the type of player that we want. It's easier to bring somebody into a team who have just finished 5th than it is to bring players into a 15th placed team. Yep. It might prove to have been a cock-up long term. It might mean we end up slackening our transfer policy and being a little bit more willing to push the boat out. What it doesn't mean is that the owner doesn't know what he's doing. At worst it was a cock-up and our policy needs to be tweaked. At best it's a sign that we actually have a policy, which is a relief after the Shepherd days and will serve us a lot better than his approach did in the long run. no, it means he's a gambler which we always knew...his gamble was to set his prices and not move on them based on the understanding that simpson and williamson (in particular) would have another decent season the gamble failed, badly It isn't the first time he has gambled and failed either...both with NUFC and in his oen financial dealings a few years ago...

Agreed - can't be bothered to argue the point with him at all. Owners/Directors are there for one purpose...to appoint the manager, see that the club performs UP TO ITS CAPABILITIES and provide the finance for players the club and manager need to take the club forward. If they fail to do that, they fail as badly as a poor manager can do.

This was a disgrace but it summed up the side....the forwards and m/f did a good job until the ever-solid back line let them down once too often and they lost heart in the final 20 mins. Pardew - once again - compounded all this by removing Bigirimana AGAIN, and our m/f fell apart...Arsenal, refreshed by Giroud coming on, duly poured into the gaps and rubbed our noses in it well and truly. It defied belief that Simpson repeated his throw in error of this fixture last season which cost us that game...it probably did again this time because a goal against us was the result of his sloppy throw-in which gave Arsenal possession. The only slight mitigation was the lack of movement to give him clear alternatives but that is no excuse. Tiote was a disaster, and looks to be playing for a move...obviously been told to play poorly so that someone like the old idiot at OT can sign him cheaply. I would NOT play him in the first team once Anita is fit to play alongside Bigi who I thought was immense for his age....he certainly didn't deserve to go off. Marveaux had another excellent game and hauled us back into it twice...his brilliant cross for Ba and his own goal at the far post. Didn't deserve to be on the losing side and Obertan also caused them problems with his direct running. Santon had a dire game where everything he did went pear-shaped and this, added to the uncertainty by Perch - good in m/f not a CD - and Simpson gave Colo a very busy afternoon. As a fan of around 50 years standing, I can only recall us losing by 7 goals once...in a LC game at OT in 1976 and it was a bit of a fluke...this was partly self-inflicted and the club is in a huge mess now. They have let down the most loyal supporters in English football badly and none of those in charge should be anywhere NEAR Newcastle United after their shoddy and cheapskate policies. I don't care what anyone says...Pardew is not fit to manage us and he is simply reverting to type...the sad fact is that those running the club could not get a better replacement and that, as much as any transfer non-dealings, illustrates just how our standing in the game has fallen. No good trying to use these hard fixtures as an excuse...they know we have to play these sides and their policies have ensured that we have sent teams there likely to be taken apart at the back - we have failed to beat teams we should be beating and that is where the trouble lies, not losing at Man U or Arsenal, but the manner of surrender at the Emirates was a spit in the eye for every NUFC fan. Even if the owner and his shill decide to buy some players, we are in a poor position to recruit...other teams know we are in a mess and will demand a premium price which will cause Ashley to back down, thus illustrating the foolishness of his summer tight-wad antics...any decent players will be reluctant to join a relegation-threatened side too, and the suggestion of someone like Lescott on loan is probably as good as we'll get, but we all know what the board think about loans... Even with Taylor, Cabaye and HBA back, we face a torrid last 4 months of the season now.

A silk purse from a sow's ear you cannot make...no matter HOW many hours are spent training.

I stopped reading after you described Simpson and Williamson as 'creditable first teamers'...

...remind me - how many games did Woodgate play for us before we managed to unload him to Real Madrid..?

Yep...another on-the-nose post...quite right.

This - nail on head. Whilst other posts have been good and very detailed, this one goes right to the heart of the problem.. Also, I disagree that its impossible to go down...any team that concedes 4 goals after pulling back deficits 3 times has EVERY chance of going down if the squad is not strengthened adequately. We are a total shambles of a club right now and the sooner everyone realizes this the better.

Defend properly ? Not with Williamson and Simpson in the side...oh well - at least Williamson seems to be counted out this time !

Pay peanuts, get monkeys....

Why don't you try reading my post properly this time...?

You have a small time view of the club you are supposed to support - read CP 40s post..... Incidentally, the US IS scared of N Korea because they know they would have to nuke them to be sure of winning...and risk the same in return.

Maybe you need to try some....

The truth of the matter is that ever since we emerged under SJH and KK in the early 90s, Ferguson has had a pathological FEAR of Newcastle United truly fulfilling its potential. He was shocked to the core, not only by our shooting up the PL so quickly after promotion, but also(and, more importantly in my view)by the incredible supporter base we quickly built up, with 20,000 being on the waiting list for STs by 1995. Had Sir John's plans for a new stadium at Leazes Park gone ahead, we would have surpassed their total capacity at OT...why do you think they rushed into expanding the place ? We played them off the park in that fateful game at SJP in March 96 and had any of the numerous chances we made gone in during the first half, I reckon we would have tanked them and gone on to win the title. In that event, the history of Newcastle United since would have been VERY different...KK would never have resigned in Jan 97 and we would have been Man U's PL rivals for the next 10 years. Doesn't anyone realize that Ferguson KNOWS all this ? He had to resort to making insinuations about Stuart Pierce and Forest to try and unsettle us and unfortunately, KK fell for it by responding on Sky....the time for doing THAT was after the season was over. The only truth in his statement about the size of Newcastle United is that the thinking of the Board IS 'wee' to quote his quaint description....unfortunately, that thinking is probably shared by the manager and quite a few of our fans who think we should be happy with the scraps thrown at us as in last Summer's transfer window. NO Club...and I include Ferguson's spoilt plaything - would have the sort of support we do after 43 years of non-achievement and several relegations. THAT is what scares Ferguson - and the UK media, esp Sky and the BBC(Liverpool fans to the core) because they know that the threat is ALWAYS there...if we had had the people now running Man C in charge I have NO doubt that we would have also won the PL and Ferguson would look even more stupid than he is if he made such comments then, because we would be on their shoulders every year. The only surprise about this is that he has chosen to say these things at his age, when clearly he is heading for the exit. He should be considering which 'wee' bolt hole he is going to choose to hide all his wealth from the UK tax man rather than making himself look like the football equivalent of Silvio Berlusconi... He is another one who thinks his days are unlimited..... Not to mention his viagra supply ! Will be glad to see the end of this guy as a manager - nearly as much as I will to see the current regime at SJP replaced by a better one..we hope !

The fact that Ferguson got away with this intimidation of officials once again shows how corrupt and in the pocket of Man U that the FA are....compare this with Pardew's punishment after he grabbed the 4th official's arm..... Bernstein and his colleagues are not fit for purpose and should be sacked.