Wallace

Please make it happen.

The trouble though is that he can no longer get away with that. Every other team is improving their squad whilst we need to do more than any other team seeing as we were the worst team (along with QPR) by miles last year. Just getting anyone will not improve us - we need to get better than we have if they want to improve especially if the target is top 8-10. It sounds as if they are looking for bargains as usual but that is not buying what we actually need. Far better to get one quality player for £15m than a couple of average ones for £5m each. All that is doing is adding bodies to the squad rather than improving it and we have plenty of average players already. When you look at the players Stoke, Swansea, Southampton and West Ham are going for, how can we be searching the bargain basements of Europe again especially with all the TV cash? They may not get all the players they are trying for but at least they are showing ambition and their bids are being accepted even if the players choose not to make the move (whereas our bids are usually dismissed by the selling clubs as derisory). How many times can they keep admitting to making mistakes and then saying they have learnt their lesson only to do exactly the same thing the next year.

If there is any truth in that, it means they are panicking and have run out of ideas/targets already. So much for all this much vaunted scouting and planning they are always boasting about.

I might have dreamt the whole thing up but wasn't Ashley rumoured to be tapping up David Dein back in 2007? If only? I remember talk about that. It was said that he knew him and if he does, you would have to wonder why he has never sought his advice. (Can't believe he has done otherwise surely he would be doing things better).

It's amazing how little he knows all things considered Most local papers at least have some idea what's going on but he knows absolutely f***ing nothing. It's staggering. Whenever anyone pulls him up on his writing ability/lack of knowledge/incoherent sentence structures he just replies 'I've been doing this for 20 years' as if that's some sort of burn I'm not a Geordie or from the NE but I hate the way this guy is the main representative for sports journalism up there. It's an insult to the region. Yep. I've heard him on Talksport before. They were pretty much openly ridiculing him and he came across like such a mong. Which is quite an achievement on that station. Seeing as about 80% of their presenters are complete buffoons. He is one of the reasons why the 'Geordie Nation' s**** gets repeated and why a lot of fans of other clubs think we're unrealistic and have high expectations, expect success etc. I'm sure he's been on SSN as well and he was just as bad. How did he get that job, I wonder? The last time he was on Talksport he had obviously been drinking as it was late in the evening and he was unbelievably antagonistic towards the presenters who were asking reasonable questions. I can't remember the details but just that he was so unnecessarily rude and I have never heard him on the radio since. Always wondered why he was never been on BBC Newcastle's Total Sport - every other local journalist has.

Whether Bas Dost was a realistic target or not, the dithering on our part has probably cost us that one. His club are now looking at what Liverpool paid for Firmino and think they should be able to get a lot more for their player. If they had just gone straight in for him, then they would probably have stood a better chance of getting him that they do now.

I heard he is Southampton's back up if they fail to sign Jordy Clasie.

I don't know why they have to stick so rigidly to a plan. If their main target is going to cost a little more but is the key to the whole team dynamic, then they should go for it and look to perhaps save money on a lesser target for another position. But not going over budget for any player that you are after could mean you end up with none of them and then out of desperation to buy loads of inferior players so there is no improvement or you end up worsening the team and when they fail, you can't get rid or you make a huge loss on them. So eventually, you end up losing millions more than the extra one or two million it would have taken to sign the main target.

Can imagine that is down to the manager though. Stick to the game plan or they are out of the team.

He knows that Pardew is besotted with him and he will get whatever he wants off Pardew. He is desperate to find his form again to get back into the French team and perhaps even squad. He will get the game time and Pardew will build the team around him. The problem with that is Pardew will only be focussing on Cabaye and if he loses him to injury, the whole thing will fall apart because it will be all about one player. Of all the clubs though ... Can imagine Pardew's ego exploding if he gets him and I am sure he will not miss an opportunity to tell people that Cabaye signed because of him - rather than it being the last resort for Cabaye as no-one else seems to be interested. Hope this is all a bit premature and that he goes elsewhere. Gutted it won't be us especially as he was offered to us.

http://www.thejournal.co.uk/business/business-news/newcastle-student-accommodation-plans-submitted-9549723?

It would be nice to think so, depending on how things go. The guys still only 28 which is too young to be a manager/head coach imo, certainly in the top flight of English football anyway. He can be assistant for for 5 years, still only be 33 and then take over the head coach role. In fairness, the club have stressed previously they believe in continuity. If we can get ourselves into a position where we have capable people in our backroom staff who can be promoted and develop an ongoing footballing philosiphy that would be ideal from my point of view. I do however, get the impression he's looking at us as a stepping stone to take a head coach role somewhere else in the future. He seems like he wants management fairly soon, and may not be willing to wait 5 years. We excel at being used as a stepping stone.

Nah, its all about just staying stuff and expecting people to buy into a crap faulty worhtless product thats goes nowhere. That's been their policy up till now but people are no longer buying it. Understrength squad, play for a month in the first part of the season to secure survival and then give up, loads of tickets available for every game often cheaper than season ticket holders have paid - there is no reason to buy one. On that basis it makes more sense to pick and choose games. If they play well, people will buy a ticket but fans need to be convinced. The club have cried wolf once too often and no-one buys their promises any more.

Too expensive - they want about £10m don't they which is why no-one has taken the risk.

He wants to stay at Lyon until after the Euros as he doesn't want to take the risk of not playing at a new club and so losing out on a place in the French squad.

I think West Ham might prefer Remy if they can get him so Austin would be a back up. Villa might be a consideration if they sell Benteke. At Chelsea, he would rarely play so I guess it would then be a case of whether location/money is more important. I think we are are the fall back if any of those moves fail to happen and we certainly see more desperate than anyone else. It is quite strange though how all the southern media seem to think he should move to us as we are the best suited.

Bertrand played in the Champions league final didn't he? They are using the youngsters to get around FFP and it has been very successful for them. Send them out on loan for a fee and if they prove themselves good enough e.g. Courtois, they can go straight in to the first team, if not then they will get a decent fee for them anyway.

Yes he was still there but things move quicker when Ashley decides to get involved.

Wonder where he is going to end up. West Ham, Spurs? Not really heard him linked with anyone other than to hear he wants to leave Chelsea because of a lack of game time.

January 2013 proved these w*****s can get it done if they really want it to happen. The fact we're dragging our heels means it's either done for financial reasons as the article states or there is an unwillingness to invest. Or both. Absolutely. The fact they've not announced much backroom staff stuff either and the players come beck next week suggests to me they'll go for a run of good pr including signings conveniently falling into next year's financial results. Didn't Ashley got involved in that transfer window. I think when he engages, things get done quickly. Charnley strikes me as being terrified of making a mistake hence the constant monitoring. There is rarely any decisive action with regards to anything at the club unless Ashley gets involved.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/crystal-palace-plot-tim-krul-5961163 The key could be Newcastle goalkeeping coach Andy Woodman, who has turned Krul into one of the most admired stoppers in Europe. Really? He may have been before Woodman started coaching him. ;D

Need Cabaye back to "sell" the club to those they want to sign. He was always cited as a major influence in persuading others to sign during that period.

We monitored Clyne for a number of years as well and he left Palace on a free. Just think of all the profit the club could have made if they ever decided to stop monitoring and buy a player instead.

So the better players want to leave but none of the players we are interested in want to come. This exciting new squad we've been promised will be interesting. There is no way Charnley can cope with that volume of transfers in and out of the club.

As cover you'd hope, aye. He's had a hard decline with age like, made some horrendous errors Forster has f***ed hissel' so I assume it'd be until he gets back. Yes - Forster was predicted to be out for up to a year hence the rumoured interest in Krul.