bealios

Robert did have some truly awful games where he just didn't look bothered. Although I am sure Ginola did to. Ginola edges it for me, I remember less awful games.

I think if he left this summer (not that he will), he will probably claim that he left us in a better position than when he arrived. He's probably right as well.

Jury is still out, but hasn't been as bad as I thought he might be, far from it.

And I have to admit, as much as I liked Hughton, he has done it with a far worse squad to pick from, in my view. Loven and Shola as first choice pairing, enough said.

Out of interest, if he was sent off with two yellow against Chelsea, would that mean he missed West Brom on an automatic one game ban (and not trigger the 3 game ban for the bookings?)

The sooner people get used to this shit, the better. We are a selling club and believe what you like coming out of P****w, we are likely to see those we most want to keep, leave. Sadly the £35m  :rolleyes is unlikely to bring in players of the calibre of Tiote and Enrique.

 

Do you honestly think that if Enrique hadn't had his head turned the club would force him out? Enrique wants to leave, all the club can now do is maximise the amount we get for him, and replace him properly.

 

 

Does it not worry you, the amount of players who seem to want to leave Newcastle? Should the club not be doing something like... making them want to stay by showing ambition?

It does, but it is not surprising. In an ideal world Carroll would have stayed, and Barton and Enrique would have signed new contracts, along with Tiote.

We're a newly promoted club, who seem to be just coming back from the brink of financial catastrophe. In that context, what is showing ambition? I don't think anyone can argue that the club seem to be focused now on cementing top ten finishes over the next couple of years, and I don't think anyone sensibly doubts that we will be in the top 8 spending wise this summer.

The Carroll deal seems to have clouded things, and it is difficult to say if we are showing ambition or not because of that. If it wasn't for that one deal, which was ridiculous money for Carroll, then I'm not sure there is any evidence of the club showing a lack of ambition. Ben Arfa has been signed permanently, Tiote has a 6 year deal. I realise I'm falling into the "see what happens in the summer" camp, but the Carroll situation was unique really, so we do have to see what happens with replacements for Carroll (and perhaps Enrique) to see what sort of club we have to look forward to for the next 5 years.

Which bit do you disagree with? Carroll wasn't motivated by money? Liverpool are not going to be challenging for the title? Carroll would have signed for Liverpool if they had offered him £30K a week?

The sooner people get used to this shit, the better. We are a selling club and believe what you like coming out of P****w, we are likely to see those we most want to keep, leave. Sadly the £35m  :rolleyes is unlikely to bring in players of the calibre of Tiote and Enrique.

Do you honestly think that if Enrique hadn't had his head turned the club would force him out? Enrique wants to leave, all the club can now do is maximise the amount we get for him, and replace him properly.

We're now 14 points behind his new club, I bet he's f***ing kicking himself

course he's not, HE got exactly what HE wanted.

 

He certainly did, an ambitious club desperate to progress

and 80kpw

 

Icing on the cake, good luck to him

Bollocks, the cash was the main motivation. If it was all about picking the right club he would have hung on until a club likely to be challenging for the league in the next 5 years. Liverpool won't be, despite this recent good run Dalglish has them on. He will now spend the next 5 years at a club challenging Tottenham for 5th at best every year, because I can't see them keeping up with Man Utd, Arsenal, Chelsea or Man City. If Liverpool came in and offered to match his NUFC wages, do you think he would have slapped in the transfer request?

He played almost like he had been missing for most of the season and was just coming back from an period out through injury....

Top class Premier League defender, no.

Defender who most clubs in the 7th - 16th bracket would snap up, yes.

Therefore is worth his contract, for games such as this when we have a lot of people missing and we need to piece together a team from what we have left.

It might be the fact that I've stumbled upon a documentary on BBC2 called "Wonders of the Universe" which is narrated by Mark Lawrenson that has weirded me out a bit, but for the first time this season I find myself having massive confidence in Pardew seeing out his 5 year contract (more than Hughton anyway)

.com now updated to say back on the 5th

.com says he's out until the 19th March. Is that confirmed, or is there a chance he'll be in contention for Everton?

Kaka, you seem to miss that I'm more than happy to be proved wrong if I've criticized our players. Nolan's won me over and I'm delighted about it. Contrast this with continued insults and vitriol towards a bloke who is currently 3rd top scorer in the Premier League.

The fact that a midfielder at a newly promoted club is the premier league's joint third highest scorer, and is still getting so much criticism is frankly ridiculous.

We've had years of apparently hard working players who struggle to score from midfield and we moan about it. We now have a player who can score from midfield, and we want rid for a harder working player who looks a bit fitter.

Pointing to the fact that Nolan looks better because Tiote does the graft in midfield misses the point slightly. Tiote also looks immense as a defensive midfielder as he is given so much of that work to do in the system that the team play. They are both doing their jobs fantasically well at the moment.

 

It is highly likely that at some point Ashley, assuming he doesn’t get a good offer to sell, will be looking to get some or all of his loan back. I can see any loan repayments being greeted with hoots of anger but if he does go down that path he isn’t taking money out of the club in the way his predecessors did, he’s simply getting back what he put in.

Surely the safest way for him to take his loan money out would be to refinance part of the loan and gear the club to a sustainable level i.e. borrow (say) £60m from Barclays and use it to pay off his own loan. You can see him writing off the balance (given that he was at one point writing off the whole thing). This is easy enough to sell to supporters since most clubs are leveraged to a far lesser extent, and still manage to pay the interest.

Not a swipe at Ashley/Lambias. Just a dose of realism about how the modern game works. It is exactly the same for every club who isn't Man City or Chelsea. Arsenal go through the same thing every summer with Fabregas. Liverpool have just had it with Torres. As soon as the club can't match the player, they're off.

 

Which is why I definitely agree with you. Enjoy the likes of Tiote, Enrique playing for us. If they go, then so be it. It means we made a great signing rather than a Boumsong.

 

Eventually if we do it consistently enough, then less players will move, more will stay, and that is how the club develops. It happens slowly and sustainably.

 

We will moan a bit on the message boards, but in the short term I would rather everyone was moaning about our relatively obscure signings turning into great players and leaving, than our relatively obscure signings drawing £60K per week and fading into oblivion.

 

Well that's fair enough, but I'm pretty sure that's not how it's normally argued on here!

Because not all posters are armed with the Big Sam Sledgehammer of Logic

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

 

 

And I will happily bet that Tiote will stay in the summer unless he submits a transfer request, at which point he will be sold for a silly amount.

Refer to my earlier post, if a player gets his head turned and wants to move on, all that a club can do is maximise the sale price and try and appease the fans.

Not a swipe at Ashley/Lambias. Just a dose of realism about how the modern game works. It is exactly the same for every club who isn't Man City or Chelsea. Arsenal go through the same thing every summer with Fabregas. Liverpool have just had it with Torres. As soon as the club can't match the player, they're off.

Which is why I definitely agree with you. Enjoy the likes of Tiote, Enrique playing for us. If they go, then so be it. It means we made a great signing rather than a Boumsong.

Eventually if we do it consistently enough, then less players will move, more will stay, and that is how the club develops. It happens slowly and sustainably.

We will moan a bit on the message boards, but in the short term I would rather everyone was moaning about our relatively obscure signings turning into great players and leaving, than our relatively obscure signings drawing £60K per week and fading into oblivion.

Can't see us selling Tiote, we only just signed the fucking guy.

 

Wonder how long it'll be before I open a player thread and it isn't about him being definitely sold in the summer?

 

Get used to it. We used to be a club who bought players for large fees, give them massive career fulfilling contracts, and then could never get rid of them.

 

We are now a club who aims for players on lower fees, on lower wages, but with potential to be a hell of a lot better. It is a natural consequence of the second option that we will worry about the players we sign who turn out to be great player, and then leave for bigger and better clubs.

 

Do it consistently enough for a long period of time and you might get lucky and hit the sweet spot between the Arsenal model and the Man Utd model!

 

 

No, I won't.

 

I'm not saying it is a bad thing, I prefer the fact that we managed to buy under-rated players who perform well for us and generate a lot of interest. Anyone who thinks we (as a newly promoted club) can unearth gems like Tiote, Enrique, hopefully Ben Arfa, and can resurrect Barton's career, and manage to keep all of them, is not realistic, and should refrain from Football Manager for a bit.

Give me an example of another recently promoted club who unearthed players of that quality and managed to keep them for longer than a season, and I will stand corrected.

Can't see us selling Tiote, we only just signed the fucking guy.

 

Wonder how long it'll be before I open a player thread and it isn't about him being definitely sold in the summer?

Get used to it. We used to be a club who bought players for large fees, give them massive career fulfilling contracts, and then could never get rid of them.

We are now a club who aims for players on lower fees, on lower wages, but with potential to be a hell of a lot better. It is a natural consequence of the second option that we will worry about the players we sign who turn out to be great player, and then leave for bigger and better clubs.

Do it consistently enough for a long period of time and you might get lucky and hit the sweet spot between the Arsenal model and the Man Utd model!

It has got fuck all to do do with club ambition when you have a world class player on your hands.

If you have a player better than many left backs in the Champions League, then they are not going to commit to a club like Newcastle because they believe they might get there in 10 years time. The only reason they MIGHT do that is through a sense of club loyalty, or if they are promised they will be allowed to leave if a proper bigger club comes in for them (i.e. not Villa or Liverpool)

I'm going to blindly cling to the belief that most of the fans appreciate that in the modern game, if a player is playing at a level above the club he is currently at plays, he will move. Until agents are banned from the game (which will, of course, never happen) this will always happen.

All that the club he plays at can do is manipulate events to (a) maximise sale price, and (b) try not to piss the fans off.

I can see where the opening post is coming from, but I think generally NUFC fans are a lot better than we were. It is the vocal minority who might taint the general view though and lead to your conclusion.

Most fans see that survival was the goal for this season, and to be in a position where we are not going to be in a relegation scrap, and might finish top half, is an amazing season. Credit must be given to those from top to bottom, and those departed.

Most fans see that football finances are fucked, and that despite Ashley's way of doing things being a bit cack handed, the net result is a healthier run club better positioned for relative success when the new fair play rules come in.

Most fans see that £35m for a player who was not our best striker last year in the Championship, and has not been our best player (or even second or third best) this year, was silly money.

Most fan gagged at the idea of Pardew coming in, but are happy with his performance so far, and think he has earned the chance to succeed, and slowly build us up to a regulary top ten team, with Europe in 2 -3 years.

So I think most fans have a better long term view than you give them credit for

I would love to see that little Gattuso tart try to take on Big Sam.

As soon as I get a job & do comparatively well, then get a bigger job with a big club & get into the Champions League - I'm coming for him.

Gattuso looks like he should be leading a gang of street urchins. I bet he's an extraordinary pickpocket.

Bet he has a hoop earring and wears Cuban heels. Let himself down tonight. Harry loves a player but I bet he only likes him after tonight.

Just off the phone to Harry, as it happens. He said Joe Jordan "stole a horse from somewhere" and rode around Milan looking for Gattuso."Gennaro!" he roared. "Show your face and feel my Celtic wrath! For I am Jordan. King of the Night." Awesome stuff from Joe, there.

When he couldn't find him, Joe simply dismounted the steed, tore it in half & threw it into the river. Gattuso's messed with the wrong man.

 

 

"Harry loves a player but I bet he only likes him after tonight."

 

Keysy really does have a tiny mouth though. It's really taken me aback.

The wife saw it and said: "Andy Gray must have a willy shaped like a credit card to get in there". Vulgar, cruel cow. Those are my friends.

 

Is there anything sexier than seeing a lovely lass go into a public toilet? Especially if you see a bit of the room as the door opens. It doesn't matter what she goes in to do, to be honest. Either way, it'll involve the fanny or the arse and that will do for me.

 

 

Whoever writes this stuff is a bona fide genius.

Would be brilliant if it turned out it was actually Sam Allardyce

Pardew will do a full season as Newcastle manager, being the first to do so in the Premier League since Sir Bobby.

 

Didn't know that.

I haven't checked it to be honest but I think that's right. Roeder might have got close but I think he left in 2007 before the last game. Might be wrong though.

We will finish in the top ten, we will pick up at least 5 points from the next 3 games and we will be considered safe by April. I think once that happens the pressure is off, and naturally I think we will end up being one of those teams who is waiting for the season to end with nothing to play for, but pick up enough point to finish 10th.

I think Barton will sign a new contract, but Enrique will leave for Liverpool Man Utd or City, although Ashley will get a ridiculous fee for him, £20m+. Tiote will stay for at least another season, and Ireland will sign on a 5 year deal.

We will spend the bulk of the Carroll (and other sales) money, but not the full whack, the club line being some of this was allocated to the contracts for Barton and Ireland - the rest will be invested mainly in younger talent - anyone with a potential resale value even if it doesn't work out. Think Wickham. We will get a free or low fee "established" premier league striker (Doyle?), and some of the Carroll cash will allocated to his contract and signing on fee.

I wouldn't be surprised to find another (relatively) unheard of bargain gem like Tiote and Ben Arfa. I'm optimistic that the reluctance to spend in January is that the good under the radar deals like those two just aren't available in January.

Ashley will turn away offers for the club at the £150m mark - the view being that the state the club is now in is far healthier and he wants to recoup the full amount. He will still own the club at the start of the season. He will still be a bit tubby.

Pardew will do a full season as Newcastle manager, being the first to do so in the Premier League since Sir Bobby.

Fan expectations will be high for 2011/2012. Season ticket sales will be high, and there will be a £50K+attendance for the first game of the season.

Alan Smith will still be here. Shola will start the first game of the season in attack.

Please note the above is actual fact, not my opinion.