Sam Interview

[Mick]

I seem to remember last December or thereabouts the books were made available to all parties who'd recorded an interest in order that they might do their research. Dunno if Ashley was one of those.

 

I don't think Ashley was showing any interest in December, I've seen something in the last couple of days which mentioned a timescale of a couple of months, St James' Holdings was setup a couple of days before Sir John sold up.

[madras]

Q WHERE ARE NEWCASTLE IN THAT EQUATION?

A: You look at Fulham and they have spent £20m, Wigan have spent £10m, Portsmouth have spent £20m, West Ham £20m and Spurs £30m. Newcastle would normally deal at this level but not at the moment but hopefully we will have the ability to do it again.

 

 

 

that can be looked at in oh so many ways!

Have any of those clubs bar Spurs, bought anyone who would really have wanted though? Portsmouth got Distin but he was past the post by the time Allardyce got here. The reason he isn't here has more to do with past failings than present.

 

That's not really the point though is it?

 

I don't think anyone is expecting Sunderland and Fulham to bring in the sort of players we have in the past.

 

 

In the past we were playing in Europe not struggling in mid-table. It's a bit unrealistic to expect us to compete with Liverpool or even Spurs right now.

 

Remind me again where we came in the league the season before we signed Owen, Luque, Emre, Solano and Parker.

 

 

 

Only Owen out of that lot is a top tier player. He came because there were no better options available. Don't think it would be different for any of the others mentioned there either. We were competing with Everton for Emre and Parker, no one for Solano and Luque far as I'm aware.

 

 

all of them came because there were no better options available,that includes practically every player before and since.

 

Fine. But then people need to factor this into their expectations. No we won't get Heinze ahead of Liverpool for example. No we won't rush to sign Baines just in case Sunderland get him instead. If Allardyce considered Baines good enough he'd be here already. And if he was that good Liverpool would have snapped him up instead of pursuing Heinze IMO.

 

 

not necessarily,there are players who it takes a good manager to find and shows he is a better player than he was originally given credit for,we'll call it "the wenger scenario"

[HongKongMag]

Hmm, people need to get off Sams back. The players we really want are simply NOT going to want to sign for a club that finished mid table and out of Europe unless they're sure that we'll be back in Europe & challenging for some domestic honors in the near future. Sams doing his best to assemble a team and for whatever reason we are apparently in a lull, be it because of cash or players not being convinced of where we're heading.

 

As much as I would love for us to win the league or challenge for the top 4, I think people need to get a sense of perspective... just cause you reckon we should be signing world class players does not mean you'll find one to play for us. This isn't Champ Manager, its real life. So give it time. ...

[Willow]

Hmm, people need to get off Sams back. The players we really want are simply NOT going to want to sign for a club that finished mid table and out of Europe unless they're sure that we'll be back in Europe & challenging for some domestic honors in the near future. Sams doing his best to assemble a team and for whatever reason we are apparently in a lull, be it because of cash or players not being convinced of where we're heading.

 

As much as I would love for us to win the league or challenge for the top 4, I think people need to get a sense of perspective... just cause you reckon we should be signing world class players does not mean you'll find one to play for us. This isn't Champ Manager, its real life. So give it time. ...

 

Well said. People are forgetting we finished 13th last season and that'll linger in some players' thoughts when deciding on whom to join.

 

I'm actually looking forward to the remainder of this window, could be quite a few twists and turns just yet....

[Guest Darth Toon]

I'm much happier with the measured approach we're currently taking than if we had run around like overexcited kids in a sweetshop offering way over the odds for any and every player that becomes available like West Ham have been doing lately...

 

There's no chance at all of further signings not being made - Sam won't get all the players he needs in this window, but there'll be a minimum of 3 new bodies before the seaosn starts, hopefully more.

[madras]

Hmm, people need to get off Sams back. The players we really want are simply NOT going to want to sign for a club that finished mid table and out of Europe unless they're sure that we'll be back in Europe & challenging for some domestic honors in the near future. Sams doing his best to assemble a team and for whatever reason we are apparently in a lull, be it because of cash or players not being convinced of where we're heading.

 

As much as I would love for us to win the league or challenge for the top 4, I think people need to get a sense of perspective... just cause you reckon we should be signing world class players does not mean you'll find one to play for us. This isn't Champ Manager, its real life. So give it time. ...

 

Well said. People are forgetting we finished 13th last season and that'll linger in some players' thoughts when deciding on whom to join.

 

I'm actually looking forward to the remainder of this window, could be quite a few twists and turns just yet....

yet they jump to join west ham because they think money is being spent so we may be on to something.

[UV]

 

I appreciate what you are saying, but my judgement of Ashley (and his 'park my tanks on their front lawn' methods) is, that he likes to react quickly. So, his 'short term' strategy is being decided also.

 

He will react/act very quickly (I personally feel) but only when he is in possession of the information to enable him to do so  -  accurately.

 

It will be soon.

 

Chris Mort is working his bollocks off for the club, that's good enough for me at this time.  The club has been run unprofessionally for years, the sooner we start moving forwards the better but I'd prefer the club to move forwards while knowing where we stand and not on guess work.  If the review is holding us up for now then so be it, that will not always be the case, I see today’s developments as another sign of progress and also a sign of confidence that those running the club feel they can start to make decisions without the help of anybody.

 

 

Very true, as I have just said to Parky, the length of time Ashley (via Mort and his review) is taking to prepare and build up for whatever it is he intends to do, is very professional - in my view.

 

Maybe if we're lucky the review will be so professional it will never end.

A bit like the closing down sales in Ashley's shops.

[manorpark]

 

I appreciate what you are saying, but my judgement of Ashley (and his 'park my tanks on their front lawn' methods) is, that he likes to react quickly. So, his 'short term' strategy is being decided also.

 

He will react/act very quickly (I personally feel) but only when he is in possession of the information to enable him to do so  -  accurately.

 

It will be soon.

 

Chris Mort is working his bollocks off for the club, that's good enough for me at this time.  The club has been run unprofessionally for years, the sooner we start moving forwards the better but I'd prefer the club to move forwards while knowing where we stand and not on guess work.  If the review is holding us up for now then so be it, that will not always be the case, I see today’s developments as another sign of progress and also a sign of confidence that those running the club feel they can start to make decisions without the help of anybody.

 

 

Very true, as I have just said to Parky, the length of time Ashley (via Mort and his review) is taking to prepare and build up for whatever it is he intends to do, is very professional - in my view.

 

Maybe if we're lucky the review will be so professional it will never end.

A bit like the closing down sales in Ashley's shops.

 

I don't think that would be too 'lucky' for us, actually.

 

However, I have read quotes (I think from Mort) saying the Review is nearing conclusion - so I would imagine funds will soon be released to acquire the new players we need over the next couple of weeks.