LoveItIfWeBeatU

So Hatem Ben Arfa was a massive success at all his previous clubs was he? SanToon seems happy to ignore that part of my post. "Those in glass houses shouldn't throw stones" seems to be SanToon's whole argument against any player criticising Ben Arfa.

how can he do that when he's dropped after any game where he doesn't score three? Total rubbish man, the senior players wanna take a look at themselves in previous games. Colo can't say anything, shola similarly, taylor, sissoko, Cisse, whoever they've all been part of some abject performances without Ben Arfa. Easy get out though You have a photo of Ben Arfa as your picture = fanboy.

http://www.thejournal.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/newcastle-united-boss-alan-pardew-6863679

http://www.thejournal.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/newcastle-united-v-crystal-palace-6863656

Some of you make yourselves look like Hatem Ben Arfa "fanboys". Hear no evil, see no evil when it comes to Hatem Ben Arfa. Senior players at NUFC criticise Hatem Ben Arfa and it's those players who are wrong? Those players who actually know the guy and see him every day. Hatem Ben Arfa has a history of never fitting in at any club. Apparently that's always the fault of the managers at whichever club he's at. Hatem Ben Arfa is an extremely poor man's Ronaldo or Messi. I'd love him to play his way into the team. Who wouldn't? He needs to perform and he needs to do it consistently.

Getting HBA signed up to a permanent contract was supposedly one of the first things Pardew did when he became manager. Strange thing to do if he had doubts about him.

Joint top assists in the PL for us. The problem is he's joint top assists with Sissoko. Sissoko plays on the right of midfield which is Ben Arfa's best position by far.

Apart from the Fulham game when is the last time Shola played? It's not like Pardew even picks Shola any more. Even though you said "Apart from the Fulham game" Shola was in fact picked for that game and that was our last game, so maybe Pardew does. He came on as a sub. Did Pardew bring him on or was it Carver's decision? We don't know. Why was Shola on the bench? We have a lot of injuries. For all the real reasons there are to criticise Pardew I don't know why people make extra ones up.

Apart from the Fulham game when is the last time Shola played? It's not like Pardew even picks Shola any more.

http://www.thejournal.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/newcastle-united-scrap-director-football-6859496

http://www.thejournal.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/newcastle-united-scrap-director-football-6859496 Yes but does that mean back to play against Everton on Tuesday or just back in training?

It's funny when players (e.g. Krul and Shola this week) mention being at home helps our chances of winning. Not this season it doesn't. We've won more games away from home than we have at home.

:lol: My God! This guy has nailed it. This is definitely what is going to happen. He's also about the third person to say it in this very thread.

If he gets a new contract because NUFC don't source a better replacement Mike Ashley must be planning for our relegation. Seriously, Carlton Cole would be a better option than Shola. Everton have loaned Romelu Lukaku, Gerard Deulofeu and Lacina Traore. We have loaned Luuk De Jong and Loic Remy. Even if NUFC can't buy a better replacement forward for Shola they can loan one.

Carlton Cole would have been more useful than Shola has been this season. At least Cole has scored goals for West Ham. There's already a poll in the Shola thread so I couldn't put it there.

On paper Bafétimbi Gomis would be an idea replacement. He would be relatively cheap as he would not cost a transfer fee. Agents fees, signing on fees and wages would be the cost but NUFC would have had to pay that when they were willing to pay a transfer fee for him last Summer. The removal of the transfer fee must make the deal cheaper, even if the signing on fee and wages are increased. His wages would be offset partly by paying him what NUFC have been paying Shola. There has been talk of Gomis going to Inter Milan but he still hasn't signed an agreement with any club as far as we know.

Some people keep saying they think Shola Ameobi will get a new playing contract at NUFC. Let's have a vote to see what everyone thinks. My view is that there is no chance NUFC will offer Shola Ameobi a new playing contract. My reasons: - He is a striker who does not score goals. His contract expires in the Summer and there has been no hint of NUFC offering him a new contract. Who at NUFC would want to offer him a new contract? Apart from his substitute appearance against Fulham (where he made no positive impact whatsoever) Shola has not played for months. Alan Pardew no longer plays Shola. Why would Pardew want to get Shola a new contract? I refuse to believe Pardew doesn't want a better option than Shola to call on in games. Even if Pardew did want to get Shola a new contract, Pardew wanted to keep Perch but Perch was sold. Mike Ashley does not like to waste money. Why would Ashley waste his money paying for a new contract for Shola, especially when Shola doesn't play? Does anyone think Graham Carr rates Shola? I would assume he would not recommend a new contract for Shola. Does Shola even want to stay? He doesn't play games and that is supposedly what he wants to do. If you vote "Yes" please explain why you think that.

Two major reasons why we are currently 9th in the league and not fighting relegation are Remy and Cabaye. We've already sold Cabaye and it's unlikely Remy will be here next season. When Remy doesn't play we don't score. NUFC have not bought any players for two transfer windows. There are my reasons for assuming next season will be shit.

http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=40461

Having read that article, to be fair to Mike Ashley, the terms of the share bonus (worth about £65m) only reward success and not failure. If the company doesn't perform he doesn't get the bonus.

My post was about the sort of players we need to avoid being in a relegation scrap next season. It's not what I think we will get. I cancelled my season ticket a few days after Cabaye was sold when it became obvious no replacement would arrive. I have very little hope that what needs to happen in the Summer will happen. As I said earlier in the thread though it makes no logical sense for Mike Ashley not to spend: -

I totally agree. Our fans will be much more supportive of a young local lad getting game time. Armstrong should be ahead of Shola in the pecking order now. Shola is the past and Armstrong might be the future. It's not as if Shola has any recent good form to make anyone think he could change the game in our favour. He hasn't scored in the league since December 2012.

What sort of players do you think we NEED to get in the Summer? I'm not talking about nice to haves, I'm talking about need to haves so we aren't relegated. Free kick and corner taking specialist We need to buy at least one player who can take a decent free kick. Ideally we'd buy more than one. I remember the days when we had Solano, Robert and Shearer standing over the ball when we won a free kick. With Cabaye sold we don't have a free kick specialist (apart from the injured Ryan Taylor who wouldn't be a first choice player anyway). Currently when we get a free kick in a dangerous position it goes to waste. It seems since Cabaye was sold just about every player has had a go at taking a free kick or corner. Strikers At the moment we have Remy on loan as our only reliable goal threat. Unfortunately he is unlikely to stay. Even if he does stay we would just be standing still. Without him we fall backwards. Shola is a non-goal scoring striker who is out of contract in the Summer. Cisse is completely out of form and has been for some time. Luuk de Jong is on loan. He hasn't had a good season for 2 years. He has until the end of the season to prove himself worthy of buying. We have Gouffran, a forward who plays on the wing. I think he has only played once as an out and out striker for NUFC. After them are the likes of Adam Armstrong and Adam Campbell (currently not getting a start for St.Mirren). We desperately need to get goal scoring strikers. I shouldn't really need to say "goal scoring" striker as scoring goals is the strikers job description. It's just at the moment we have a lot of strikers who don't score goals. Without Remy we are toothless. If we sign Remy we also need another goal scorer as cover for when Remy is injured or out of form. If we don't sign Remy we need to buy at least two strikers. Creative Midfielders We don't really have any wingers which makes our the job of our strikers more difficult. We don't have any players who can beat a man and then cross the ball into the box. If we decided to only play with one out and out striker then we would need better attacking options from the midfield. Cabaye needs to be replaced. Defence Coloccini isn't getting any younger. He seems to be getting injured more frequently. That's before we consider whether he wants to leave or not. Another right back would be good for when Debuchy isn't fit. At the moment we play Yanga-Mbiwa at right back when Debuchy is out and Yanga-Mbiwa is not a right back. Goal Keeper Krul knows he will start every game he is fit. He needs some real competition to push him.

I don't follow German football so I don't know how good Borussia Mönchengladbach are or how they play but they couldn't find a way to "utilize" Luuk de Jong "properly". Do Borussia Mönchengladbach have wingers? Do they create many goal scoring chances?

If we spend £8m on Luuk de Jong how much of our transfer budget would be left to buy a goal scorer? Also, as others have said, we don't want to put all our eggs in one basket so ideally we'd need to buy two goal scorers (based on his form for the last 2 seasons I'm not counting de Jong as a goal scorer). That way when one is out of form or injured we have someone else to come in. That's before we count the cost of buying the goal scoring and creating midfielders we also need.