Is the Tiote deal a sign of Ashley’s intent?

Ashley showing his intention? The news that Cheik Tiote has signed a new, long term, very long term, deal at Newcastle is of course very welcome and actually shows a glimmer of ambition for the club.

If we want to improve we must keep our best players, and securing Tiote on such a long deal will go some way towards that. It’s not foolproof, but with a deal of that length you would have to think that it maybe rules out a few teams that may have otherwise been circling in the summer, purely on the basis that the value of the contract is at a level which will put the price of Tiote beyond the reach of certain other clubs.

But is this a sign of Mike Ashley’s intent? Is he finally starting to show a bit of ambition whilst at the helm of the club? If he is, then it’s a good thing for all of us.

The sale of Andy Carroll has left a bitter pill in the mouths of many Newcastle fans and has lead to a fair bit of despondency amongst the black and white faithful. However, that has been and gone now, but the feeling of wondering who we were going to lose next was something that I was personally going through.

Things were going along rather smoothly on the good ship Toontanic. The players were happy and they seemed to be buying in to where the club were heading. The sale of Carroll brought doubts into the mind of some of them players though and left them looking for signs of ambition for the club before they are willing to commit to a long term future on Tyneside.

The Tiote deal could be the signal that those particular players were looking for, although I guess that only time will tell us if that is to be the case. Call it a publicity stunt by Ashley, a PR exercise with the hope of achieving some extra season ticket sales or call it anything you like, but if it works, and it entices other players to secure their future at Newcastle will it really matter? The fact is that it would have worked.

The players have asked for backing, and today is a tentative sign that the backing will be there for the right player. It may only be a new contract, and it may only be a worthless bit of paper, but it is also a sign that the deal will be there for the right player.

At least I hope so anyway 🙂

About toonsy

A lifelong Newcastle fan and current webmaster of this very 'blog who has the sole aim of creating a place by Newcastle United fans, for Newcastle United fans.

231 thoughts on “Is the Tiote deal a sign of Ashley’s intent?

  1. Ice as usual yer right mate the Rat is even deserting the Toon for spain whats that all about do’s he think he is getting a part in auf wiedersehen pet 😆

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  2. maybe we should tell him they stopped making auf wiedersehen pet as he can be a bit slow 😉 will so Batty said and he is an honest guy so I believe him 😀

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  3. DAVE aye m8 he is a bit slow on the up-take,still thinks man ual labour is a spanish drink,i havent told him it isnt,dont want to bust his bubble 😀

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  4. RICHIE@229 me and dave were watching your back while you were away,must have been batty useing our nicks 😉

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