Punk77

Not likely, first of all, Enrique signed the same year as Barton, which puts both under the same "salary regime"= hurling money out the window. Second, Enrique was very sought after when we bought him. The newspapers were stunned that he actually signed for us, because other successful clubs were after him. That leads me to conclude that he signed because we offered him more money than any other clubs involved. But I don't think the main obstacle for Enrique. He wants the club to match his ambitions.

According to the guardian, Barton earns £67 000 http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/jan/11/joey-barton-newcastle-aston-villa One might speculate that Enrique is on similar wages, since he was signed during a period where we were quite generous with salaries..

I'll try to find a more serious source than the daily mail..

Crap, I actually thought you wrote inaccurate, read to fast, again

Are you just blabbering or are actually going supply us with some sources that support your claims?

Funny how those statements now are totally off the mark,,

PL-games, forgot to mention that.. . No, you can kiss my ass.. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1187448/Meltdown-Newcastle-8217-s-71m-wage-nightmare--stay.html And I quote: " HARD TO SHIFT: JOEY BARTON £60,000 — who would be mad enough to buy him? JOSE ENRIQUE £60,000 — cost £6m, which was £6m too much. FABRICIO COLOCCINI £60,000 — he was frighteningly bad. XISCO £50,000 — an expensive flop." Have read a couple of other articles too that state he earns that amount. But there are some that mention £50 000. So he's probably on around 50-60 a year..

I'll always said that we should keep Simpson, unless we're offered silly money. He's a model professional and a good man to have in our squad.

Tiote and Barton are our most important players. Since Tiote's debut, we've not won one single game with him and Barton injured/suspended. Also LB is by default a less vulnerable position that DM.

He may be good. But he's not our best or most important player. If we're offered £13.5 mill we should sell him. We cannot reject that offer, gambling on that he will sign a new contract. He also earns around £60 a week. So we could bring in a good replacement and a backup (if Ferguson doesn't cope or is placed on lw) for the money we receive..

He's more than good enough for us. In defense yes, in attack no. But hopefully he will improve.

But the medical team expected them to be back fairly soon...?

There's one good advantage. Him not playing many games will enable us to buy him on the cheap. If we end up only paying £4 mill for him, he's worth the gamble. Pardew have a good reputation when it comes to taking care of his players. I'm confident that he will help Ireland rediscover his form. If that happens, we suddenly have one of most lethal AM in the league whose value is far, far beyond our normal price range.

Exactly. Who could have predicted that ajj those players would end up injured or suspended.

That is correct. But still he got more assists than Routledge. And he gives Enrique a lot of help in defense, and as creates free kicks in good positions, which we have converted into goals.. In other words, he brings more to the game than Routledge, who besides his speed offers little.

Tbb, Routledge is utter useless in PL. He tried with several clubs, and failed miserably each time. A wide man who cannot cross? Come on! But as Ian mentioned, our squad is thin. He got no end product, but his pace could have caused some problems for Stoke.

That is true, but clubs can do much to prevent injuries and improve players recovery after matches (correct kind of food etc), which again will reduce the probability of injuries. Ian: Letting Roultledge go now seems like an idiotic decision. But they probably based this based decision on players they expected have back from injury: Gosling, HBA was expected to feature in some part of the season, Ireland was estimated to be fit in February. None of those predictions came through. Gosling suffered a set back, Ireland caught a thigh injury (did he start to train too early?`) and HBA's progress stopped. Could those failings have something to do with the competence of the medical team. If they tell Pards that we will have plenty of players back soon, he's likely to get rid of dead meat, eg Routledge.. And to make things even worse, he got injuries on Barton and Shola.. This is of course just pure speculation. But still I have this nagging feeling that some of it is true, and that our medical team is mediocre, at best.

On that we agree. All those injuries are no coincidence. We also fail to advance in any tournament, which should reduce the the probability of fatigue and injuries accordingly. Still we're fucked. The debate on Carroll's alcohol consumption is imo a proof of our medical team not doing what they're supposed to do. Excessive drinking should not be allowed during season.

Suggestions then?

A tad tautological I might say... I stand corrected. Post modified..Happy?

Aside from Best who else from the first team would've started against Stoke bearing in mind he knew Ben Arfa and Ireland were crocked when he bought them? Basically without Barton, Jonas and Best (and Routledge, who Pards should never have loaned out) we're devoid of any attacking threat. Combine that with Jose going off and Ben Arfa being out for the season (which is due to his broken leg so wasn't known when he arrived) we're f***ed. I honestly don't think the manager matters that much when the players on the pitch are as poor as we have now. This! He's been riddled with injuries. Each time he's completed the battle plan for the next match, he's forced to make last minute changes due to a fresh injury. As long as we're staying up, I'm satisfied.

He probably will be our first choice rb next season.. But SHOULD he be? I have my doubts... What about Perch?

You have all good arguments. But do you see him as our first choice rb next season? Imo, he's tot weak in attack. He needs to improve drastically in that respect. New poll?

On that we agree

I want to keep him. But as I said in the post above, if we're offered stupid money (say £6 mill) then I've no objections. Finding a just as good replacement will not be that difficult imo.