Our transfer policy is one that has benefits and pitfalls and has fans pretty well divided. Do you back it though? Or are you against it? To help establish the point from both camps we need to have a good old debate about it all with reasoned points for and against. I’ll make a start on that then….
I suppose the best place to start is by looking at what our policy actually is. From the outset, and remember I’m looking objectively, there seems to be two camps and which one you feel is closer to the truth depends on which side of the fence you sit. Lets take a look at how it’s going so far.
Purchasing.
It’s been said that Newcastle are after younger players with potential. We’ll grow our own players essentially, and that extends to the first team aswell. Generally speaking, 25 is about the cut-off point in terms of age of incoming transfers with the focus being on youth and hunger. We are no longer a free meal ticket for older players looking for one final pay day.
It’s pretty clear that a lot of research goes into our signings. Since the arrival of Graham Carr we’ve seen Dan Gosling, Hatem Ben Arfa, Cheik Tiote, Yohan Cabaye, Demba Ba and Sylvain Marveaux arrive for less that what it cost Liverpool to buy Jordan Henderson. Essentially it’s about getting the biggest bang for the buck.
However there does seem to be a limit. Take Danny Sturridge as an example. No doubt he is a talented player, and no doubt he will improve, yet would Newcastle stump up the cash for him? Probably not. Why not though? I mean he does fit the criteria of being young and hungry. It’s also likely that we wouldn’t lose out on the transfer fee either so essentially it’s a no-brainer. Bigger risk, bigger reward, yet I get the sense that Newcastle are only willing to take smaller risks at the moment.
Sales.
As with almost everything there is an opposite. The opposite of buying is……… selling, and this is where I think the crux of the issue is. I’m pretty sure that people don’t really mind the fact that we are picking up cheaper players, providing that they are of the same calibre if Cheik Tiote and Hatem Ben Arfa of course.
The problem arises when these players arrive, play, then flourish. What happens then? Well previous experience would suggest that they will be sold, but they won’t be sold cheaply. Andy Carroll went for £35 million which is huge money. Kevin Nolan went for a fee believed to be £4 million, with add-ons. Not bad for a 29-year-old midfielder that has struggled to do much for the last six months. People will say £4 million is cheap, and comparatively it is, but remember that is what we paid for him when he was 26-years-old. Three years on and the club have not lost a penny.
The feeling I get is that everyone has a price. It may be a stupidly high price, but if somebody is willing to pay it then Newcastle will accept it. In truth that is part down to the board and part down to the player. If a bigger club that plays in Europe comes in then you can be almost certain that the player will want out. Mind you, if that is the case then it will mean that said player in question will have had to do the business for us first.
In conclusion…
So what can we take from this then? This is where I want you guys to come in and give me what you think.
I’m reasonably happy with the way things are going at the moment. Would I like us to take a bit more of a risk with certain players? Yes, wouldn’t we all, but can you really argue with the quality that we’ve brought in for what is essentially a nominal cost? I can’t…..
However it becomes a vicious circle when you sell your best players or allow them an easy way out. Sooner or later we are going to need stability on the playing front, and that means keeping hold of what we have got and adding to them bit by bit.
Are you happy or unhappy with our transfer policy? Do you think it differs from my interpretation? Let me know folks!
I’m happy on the purchasing side but its possibly been implemented too quickly.
All clubs sell & as you say ALL players have their price. It’s a fact of life & naive to think otherwise.
Only concern is that we become a conveyor club…you need to find a balance & retain some for a prolonged period but that brings you round to the ambition question
witters(Quote)
Toonsy – i agree the transfer policy in place seems sensible enough and when you look at teams like bolton, wolves, everton they simply arent buying anywhere near the quality we are.
Have another blog idea for you toonsy if you fancy 😉
Liam Southern Toon(Quote)
Do you guys think Ashley has grown to love the club after all that we’ve been through, or the club is just his money making tool, since he’s a businessman after all 👿
arcarius(Quote)
I think there’s plenty of businessman who love their businesses…probably because of all the money
witters(Quote)
ashley has no affinity to the club,all he cares about is getting his money back(once this is done he will be off),we got almost 40 mill from judas and nolan and we will see very little of that going into brining the quality players we need to push us on.i can see us going into next season without a no 9..
hitman(Quote)
TOONSY ive got nowt to twist aboot “yet”but over the moon when you look at the way mrs doubtfire has ran his club 😆 😆
icedog(Quote)
We have only sold Nolan who loads of people wanted dropped early doors last season when he was playing off Caroll in hughtons 4-5-1 because of his lack of pace, Every pundit before the start of last season wrote him off and now are slagging the club for selling him 🙄
I wouldnt have sold him but we have brought in a striker we were crying out for last season, Who has an impressive strike rate wherever he has been and midfield creativity we were lacking last season at times.
Enrique will obviously leave and i think that Ranger, Smith and Routledge will go, Colo and Jonas wont IMO, Barton will not get his wages paid at the clubs who actually will want him so i think he’ll be here at the start of the season…
CC(Quote)
I am ok with the Transfer policy. Given that in any sport there is very little loyalty, the owners have to do what is best for them to maintain club solvency and ownership of the club…as long as they want to keep it.
The one piece that I think I will miss, is the idea of being able develop a long-term admiration of a player. The only player right now who one could potentially latch on until they retire is Shola…and nee offense to him like, but he’s hardly got the fans queuing up to buy his shirt now, does he.
I don’t think I am phrasing my thoughts on this right…but basically, there seems little chance of finding a club “hero” per se if each and every player is for sale given the right price. That’s the one aspect, as a fan, I am not happy with.
When I watched the original Star Wars trilogy, there were several characters to hold as your hero…but the second trilogy lacked that…no one really stepped up to be that hero for the next trilogy.
Since Shearer’s departure, who has filled the hero/idol boots? Carroll had that opportunity…it’s gone.
Is Ben Arfa the next…maybe. Barton…not likely. I think as a fan, more than anything…that’s what you want…and this transfer policy, though business savvy it may be…doesn’t give us that hero.
In my humble opinion.
NorCal Toonfan(Quote)
Happy!
dan4toon(Quote)
Agree with our transfer policy, would love for the club to spend money on the likes of Sturridge but i really can’t see it happening unfortunately but if we get someone in who can do the job for us until Ashley is willing to take the bigger gamble then I’m happy.
I think the window is going very well so far, not much spent but good quality signings non the less, may it continue 🙂
Lobacka(Quote)
happy
rememberr kleivert, viduka, they are what started to cripple the club dont even get me started on owen
a selling club– everyone is if the price is right
some deals you have to take
who feels dalglish will get back 55million fir caroll and henderson thats absolutley laughable man
bb(Quote)
Very happy with the way we are doing business. Would like one big signing though, Sturridge is my favourite but a bg money move, i think, will excite the players and put bums on seats (not saying that the players we have currently bought won’t but in terms of shirt sales, and other things). Interesting to see what happens over the next 2 months. BRING IT ON BABY!!
PS. congrats to Hughton for getting the Birmingham job!
Lowesy(Quote)
“Since the arrival of Graham Carr we’ve seen Dan Gosling, Hatem Ben Arfa, Cheik Tiote, Yohan Cabaye, Demba Ba and Sylvain Marveaux arrive for less that what it cost Liverpool to buy Jordan Henderson.”
When you look at it that way, you have to say our transfer policy’s working well. But there are still days when I wonder if there actually is a policy at all.
NUTS(Quote)
I will be more happy with the transfer policy when i see a striker come in worthy of the number 9…..the 2 french lads they have brought in i know little about….but i hope they pull something better out the bag than Demba Ba to lead the line next season…..i would like to think that a bit more of the £35 million from Carrol gets spent on actual transfer fees….bring in a striker worthy of the number 9 show a bit more ambition
thornton(Quote)
I think once we have an all round good team we will see the odd splash in certain positions. At the minute it isn’t worth the risk.
One positive thing to take from the last year is that the players coming in are adding to the team spirit. I know people are worried that with the likes of Nolan etc leaving that it might take a hit, but judging by Tiote’s celebration, and Ben Arfa’s persuading of players to join us here, it is clear that recent signings are in fact as passionate about the club as domestic players. (more so….?)
SolanosTrumpet(Quote)
Happy enough up to now with the transfers, I just hope we dont loose anymore apart from Jose who I have already excepted will go, but if he stays thats a bonus.
I would still like to see a No9 type striker in
Big Dave(Quote)
Getting good value is fine but what happens to the £35million which was promised would be spent?
Asprila(Quote)
It’s hard to judge the policy until the end of the window. If we don’t spend at least a large fraction of the Carroll money then I would be very disappointed. We do need a no. 9 striker and the best available who is young and hungry is probably Sturridge. Also a lot depends on whether we are actually after Erding and Matuidi because a lot of the money would go on them.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
I know lots of fans are talking about the Carroll and Nolan money but to be honest if it means getting rid of the 2 tossers running the show quicker I will be happy enough with cheaper options 😆
Big Dave(Quote)
whos seen the new toon away shirt? is it really gonna be orange 😯 😯 😯 😯 😯 😯 😯 😯 😯 😯 😯 😯 😯 😯 😯 😯 😯 😯 😯 😯 😯 😯 😯 doest look owa clever to me like
Army69(Quote)
I must say I’m canny happy with the business so far. For too many years we paid over the odds for players who were too old or not bothered. I prefer to see the scouting model where we are trying to find new talent rather than paying for other EPL clubs cast offs.
My main worry is the rate of squad turnover, if all the rumours are to be believed we could end up with only 4 existing first teamers left. Can all these new players gel in one summer? What about team spirit?
The players we have so far signed look good on paper but there are fitness questions over a couple of them plus the EPL is a big step up for the imports. Many players take a full year to settle into the pace and physical nature of it.
Gazza(Quote)
i think where doing the right thing we just need to keep out own young hungry players and develop them, the likes of ferguson, lualua and vuckic.
gill(Quote)
whoaaa toonsy… dodgy topic or what like!
Well for me…. and this may suprise some… does not lie with who we buy at all or how much we spend. My problem lies that because fatty / dekka and rent boy are so full of **** you really just dont know what to think at all… there is no system or reasoning to our method. Look at AP’s comments just yesterday about Jose… he said in the sapce of three lines…. ‘ we are hopeful he will stay but think he will go’… .what the hell does that mean. Or Dekka coming out and saying gone are the days of big name signings.. we will use our scouting system and accademy to promote from within.. we will never see the day when a shearer slips through our hands again.. .then we sell Carroll. So its just stuff like that.
I fully agree that we should buy the best we can for the best price we can… that dont mean we should go for bargain basement all the time though. I also think that the most stupid and annoying thing is bringing players on and then selling them for huge profit and stil trying to make us think we are a club with ambition. Its the double standards thing. I know what we are under Ashely.. we are a low end prem club with a limited ambition… i would say his ambition is to merely keep us in the prem whist selling players for big profit. Its very simple.
Ashley is a numbers man and his passion is money… if it costs loads of money to win the prem and increase your revenue by 50 million a year will he do it if he can hang around in lower mid table and make 30-40 million a year on players sales??? my guess is he will say stuff the investment.
If i were a betting man i would say tiote will be gone in the january window, near the end of it.
craig chisholm(Quote)
Toonsy i don’t think 25 is a cut off for buying players , i think for the right price ,for the right player we would bring in a 28-30 year old . What , as you rightly say ,they cannot expect is a massive wage on a 4-5 year contract and ther in lies the reason that Nolan left and Barton will follow . I honestly think if Pardew found a player 29 years of age that still had something special to offer we would buy on a 2 year contract .On the other hand if Barton who is now 29 and going into the last year of his contract where to accept an extra 2 instead of 4 year extention and kept his levels up to what is required in the premiership then who is to say he would not get an add on , year after year until his standards dropped ? trouble is it seems , players wont accept that sort of arrangement and only want one last big pay day .
Axel(Quote)
nearly forgot aboot this lad,i can forget aboot him noo hes on his way oot
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12876_7000958,00.html
icedog(Quote)
I think its not a bad idea to reduce the age of the squad, but at the same time losing the older players like Nolan and maybe Barton and Coloccini could seriously rip the spirit out of the team and leave us heading for a fairly quick return to the championship, i just really hope it doesn’t. It seems however that we are making exceptions, according to sky sports we are interested in Vicente, who will leave Valencia on a free next month, and he is 29, so perhaps it depends on the player on some occasions ? 😐
Colm Rose(Quote)
In principle, yes. But, selling and replacing too many too quickly could cause major problems both on ane off the park.
On the buying side, folk are critical off buying cut price and paying low. Makes good business sense i’d say.
Folk also feel that hii fees present a problem to MA. Not so if we’re paying up front. He doesn’t want the burden of high wages over n years. The come out of revenue – not clever.
Must hang up, bus to catch!
lesh(Quote)
The transforpolicy is OK for an owner willing to take only small risk, and to make a profit every transferwindow, but it is a disaster for the fans hoping to see trophies. As long as we sell our best players, and only buy cheap there is no chance we can ever play in Europe again. NUFC is back to the 80
Economist(Quote)
yep, tozer is offski
craig chisholm(Quote)
if this policy does bare fruit and makes the club bouyant and were battling at the right end of the table.I suppose i cant argue with it, after all isnt football a buisness now.
I will just have to try hard and not get too attached to any one player.
mike kent(Quote)
wasnt Tozer said to be a fantastic catch when we got him ? We didnt even give him a chance to prove himself and develop into a young star, what a waste when who knows he might have been another Steven Taylor, which is not a bad thing in my eyes 😐
Colm Rose(Quote)
Buying Tiotes is one thing but buying high risk injured or injury prone players is not good business. Ever.
Lacedaemonian(Quote)
Don’t know if it’s a good strategy yet – won’t know until Sept 1st.
The strategy would appear to be buy young, hungry players, but only cheaper, young and hungry players – not sure that works. But like I said we’ll know more in Sept.
Also I don’t know whether this is beiong done purposely but we seem to be bringing in players with suspect injury records and offering them incentive based contracts. There’s nothing wrong with incentive based contracts but I wouldn’t want them just bringing in injury prone players to suit their ideolgy of incentivised contracts.
Are they the only type of players who would accept a contract like that?
Stuart79(Quote)
Colm- I think tozer went out on loan a few times and didn’t impress. we seem to have some young defenders that the club likes beter (Kadar, Tavernier, that irish lad) They all don’t pan out…
As for the transfer policy, I support it 100%. I do share witters’ worry about possibly implemeting it too quickly though
MDS(Quote)
Lacedaemonian – how much did we buy ba and marveaux for ?? £0 !! cracking business man !!! worth the risk cos they could come out amazing!!
Army69(Quote)
thers so many negative toon supporters!! have faith , carr is doing a fantastic job!!!
Army69(Quote)
It is obvious what’s going on. Mr.Ashley sees the present situation as a way of getting his money back. Selling the crown jewels to make a fast buck. If Jonas, Henrique & Barton follow Nolan out of the door his policy seems to be replace them with out of contract players for a next to nothing fee & much reduced wages. The wage structure is important but not if Ashley is just using NUFC as a pure business venture and trying to bring on young players (mainly untried & tested frenchmen) who he hopes he will be able to sell on at a fat profit in 2/3 years time. Is there a long term “target” for the club & its supporters or are we just a selling club destined for mid table obscurity or worse? What has happened to the promised £35M from Carroll sale?
Please no more pictures of fat Mike in a black & white shirt. He has little or no regard for what happens on the pitch which he claims he leaves to his Puppet Pardew who appears to be losing the very players he was intent on retaining!
West Lancs Geordie(Quote)
Must ask MDS who’s the Irish Lad you refer to ? 😛 i cant think of any ? And yes, i only went to see Kadar play myself once, against West Brom in the FA cup, and he conceded a penalty and played awful 😆
Colm Rose(Quote)
His wages and signing on fee will equate to millions of pounds of risk. But that is by the by, the risk I am talking about is the lack of first team players when all these players are unfit.
Lacedaemonian(Quote)
army69….. you miss one vital point…. we have bought him for zero and will now get shot of jonas for money. so what have we done there…. we are suppoased to be encouraging jose to stay.. so we put his best buddy up for sale … that buddy is never ever injured, knows the team, links up with jose brilliantly and we are goign to give that spot to a bloke with suspect medical history and no prem experiance at all… just because of what exactly?… cos he was free and we can get a few million quid out of jonas. its as simple as that.
craig chisholm(Quote)
A similar sort of policy which Everton have employed over the years and they have`nt done too badly. However, it`s unlikely to bear fruit in terms of winning any trophies. More likely to see mid table mediocrity. I think that will suit ashley make a profit every season and maintain a place in the premiership.
Freddie Shepherd(Quote)
I think its working well but we must keep some of out main players like tiote nest season.
I think some players arent worth selling, regardless of price..take a young Alan Shearer coming thru, I’d say he’s irreplaceable and we’d suffer in the end by buying shoite over 5 yrs or so.
A balance of great recruiting and retention of our cog players would work a treat.
Mark(Quote)
craig chisholm – dont belive jonas is away til its on the offical site mate , theres so many rumours going around it could be ****
Army69(Quote)
Lads,is the skysports website accessible? ❓ 😕
AngelOfDeath(Quote)
If we’re to watch a succession of talent come through just to see them sold it will be tough to take.
Tiote, HBA, Gosling, Abeid could all become heroes, to see them moved on and we never keep them to build a team to challenge for the top, that’s my fear.
Not seen anything to say I’m wrong yet, lets see how much is spent by August 31st.
Don’t want to be negative, I’m enjoying the window and the speculation.
geoff777(Quote)
the scum are trying to catch us up,they have signed two players,larsson and westwood.
thank god for that didnt want them at toon 😀
icedog(Quote)
The thing is with the rumours is all the outbound rumours appear to be true and all the rumours about inbound players are cack unless the player is cack.
Lacedaemonian(Quote)
From a commercial perspective I think the NUFC board are really starting to get things spot on and they are proving that we can attract young, eager talent without paying over the odds. They are also showing the backbone to walk away when their thresholds are reached. I really like the approach.
I was delighted to see the way they supported the new lads in buying local houses so quickly quite right too. A number of lads have called this a bit of a non story but it’s a hell of a step up from Money bags Owen and his regular helicopter trips from Cheshire. Good on the club.
I’d be happy to see some big signings and I hope they arent afraid to spend the cash when it is needed but those who want to see the cash from AC flashed out on one or two Galactico signings have forgotten where the mistakes of the past lead us.
I’m still no fan of Mike Ashley and Derek Lambias is still a woe begotten fool but on this score I reckon we are heading on the right path.,
Bash(Quote)
its nearly friday 😯 you know what that means 😀 another signing on its way for us 😆
Army69(Quote)
I am hoping that these lads prove me wrong in pre season. There is a growing sense of amateurism in the goings on at our club.
Lacedaemonian(Quote)
#nufc close to announcing next signing, news/announcement expected this evening
@Army69: you are right!! 😉
AngelOfDeath(Quote)
The thing is with the rumours is all the outbound rumours appear to be true and all the rumours about inbound players are cack unless the player is cack.
—————————-
we’ve sold 1 player and signed 3 😯
Colm- Paul Dummet. I think he’s Irish anyway. Never heard much bad said about Kadar beofre.I’ve always been impressed anyway. He was hurt most of last year but did get a couple of caps for hungary I believe.
MDS(Quote)
its dodgy to know who to put on your shirt… its leaving me with as sense of desperation as its looking like stroller will soon start selling some shirts… that or xcisco.ffs man… nightmare
craig chisholm(Quote)
Actually excluding the sale of Carroll we have let three go and brought in three. But I reckon Jose, Barton and a few other first teamers will be gone before next season.
Lacedaemonian(Quote)
I like the way things have gone up to now and like everybody else, really want to see a good striker brought in and maybe some full back cover if we can mange to keep Jose and a bit of cover elsewhere. But I’m not against Ashley taking some money back from transfers where we have made a massive proffit to go toward clearing some of his debt. The quicker that goes down, hopefully the quicker it will be for the club being sold
Simon(Quote)
hi lads, first time on here, nice blog. The writing is much more interesting than uncle ed’s.
Surely the benefit of said transfer policy is that for selling one Andy Judas Carroll then we can improve three or four positions. I personally don’t mind seeing Kevin nolan leave if he’s just going to be next seasons Alan smith.
If you keep making packets of money every year you can keep hold of the tilted and Ben arfas of this world.
Michael82(Quote)
M82 welcome to the madhouse m8,its a good madhouse like 😀 😀
icedog(Quote)
I’m really really pleased and impressed with the current transfer activity. Getting rid of players that are either too slow, past it or not committed enough. To be honest I don’t care how good Enrique is, he’s just hanging around looking for a deal from elsewhere, so he can go as far as I’m concerned also.
Still hopeful that a few more wasters like Ameobi, Lovenkrands and Harper will be shipped during this window.
Well done Newcastle United. The dawn of a new era hopefully.
Really excited about the new saeson. A bit of pace and quality in midfield, new faces up front, hunger and desire throughout the side. Can’t wait.
Bob(Quote)
BOB that a change from some of the doom and gloom 😀 😀
icedog(Quote)
chelsea twitter Daniel Sturridge ganning to toon on loan.
hope this one is reet 😀 😀
icedog(Quote)
ice – who said that?
Jobey07(Quote)
Dog- hope its right as well. I also hope we put in an option to buy if it happens. I’d be gutted if he bags 20 for us then ends up at Spurs 😉
MDS(Quote)
MDS aye me too mate
JOBEY its on a couple of sites,comeing from the chelsea twitter site as far as i know m8
icedog(Quote)
Really? Got any links? i’d love this to be true
Jobey07(Quote)
MDS…Must have an option to buy I’d have thought as Chelsea usually ask for the guaranteed start for their players which I’d be shocked if we gave that, if it’s a loan with a view to us buying for a set fee then they won’t be so fussed……..or I’ve been wrong and they won’t ask for the guarantee regardless, in which case I’ll shut up 😀 ……….assuming any of it’s true 😉
richietoon(Quote)
Nice article was a good read and i agree completly with our tranfser policy. we are getting our players in their prime age getting a good one or two seasonsout of them if they are good enough then they will move on to bigger clubs for a much larger fee.
As for selling until we reach europe we will always lose our players to them bigger clubs its simple fact and can we blame the players for wanting to play in europe or the club for selling the players imo no.
@ice hope that rumour is true would be great for us
N.Irish Toon(Quote)
Sturrige is ne’er can come to toon. He’ll probably stay at chelsea, or if he goes Liverpool will buy him for 40 million ad he is English and thus massively over hyped.
Michael82(Quote)
Delighted with the current transfer policy both in and out. It all made sense with Nolan due to his age, demands and contract status. The incoming players are both good quality and very good value. At the end of the day NUFC is a business and it makes perfect sense to look for the best deals possible whilst making the club as viable as possible i.e. shedding the high wage earners.
Excited to see what’s going to happen next. And for the record, I don’t mind if Barton goes because we would at least get a return on investment and rid of a PR liability who doesn’t know how to keep his tweet shut.
bkemp247(Quote)
If there is a transfer policy, then the board need to communicate it to Alan Pardew because he seems as much out of the loop as we are.
I agree with those who are saying that Mike Ashley is in it for the cash. Ever since Toon fans sloshed their beer over him and threw pies in his face – for all kinds of justifiable reasons – he has taken the stance of “sod off.” He has no passion for the club but he’s too deeply invested to simply sell up so he’s taking a business approach to the situation and hoping it pays off so that he can either sell up at a break-even level or sniff some CL blood and become more deeply (financially and passionately) involved.
Nonetheless, sometimes business acumen looks good. Carroll and Nolan should have been sold under the circumstances, and the guys coming in look promising.
Thanks Toonsy – interesting thread.
Paul in Hollywood(Quote)
Take a look yourself to see if you agree!!
Part of me thinks good deal as it puts the club more financially balanced but the other thinks hes taking us for mugs!! Pardew said we would see the £35m from carroll but we have only spent what we got from Nolan??? And the other players we are looking at wouldnt even get it upto £5m!! So are we seeing the full benefits??
http://www.transferleague.co.uk/league-tables/2006-2011.html
*I understand this is not including carroll, ben arfa or summer deals.
Martin(Quote)
Martin….the transfer window only been open just over a week, I think we’ve done more business than anyone. The chances of all that £35m being spent are zero but as long as the team and squad improves I don’t care.
Bindippers paid more for Henderson than we paid for Ben Arfa, Marveux, Ba, Tiote and Cabaye, who do you think got the better deal?
Arsenal are second bottom of that table, Man Utd 14th, it’s what you buy is just as important if not more, than what you spend 😉
richietoon(Quote)
I AM PERSONALLY LIKINGTHE WAY WE DO BUSINESS AT THE MOMENT 3 GOOD SIGNINGS AND POSSIBLY MORE TO COME. EXCITING TIMES.
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Emma Field(Quote)
I’d have to say i’m quietly panicking about our transfer dealings at the moment.
It seems we all fall so quickly for the PR bullshit pumped out by the club that they are lining up some top quality signings with the AC dollar. I bet Llambias himself is ringing the Sun on a daily basis telling them to link us to some other top European target while him and the fat controller plan their next transfer coup, presumably Bruce Forsyth as I hear he recently failed a medical.
It makes you wonder if the fatman has some sort of investment in a pharmaceutical company and is trying to assemble a squad of crocked players who he can use for clinical drug trials.
Sure these signings look good on paper but can anyone really say they have confidence heading into a gruelling new season with an already paper thin squad including Ben Arfa, Marveaux, Gosling and Ba, all of whom surely still have very real question marks over their injury statuses.
I agree with a transfer policy of reducing the average age of squad and investing in talent but does it really have to come at the cost of the core of our team. Would we not have been better served keeping the spine and heart of last seasons squad and adding class and flamboyance around it. A quiet transfer window, securing our existing players on long term deals and spending a nice chunk of the Carrol cash on a few young, exciting marquee players would have seemed the natural option for a club looking to kick on. Yet it seems like an impossible fantasy in this shambolic london run opera. Where the manager says one thing and and the tits at the top do the other. Do we really believe Pardew has even the slightest bit of say in what actually happens at SJP? Given the fact that whatever he says, the opposite happens, you’d have to imagine not.
Maybe this is all to cynical but i’m just tired of the trials and tribulations, why is it always 1 step forward and 2 back. Why, when we start to feel good about our squad and the spirit within it, do those in control think it’s too dangerous and feel the need to step in and quash it before it gets out of hand and starts to look like something resembling a good team. It wouldn’t surprise me if we’ve never actually been on the hunt for anything on than the bargain basement buys. I bet Ashley was delighted when Gameiro publicly stated he wasn’t coming to England. Gave him full reign to get the PR lot out saying we offered him a ‘fantastic deal’ it was just a real shame he didn’t fancy moving this side of the pond.
If we are looking to slash wages then great, let’s be brutal! Get rid of the dead wood, book cabs for Smith, Guthrie, Routledge and Xisco, get your money back and **** off to your casino but don’t sell your captain and leading goal scorer for asking for the security of a five year deal.
So we sell Caroll and we get Ba, we sell Nolan we get Marveaux and we sell Enrique and get Taylor….and by August we’ll all have moved on from the Andy Carrol money and how the owners didn’t want to be held to ransom over wages, or didn’t want to pay inflated prices and didn’t want to panic buy so in the end they didn’t spend. I for one think Ashley takes pleasure in snuffing out every ray of hope there is at this club as long as it constitutes a financially sound decision, and i’m pretty sure no club has ever prospered like this. Excuse me if i don’t say vive la revolucion but i think this could be a pretty torrid season.
RichToon(Quote)
please sell ashley. im begging you
alex(Quote)
I’m happy. I have said it before but i don’t get peoples fascination with spending all the money. I’d rather we get players who’ll improve us for as little as possible. Any money that’s left can be there if a player comes available. I’d rather we be able to react than say well wish we hadn’t spent all that money. I know theres the saying get what you pay for but just look at our list compared to henderson. There are very few players who go for 13 million? i’d take rather than the six mentioned above.
Rorycn(Quote)