Is there anyone we can pick from the Championship?

Is there where we should be looking?
Most discussions between Newcastle at the moment, appear to be concerning the £35 million.

It seems as if a great number of fans would actually have been happier about our three first signings, had they come at a greater cost. Personally I find this totally ridiculous, as I think one should never turn away a player if a real bargain presents itself – especially in today’s financial climate.

Those are also same fans, that want us to spend big, and preferably buy proven Premier League players, instead of doing our shopping abroad and, God forbid, having a look at lower league players.

As much as I would like us to have a strong core of English talent in our team, I certainly wouldn’t want us to be spending “silly” money on young prospects just because they’re English. Let’s face it, the amounts that English players go for these days hardly reflect the actual quality they have when compared to players from abroad. A hypothetical example – with £20m at your disposal, would you spend it all on Jordan Henderson, or would you rather bring in a player like Rafael Van der Vaart for £8m (as Spurs did last summer) and a couple of others?

If we want to get some more English players to our club, they would have to be either youth players or plying their trade in the Championship or lower.

It could be very interesting to assemble a list of the most talented players in the Championship aged 25 or younger. Swansea snapped up the top-scorer, Danny Graham, for £3 million, so if we were interested in, let’s say, Max Gradel or Lewis McGugan they should definitely be affordable, and maybe they could add more than just depth and actually turn out to be real gems. Joleon Lescott, Kyle Walker, Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott (the list is endless) also made the step up, didn’t they?

I would be in favour of going through the Championship – what do you think?

Thank to Funkness for submitting this for all to have a ponder about. It seems quite relevant given our alleged interest in Shane Long plus our confirmed interest in Neil Taylor who made his name in the Championship.

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.

114 thoughts on “Is there anyone we can pick from the Championship?

  1. Interesting debate you are having there Bobby. The next time we go for a good quality striker, that player will know they fall a long way down our hit list. Therfore we may have a hard time convincing them that they are the man for us, especially when being a striker is all about confidence.
    Ultimately they will look at why so many decent strikers have turned us down and begin to ask questions themselves. The only way this club can combat that is by proving we can bring in other top drawer players, or paying over the odds on wages as an incentive in my opinion. That’s not going to happen is it.
    Oh well, Ameobi it is then!

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  2. So Graham Carr is chief scout and director of football. I’ll bet he’s paid peanuts too for such an important person. 😯
    At least you wont be calling for pardews head if/when our signings flop.

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  3. well at least there was some good news today shola hasnt been offered a new contract only a year left,thank god for small mercys 😀 😀

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  4. @BB
    Pardew puts himself up as manager and is willing to go along with the situation as Carr being DoF and Ashley having the final say.

    His head falls if we are unsuccessful because he puts himself in that position.

    What do you think?

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  5. OK I accept we have to pay ott to get these players. Which is why our wage bill was up to 90%. We have been there before and it never worked.
    Which is why I think its ok to be looking for players from the championship. As per the question of the article above. 😕

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  6. @BB

    Does it really matter whether its Pardew, Carr or a mixture of both the drew up the list of targets?
    It’s Ashley and/or Lambias who are making the decisions on the deals being offered so it doesn’t look like we’ll get any of our top-end targets anyway.

    And yes with the players we have supposedly been in for, I would trust who ever is making the list (Pardew or Carr) of targets. They arent big name has-beens and they are known to be quality footballers. Obviously there is still a chance they might not adapt etc etc but that’s where the manager and scouts should make the right choices isn’t it?

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  7. BB, if we are happy just about surviving or reaching mid table at best overthe next few years then yes, by all means look to the Championship. Potential rarely wins trophies or qualifies for Europe though. You need a couple of experienced winners in the mix too to bring that potential on surely?

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  8. @BB

    Fair enough but don’t expect us to compete at a higher level.

    Its not a case of giving all the players bigger wages but decent strikers naturally command bigger fees and wages.

    Arsenal pay fab more than any other player by a considerable amount because he is their best player.

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  9. “Pardew puts himself up as manager and is willing to go along with the situation as Carr being DoF and Ashley having the final say. ”

    Are you saying this is the wrong way to run things? Is it a flawed polcy or something?

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  10. The transfer window closes when….? I think the best approach is to wait and see, rather than repeatedly discuss and judge apparent/deduced Ashley/Pardew intentions, dodgy red top/twatter rumours and comments from the ‘I hate Ashley/I don’t actually hate Ashley’ brigades. On the one hand, since when does price always equal quality in football? On the other, you rarely get quality for peanuts.

    If the club hasn’t strengthened the squad and improved its depth by the closure of the window, I’ll be gutted. Why? Because it obviously means we’re going nowhere, and never will with that approach. But – and its a big but – that hasn’t actually happened yet. And, like every true fan, I have to believe there’s hope.

    Patience.

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  11. There’s a lack of pro regime on here this morning . Well done BB for fighting your corner on your own. Your troops are still hiding intheir bunkers. 🙂

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  12. So comes down to a choice then, are we just glory hunters looking for short term success or trying to rebuild a club over a number of years with the eventual aim of being able to compete at the top table with the other big clubs on a sound financial basis?

    Also if we don’t get the targets identified due to personal terms etc, then eventually pardew/carr will spit the dummy and it will all go pear shaped 👿
    Not good

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  13. Well said Mr Brussells. I think the impatience is borne from previous experience, promises that failed to materialise, twisting of words, lack of communication with fans and the current hints that the manager and board appear to be dropping re: where all the money goes. We might have it all wrong but I doubt it. Like you say, time will tell.

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  14. Err excuse me, I am not pro ashley, I am simply trying to see things from both sides in order to get a better understanding.
    I admit I am not as highly educated and knowledgeable as you, pardon me.

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  15. @BB

    I’m not saying it’s flawed policy at all if you have the right combination of people.

    Though I do believe it falls flat on it’s face when all are not in sync.

    It undermines the coach when for example, he claims a 28 yr old player of the season should be back in the England squad, has 5 or 6 more years left at the top and wants to sign him up as he’s a major part of his future plans, then the owner offers him a 2 yr contract.

    Doesn’t look good. 🙄

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  16. @BB

    Oh my god, you are doing it AGAIN!

    Buying players DID work when Keegan was managing us the first time. Because more often than not he bought DECENT players.

    Buying players begain to fail when Shepherd began to pick some of the big name failures to try to win favour with the fans, and when we had a bunch of lacklustre managers who wasted far too much money on average players like Smith.

    Get it through your head: a good £10m player is going to help the team, and may help us finish in the top eight.

    A bad £10m player is a drain on resources.

    Good players are good, bad players are bad. The fee doesn’t make the player good or bad.

    We need our scouting/coaching staff to pick the good ones, that’s all.

    If you don’t trust Carr and Pardew to do that, then why are you so happy with Cabaye, Marveaux, Ba etc?

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  17. Seem to remember when he took control of the club, Cashley stated his 5 year plan resulted in us challenging the top 4.

    This is not a gradual rebuilding programme in the best interests of the club in my opinion. It is about clearing the books whilst doing the bare minimum for a club of this size on the pitch and selling for a huge profit.

    I do not blame him, he is a businessman. I just wish he was a bit more honest about it. Then again if he was, he probably would not get the gate receipts that he currently enjoys…

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  18. Can somebody tell Man City, Man Utd, Chelsea and Liverpool that spending big results in failure?

    Apparently Arsenal have been saying this is not the way forward for a long time (about 5/6 years now?!!)

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  19. yeah I woukd agree with that Bobby.

    Pootle – a lot of people have been calling for the club to buy Sturridge, would you consider that a good buy or not?

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  20. @dave brussels

    Fair point but not one we haven’t all considered I’m sure.

    My opinions are purely based on experience of the actions over the past 4 yrs of this regime and recent comments made by Lambias.

    Of course they may just surprise us, but if they do it will be totally out of character. So in life you try and judge the future on these experiences and be realistic and not fanciful dreams.

    Do Lambias’ recent comments not strongly indicate that we are not going to change from past actions of being extremely conservative? 😯

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  21. yeah its ok if you’ve got a sugar daddy backing the club like chelski/city etc, but those days are soon to be over apparently 😕

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  22. Sturridge depends on the price, I guess. Or whether he has the right attitude. I saw him on match of the day a few times last year and he looked good then. Is that enough – not really, but then I’m not scouting him. On the plus side he’ s English so even if he was just pretty good his value will go up and up. Would it help if I loaded up his stats on FIFA?

    You never answered the question: You love to wax lyrical about the qualities of Cabaye and the freebies, does that mean you trust Pardew/Carr’s judgement?
    If you trust them so much with Freebies how come you don’t want to trust their judgement for players that cost a fee?

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  23. I would personally like us to get a striker who is similar to Beardsley, reasonable quick, tenacious, can pick a pass, has a trick or two when necessary and can score 10-15 a season. I think that would really add to the team and give us options to change formation and style, and give us some security if Ba gets injured.

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  24. Amoebi not to be offered a further extention to his contract fair enough. However, at the rate strikers are turning us down Amoebi does`nt seem that bad.

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  25. @pootie

    You dont ask for much. 😯

    A player similar to Beardsley ! 🙂

    A spare £40m /£50m spare? 😛

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  26. Wow! You’ll have to show me where I’ve ever waxed lyrical about any signings. I dont think I have. Never heard of most of them til they turned up here, so jury’s out til I see them play.
    Do I trust Pardew/carr ‘s judgement? Dont have a choice do we?
    As BSn9 says above, if they and the owner/MD are all pulling together then yes it should work ok.
    Would appear tho as if they aren’t, as the over riding policy from ashley is tight financial control over any footballing issues. Which looks like a recipe for disaster 😥

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  27. No HBA cant be any good because we got him on the cheap.
    Must be ****

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  28. plus he has accepted low wages due to wage cap so must have no ambition to want to come to NUFC.
    No I’m sorry HBA must be garbage (according to some of the above comments anyhow.)

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  29. Lol. Yeah. Obviously we would be getting a really cut down version of Beardsley due to costs!
    I meant it more to differentiate the type of striker as opposed to the type of player Ba is or Carrol is.
    I appreciate it would be difficult to get one that was actually as good as Beardsley!

    Maybe Ben Arfa can be that player, I certainly hope so, but i think its too soon to expect him to be that player after such a bad injury.

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  30. Lets not get too excited about HBA just yet. It’s easier to pick up a player ‘on the cheap’ and have him accept reasonable wages when that player has recently suffered the kind of leg break that can end player’s careers. If he comes back and plays like he did at he beginning then we have struck a bargain for sure, but that is a massive ‘if’. Not to mention his state of mid next time someone like De Jong goes in for a challenge against him. Will he still have the same fearless flair about him or will he be more reserved and therefore not as effective as a result?
    In reality all we have had from HBA in one year so far is a handful of games and a lot of time out injured. Could be awesome in the long run, but due to the leg break, he is a risk. Price and wages reflect this fairly.

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  31. @BB
    Can you read??

    Nobody is saying cheap players have to be crappy. Or that expensive players have to be good.
    As a general rule of thumb better players will cost more than laser ones. That’s down to market forces. Obviously there can be variance.

    Tell you what Ronaldo, Messi, Tevez and Iniesta are fairly well regarded players why don’t you see if you and Ashley can get them in for maybe £5m a pop?

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  32. Go on – appeal to their ‘love of the game’. See if they’ll come to Newcastle for £35-40k a week. Oh no wait they must be **** cos they cost a fortune and ask for big wages. R-i-i-i-ght!

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  33. I would be happy to get Nicky Maynard in , would much rather bring him off the bench than mcloven , great pace and a good consistent scoring record , he reminds me of Andy Cole

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  34. So Maynard would be to play alongside Ba then or more a player you would bring off the bench?
    How does he compare to Erdinc, Sturridge or Long?

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  35. Hello Toonsy & my fellow Geordies ..

    I havn’t been online these last couple of days, so logging in now and realising, that the suggestion for an article I sent by mail the other day has actually been posted as an article, caught me by surpise to say the least.

    Thank you, Toonsy, for the opportunity – and sorry for the numerous typos 😉

    Cheers

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