Novocastrian

In between Frank Pingel and Billy Whitehurst.

It's obvious that Pardew has little say in transfer comings and goings. I think Pardew is the first 'non-manager' we have ever had. The players seem to be managing themselves and he is just a figurehead to be wheeled out at press conferences. Just as Fat Mike wants it. Pardew is just part of Mike's entourage, he doesn't have any gravitas, credibility or say in anything that goes on. Scary really.

So was Carroll bigger than club then? And if they had given in to Carroll it is tantamount to giving every player in the squad an invitation to rush in and demand to renegotiate their contract. Just for the young players that establish themselves as key players for the team and a top player in the division. Could Ashly have done everything to keep Carrol? Yes. He could have paid him 200k a week, purchased him 15 houses in the bahamas, and a years supply of strippers, but that isnt the point is it? Its a management nightmare if you give in. Carrol isnt that special that he can demand an increase after a few months. Holy crap that is so presumptous. He had ample time to negotiate a 5 year contract. It's all about priorities, most Newcastle fans would say Carroll was worth more than 30,000 a week (in a footballing context, yes I know it is astronomical for most people) and most football fans in general would probably think that was quite a low basic wage for an England international with bags of potential. I'm sure Carroll would rather play for Newcastle than Liverpool and if Liverpool were offering 80,000 would he have accepted 60,000-70,000 at NUFC? Yes he was happy to sign a contract a few months ago but things change. Looks like he was using other club's interest to leverage a new deal. Would Ben Arfa, Nolan and Barton be knocking on Fat Ash's door demanding to upgrade their own deals? Possibly, we then need to work out who is worth the money and who is not. Those who we deem not worth the added investment can look elsewhere if a club is willing to pay them. I'll say one thing though, I know Carroll was worth the investment to this club but Fat Ash was not interested and we have now lost a real gem.

We've also had many worse players on much bigger contracts, players much worse than Carroll on huge deals. Yes that was part of a different regime and the size of the remuneration package those poor players were on almost brought the club down. However, there is nothing wrong with tying your very best players down on attractive contracts. Every other 'big' club does it. Problem is Ashley tries to do everything on the cheap, Carroll should have been offered 80 grand a week to stay. Yes he is young and inexperienced but that is the going rate for a player of his potential. Putting him on 30 grand a week when other clubs were sniffing round is tantamount to putting a 'come and get me' sign on the back of his shirt. Which is perhaps what Ashley wanted. I have no problem with rewarding the very best players. It's the dross on 40-50 grand a week that should have their contracts looked at.

Don't be silly, the club is debt-free all thanks to Big Ash. His careful husbanding of resources and cool hand have steadied the ship. It's only a matter of time before he gives Pardew a 'war chest' that will make the Torres bid look like loose change.

Right, fuck Carroll, we need a replacement in the next hour. I can believe the sum of our transfer business is the permanent purchase of HBA who is still injured. Why do we constantly weaken ourselves in promising positions. Are we really going to finish the season with Best/Ameobi/Lovenkrands/Ranger??? Tell me this isn't a fucking joke.

Who fucking cares about the smallprint: Carroll has put in a transfer request; he evidently wants to leave NUFC and join Liverpool. Ashley has accepted a bid from Liverpool; he evidently is happy to accept the money and sell Carroll to Liverpool. They are both cunts. The rest is semantics, hearsay and obfuscation. Chelsea get Torres, Liverpool get Suarez and Carroll and we are left holding the baby.

Massive risk for Liverpool, much better players have gone to much better clubs and still failed. Liverpool are some way off being a Champions League team again, some investment in their defence might have been a better idea. Shame we weren't able to build the team around him but money talks. I'm gutted but we knew all along that a huge bid would prove too much for Ashley.

It's hardly a few 'bell ends', it all over the national press and on national radio and new sites. It still might not happen and I admire your optimism but this has been building all day and looks to have more than a kernel of truth in it, unfortunatley

A hell of a lot of money is being bandied around and, objectively, Carrol is not worth that amount at this stage of his development. However, Carroll is too important to this club to sell for even £40-50m. I know we have sold homegrown players before Gazza, Beardsley, Waddle (and look where we ended up after that) but Carroll can be become a symbol of this club like Shearer. If he continues to develop he could be a superstar and he will have a shirt hanging off the Angel of the North with his name on the back. If he goes we will get maybe £20m to bring in a couple of replacement which may or may not fit into the side, the PL etc. We have had plenty of big money disasters, enough to know that money alone does not guarantee an effective player. If we take the cash, things will irrevocably change and although, evidently, every player has their price, we wil have lost something that money can't buy. Sounds a bit dramatic but I will be crushed if we lose him now.

Shearer cost £8m more than Maradona.

Good deal for Sunderland, the days of average to good players of Bent's standard going for 20 million are drawing to a close. As stated, it's difficult to fit him into a system with another striker. His goal ratio is good but this looks like a panic buy by Villa, crazy price.

Who we got on the bench??

So the six cups we've won in the past mean nothing?? Get a grip, we should be hammering these and I'll be disappointed if we don't bust a bollock to get through this round.

Me too, but if might have backfired with his Geremi like grandad run with the ball near the end.

Lots of perspiration, very little inspiration. His workrate suggests he will be a danger but he continues to be ineffectual. Links up well with Enrique but as a potent attacking force he's a major letdown.

I blame Paul Scholes I blame Alan Smith.

Just because they were in the chasing pack last year doesn't automatically make them a good team. They were fairly risible today, the result of MON's team building. I laughed when they brought Heskey on. Apart from Young, who was trying to break Shola's world record for being offside, they look very average.

The fact every bastard thing from clothes pegs to pent houses uses football's popularity to try sell it. This phenomenon is always heightened during World Cup months. The worst offenders are the 'Gran picks up the remote control, goes round the coffee table, in between two chairs lays it off to the dog' type adverts and the 'I'm going for a solid 4-4-2: two pieces of bacon, with two commanding sausages in the middle, two defensive boiled eggs in midfield with a couple of tricky slices of toast on each wing etc'. Just fuck off.

Also, Hughton knew the situation before he took the job, so there's no reason for him to walk out or to try to force Ashley's hand. True, I don't think Hughton is being 'strung along', he knows the situation and is seemingly happy to work under these conditions.

Hughton is Ashley's ideal 'manager' (read 'coach'). He's obviously an intelligent man and can see the glaring gaps in the squad. However, despite the kudos of leading the club back up to the PL at the first attempt, he doesn't have the gravitas to force Ashley's hand on transfers and considering that even Keegan couldn't do this I doubt anyone will. He can't do a 'Keegan' and walk out, Ashley will just replace him with another, probably cheaper, coach who he can feed scraps to. There is no 'transfer policy', if there was we would be taking more of a gamble on promising players knowing we could recoup the money in the future. Unfortunately, it appears we will continue to stumble along in the current fashion until: A) The club is sold. B) We are relegated. I can't see us re-establishing in the PL until we invest, sensibly, in new players. Maybe Ashley has something up his sleeve and three or four proven performers will come in before the window closes but I can't see it.

Dont think Carroll is suited to playing up front on his own though, he needs support. The players who thrive up front by themselves are the all singing all dancing types who can make their own chances, score headers, outside the box etc. That's why the likes of Drogba are indespensible. Would much rather see AC with a strike partner.

So much going on in the background with the Milner sale and uncertainty surrounding Young. Looks like O'Neill was after McGeady but coudn't match Spartak's offer.............

Mine turned up this morning. I have been trying to wean myself off football shirts for years but it has become a bit of a ritual so I allow myself the current England and Newcastle home kits. Shocked by the poor quality to be honest. I've had better quality fake shirts from dodgy markets in Morrocco.

Dyer was the kind of player who tended to visually stand out and make an 'impact'. The type fans love to see: pick up a loose ball drive at the opposition with pace going past two or three, usually stationary, defenders. That's largely where the story ended. His energy and dynamism was never really translated into goals or solid match winning performances on any consistent level. Although he did have attributes his personal and physical failings consigned him to being a 'nearly man' in my opinion. If he had of possessed a football 'brain', or even a brain of any sort really, it could have been different. I don't really think he was ever committed to the footballing side of being a footballer. A case of 'too much too young' maybe.