Guest Knightrider Posted June 5, 2007 Share Posted June 5, 2007 F365 Opinion Nodding In Approval At Allardyce... Posted 05/06/07 09:44 If Sam Allardyce can get Tal Ben Haim, Mark Viduka and Joey Barton in at Newcastle United for the grand total of £5.5m - and add Sol Campbell for not much more - he will already have done a better summer's business for the Toon than any of his previous five predecessors ever managed. Add to that a few quid spent on two new full-backs (Leighton Baines will surely beg for a move after T*tf**k Bumble's arrival at Wigan) and Michael Owen and Obafemi Martins being persuaded to stay put for at least another season, and you start to believe that Newcastle are ready to join the likes of Tottenham and Everton in that second tier of Premiership clubs. Allardyce inherited a Newcastle squad stronger than the Bolton one he twice led to UEFA Cup qualification - it's just that this one is beset with the typical twin Toon evils of injury and general disaffection. Whatever Big Sam's limitations tactically, he is untouchable in terms of ensuring players are fit and happy. If you can keep El-Hadji Diouf and Nic Anelka quiet and relatively content, then what problems could Oba Martins and Kieron Dyer possibly pose? Of course, Joey Barton is a different proposition. Journalists talk of 'discipline problems' but fans talk of 'loose screws'. Can Allardyce change him? Who knows, but sometimes the kid at school who attacks another kid with a brick just needs a change of school and a change of approach. If he can rehabilitate him, and that risk comes at just £5.5m, then it could well be the bargain of the summer. Espcially if they get £8m for Scott Parker, a player no better and probably less motivated than Barton. But even at £5.5m, and assuming you're getting Barton the player rather than Barton the thug, he might not be Allardyce's best move of the summer. For reasons unbeknownst to anyone, Newcastle's only top-quality centre-half of the last ten years has been Jonathan Woodgate, and he was made of balsa wood. Kevin Keegan ignored the issue, Graeme Souness spent £8m on Jean-Alain Boumsong. For some reason it's been considered un-Newcastle to have a decent defence. Change that ridiculous tradition and you solve the majority of the Toon's problems in one fell swoop. You need only look at Portsmouth's achievements last season - without a great deal of flair and no strikers worthy of the name - to see what an almost rock-solid defensive back five can achieve. Newcastle's forward players are in a different class to Pompey's. Add in Allardyce targets Campbell and Ben Haim and you get a line-up that immediately looks so much stronger than either side last season. Nolberto Solano, James Milner, Emre, Nicky Butt, Damien Duff, Kieron Dyer, Owen, Martins, Shola Ameobi - it's hardly a poor selection of options, is it? The free transfer signing of Viduka would also be something of a coup. When he looks like he can be arsed, the Australian is still one of the sharpest strikers in the Premiership. Sam's nutritional expert only has to keep him off the stotties. Hopefully for Toon fans, Allardyce's reign will bring about a new era of sensible spending, ending the days of ill-fated PR-boosting, season ticket-selling chases for the likes of (The Real) Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney, £9.5m moves for unproven 'stars' like Alberto Luque and Hugo Viana and cheap, low-quality defensive reinforcements. It does not take a genius to see what Allardyce needed to do this summer - buy a new defence and bring in players with proven Premiership pedigree. He didn't need to make headlines, but rather steady the ship. Barton might not fit into that no-risk strategy, but he is still a very good Premiership player whose commitment on the field is rarely in question. Basically, his temper has made him three million quid cheaper than he could be. Sam presumably believes that's one risk worth taking. As long as he doesn't take too many more, he'll have something of a Toon revival on his hands... Sarah Winterburn Source Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willow Posted June 5, 2007 Share Posted June 5, 2007 Good stuff. Can't recall many times in the past 5 or so years where I've felt so optomistic about the club. We're on the up it seems Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Posted June 5, 2007 Share Posted June 5, 2007 I stopped reading at the end of the first paragraph, did Bobby not buy Rodert and Bellamy the year we qualified for the CL? Allardyce will have to go some to beat that sort of improvement. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Knightrider Posted June 5, 2007 Share Posted June 5, 2007 I stopped reading at the end of the first paragraph, did Bobby not buy Rodert and Bellamy the year we qualified for the CL? Allardyce will have to go some to beat that sort of improvement. SHould actually read it Mick, makes some good points, for a women anyway I agree about that bit though. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Syrette Posted June 5, 2007 Share Posted June 5, 2007 Good article that, fills me with optimism even though it's nothing I've not heard (or thought) before. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SAK Posted June 5, 2007 Share Posted June 5, 2007 I stopped reading at the end of the first paragraph, did Bobby not buy Rodert and Bellamy the year we qualified for the CL? Allardyce will have to go some to beat that sort of improvement. SHould actually read it Mick, makes some good points, for a women anyway I agree about that bit though. I agreed with most of it then saw the name at the end of the article. Obviously I have to now disagree on principle. Women writing about football! They'll be commentating about it next. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewellander Posted June 5, 2007 Share Posted June 5, 2007 I think it's still too early to feel overly optimistic or pessimistic. Until Allardyce brings in defenders, he will not be the greatest manager, as far as transfer windows go. Barton and Viduka are good signings, but we need to improve the back four, and that's where his focus should be. If Roeder made these signings before a single defender, we would have been down his throat. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dokko Posted June 5, 2007 Share Posted June 5, 2007 Nothing that hasn't been said over and over by most sensible posters on this board. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest iainp999 Posted June 5, 2007 Share Posted June 5, 2007 I stopped reading at the end of the first paragraph, did Bobby not buy Rodert and Bellamy the year we qualified for the CL? Allardyce will have to go some to beat that sort of improvement. Although I think Allardyce will have spent around 10.5M less than Robson... Not knocking Bobby, just think the lass was basing her statement on that. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Posted June 5, 2007 Share Posted June 5, 2007 Although I think Allardyce will have spent around 10.5M less than Robson... Not knocking Bobby, just think the lass was basing her statement on that. £10.5 million less means nothing if it's the difference between playing in the CL or not. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Peter Pan Posted June 5, 2007 Share Posted June 5, 2007 Newcastle's only top-quality centre-half of the last ten years has been Jonathan Woodgate, and he was made of balsa wood. Kevin Keegan ignored the issue, Errrrrr... It was Keegan who bought Philippe Albert and he has played inside the last ten years at Newcastle. Better buy than Woody for a mile. Not as good player than woody but had much more influence to the team and he wasn't ALWAYS injured... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colos Short and Curlies Posted June 5, 2007 Share Posted June 5, 2007 Newcastle's only top-quality centre-half of the last ten years has been Jonathan Woodgate, and he was made of balsa wood. Kevin Keegan ignored the issue, Errrrrr... It was Keegan who bought Philippe Albert and he has played inside the last ten years at Newcastle. Better buy than Woody for a mile. Not as good player than woody but had much more influence to the team and he wasn't ALWAYS injured... Did miss a lot of one season with a cruciate injury though iirc Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Peter Pan Posted June 5, 2007 Share Posted June 5, 2007 Newcastle's only top-quality centre-half of the last ten years has been Jonathan Woodgate, and he was made of balsa wood. Kevin Keegan ignored the issue, Errrrrr... It was Keegan who bought Philippe Albert and he has played inside the last ten years at Newcastle. Better buy than Woody for a mile. Not as good player than woody but had much more influence to the team and he wasn't ALWAYS injured... Did miss a lot of one season with a cruciate injury though iirc he wasn't ALWAYS injured... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest yoshi Posted June 5, 2007 Share Posted June 5, 2007 Newcastle's only top-quality centre-half of the last ten years has been Jonathan Woodgate, and he was made of balsa wood. Kevin Keegan ignored the issue, Errrrrr... It was Keegan who bought Philippe Albert and he has played inside the last ten years at Newcastle. Better buy than Woody for a mile. Not as good player than woody but had much more influence to the team and he wasn't ALWAYS injured... Albert wasn't as good as Woodgate defensively, but he had flair (for a defender) and gave our play an added dimension. All hypothetical, but decent article. Have to disagree though that Barton's problem is with his temper. Stubbing cigars in a teammate's eye, and trying to rearrange the face of another - there's something more sinister to that than mere temper. Don't even recall the notorious Vinny Jones going that far. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest khyberpass Posted June 5, 2007 Share Posted June 5, 2007 Newcastle's only top-quality centre-half of the last ten years has been Jonathan Woodgate, and he was made of balsa wood. Kevin Keegan ignored the issue, Errrrrr... It was Keegan who bought Philippe Albert and he has played inside the last ten years at Newcastle. Better buy than Woody for a mile. Not as good player than woody but had much more influence to the team and he wasn't ALWAYS injured... Reason Vinny didn't go further was because Fashanu would have kicked the living Siht out of him...his brother Justin would have then shagged him! Fash was the one they were all scared of... Albert wasn't as good as Woodgate defensively, but he had flair (for a defender) and gave our play an added dimension. All hypothetical, but decent article. Have to disagree though that Barton's problem is with his temper. Stubbing cigars in a teammate's eye, and trying to rearrange the face of another - there's something more sinister to that than mere temper. Don't even recall the notorious Vinny Jones going that far. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paully Posted June 5, 2007 Share Posted June 5, 2007 Albert wasn't as good as Woodgate defensively, Eh?! Not a patch on Woodgate defensively! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChezGiven Posted June 5, 2007 Share Posted June 5, 2007 Not bad for a lass Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest iainp999 Posted June 5, 2007 Share Posted June 5, 2007 Although I think Allardyce will have spent around 10.5M less than Robson... Not knocking Bobby, just think the lass was basing her statement on that. £10.5 million less means nothing if it's the difference between playing in the CL or not. Suppose we'll have to wait and see what happens then Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mozy Posted June 5, 2007 Share Posted June 5, 2007 Good Read Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disco Posted June 5, 2007 Share Posted June 5, 2007 personally i thought Darren Peacock did alright for us considering he often played in a defence consisting of only him. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jong24 Posted June 5, 2007 Share Posted June 5, 2007 personally i thought Darren Peacock did alright for us considering he often played in a defence consisting of only him. and he actually had one leg shorter than the other! (fact) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRon Posted June 5, 2007 Share Posted June 5, 2007 Couldn't fault anything in this article to be fair. Agree with much of the gist of it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dokko Posted June 5, 2007 Share Posted June 5, 2007 personally i thought Darren Peacock did alright for us considering he often played in a defence consisting of only him. and he actually had one leg shorter than the other! (fact) Aye, specially made boots! Goal line clearance king, Darren Peacock. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted June 5, 2007 Share Posted June 5, 2007 ...you start to believe that Newcastle are ready to join the likes of Tottenham and Everton in that second tier of Premiership clubs. Sarah Winterburn Can't wait until Stevie reads this. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
manorpark Posted June 6, 2007 Share Posted June 6, 2007 F365 Opinion You start to believe that Newcastle are ready to join the likes of Tottenham and Everton in that second tier of Premiership clubs. Sarah Winterburn Source Oh JOY. The great days are nearly upon us. . . . If this is 'realism' (I pray not) - then give me fantasy anytime. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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