Building a team/squad around the core we already have

[Dr Venkman]

If we want to convince our best players to stay here we need to become a club that sets it's sights higher. What are we hoping to achieve next season, or the season after that? The likes of Enrique or Barton want to be playing in Europe every year but the club's focus until now has been to cut costs. You'd like to think the Carroll money will allow us to be a bit more ambitious but it will need a change of mindset not just a bonus windfall from selling a big player.

 

that's what it all hinges on

[TRon]

If we want to convince our best players to stay here we need to become a club that sets it's sights higher. What are we hoping to achieve next season, or the season after that? The likes of Enrique or Barton want to be playing in Europe every year but the club's focus until now has been to cut costs. You'd like to think the Carroll money will allow us to be a bit more ambitious but it will need a change of mindset not just a bonus windfall from selling a big player.

you don't think we needed to cut costs and reorganise financially ?

 

I think we did. If the Carroll money is invested in quality though we can afford to aim higher.

[madras]

If we want to convince our best players to stay here we need to become a club that sets it's sights higher. What are we hoping to achieve next season, or the season after that? The likes of Enrique or Barton want to be playing in Europe every year but the club's focus until now has been to cut costs. You'd like to think the Carroll money will allow us to be a bit more ambitious but it will need a change of mindset not just a bonus windfall from selling a big player.

you don't think we needed to cut costs and reorganise financially ?

 

I think we did. If the Carroll money is invested in quality though we can afford to aim higher.

definitly. and while i wouldn't expect the 35mill all to go on transfer fees alone i'd also expect there to have been some cash for building even if carroll hadn't moved.

[Optimistic Nut]

It's pretty frustrating knowing we're so close to being where we should be if we invest correctly mind but not having a clue with what's going on in Ashley's mind. Will be interesting to see if he makes another one of those daft statements on the official website when the season's up signalling his intentions as he did last year.

[Dr Venkman]

'There will be 34.5 million capitol outlay'  :frantic: :dave:

[Chicken Dancer]

Must keep:

Enrique, Colo, Barton, Nolan, Tiote, Jonas, Ben Arfa, Forster.

 

Squad players/First Teamers:

Harper,Saylor,Williamson,Simpson,Raylor,Guthrie,Best,Shola,Lovenkrands,Lua Lua,Gosling, Kadar.

 

Add five players to them and we're laughing. Don't rate Loven, Raylor and Shola as top players but they are good to add depth to the squad, especially as it's something we lack at the minute.

 

Loan out:

Ranger, Vuckic, Ferguson, Krul, Airey.

 

This lot, particularly Ranger and Ferguson, need a spell we're they are consistently starting games. Would do Ranger the world of good IMO.

[Hanshithispantz]

Definitely agree with HTT about Tiote, he's far too good with the ball at his feet to be stuck in a DM position.

He's exelent with the ball at his feet tbf, but not in the sense that would help us cut teams apart in advanced areas of the pitch. He's perfect for the anchor role.

 

The same argument gets used with Coloccini, we just need to look at it as we have great deffensive players with exelent technique, we don't need to try and change them.

[Hanshithispantz]

GK: Harper, Krul, Forster

 

RB: New5, Simpson

CB: Coloccini, New3, Williamson, STaylor, Kadar

LB: Enrique, Ferguson

 

RM: New2, Barton, RTaylor

CM: Nolan, Tiote, Barton, New6, Guthrie, Gosling

LM: Gutierrez, Ferguson, Ben Arfa

 

ST: New1, Ben Arfa, New4, Ameobi, Best, Lovenkrands

 

 

This is the something like the squad i think we should have. The numbers are what i see as 'level of priority', so obviously striker is top and a new centre-mid would be nice but not as essential.

 

That would mean chucking: Campbell, Routledge, Perch, Smith, Xisco, Kuqi. So in reality we'd essentially be losing no one, given the minuscule amount of appearances amassed by that bunch. And that's what i think is most important. Not losing many because the crux of the squad, as Dave and everyone have said, is very good.

I agree with everything here

[Guest MrSundlofer]

Building a team...

 

I can agree with HTT that we need a commanding goalkeeper. However, I don't think we should buy one. I hope Tim Krul and/or Fraser Forster will develop well during next season and become better in their goalkeeping skills.

 

Goalkeepers for next season: Steve Harper, Tim Krul, Fraser Forster

 

I hope Danny Simpson can take another step next season with a good pre-season under his belt. James Perch started the season awful as a right back and Danny Simpson was a big improvement when he replaced him. But I sometimes want a 'right-sided José Enrique' as a right back, pace, technique, great crosses and very attacking. So, I really hope Danny Simpson can build on his performance this season. Dan Gosling played some games at right back for Everton, didn't he? I think he prefer to play in midfield, but that's on option maybe? James Tavernier will also be a part of the of the squad in pre-season in July and he "has a big future in the game" according to Gateshead manager Ian Bogie.

 

Full backs for next season: José Enrique, Danny Simpson, James Perch, James Tavernier, Tamás Kádár

 

Sol Campbell is most likely to leave the club in the summer. He's clearly not a part of the future here, neither as a player or a staff member. I hope Fabricio Coloccini stays. He's a joy to watch and very good on the ball at his feet. Steven Taylor signed a new contract some months back and is a part of Pardew's first team plans for next season. Mike Williamson has shown everyone he's a good player in this league. But we need one more central defender. Hopefully a cheap steal from the French league, just what we did with Sébastien Bassong.

 

Central defenders for next season: Fabricio Coloccini, Steven Taylor, Mike Williamson

 

The question is what will happen to Alan Smith? If our priority is 'top-8' he's not good enough as a replacement when Cheik Tioté isn't playing. And he's on a high wage. Cheik Tioté has been phenomenal this season!

 

Defensive midfielders for next season: Cheik Tioté, Alan Smith

 

I wrote about Dan Gosling before and I am very excited about this player. He was highly rated at Everton and with a pre-season in the summer he will be given a chance to show everyone what he can do. A central box-to-box midfielder, a right winger (in the Barton-position) and also a right back (occasionally). Then we have Joey Barton who has shown good form as a playmaker with a starting position as a right winger. He will probably have the same position (or a similar position) next season. The captain, Kevin Nolan has produced some important goals this season and is a vital member of the squad. A great captain! And there is also Danny Guthrie.

 

Attacking midfielders for next season: Joey Barton, Kevin Nolan, Dan Gosling, Danny Guthrie

 

Alan Pardew tried this 4-4-1-1 formation versus Chelsea yesterday and it worked well. And I think we wants to use Hatem Ben Arfa in the 4-4-1-1 role, just behind the striker, 'the number-10 position'. Another good thing is that this role is perfect for very high rated youngster Haris Vučkić.

 

'The number-10 position' for next season: Hatem Ben Arfa, Haris Vučkić

 

I think Jonás Gutiérrez is an important player for use. He has a lot of energy and can hold up the ball well, and has also a great partnership with José Enrique on the left flank. Wayne Routledge will most likely leave. Kazenga LuaLua is an interesting player and Ryan Taylor can play as a right winger but he lacks speed. Shane Ferguson has been very good the games he has played and hopefully he can fight for a starting place next season.

 

Wingers for next season: Jonás Gutiérrez, Ryan Taylor, Kazenga LuaLua, Shane Ferguson

 

Shefki Kuqi will say goodbye to the team after the West Brom game and left will Shola Ameobi, Peter Lovenkrands, Leon Best and Nile Ranger be. Sammy Ameobi made a bright start to his Newcastle career yesterday but I don't think Alan Pardew sees him as a first team players next season (but I hope).

 

Strikers for next season: Shola Ameobi, Peter Lovenkrands, Leon Best, Nile Ranger

 

I've not mentioned Xisco, Ryan Donaldson and Ben Tozer. All of them are most likely to leave the club.

 

Our Key Players for next season

Fabricio Coloccini

José Enrique

Cheik Tioté

Joey Barton

Kevin Nolan

Jonás Gutiérrez

Hatem Ben Arfa

 

Formation for next season

 

http://img842.imageshack.us/img842/9103/nufcformation.jpg

 

Transfers for next season

The most important thing is to sign a striker and Pardew want exciting players with speed so maybe a fast winger? I think we need another defensive midfielder as well.

 

I think we should build on what we have, add 2-3 first team players, sign 1-2 youngsters and continue to give our youngster a chance in the first team.

 

Note! Some of the youngsters above (Nile Ranger, Kazenga LuaLua, James Tavernier etc) will probably leave on loan.

[JH]

28 would be a decent squad size like, especially considering we'd be letting most of the shit go too.

 

Can't see us slashing that much though.

[Begbie]

I think we should build our squad around our goalkeepers, Enrique, Colo, Simpson, Barton, Nolan, Jonas, Tiote and Ben Arfa. We need imo atleast 1 CB, 1 new winger with pace, 1 new cm, and 2 new strikers.

 

West Ham have some good players that should be available now. I have always had a soft spot for T. Hitzelsperger, Faubert, Demba Ba, and ofcourse Parker(but i dont think he would ever come back here).

 

 

[Ketsbaia]

Campbell, Kuqi, Routledge and Xisco are gone without any effort really. So theres 4 of the dross (and their wages) we've got rid of. After that I'd only want Smith to go because of his wages as the likes of Lovenkrands, Raylor, Guthrie and Perch are pretty harmless. As long as they remain back-up they're on small wages and can prove to be pretty handy....after all we have just drawn at Stamford Bridge with an appalling line up!

 

As for loans, Vuckic and Ferguson are worth keeping but Ranger going is a must. I guess Lua Lua and Krul/Forster will have to too.

[Stu]

Definitely agree with HTT about Tiote, he's far too good with the ball at his feet to be stuck in a DM position.

He's exelent with the ball at his feet tbf, but not in the sense that would help us cut teams apart in advanced areas of the pitch. He's perfect for the anchor role.

 

The same argument gets used with Coloccini, we just need to look at it as we have great deffensive players with exelent technique, we don't need to try and change them.

 

they're usually afforded the extra half a second to play the ball because they receive the ball where the opposition attackers are, not where their defensive minded players are.

[Hanshithispantz]

We should also look to getting a couple of loans in, not to the extent of Sunderland where we're pretty much fielding a full squad of loan players, but we should certainly take advantage of it for once.

 

Sturidge and Welbeck may be looking for a temporary club again in the summer, and if we cannot bring in a couple of decent strikers of our own we should try and get one in.

[Guest WisconsinMagpie]

It's surprising so many are assuming Enrique in the lineup. Sadly there's close to zero evidence he's interested in staying. And making someone play out a contract against his will is a recipe for underperformance. If we're lucky recent results and safety and the prospect of summer talent coming will have softened him but we'll see.

 

The closed-shop Champions League talk rings sort of harsh in my American ears. Granted it's only recently we've been able to follow English football via TV in the US, so I haven't experienced decades of frustration as some here have. But didn't Newcastle just play Man U, Arsenal and Chelsea even over the course of a season? Short-handed and coming fresh off promotion? The revenue disparity in American baseball is similar to that of English football, and yes, the rich clubs win a lot. Yet it's been proved in baseball that a club can't win on mercenaries alone, and smaller teams challenge every year. I wonder what's different in the PL, and that's not a rhetorical question.

 

(p.s. I agree this might be a topic for a new thread but I don't think I'm able to start one yet.)

[madras]

It's surprising so many are assuming Enrique in the lineup. Sadly there's close to zero evidence he's interested in staying. And making someone play out a contract against his will is a recipe for underperformance. If we're lucky recent results and safety and the prospect of summer talent coming will have softened him but we'll see.

 

The closed-shop Champions League talk rings sort of harsh in my American ears. Granted it's only recently we've been able to follow English football via TV in the US, so I haven't experienced decades of frustration as some here have. But didn't Newcastle just play Man U, Arsenal and Chelsea even over the course of a season? Short-handed and coming fresh off promotion? The revenue disparity in American baseball is similar to that of English football, and yes, the rich clubs win a lot. Yet it's been proved in baseball that a club can't win on mercenaries alone, and smaller teams challenge every year. I wonder what's different in the PL, and that's not a rhetorical question.

 

(p.s. I agree this might be a topic for a new thread but I don't think I'm able to start one yet.)

theres close to zero evidence of anything.

[Optimistic Nut]

I'd rather Enrique didn't go but if we got someone like M'Bengue or van Aanholt who might be of our second tier players in the Nolan and Jonas bracket and added another top tier player in another area then we might get away with it.

[toptoon]

We clearly need one really good goalscorer first and foremost. Someone in the Darren Bent type mould (ok a cheaper import without the pricetag is more likely). Plus a good up coming goal scorer. If we can improve on any of the others too then great. Getting Zoggy back would be a good start. But as long as we get two really good quality strikers i'll be fairly happy.

 

 

                      ??

                     

                                  Ben Arfa

                                 

Jonas/Zoggy?    Tiote      Nolan      Barton

 

Enrique          Colo    Taylor/Willi  Simpson

 

                            Harper

                           

Forster/Krul/Solderburg

Taylor/Willi/Kadar

Ferguson/Lua Lua

Guthrie/Gosling

Jonas/Zoggy

Shola/Ranger/S Ameobi

New Striker

 

Perch, Smith and Campbell need to be moved on and it would be great to rid of Xisco too.

 

All these need replacing with better players.

 

We will do amazingly well to keep hold of Enrique and Tiote who have undoubtably turned a few heads. But we need to as we can't just keep selling our best players. Caroll sale must have helped balance the books

 

Would be fine with the likes of Ranger and Vuckik etc going out on loan IF we get numbers in.

[Cronky]

 

The closed-shop Champions League talk rings sort of harsh in my American ears. Granted it's only recently we've been able to follow English football via TV in the US, so I haven't experienced decades of frustration as some here have. But didn't Newcastle just play Man U, Arsenal and Chelsea even over the course of a season? Short-handed and coming fresh off promotion? The revenue disparity in American baseball is similar to that of English football, and yes, the rich clubs win a lot. Yet it's been proved in baseball that a club can't win on mercenaries alone, and smaller teams challenge every year. I wonder what's different in the PL, and that's not a rhetorical question.

 

(p.s. I agree this might be a topic for a new thread but I don't think I'm able to start one yet.)

 

I don't know about baseball, but my impression of American Sports is that they tend to have measures to try to create more equal competition over the years eg a draft system so that the weaker teams have access to the better young players, an even split of TV money over all the franchises, a salary cap – I’m not sure if they all apply to all four major sports, but the understanding has been there for a long time that part of the role of the governing bodies is to ensure that one or two teams don’t dominate year after year.

 

In Europe, there’s generally a free rein for a wealthy benefactor to spend what they want. The new UEFA ‘Financial Fair Play’ rules are the first attempt that I’m aware of to counteract that. The situation has also become exacerbated in England by the huge amounts of Satellite TV money that are now available to those who qualify for the Champions League. A club who enjoys Champions League status can use that money to maintain their position year on year, by paying the big transfer fees and big salaries for the better players. Success has bred success. Evening out the TV money between the Champions League clubs and the rest of the Premiership, and between the Premiership and the Championship, would be very beneficial but I'm not sure it's going to happen.

 

I think another advantage in America is the number of large cities who can sustain a big sports franchise on an equal footing with their rivals. In some of the smaller countries of europe (eg Scotland, Portugal, Greece), their leagues have been dominated by a handful of big city clubs for a while.

 

 

[Shayno]

Would like to see Enrique stay, but we are not in a position to let players run out their contracts here when we could money to invest in replacements.

 

It will be interesting to see what type of formation Pardew goes with next season

[maze]

Would like to see Enrique stay, but we are not in a position to let players run out their contracts here when we could money to invest in replacements.

 

It will be interesting to see what type of formation Pardew goes with next season

 

Provided Ashley re-invests that, which we don't know.... yet.

[Super Duper Branko Strupar]

Enrique swap deal for Van Aarnholt and Drogba?

[Guest WisconsinMagpie]

 

The closed-shop Champions League talk rings sort of harsh in my American ears. Granted it's only recently we've been able to follow English football via TV in the US, so I haven't experienced decades of frustration as some here have. But didn't Newcastle just play Man U, Arsenal and Chelsea even over the course of a season? Short-handed and coming fresh off promotion? The revenue disparity in American baseball is similar to that of English football, and yes, the rich clubs win a lot. Yet it's been proved in baseball that a club can't win on mercenaries alone, and smaller teams challenge every year. I wonder what's different in the PL, and that's not a rhetorical question.

 

(p.s. I agree this might be a topic for a new thread but I don't think I'm able to start one yet.)

 

I don't know about baseball, but my impression of American Sports is that they tend to have measures to try to create more equal competition over the years eg a draft system so that the weaker teams have access to the better young players, an even split of TV money over all the franchises, a salary cap – I’m not sure if they all apply to all four major sports, but the understanding has been there for a long time that part of the role of the governing bodies is to ensure that one or two teams don’t dominate year after year.

 

In Europe, there’s generally a free rein for a wealthy benefactor to spend what they want. The new UEFA ‘Financial Fair Play’ rules are the first attempt that I’m aware of to counteract that. The situation has also become exacerbated in England by the huge amounts of Satellite TV money that are now available to those who qualify for the Champions League. A club who enjoys Champions League status can use that money to maintain their position year on year, by paying the big transfer fees and big salaries for the better players. Success has bred success. Evening out the TV money between the Champions League clubs and the rest of the Premiership, and between the Premiership and the Championship, would be very beneficial but I'm not sure it's going to happen.

 

I think another advantage in America is the number of large cities who can sustain a big sports franchise on an equal footing with their rivals. In some of the smaller countries of europe (eg Scotland, Portugal, Greece), their leagues have been dominated by a handful of big city clubs for a while.

 

 

The controls you speak of are relatively strong in the NFL, middling in the NBA, and weak in baseball. That's why I used baseball as the example. Also, because of the territorial restrictions on teams and the lack of a promotion/relegation system, certain teams in American sport have a built-in revenue advantage Manchester United or Chelsea could but dream of. Imagine if London were permitted only two PL clubs and one of them had 75 percent of the city's support. That's called the New York Yankees. Regardless, though, I think you're probably right - the economics of English football are more free-form. It's harder to break a contract in the US and there's no open transfer window, so a club can generally hold onto a star it develops past the point at which Andy Carroll left Newcastle. And the interest is more global and therefore so is the money. Some oil sheik isn't interested in buying the St. Louis Cardinals as a toy.

 

I still think, on the pitch, Newcastle isn't that many players away from competing with the best clubs. If the roster is made healthy and has £20 or £25 million of new blood added, there's reason for optimism beyond "maybe we can finish sixth" in my admittedly inexperienced opinion.