It will be a few months yet before we know what exactly Pardew is pleased with, but for all of our sakes I hope that he is getting enough backing from the board when it comes to transfers.
Indeed there is no excuse for not investing in the summer. The squad clearly needs it, and with the money from the sale of Andy Carroll underpinned by a strong suspicion that the club is already breaking even you can see why fans are looking to see some sign of improvement over the summer.
Plans had been on hold until our Premier League safety is assured, but initial discussions have apparently already taken place over the signatures of Cheikh M’Bengue and Kevin Gameiro according to the Northern Echo so hopefully not everything has been ground to a halt whilst our survival hung in the balance.
The fact the we are seven points clear of the bottom three with only four games remaining has led to Pardew calling us safe, although some fans are keen to point out that until we are mathematically safe there is still cause to be concerned. Rightly or wrongly, I agree with Pardew and think we are safe now. Even with United’s tendency to balls things up I think we’ll be fine and we can all start to look, tentatively, towards a summer of squad rebuilding.
“I think that’s us past the post now, and that obviously makes it a little bit easier in terms of looking towards the future and hardening up some of the plans,” Pardew the Nothern Echo. “To be fair though, that process has been ongoing for a little while now anyway.”
“We’ve already covered a lot of the bases, but now we can step things up in certain areas. We’ve already started work on the training ground, and we have some undersoil heating going in that will make a huge difference to us. We might actually be able to train in December and January which will be useful.”
“We’re also actively pursuing players already because we don’t want to be left behind in the summer. I’ve had a meeting about budgets and I think we all know where we stand. I’m obviously going to keep the details of those discussions private, but I’m pleased with the talks that have taken place.”
This summer will be the big test for the board and the manager. The majority of fans aren’t stupid and know that there is money there to invest, even without Mike Ashley dipping into his £1 billion personal fortune. There is no relegation to contend with, no management upheaval and as yet no statement saying “no new plans for capital outlay” to **** on our chips.
We ran a poll here on NUFC Blog at the start of March where we asked how much you thought we would spend in the summer, with most people believing that around £15-£25 million will be spent in the summer. If you haven’t already voted you can do so now, or you can just see the current results by clicking on ‘view results’;
[poll id=”7″]
I don’t think we’ll spend the £35 million. In fact we’ve pretty much been told that we won’t as part of that cash will be used for wages. I’m not really bothered either if I’m being honest, and I certianly won’t be counting the pennies in or pennies out like some fans will be over the summer.
All that matters to me is that the squad is stronger than it is now. If the club, who to be honest haven’t done too bad when picking up the odd bargain, can make the squad stronger by spending only 50p then I couldn’t care less. Obviously that was an extreme example, but sometimes you have to get back to basics to get the point across 😉
If the club are getting their backsides into gear early then fair enough. They know what needs doing, and they’ve talked about it often enough now, so all they need to do is put those words into action and come up with the goods. We’ve been let down in that department before of course, but this time around, for some unknown reason, I’m cautiously optimistic about the summer.
Weird I know….
Aye…but has he spoken with Bobby Shinton Nr 9 about the new wage structure…? 😆 😆 😆
Munich Mag(Quote)
ide be happy if we spend 20-25mill and then some on wages, realisticly we should have been looking at spendind 20mil before the Carroll money, now we have that i would rather we have a bit go on wages aswell as transfers!
SpencerTheToon(Quote)
Ive just realised we can be mathmatically safe come next monday? 😯
If we beat Liverpool 🙄 😆
SpencerTheToon(Quote)
“Happy with the budget” he might have gone in there thinking he’s to be told he has to sell to buy and actually told he has £500,000 to spend, so it’s all relevant. 😉
Anyway on a serious note, I expect to see the club spend at least £25m net on new players along with players like Smith, Xisco, Routledge, Lovenkrands and R Taylor being sold to raise more money and reduce the wage bill.
Personally I think this is Ashley last chance to show he really does want the club to succeed.
The optimist in me says that this is the very first summer since Ashley bought that club that we have been solvent, had the wage bill under control, had Ashley’s personal fortune actually growing not decreasing and have a manager that Ashley choose himself and without pressure.
Surely he’ll back him?
Although nothing suprises me when it comes to NUFC under Ashley.
Here’s hoping.
Stuart79(Quote)
M’bengue and Gamiero would be two very good signings and I would say cost in the region of £12 million or so.
dan4toon(Quote)
need at least 3 good players – that shud b around 20-25 mill!! sell a few players and get 5m then we hav 25-30 mill !! if we try and but cheap players that we arent sure about then its gna b dodgy
Army69(Quote)
Gary Cahill is a must sign imo 😉 😆
SpencerTheToon(Quote)
I went for £15-£19.9 million, seriously don’t think it will be anymore, would love to be proved wrong but the whole “use for wages” really does rule out the full use of 35mil, unfortunately…then again, with xisco off the wage bill, frees up something.
NewkieBrown(Quote)
*buy
Army69(Quote)
i rekn 20 – 25 million defo!!! gervinho and tarrabt would cost 20
Army69(Quote)
Newkie I went for the same mate, Tioties impoved wages will be some of the money.
but like I said before if we a going to spend 20mil on players then we should of had a decent kitty before the Carroll sale so we should have a fair bit for wages.
SpencerTheToon(Quote)
Army, Gervinho and Taarabt wouldn’t cost £20 million. They both have one year left on their deals which makes their value plummet.
I would say about £8 million for Gervinho and about £5 million for Taarabt.
dan4toon(Quote)
Defoe hadn’t scored at WHL in over a year before the other day? that’s mad, wonder which striker spurs will get rid of at the end of the season..
NewkieBrown(Quote)
I think we will spend no more than £15m on transfers.
There will be the usual blah,blah,blah regarding the big named players who will be snapped up by the more ambitious clubs.
I expect us to sign a Frenchman,African and a couple of free’s with possibly two from the CCC.
TonyGreenSupreme(Quote)
Newkie, I reckon they will all leave apart from Crouch as he seems to be very handy for our away games when they can just stick Van der vaart off him.
Maybe Defoe might stay but Pavluychenko and Keane are defiantly on their way out.
dan4toon(Quote)
Dan-Yeah definitely thought Pavy would have been out this summer but he’s being playing a lot recently, whether that was due to injury of other players i’m not sure, but i remember him playing against Real, and think he played last time against arsenal? and a few other league games besides…Wouldn’t mind picking up either him or defoe on the cheap, problem is spurs don’t do selling on the cheap 🙁
NewkieBrown(Quote)
With the possibility of losing Enrique, AP needs a larger budget to serve as a “war chest” if he has to enter the market later in the Summer for a left back.
While positional players are needed, so is a new member to the coaching staff who would have the savvy to advise AP on practice pitch injury prevention.
BeeGuy(Quote)
Bobby, got that evidence yet 😉
Moreno(Quote)
I’ve just come out of a meeting with Ashley, Owl Heed, Pards and Stardust.
They’ve all agreed the wage cap is £35k per week.
I got thrown out for suggesting it should be flexible depending on the quality of the player!
It looks like the players I spoke to prior to the meeting are not gonna be happy.
Taxi for Barton and Enrique!
Bobby Shinton number 9(Quote)
Newkie, yeah they wouldn’t come cheap. The problem with them also is age, their both coming up to 30.
dan4toon(Quote)
Bobby 😆
Moreno(Quote)
Bobby, do you just enjoy trolling or are you absolutely insane? 😆
Dan- Yeah, age and must be on fairly large wages too…although to be fair, loven is what 31? Ameobi 28, Kuq 55? 😀 Defoe might not be the best choice either as he’s losing his pace which was a pretty vital asset, ah well.
Be interesting to see-would people want Leon Best to be given a chance next season? You can’t really argue with the amount of goals he scored….really unfortunate he got injured as we were just starting to see what he was like. I remember at the start of the season people were saying if Carroll got 10goals he’d be a success, well Best got 7 in what 10 apps or something? He doesn’t set the world alight, but he’s a decent player nontheless.
NewkieBrown(Quote)
@newkie
Bit of both. I’m a cross between Batty and Stu79!
Bobby Shinton number 9(Quote)
Bobby-haha can’t argue with that mate, good luck in future attempts to increase our wage cap 😆
NewkieBrown(Quote)
Happy to see Best get another crack of the whip next season. Quite the instinctive striker.
Shearers Receeding Hairline(Quote)
One thing is for sure, if we do get Gamiero in then we need a target man to go along side him or at least someone bigger.
dan4toon(Quote)
no way tarrabt wil b just 5mill!
Army69(Quote)
In my opinion Best isn’t good enough, he just doesn’t look like a PL striker. He doesn’t particularly have a good touch and he looks very leggy. He does have decent movement though.
Regal Salute in the first at Yarmouth today.
Stuart79(Quote)
Army- QPR Signed him for 1mil, hes got 1year left on his contract…. Routledge will be used as a sweetener, he will be 8mil at the most.
SpencerTheToon(Quote)
I just love Best even though hes shiote, wherever he goes I will always back him.
SpencerTheToon(Quote)
my team for next season wud beeeeee ……..
gk . forster
left back . enrique
center half . collo
center half . willo
right back . new signing
defence mf . tiote
right wing . barton
left wing. ben arfa
center mf. nolan or ireland
forward . tarrabt
striker . gervinho
subs
krul
simpson
gutierez
ireland or nolan
best
ferguson
saylor
Army69(Quote)
I think best has earned the chance at staying next season. You can pick fault with areas of his game if you like, bit he sticks the ball in the net. Isn’t that the main priority of a striker?
toonsy(Quote)
spencer i bluddy hope ya ryt!! did you see his goals on the weekend?? hes absolutely class!! i will be soooo disapointed if we dont go 4 him
Army69(Quote)
aye best has suprised me , he gives it his all , canny player in my books!!
Army69(Quote)
Army – Ben Arfa is going to be played almost up front mate. Our new number 10 according to Pardew.
toonsy(Quote)
Foster is not number 1, it has to be Krul for me, I guerntee he will be a world class keeper!
And Army I think 8mill would get us Tarrabt no problem, I just dont no if QPR would sell!
SpencerTheToon(Quote)
Completely agree toonsy-Carroll has a sh1te first touch himself, Best is a good mix of Shola/loven in my opinion-decent pace, good movement and given the chance will stick the ball in the back of the net from the ground, but he’s proven he can also header a ball-needs work all round, but he’s only what 24 or something? two, maybe three years older than Carroll, darnsight more mature, and willing to put his head down. He should be the only striker guaranteed to stay till next year anyway, he’s reliable back up at the very least.
NewkieBrown(Quote)
ohhh i seeee , i wud settle with that then!! is he gna play just behind the striker like ( gervinho? lol)
Army69(Quote)
toonsy
Posted April 25, 2011 at 2:17 PM
I think best has earned the chance at staying next season. You can pick fault with areas of his game if you like, bit he sticks the ball in the net. Isn’t that the main priority of a striker?
How many has he scored? Don’t forget he scored three of them in one game. Still ok but don’t let one hat trick distort the facts that in my opinion he just doesn’t look good enough.
Stuart79(Quote)
Looking to next season what type of forwards will we go for. If we go for a striker (s) who is not in the mould of Judas and more your Defoe type of striker we don’t need wingers. yes we will need players comfortable with playing in wide areas but not wingers. Mysel I think there will be a tactical shift. cannae see the point of having players like ben arfa and knocking balls up to a target man. Play through midfield and hurt teams with a pass and move philosophy.
Toby le Rhone(Quote)
i like krul but hes not the best!! yes hes had a few mint games but i think we could get betta!! we shud try and sign foster from bham, hes mint
Army69(Quote)
Sy mate, ive started on the Ranger article 😀
You might have too look though it when ive finished and check for mistakes and co because im doing in on notepad because we only have word on the main computer 😆
SpencerTheToon(Quote)
A partnership similar to the Pedro and Cole double act would be useful
Toby le Rhone(Quote)
heres the crack .. leon best is an average footballer!! hes not **** and hes not mint!! to tell you the truth if newc wna go places then we need beta than him in the squad
Army69(Quote)
Army
**** is spelt **** not mint
Toby le Rhone(Quote)
toby le rhone ??????????
Army69(Quote)
If people are going to say Hatricks mess with the stats then…Surely Carroll’s hatrick against villa makes Carroll equally worse off?
NewkieBrown(Quote)
hahaha how much i hate carroll 4 leavn us hes a hell of a lot betta than leon best
Army69(Quote)
Newkie – In the interest of balance you’re right 😉
toonsy(Quote)
NewkieBrown
Posted April 25, 2011 at 2:27 PM
If people are going to say Hatricks mess with the stats then…Surely Carroll’s hatrick against villa makes Carroll equally worse off?
Carroll has many more attributes than Best and is obviously a better player.
Stuart79(Quote)
Foster from birmingham?
Toby le Rhone(Quote)
aye
Army69(Quote)
I’m not saying Leon best is better than Carroll…I’m just saying you can’t pick and chose with stats, Carroll had a hell of a lot more playing time than Best had, naturally he got more goals, if you look at goals per appearance though Best isn’t that bad. He’s not a world beater and he’s not class, but he can do a job for us. I don’t expect people to be singing his praises from the mountain tops but he’s still a decent player.
NewkieBrown(Quote)
Army, you had a go at me other weak for saying wayne rooneys better than what we have and saying I lick his @rse, is that not what your doing to Carroll now?
SpencerTheToon(Quote)
hes an average player mate!! we need better if we wna climb that league next year
Army69(Quote)
Well said Newkie
Toby le Rhone(Quote)
I agree, he’s just not good enough.
If he never plays for us again and goes on to have a very average career will we be saying “you cannot fault his scoring record for us”, just because he scored a few goals in a few games?
If we’re going to improve we need better than him imo.
Stuart79(Quote)
Obviously, presumably a fair amount of the cash we spend is going to go on getting us a better striker…my point being if and when that striker gets injured, or when we’re playing in cup matches, Best can supply decent cover…Out of interest, who would you say is our best striker currently, because obviously we have to keep someone or injuries will destroy us next season-unless you think we’re going to buy three new strikers or so?
NewkieBrown(Quote)
Well we definately need two new strikers.
Unfortunately for us I believe Ameobi is our best striker and that says it all.
Stuart79(Quote)
nope spencer last week u were literally lickn wayne rooneys *** hole just b4 we played him ( and he done nothing against us) !! all i have said is andy carroll is a beta player than best , you were so annoying last week mate , u dont go on a newcastle blog and slavver on about man utd players and to top it off wayne melon head ( heyyyy you guyyyyys ) rooney!!!!!
Army69(Quote)
Stuart I don’t think we could really get much better than Best as a squad player at the moment. Assuming we’re signing two strikers in the summer which Pardew has hinted at, we could do a lot worse than having Besty on the bench. Who would you suggest that would come here and sit on the bench that is better than him?
DevonMag(Quote)
How many average players do we have at present?
If we replace all the average players in our squad in the summer. You are probably looking at double figures in the number of transfers. is that really gonna happen
Toby le Rhone(Quote)
ya ryt stuart , thats why we need mint strikers
Army69(Quote)
i doubt it toby
Army69(Quote)
tbh it drives me mad, there’s people on Ed’s blog claiming Ameobi isn’t even championship level despite scoring goals in both the championship and the premier league. What do you have to do (as a striker) to qualify as ‘championship or premier league level’? Presumably scoring important goals doesn’t qualify for the check list?
DevonMag(Quote)
Assuming that we’re going to be playing 4-4-1-1 for the majority of two next year then two strikers is our best bet as well. Shola, if he feels like it, is definitely our best striker, and I’d still keep him on as well, shefki and loven out, Shola/Best to stay, and presumably Ranger if he still wants to be a footballer next season and not a southcoast gangsta. Shola/best can then provide some “decent” cover, play in our cup matches, and hopefully allow us room to manouvre unless we truly get the worst luck on the injury front.
NewkieBrown(Quote)
Stuart
Dinnae give up yer daytime job to start tipping horses. Disappointing
Toby le Rhone(Quote)
Army69
Posted April 25, 2011 at 2:40 PM
“u dont go on a newcastle blog and slavver on about man utd players and to top it off wayne melon head ( heyyyy you guyyyyys ) rooney!!!!!”
Why not? Is it any different to slavvering about QPR players?
toonsy(Quote)
Devon – That’s the magic of Ed’s blog mate 😉
toonsy(Quote)
toonsy every1 hates man utd!! i dont have a problem with qpr players
Army69(Quote)
DevonMag- agree mate, I’m still reasonably fond of shola, I like him just for his MTV cribs thing he did about 10 years ago for some reason he get’s a lot of stick though. He’s prem quality, okay he’s not sublime, but lets face it he’s scored more goals than some teams top scorers this season-Ebanks blake etc, and I bet theres a fair few more. Given a rest he can certainly come in and make an impact in a squad, and most of all he’s handy to have around against the mackems 😀
Also-its a football blog not just nufc, so surely we can talk about any players we like?
NewkieBrown(Quote)
But still Rooney is a world class player, if he wasnt he wouldnt be on 200k a week would he?
SpencerTheToon(Quote)
true , i just dont like his attitude mate
Army69(Quote)
Aye, he is a kunt, but still world class 😆
Much the same with most world class players 😆
SpencerTheToon(Quote)
i know haha!! have you seen this …… http://www.tribalfootball.com/articles/newcastle-midfield-pair-barton-nolan-interesting-west-ham-1589171
Army69(Quote)