José Enrique

[Leazes1986]

I'd actually take Van Aanholt and Bentley in a shot now given the situation and how useless the clowns are at our club.

[Disco]

Can Marveuax play LB?

[toon25]

Definite exit strategy stuff. Ashley doesn't strike me as a principled man with a genuine vision for the club. All this young, hungry players stuff looks more and more like a smokescreen by the day.

 

We're buying young players so we can sell them at a profit in 2/3 years time.

 

Perfect business strategy.

 

Maybe. I don't think he's planning to stay for the long term though. I'm glad the days of everest high wages are going; in the long term I see football in general heading that way. With foresight, I can't see how its going to end in anything but tears with the likes of Man City and Chelsea once the oligarchs finally get bored and see no further profit in it. It may be gradual but in many senses you could argue we're taking the right stance.

 

Regular business ethics don't apply with competetive sport though, as their are too many variables to apply spending just enough to accumulate and having to rely on merely having employees on roll that can fill a playing position. It's only ever going to get you so far. I'm no doom-mongerer as I'm quite happy with many of the signings in midfield; they seem really astute buys but the dismantling of a strong defensive unit has been the catalyst for the decline of many an effective team. I think we have a first team that is adequate without the players that have left, assuming they maintain fitness but I won't rule out the possibilty of a struggle or even relegation.

 

Maybe we are a club struggling from the 'sins of the father' and the Fallout of the Shepherd years and Ashley in a clumsy, botched way is seeing the way things are headed. The noises made not too long ago suggest that the man wants out, as I suspect that though he sees clubs are potential cash-cows; it is difficult to do stay in the top tier and especially do well in the way he may have originally desired, coupled with the extra difficulty of slaking the ambitions of an avid fan base.

 

What I can't understand is why Ashley is getting rid of the best/most highly paid players at the club if he wants out. Whilst he'll save ££, how many new club owners, that have acquired their clubs recently, have done so on the basis of the wage bill being lower? Very few I'd guess. I doubt that twat at Liverpool first looked at the wages before whacking in an offer. If someone wants a club, they'll have it and frankly, a successful, ambitious, upward looking club, is far more likely to gain attention than a club starting a firesale of its core group.

 

Which leads me to ask, if Ashley is indeed looking to sell, what type of people is he targeting? On the basis of his actions so far, he's most likely looking for the equivalent of a Sports Direct chav popping in to pick up his Donnay boxer shorts.

[magorific]

Jose could be one of the best lb's in the world - even the best - if he went to a club where he would get top coaching and constant warnings against faffing about in his own penalty area. Instead, he's going to a club whose last left-back signing was Paul Konchesky and a manager who once signed Carl Serrant.

This is a sad day for Enrique as well as NUFC.

[Darth Crooks]

I think its possible he wants his stated 100 million and then out, anything he gets more and a bit more publicity for Sports Direct will have been a bonus. He may of course be a belligerant bastard who wants to run a club in the same way he runs any of his other businesses. Who knows?

[p_cowell141]

Reading a few of the more sensible posts here, I quite agree that Enrique isn't the one to blame here. The only irksome thing is going to those Scouse c***s - those oh so loyal fans that left in their droves when Woy was f***ing things up for them. They truly are the equivalent of 'Spawney Get' from Viz. But who can blame him for leaving a club, as Dave rightly said, that in the past month has sold/pushing out, some of its most important players?

 

For quite some time I've firmly been of the opinion that whilst generally clueless, Ashley has had the right intentions - no club has an endless pit of money and its only right that he should make it self-sustaining. But this week has finally proved that I've been wrong. I honestly don't know what the guy is up to.

 

Initially I was devastated by the Carroll transfer, but later came around to think that the money would come in useful this summer, even if some of it was used to cover costs of free transfers and updating the training ground. But quite simply, the fact we've not signed anyone in key positions (a forward, LB, and a CB) has frankly shown a lack of foresight. These clowns don't think in the future. They deal with things on a day to day basis. If a good sum comes in for a player, they'll look at it seriously and take it. They'll not even think about replacements.

 

What I find most sad is the extent to which we've fallen so far behind twats like Liverpool over the past 6-8 months. Whilst they were VERY lucky to engineer the exit of their owners, we nevertheless had an opportunity to challenge with the squad we had on 1st Jan, with minimal investment, for a place in Europe.

 

Alas, what Ashley's continued presence does is keep a firm divide in this club that will continue to grow and fester. The only thing stopping that divide from causing a swathe of negativity from engulfing the club was the 'team spirit'. Now, that's gone. Irrespective of whether or not we replace Barton and Enrique, that team spirit is now far more fragile and I firmly believe that we'll be weaker as a result. The players we will have brought in won't have that desire to stick two fingers up at the owners and the press, to prove doubters wrong.

 

I personally wouldn't have thought it would have done much to appease us fans this summer. Even if we'd have held on to Nolan, Barton and Enrique and perhaps brought in another forward as well as the freebies, I dare say a majority would have been happy. What Ashley is thinking by dismantling the core of the team I truly don't know. He might save ££s, but how that might make Newcastle United a more saleable asset when we're in the s*** I don't know. Ashley has no ambition, he doesn't even appear to want us, so kindly f*** right off you fat t*** and stop palming off a loyal fanbase with bullshit excuses.

 

Was quite looking forward to the new season last week. Oh well.

 

This.

[NG32]

Stop buying his shitty merchadise.

 

 

[ShearMagic]

Stop buying his shitty merchadise.

 

 

 

 

Are people seriously suggesting this?

 

It just means he'll sell more players to fund what he has to, and not buy anybody. The club loses if people 'boycott' or do anything stupid like that, not Mike Ashley.

[AyeDubbleYoo]

I know this is gutting and especially bad following on from the Barton fiasco, but didn't we know Enrique was leaving?

[Elliottman]

I know this is gutting and especially bad following on from the Barton fiasco, but didn't we know Enrique was leaving?

 

Yeah, its sad now that it seems to be going through, but its nothing we didnt know already.

 

I'm going to save my total meltdown for the 01/09

[Matt]

It just means he'll sell more players to fund what he has to, and not buy anybody. The club loses if people 'boycott' or do anything stupid like that, not Mike Ashley.

 

You do realise that one of the pillars of his business plan is that no matter what shit he serves up, the fans keep on turning up season after season?

 

Why do you think they did the 10-year season ticket? Altruism?

[Dokko]

Fingers crossed a foreign club is tempted by the fee.

[toon25]

I know this is gutting and especially bad following on from the Barton fiasco, but didn't we know Enrique was leaving?

 

Yes, but I think I've been in denial about the whole thing. Was half hoping he'd stick around until at least January, by which time we might have been doing SO well that he would have considered staying on. Wishful thinking eh?

 

What it's brought home is the fact that this could have been so avoidable had some sort of ambition been shown in the past few months. Whilst Enrique may have decided to piss off anyway, there would at least have been an attempt to keep him.

[AyeDubbleYoo]

I know this is gutting and especially bad following on from the Barton fiasco, but didn't we know Enrique was leaving?

 

Yes, but I think I've been in denial about the whole thing. Was half hoping he'd stick around until at least January, by which time we might have been doing SO well that he would have considered staying on. Wishful thinking eh?

 

What it's brought home is the fact that this could have been so avoidable had some sort of ambition been shown in the past few months. Whilst Enrique may have decided to piss off anyway, there would at least have been an attempt to keep him.

 

Fair point, I still believe the main reason is that he has just become good enough to attract the attention of other clubs while simultaneously coming to the end of his contract.

 

The most shocking thing is the destination really, I would have said "fair enough" if he'd gone to Barca or even Arsenal, but Liverpool takes the piss.

[toon25]

I know this is gutting and especially bad following on from the Barton fiasco, but didn't we know Enrique was leaving?

 

Yes, but I think I've been in denial about the whole thing. Was half hoping he'd stick around until at least January, by which time we might have been doing SO well that he would have considered staying on. Wishful thinking eh?

 

What it's brought home is the fact that this could have been so avoidable had some sort of ambition been shown in the past few months. Whilst Enrique may have decided to piss off anyway, there would at least have been an attempt to keep him.

 

Fair point, I still believe the main reason is that he has just become good enough to attract the attention of other clubs while simultaneously coming to the end of his contract.

 

The most shocking thing is the destination really, I would have said "fair enough" if he'd gone to Barca or even Arsenal, but Liverpool takes the piss.

 

Don't worry, I dare say the increased media attention he'll be getting by playing for those twats will mean he'll get noticed by those bigger clubs.

 

I fucking detest Liverpool and that smug cunt Dogleish, but you've got to hand it to them, they're clearly ambitious. Boils my piss that we were at their level not 6 months ago. Couldn't think of a bunch of fans least deserving of success at the mo tbh.

[TRon]

In the case of Enrique, if we get the 8 million the sun is suggesting, then it is good business as the player has been unhappy now for almost a year. Best to get rid of him. The money could be spent on M'Bengue from Toulouse who is a decent reeplacement with Kadar and Ferguson as back up.

 

In the case of Barton, if anyone of us went up against our bosses the way he has, we would have certainm;y been shown the door. It is best for the club he goes as soon as possible and Ashley seems prepared to take a hit in the pocket for a free transfer. He will also save 3 million pounds plus in salaries.

 

Dont forget the salary savings and transfer fees for Routledge and Nolan and there is a further 10 million pounds coming in or saved. The transfer fee and salary savings from Enrique could go directly to the M.Bengue transfer.

 

I am hoping now that he not only buys M'Bengue but also gets Barnetta and possibly Long in plus a fourth centre half. CH doesnt have to be an expensive signing.

 

The player power connection will be gone, Pardew will have basically his own team and we can take things from there. With these signings and our current squad fully fit, we would certainly be a top 10 team and this year will be classed as a season of change. Aim for top 10 with the view of strengthening further next year when the likes of Ameobi, Smith and Xisco contracts are due to be completed.

 

This is how I saw things panning out if the intention had been to use the Carroll money to rebuild the squad. I agree about Pardew rebuilding his own squad without the player power brigade, hence why I won't shed tears over Barton and Nolan going...although Enrique's leaving is a massive blow.

 

The problem is I'm yet to be convinced the board are going to follow through on the rebuilding part of that equation. It looks to me we might well sacrifice quality for players who will play for less.

[Colocho]

About time.

 

£5 million is a great deal for Liverpool.

[AyeDubbleYoo]

M'Bengue, Barnetta and Long would be dreamland at the moment.

[NG32]

Stop buying his shitty merchadise.

 

 

 

 

Are people seriously suggesting this?

 

It just means he'll sell more players to fund what he has to, and not buy anybody. The club loses if people 'boycott' or do anything stupid like that, not Mike Ashley.

 

Well its not like we are buying players now with nearly 50 mil collected these last two transfer windows.

 

 

[Guest Stephen927]

What the fuck is this shit.

[Guest Roger Kint]

Nothing Phil Thompson didnt tell us in March/April tbh, if he leaves for a better chance of International football & European involvement then not a great deal we could do in the end. I didnt think he wanted to stay well before the summer so this isnt a shock to any of us, know some hate the idea of Liverpool but the writing was on the wall about it for long enough. Of course i would have loved him to stay for a few more years but he has made his choice, more pissed off with the Barton/Nolan/Money issues than this inevitability.

 

Dont see why anyone is worried though, didnt Pardew clearly state the money and replacement plans were sorted? 

[Guest sicko2ndbest]

If a manager had any say he would have insisted Jose stay and bent over backwards to ensure it happened.

 

He has no say

Jose sees us for what we are an unambitious stepping stone happy to tread water.

He has no chance of achieving European ambitions under this board

 

I don't blame him one bit. Thanks for a great couple of seasons, I wish it wasn't Liverpool but they are showing real ambition this year and that too would excite me.

 

I hope to got he tells all along with joey

 

[TBG]

Dont see why anyone is worried though, didnt Pardew clearly state the money and replacement plans were sorted? 

 

Konchesky signed for Leicester.

[ShearMagic]

It just means he'll sell more players to fund what he has to, and not buy anybody. The club loses if people 'boycott' or do anything stupid like that, not Mike Ashley.

 

You do realise that one of the pillars of his business plan is that no matter what shit he serves up, the fans keep on turning up season after season?

 

Why do you think they did the 10-year season ticket? Altruism?

 

Fine, boycott.

 

Guaranteed it doesn't do anything.

[TRon]

M'Bengue, Barnetta and Long would be dreamland at the moment.

 

Those are all eminently do-able deals, neither are they big money transfers so I don't really see why they won't be done. There might be the argument that the likes of Long are a risk but if you want to pay low wages that's the market you are in.