Wallace

At the beginning of the season with their latest plan to break even in 5 years, they cannot ever have anticipated they would get £35m for Carroll and that £30m of that would be paid up front. So what does that mean now for their plan? Has this set the pattern for the future or was it a one-off? On a financial basis, they must be well ahead of where they envisaged they would be at present whilst the players are exceeding what was expected of them. So will Ashley be inclined to invest in the team to ensure they are a comfortably top-half of the table team with no relegation worries for the next few years (thereby guaranteeing the TV income) or will he look for a quick fix by selling some players for as much as he can in the Summer and hope that their replacements will do the job for him?

But Mike only sells players reluctantly once they have submitted a transfer request!!!!

A Scottish journalist on the radio said that Dalglish was watching that Celtic left back yesterday and he reckons he is the real deal and will cost around £6m. If that is the case, then hopefully Liverpool will move for him because Enrique will be more expensive than that.

I didn't know he was angry, is there any evidence to support that? Anyway, nobody knows the workings of how we conduct transfers so this is a totally pointless argument. It was reported in the papers that they were not impressed with the signings of Best and Perch and that was one of the contributing factors in Hughton's sacking. (Although Hughton was going to be sacked regardless). They did the same with Keegan - claimed credit for Bassong and blamed Keegan for Xisco until the truth came out.

Carlton Cole signing would contradict everything Ashley has said before. He is not so young anymore, there will be little resale value and he is a crock who has failed medicals in the past (though recently we seem to be happy to take a chance on crocks).

TBF that is what he is saying really.

And at Blackburn where he was fantastic, he just went straight down the tunnel.

I think the reason more players did not leave when we got relegated was more to do with Ashley and Llambias abandoning the club whilst they tried to sell it. Agents said at the time they had clubs interested in some of the players but there was no-one to contact at the club who was able to make a decison. By the time, they realised they would have to get involved again in running the club, it was too late to move too many on and I guess the players were resigned to staying put at that point.

I like how we've gone from being a "trophy signing" club to being a trophy sale club, and it's being spun as a good thing. IMO Ashley's been as lucky as f*** this season and last. We'll see how it all pans out in the future, and if we do well in the next couple of seasons I'll give him credit for it. FWIW I hope you're right about the direction of the club. They say there's a first time for everything. I agree that Ashley has got lucky in the last couple of seasons. He should thank the players and Hughton for that - if they didn't have such a good team morale, personal pride and collective responsibility then we could have seriously struggled if the attitude of the players when we got relegated had prevailed.

Hopefully it will curtain Liverpool's spending plans until it is resolved.

I fear that might happen. Did Konchesky play for Pardew at West Ham?

http://www.journallive.co.uk/nufc/newcastle-united-news/2011/02/17/joey-barton-has-doubts-over-carroll-cash-61634-28185189/

Nope it's on the form I really don't see it anywhere. I see the option to renew for 1 year or the 10 year option but nowhere for the 3 year. Is it not only an option for the people who previously had the 3 year deal? It's as clear as day on my form... but I had previously had a 3 year deal.... No, i had a 3 year deal and there was no 3 year deal on my form but online when i looked at my account it only offered either the 3 year or 1 year. We were talking about this on the way to the match yesterday. Concluded that only those that paid upfront for the 3 year deal last time were offered them this time round. A couple of us who had paid upfront have been offered the deal in our renewal forms but those who had paid by direct debit had not.

On another forum today, someone said that it had been mentioned in the Spanish press that he was going to Liverpool and that he would be in the next Spanish squad. They didn't say which newspaper it had been mentioned in. I'll search the usual suspects. EDIT: Found it. Today in Marca. They claim Del Bosque considered calling him against Colombia and might feature soon. The same article claims that he was named MoM against Brum. Wasn't it Bentley? Bentley got Brum's man of the match. Not the Premier League MoM iirc Jose was MOM at Blackburn. Had everyone drooling over his performance in that game. Not quite as good last night although decent enough.

I won't be hurt as much as with the Carroll sale because I can accept that players who move to the club see it as a career move. In our current situation, we could never attract a player of Carroll's quality and the fact that he was a young local lad who loved the club and who we had developed should have meant we could have held on to him for longer if we wanted to. I am just concerned that if Enrique goes, how many offers will be received for other players and will they want to move as well. We are seriously short of players as it is and to lose several more of the better quality players we have could be disastrous. And if we end up turning down bids, will that leave us with unahppy players?

On another forum today, someone said that it had been mentioned in the Spanish press that he was going to Liverpool and that he would be in the next Spanish squad. They didn't say which newspaper it had been mentioned in.

As well as Barton's quotes about improving the team, Nolan also said similar in the Chronicle. Maybe they can see there is no real desire from Ashley to push on. The players did seem quite upset about Carroll going which seems quite unusual even allowing for them being an exceptionally tight-knit "group of lads".

And a bunch of mugs people will buy it once again and turn on him, as 80 mentioned earlier. And the club will say they were willing to offer him an improved contract but x club were going to offer him more money cue accusations of him only moving for the money and being another greedy player.

Earlier in the season, he was talking about making sure we stayed up and then pushing on next year. Maybe the players are beginning to realise that the owner has no real intentions of pushing on and if they want to win things and play in Europe, then they will have to move to achieve that. Everytime, they start to look upwards, the club makes a decision that causes a setback. If we can't hold onto the local lad who has always dreamed of playing for the club, we have no chance wilth players like Enrique.

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/barton-pay-peanuts-you-get-monkeys-2217175.html Barton: 'Pay peanuts, you get monkeys' By Phil Shaw Thursday, 17 February 2011 Joey Barton has urged Newcastle United's owner, Mike Ashley, to ensure the £35m the club received for Andy Carroll is reinvested in the team. And the midfielder warned that the club must recruit personnel of the requisite quality, rather than buying on the cheap, to bolster a squad short on depth. On Tuesday, Newcastle gained their first victory since Carroll joined Liverpool, adding a 2-0 win at Birmingham to Saturday's 0-0 draw at Blackburn. Barton believes the results show the camaraderie of Alan Pardew's side, but maintains the new manager must be given the resources to break a "stop-start" cycle on Tyneside. "You don't take four points from Ewood and St Andrew's if you don't have that character," said Barton, who made his 200th league appearance against the Carling Cup finalists. "This squad wants to keep pushing on but we need a squad to compete on all fronts. It's up to the men upstairs to make sure we amass one and get the bodies in to challenge for Europe." In a thinly veiled message to Ashley, Barton added: "You need to spend money. If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys. So hopefully they spend it and spend it wisely. There are certain characters who, if you'd brought them into this dressing-room four or five years ago, wouldn't have gelled. The mentality now is such that you could almost pitch anyone in and they would buy into our work ethic. Everyone who has come in over the past year has had to buy into our principles and there are lads who sacrifice individual performances for the team. "With all the adversity that's gone on around the club, we're probably a bit low on bodies [to compete in the Premier League] and go on cup runs and the things we all want to do. We played on Saturday and Tuesday, and obviously teams who can rotate are at a massive advantage. If we can add more in the summer, we've got the spine of a side that can push for a European place." Barton suggested Newcastle's spirit had developed despite a perpetual state of flux. "The nature of this club is that it's sometimes stop-start. As soon as we get something going, players get sold and we have to start again. It feels like a constant work in progress and it's tough in that respect, but what we have is character in abundance."

Whenever Pardew speaks about our players in the media, it sounds like a sales pitch.

I too think Jose will go. More hopeful with Tiote because I think he might want another year learning about the Premier League before he steps up to a bigger club. However, if a big offer comes in, he might not get the choice. I am just concerned that we don't sell too many and if an offer comes in for some players and they are turned down, then those players are not disheartened. We cannot afford to overhaul the squad each year in the hope we are going to find another half dozen players who prove to be as successful as Tiote. We need to evolve rather than start from scratch each year. It is looking like we are going to have to buy a lot of players this Summer as it is. Before Carroll left, we needed another striker, left back and right winger. We still need those players so it is likely that we will now need 2 LBs, 3 strikers (would let Lovenkrands go) and I would let a couple of other fringe players go like Ryan Taylor and Alan Smith. I also get the feeling the club would listen to offers to Colo to get him off the wage bill. That is starting to be a very long shopping list and with decent left backs and strikers being in short supply, the scouts are going to have their work cut out. Let's hope we are safe from relegation sooner rather than later because we might then give some playing time to Vukic, Ferguson and Airey.

But Jose has proved that he can play in the Premier League and buying from abroad can be a risk.

I would have appreciated a warning from the club that the season ticket renewals were being brought forward 3 months this year. I hadn't planned for that expenditure earlier in the year. I am one of those cynics who is questioning the reasons why. There are so many people saying they won't renew or they will wait and see what happens in the Summer so the club are tempting them with some good offers. Last time I was uneasy with the 3 year deal but I decided to go for it for selfish reasons in that I could it afford it then but I did not know what my personal situation would be in 3 years time. I guess I will do the same this time.

He seems to have replied to a couple of queries on here.