OK Then

[NE5]

if we go down, who do you think should stay to form the backbone of getting back ?

 

And who do you think should be kicked out [whether they have signed a new contract or not]

 

Stay

 

Harper, Beye, Taylor, BAssong, Enrique, Guittierez, Martins, Nolan.

 

I'm resigned to owen going.

 

Ameobi, Geremi, Viduka and Duff can fuck off for me, I'll take a few pints of John Smiths for each of them.

 

I'd take fair fees for Ryan Taylor, Colocinni, Carrol, Edgar, Butt, Smith, and maybe Joey Barton but I'm not sure about him because we haven't seen him play like he did for Man City and he hasn't really had a bad injury like Smith, Duff and Owen.

 

[SUPERTOON]

Doesnt really matter who we want to stay, every high earner will be gone and bids will be considered for every player.

 

 

Shola and Carroll will be the definite stayers.

[Dave]

Agree with your lists, but I simply can't see us keeping hold of:

 

Beye (won't want to retire on such a low).

Taylor (will get himself a decent move).

Bassong (will have surely impressed someone).

Enrique (Kinnear will pack him off back to Spain).

Martins (be back to a European club IMO).

 

I'd be surprised if we're lucky enough to be able to offload the likes of Butt, Smith and Duff. They'll not want to give up their cushy wages and our manager will see them as ideal players to bring us back up.

[NE5]

Doesnt really matter who we want to stay, every high earner will be gone and bids will be considered for every player.

 

 

Shola and Carroll will be the definite stayers.

 

 

I know. I'm not considering the wages though. Because - as always - if they perform on the pitch then they are worth the wages.

 

Its quite unbelievable that Ameobi is now in a position where he is going to spend his entire career with NUFC and retire a rich young man.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[NE5]

Agree with your lists, but I simply can't see us keeping hold of:

 

Beye (won't want to retire on such a low).

Taylor (will get himself a decent move).

Bassong (will have surely impressed someone).

Enrique (Kinnear will pack him off back to Spain).

Martins (be back to a European club IMO).

 

I'd be surprised if we're lucky enough to be able to offload the likes of Butt, Smith and Duff. They'll not want to give up their cushy wages and our manager will see them as ideal players to bring us back up.

 

sadly I agree too with the reality that some of them will want to go.

 

 

[SUPERTOON]

Surely Butt will have some sort of relegation wage cut clause. He only signed his contract recently when we were already fighting relegation. To not put one in would be mad.

[Dave]

Surely Butt will have some sort of relegation wage cut clause. He only signed his contract recently when we were already fighting relegation. To not put one in would be mad.

 

They probably put in a clause about reaching Europe.

[Mowen]

Agree with your lists, but I simply can't see us keeping hold of:

 

Beye (won't want to retire on such a low).

Taylor (will get himself a decent move).

Bassong (will have surely impressed someone).

Enrique (Kinnear will pack him off back to Spain).

Martins (be back to a European club IMO).

 

I'd be surprised if we're lucky enough to be able to offload the likes of Butt, Smith and Duff. They'll not want to give up their cushy wages and our manager will see them as ideal players to bring us back up.

 

sadly I agree too with the reality that some of them will want to go.

 

I pretty much agree with this. Would be well worth holding on to R Taylor imo, has struggled so far but plenty enough quality for that division and could cover for loads of positions. They'd pretty much all want off though.

[NE5]

Surely Butt will have some sort of relegation wage cut clause. He only signed his contract recently when we were already fighting relegation. To not put one in would be mad.

 

In actual fact, he might be the one worth keeping if we went down. How old is he ? If anything, he would only get a move to a low lying premiership club or a championship team now ?

 

All depends really, is his contract for one year ? I would hope so, again because of his age.

 

 

[tmonkey]

Harper, Beye, Bassong, Enrique, Barton, Guthrie, Jonas, Martins.

 

I think we should cash in on Steven Taylor as he's probably still got an unwarranted reputation of being a potential England international, ala James Milner. I wouldn't be suprised if someone paid over £10m for him.

 

The most important players to keep imo would be Martins, Jonas and Bassong. I can see Jonas ripping Championship fullbacks apart at St James', Martins scoring heavily when he's not injured, and Bassong dominating at the back. Unfortunately, those three will be the most in-demand players on our books. Jonas will probably be desperate for a move to keep his place in the Argentina squad, and I can't see Bassong hanging around with World Cup 2010 coming up at the end of the season. Both players will be desperate to make their respective squads for that tournament.

[NE5]

Agree with your lists, but I simply can't see us keeping hold of:

 

Beye (won't want to retire on such a low).

Taylor (will get himself a decent move).

Bassong (will have surely impressed someone).

Enrique (Kinnear will pack him off back to Spain).

Martins (be back to a European club IMO).

 

I'd be surprised if we're lucky enough to be able to offload the likes of Butt, Smith and Duff. They'll not want to give up their cushy wages and our manager will see them as ideal players to bring us back up.

 

sadly I agree too with the reality that some of them will want to go.

 

I pretty much agree with this. Would be well worth holding on to R Taylor imo, has struggled so far but plenty enough quality for that division and could cover for loads of positions. They'd pretty much all want off though.

 

Smith and Ryan Taylor have the sort of character to get back up, but in Smiths case his injury has hit him badly, and I wonder if his lack of success here has gone so far there is any way back for him now.

 

Getting back will be far from automatic. It will need someone to make a few good signings and know what he is doing.

 

I can't believe I'm saying this again. And promotion is only the start, its nothing really, yet it will be made out to be glory glory or something.

 

 

[cubaricho]

Our squad will be decimated if we go down.  The majority of our players are Premiership quality players (even though we'd be down) that will go elsewhere if we go down.  We will find out how much of a "legend" and loyal a lot of these guys really are.

[Yorkie]

The dilemma with trying to hang onto key figures is their wages. I don't know a lot about the finance side of things but i assume if we go down, we won't be able to pay for them. Could that lead us towards administration if we didn't come straight back up? If we go down and a bunch of players want to go, i'd just let them. Probably best for all parties concerned in a very twisted way, and doubtless why some of the mugs aren't trying their hearts out to keep us up.

[Dave]

And promotion is only the start, its nothing really, yet it will be made out to be glory glory or something.

 

I really doubt that, actually. Anyone who knows anything about football knows that this club should be in the top flight.

 

Don't get me wrong, if we came back up I'd be happy. But only in the sense that we'd be back where we were in the first place.

[cubaricho]

Probably best for all parties concerned in a very twisted way, and doubtless why some of the mugs aren't trying their hearts out to keep us up.

 

Someone said something along these lines in another thread and it made me think about it quite a bit.  With clubs like West Brom and Stoke, they are fighting to stay in the Prem because they are, on the majority, Championship players punching above their weight struggling for survival when our lads know they will get a cushy move elsewhere if Newcastle were to go down.  They've got no real reason to play their hearts out.

[Mowen]

Agree with your lists, but I simply can't see us keeping hold of:

 

Beye (won't want to retire on such a low).

Taylor (will get himself a decent move).

Bassong (will have surely impressed someone).

Enrique (Kinnear will pack him off back to Spain).

Martins (be back to a European club IMO).

 

I'd be surprised if we're lucky enough to be able to offload the likes of Butt, Smith and Duff. They'll not want to give up their cushy wages and our manager will see them as ideal players to bring us back up.

 

sadly I agree too with the reality that some of them will want to go.

 

I pretty much agree with this. Would be well worth holding on to R Taylor imo, has struggled so far but plenty enough quality for that division and could cover for loads of positions. They'd pretty much all want off though.

 

Smith and Ryan Taylor have the sort of character to get back up, but in Smiths case his injury has hit him badly, and I wonder if his lack of success here has gone so far there is any way back for him now.

 

Getting back will be far from automatic. It will need someone to make a few good signings and know what he is doing.

 

I can't believe I'm saying this again. And promotion is only the start, its nothing really, yet it will be made out to be glory glory or something.

 

 

Smith fucked off the second his hometown club got relegated, I can't see him wanting to stick around here if someone would buy him. He did have a much better rep back then mind. Don't disagree with anything about the promotion bar the point Dave's already made.

[Dave]

Probably best for all parties concerned in a very twisted way, and doubtless why some of the mugs aren't trying their hearts out to keep us up.

 

Someone said something along these lines in another thread and it made me think about it quite a bit.  With clubs like West Brom and Stoke, they are fighting to stay in the Prem because they are, on the majority, Championship players punching above their weight struggling for survival when our lads know they will get a cushy move elsewhere if Newcastle were to go down.  They've got no real reason to play their hearts out.

 

Twas me. Having these so-called quality players is actually really hurting us.

[tmonkey]

The dilemma with trying to hang onto key figures is their wages. I don't know a lot about the finance side of things but i assume if we go down, we won't be able to pay for them. Could that lead us towards administration if we didn't come straight back up? If we go down and a bunch of players want to go, i'd just let them. Probably best for all parties concerned in a very twisted way, and doubtless why some of the mugs aren't trying their hearts out to keep us up.

 

If we have to sell our key players, we need Llambias to try his best to sell them to the clubs so that we get a few talented youngsters coming in the other way.

 

Could land the next Bentley, Gillespie, Diarra etc if we're lucky enough.

[Yorkie]

The dilemma with trying to hang onto key figures is their wages. I don't know a lot about the finance side of things but i assume if we go down, we won't be able to pay for them. Could that lead us towards administration if we didn't come straight back up? If we go down and a bunch of players want to go, i'd just let them. Probably best for all parties concerned in a very twisted way, and doubtless why some of the mugs aren't trying their hearts out to keep us up.

 

If we have to sell our key players, we need Llambias to try his best to sell them to the clubs so that we get a few talented youngsters coming in the other way.

 

Could land the next Bentley, Gillespie, Diarra etc if we're lucky enough.

 

The irony of it all is that Wise's system is what could actually save us. Say we go down... where the fuck would we be without Kadar, Baheng, Adjei, Tozer, Ranger? It's raw talent like that which will get you out of the division, not grafting cloggers; the Championship is a good quality league in all fairness. We'd have literally no squad without them.

 

(I'm assuming these youngsters are actually good btw. )

[binnsy]

For some reason i can see us holding onto Beye my biggest worry is how on earth we are going to rebuild the team and squad on Ashleys business model,  the likes of Owen, Viduka, Geremi will be gone for free but thankfully off the wage bill. A team like Everton will be licking their lips at getting their hands on Smith & Duff for knockdown fees and can just imagine Moyes been the type of boss to get them playing like they did before the landed on our doorstep!

Unfortunately relegation will also mean that players like Barton, Taylor, Bassong, Martins who could bring in decent funds will also have a couple of million knocked off potential transfer fees.

Problem starts with AShley selling on credit but paying in cash,  although we will get the first installments on the Milner, Given & n'zogbia deals we won't see the cash from this summers deals, or at least not the full amount.

How much will it cost to replace Owen, Viduka, Geremi, Taylor, Bassong, Colocini, Jonas, Duff, Barton, cacapa.

may also lose Nolan and Jose and possibly even Harper.  I'm not sure Edgar has been offered a new deal yet and could lose him for free but is a player who would do a decent job in the championship.

Bearing in mind our squad is too small we would be entering a league which is notoriously tough and playing more games so will need more players than we currently have.

 

We'll be left with a nucleus of players consisting of

Harper, Krul(heard he could be off to Feyenoord tho), Forster

Ryan Taylor, Beye, Edgar(if signed up), Kadar, Lough, Tozer,

Guthrie, Butt, Nolan

Shola, Carroll, Xisco, LOvenkrands, lua lua

 

ashley is going to have to release significant funds to build up a suitable squad strong enough to compete in a very tough league,  don't know how much the parachute payments are but all of that amount plus the ST money must be invested in the rebuilding programme and whoever the manager is must make some canny loan signings,  young players such as Eckersley who was tremendous for Man U's reserves last night and the likes of Mancienne who has been excellent for Wolves would have to come in.

 

WHatever happens whether we stay up or go down, it'll be an interesting summer,  we need rebuilding whatever the outcome of this season but it'll be easier if we are still a premier league club.

 

 

 

[NE5]

The dilemma with trying to hang onto key figures is their wages. I don't know a lot about the finance side of things but i assume if we go down, we won't be able to pay for them. Could that lead us towards administration if we didn't come straight back up? If we go down and a bunch of players want to go, i'd just let them. Probably best for all parties concerned in a very twisted way, and doubtless why some of the mugs aren't trying their hearts out to keep us up.

 

the season ticket renewals will go down, but if we are relegated and start next season and put in a serious promotion challenge, the stadium will be near full again. On that basis, the aim should be to keep some of those players, high earners or not.

 

That could be a good time for ashley to sell the club, and get a buyer. Unfortunately, if we get up then I don't think he would compete at top premiership levels again, and so the crowds would go down again.

 

Catch-22

 

Back where we are now.

 

 

[Guest Heneage]

I reckon Martins will head straight back to Italy.

[NE5]

And promotion is only the start, its nothing really, yet it will be made out to be glory glory or something.

 

I really doubt that, actually. Anyone who knows anything about football knows that this club should be in the top flight.

 

Don't get me wrong, if we came back up I'd be happy. But only in the sense that we'd be back where we were in the first place.

 

No Dave, what I mean is a promotion campaign will go down as a glory era, when in reality we should never be down there in the first place, just like previous promotions too.

 

The real test is what they do when we get back up.

 

 

[Yorkie]

Feel like i've done this a few times now. But fwiw, imo if we go down:

 

 

 

2. Coloccini

 

3. Enrique

 

4. Nolan

 

6. Cacapa

 

7. Barton

 

8. Guthrie

 

9. Martins

 

10. Owen

 

11. Duff

 

12. Bassong

 

13. Harper

 

15. Gonzalez

 

16. R Taylor

 

17. Smith

 

18. Gutierrez

 

19. Xisxo

 

20. Geremi

 

21. Beye

 

22. Butt

 

23. Ameobi

 

24. Lovenkrands

 

27. S Taylor

 

30. Edgar

 

36. Viduka

 

Gone by September 1st 09.

 

 

 

Quite a horrifying thought but not all that unlikely. And like i say, even if we do manage to hang onto some of em, imagine their wages. Imagine if no one is clever enough to stay clear of Duff or Smith. Yikes. Very yikes. They could bleed us dry for essentially no return.

 

Really amazes me how some people - not many - can so much as entertain the possibility of going down. Consider Joe Kinnear as our manager aswell, the man to deal with the mess we'd be in. I honestly wouldn't be surprised to see us descend even further. You can treat that as an overreaction or an exaggeration if you want, but the above is not an unrealistic outcome. I pray to God, if we go down, Wise and his minions remain at the club because we're going to need their initiative and worldwide contacts to get us some flipping players.

[Pilko]

Agree with Yorkie except I think if we go down, Edgar will be kept. If not, he'll be binned.