Arguably we could ponder other positions, but the noises coming out of the club seem to suggest it’s going to be a striker and a left-back and that’s our lot.
No problems really. I’d say those two positions are just about at the top of the list if you ask NUFC fans where they would like to see strengthened as the priority. Cover in the centre of defence is something I’ve heard mentioned, but let’s get the first XI sorted out first eh?
One name that has been doing the rounds is Nicklas Bendtner, with opinion pretty much split on the striker. I don’t think many people doubt that he has the ability, but the question mark is over his attitude.
The 23-year-old Danish international is surplus to requirements at Arsenal and has been widely tipped to leave the club this transfer window with the Sunday Sun claiming that preliminary talks have already taken place between the two clubs.
Rate him or not, I believe he would improve our front line even if it does mean that he has to take some time out from skiing. Perhaps a fresh start is what he needs to help him fulfil his potential?
The other name that has been linked with us today is Hugo Rodallega of Wigan. The 26-year-old Colombian international is another player who has been linked with a move away from his current club during this transfer window, and the fact that he was only on the bench for their game with Norwich yesterday will only serve to add fuel to those rumours.
With a strike rate of just about 1 in 5 for Wigan, Rodallega doesn’t exactly back up the claims that he is a goalscorer. I’ve often wondered why he is so highly-rated in truth. Compare that with Bendtner who has a strike rate of roughly 1 in 4 and you can perhaps start to see that these players may not be the answer to our problems. Of course you can make stats say anything you want to really, but they are the best thing we have to go off.
Would I still have either of them at Newcastle? Well yes I would actually, which probably doesn’t make sense after highlighting their respective goal records, as they are better than what we have at the moment. As for which one though I’d probably plump for Bendtner even though I don’t believe we’ll end up with either.
Who would you go for?
Witters – Agree about the reaction of some fans. Despicable. Tue word fan shouldn’t apply to them
toonsy(Quote)
Bit like watching us yesterday. KL a poor mans ****, Augsburg defending well and good counterattacks. KL leftback not stood out. but KL poor.
Premandup(Quote)
The Bentdner story emanated from the “Mail” so to be treated with caution with it’s long history of inaccurate Newcastle stories. See also Patrick Collins unresearched piece in today’s “Mail.”
Blaydonson(Quote)
premandup – gotcha, and thanks for the update mate 🙂 Just interested in KLs left back as he is danish so I just wanted to know if he played well or something.
AlanPardewProject(Quote)
hey toonsy, any chance you can/will make this or newcastle a bendtnar-free-zone??? I seriously loathe the guy 😀 😎
AlanPardewProject(Quote)
thought you were spilling the beans on the multi bloggers toonsy 😆
hitman(Quote)
bendtner for me, he’ll bring a lot creativity to our attack and a treat in the air. then i think we should go for that brazilian kid from barca,(keirrson are something) i’ve never seen him but if barca paid 14 mil for him and we pay 3 or 4 then it’s probably a risk worth taking.
MadAboutToon(Quote)
defo bendtner,but there was talk in the sunda sun,that the board were a bit worried about his wages and attitude(fkin ironic when we have joey 😆 )..
hitman(Quote)
Rooney’s fake hair looks canny 😆
witters(Quote)
Someone mentioned Freiburg CF Papiss Demba Cisse on this thread earlier – just been checking him out on the ole interweb…
30 goals in 40 games in last season’s Bundesliga and 7 in 9 for Senegal to date
However, it seems there are plenty of clubs interested in him and they’re all put off by Freiburg’s 17m€ valuation….. that would almost certainly rule him out for us too
M(Quote)
I think bendtner is worth his chance, not a big fan of his attitude but we have Joey already and he is a live wire. I think pardew would be able to handle him, he dealt with the questions about barton very well I thought
Zoë Vicarage(Quote)
17m euros comes up to, what, around 20m pounds? It’s a big chunk of money, but his stats are immense. I haven’t seen him play, but he’s been scoring like mad for Freiburg, and they seem like a really awful team.
Ah, pipe dreaming anyway.
Fans Should Own The Club(Quote)
FSOTC got it round the wrong way mate,17m euro is aboot 15mil sterling,he still wont pay it like 🙁
icedog(Quote)
I can’t really understand how we say that we dont need Bendtner’s attitude as we have Joeys ? but for me Bendtner’s attitude is that he has no fight or spirit, never tries, and simply he doesn’t give a fuk about the Team ?
I know Joey is guilty of a few things but I don’t think he suffers from the same attitude as bendtner 😕
Big Dave(Quote)
Ice @ 88 you keep him right mate 😆
Big Dave(Quote)
DAVE your reet 😉
icedog(Quote)
BREAKING NEWS ON SSN..
newcastle bid 17 mill for sturridge..
hitman(Quote)
HITMAN no fk chance your dreaming
icedog(Quote)
😆
hitman(Quote)
oops!
Fans Should Own The Club(Quote)
Ice did you not know that Hitman is aka cwarr
Big Dave(Quote)
Hitman, I should know better by now, just had me puttin SSN on for a second, why am I so stupid and falling for that 🙁
Simon(Quote)
Goal for Shane Long
richietoon(Quote)
shane long scored against manure 😥
dip sticks have missed out on one there 👿
Beardsleys Boots(Quote)
Think Bendtner with his I’m the greatest footballer to ever live and nothing’s my fault attitude wouldn’t last a week without wor Joey flattening him. There is self confidence then there is delusion. Wouldn’t want to see him here.
Geordie Deb(Quote)
Fergie’s **** with goalies – should’ve signed wor Sheamus
M(Quote)
by dipsticks I mean fat tw@t and slackarse.
Beardsleys Boots(Quote)
Anyone seen much of Jay Jay? I’ve heard he thinks he is better than us now he has a season ticket. Well when I say I heard, I mean that is what he just text me and said 😈
toonsy(Quote)
soz simon.. 😆
toonsy fk jay jay,if he wants to give ashley money shame on him 😆
hitman(Quote)
Toonsy…..there isn’t much of jay jay to see 😆
richietoon(Quote)
Is it incorrect to really want to headbutt an old lady for sitting next to me on the train?
toonsy(Quote)
toonsy: I am writing an article at the mo, will send when done
Zoë Vicarage(Quote)
Toonsy – Nah, Just do it. Old *****. Is it full or empty?
Jobey07(Quote)
TOONSY it depends mate,if shes called mrs ashley give her one from me too 😀 😀
icedog(Quote)
Jay Jay with a season ticket ? never heard 😆 😆 right enough he hasn’t been on here to much maybe he is trying to get in with the prawn sarnie squad 😀
Big Dave(Quote)
Depends on the old lady.
Fans Should Own The Club(Quote)
Toonsy @ 106 and people think Joey is bad 😯
Big Dave(Quote)
To be honest, don’t know if i care who we get in to play as a striker, we judt need one ASAP. Can’t complain about yesterday, a draw with Aresnal will do me, but we have nowt up front. Ba will be ok I think, but needs better service and a fast man along side him. Shola got too much stick for yesterday, had some good control and flick ons, but too much like Ba really, need a fast player as well.
Simon(Quote)
Ice…..”if shes called mrs ashley give her one from me too”… 😯 porv 😆
richietoon(Quote)
Alreet lads (and ladies…I’m looking at you Witters 😀 ),
Good day out yesterday, Arsenal fans were **** as were their team to be honest. A couple of our fans were annoying, terrible language and attitude towards some our our players.
I am no shrinking violet meself but some of the stuff I was hearing was absolutely shocking.
I haven’t seen any televised highlights yet, going to watch ESPN’s footage later but from what I saw, the teams could have played 5 hours and no one would have scored.
Nothing terribly wrong, just match sharpness. Final ball for both sides just wasn’t there and neither teams new signings seemed to gel with their colleagues….which is to be expected to be fair.
Krul – Safe handling, mopped up when needed too but his kicking was absolutely atrocious.
Simpson – Once again, I was screaming at him for backing off. Thought he did OK though having been exposed 2 vs 1 down the right by Joey on a few occasions. Hope he keeps on improving as he could be a very safe full back this season. Needs to nail the basics though.
Colo – Oooooooh Coloccini you are the love of my life…..once again, a marvellous display at centre half. A world class player who wouldn’t look out of place at Barca. His language skills have to improve with this captaincy though. A captain can only lead by example and performance so much, there is more too the role.
Tayls – From what I saw, thought he was excellent. Robin Van Persie scores a hell of a lot of goals away from home and loves scoring against us too. Wasn’t going to be his day with Colo and Tayls reading him like a book (and not a very good book either – certainly not “Bravo two Zero” by Andy McNab) Before kick off he ran to the Gallowgate and pumped his fists, he was ready for it. Can’t fault his commitment and never say die attitude. Think him and Colo will have a solid season together.
Raylor – A surprisingly good performance. Don’t understand why he is getting flak for being in a back 4 that kept a clean sheet against Arsenal and dealing with an excellent winger. He kept holding them up long enough for the centre backs to get across and cut out any squared ball. For a right footer being asked to play out of position, thought he was well above average.
Jonas – As I just said, didn’t really get up the field and attack them too much. Felt he wanted to play left back in Jose’s place sometimes! Hope he gets back to his best and reckon a new style of play which is around the corner will benefit him more.
Cabaye – Pottered about in the hole and I felt he was frustrated with the style of play. Had his head up looking for the intelligent passes which weren’t there to be found as Joey was playing a similar deep lying playmaker role, Tiote was behind him and Jonas was protecting Raylor too much to make a run forward. The strikers movement just wasn’t good enough with neither being effective enough at dropping deeper a la Wayne Rooney. Felt he brightened when his pal Obertan came on but looked like he was a bit lost at SJP.
Tiote – Didn’t look 100% – unsurprisingly – but made his presence felt and snapped at heals forcing mistakes. His booking was ridiculous, saw other players get away with more the entire game.
Barton – Needs to know his role. Simpson isn’t good enough to expose down the left. When he was in a more central position, his passing was good and I remember his setting Simmo up for a cross a couple of times. He timed his challanges well and closed the ball down. Basically, he played Cabaye’s role from right midfield and have to say he did it better than him on the day….don’t think he was making a point or anything, he did this most of last season, it’s just his natural position and he drifts infield a lot.
Thought he was wrong to drag Gervinho up but don’t blame him one iota. I would have been exactly the same if someone tried to cheat me and the lads out of a result as well. Funny how not many fans condemned him and Nolan for grabbing the Arsenal keeper and shoving him last year though?Double standards and all that…..
Gervinho deserved what he got in my opinion. Cheating scum and it should be stamped out. A booking was fair for Joey, a red would have been down to his reputation and not the severity of the incident. Enjoyed waving The Gerv off too 😀
Ba – Ineffectual. I came closer to winning a header than him. Got muscled off the ball too many times and the way we played just didn’t suit him. Not a real concern as I don’t think we will play like this when Cabaye is up to speed, Obertan and Marveux are options and HBA is back in the frame. His problem was Shola in this game. We played our typical ‘punt it up to Shola’ tactic far too much as there was no link whatsoever between midfield and attack. To his creit he was closing down their defence a lot, they were just very assured on the ball though, in true Arsenal style.
Shola – Big fan of Shola but I think playing him doesn’t suit us. Not his fault to be honest, I just think some players take the easy route of blasting it towards him and using him as a focal point. He does win a lot of aerial challenges and in a 50/50 he usually comes out on top or wins a free kick but we need to snap out of using Shola as our main output, he shouldn’t be our main player but it feels like he is when he on the field….
Obertan – looked lively everytime he got the ball. Could be an amazing signing. He will achieve cult hero status on Tyneside if he keeps up his positive attitude both off and on the field, you could just tell from the crowd.
All in all, delighted with a clean sheet, think we were toothless up front completely lacking creativity but that was down to Tiote’s lack of fitness meaning Cabaye played deep, Jonas playing deep in fear of Raylor and Joey playing Cabaye’s role. Don’t think there were any ‘poor’ displays considering the circumstance (fitness / Arsenal / new signings) and any fans jumping on the players backs already want to tek themselves and gan jump off a bridge!
Moreno(Quote)
RICHIE 😀 😀
icedog(Quote)
hmmm hadn’t realised I had went on that much looking at it, could have been an article….oh well
Moreno(Quote)
Only thing Ba and Ameobi have in common is their appearance from a distance.
Problem with Ameobi is he attracts a certain kind of service i.e. long balls.
Same problem with Barton. All he ever wants to do is clip balls over the top. It’s exactly why I would like a more natural midfielder to replace him. He is good at what he does, but I don’t see him being able to keep up with fluent, flowing passing we are clearly hoping to achieve. He has to think too much before making a decision in my opinion.
His passion will be vital this season, but I hope he leaves next year…
~ El Toro ~(Quote)
EL TORO ~
August 14, 2011 at 17:01
Only thing Ba and Ameobi have in common is their appearance from a distance.
thats fkin racist..shokin 🙄
hitman(Quote)
MORENO thought you could have went into more detail like 😀 😀
enjoy the read like 😉
icedog(Quote)
Moreno
Read my mind with regards to Shola and Ba.
~ El Toro ~(Quote)
Just reading back through some comments….criticism of Raylor and Saylor is completely unfounded. Both played well, kept a clean sheet, what more do fans want?
Moreno(Quote)
Moreno
Taylor played well, but he needs to be more responsible.
There was a time in the game where he tried an idiotic run forward when he was basically the last man in defence.
Predictably, he lost the ball and began feigning injury.
He needs to cut that s**t out as it will cost us goals.
~ El Toro ~(Quote)
Must say, I have given Pardew a clean slate as of yesterday. decided on the Metro whilst lstening to a couple of meatheads critisize him.
People say he got the tactics wrong yesterday…I just reckon too much change in a short space of time is a very bad thing, to slowly introduce players and slowly change our style is what we need to do (and what we are doing) so for that reason, he is bang on. Pleased he backed Joey, right thing to do.
Moreno(Quote)
El Toro,
True on that account, but to be honest him and Colo flying forward was our most potent threat on Saturday.
Taylor wants to win so much he gets frustrated when the midfielders and forwards aren’t giving it a go so he takes it upon himself. If he was captain he would probably just get them told to be honest, he was marshalling Simpson a lot too I noticed. I agree with you about him losing it though, Colo doesn’t tend to that easy when he flies up there…..or he wins it back.
Moreno(Quote)
Hitman….you look like that Norman Stanley Fletcher from a distance like
richietoon(Quote)
Moreno
I agree with with your review rather than FSOTC. Thought Krul took up correct positions and came to collect balls at the right time.
His save from Walcott was class. Right enough his kicking off the ground has got no better
Toby le Rhone(Quote)
“Must say, I have given Pardew a clean slate as of yesterday. decided on the Metro whilst lstening to a couple of meatheads critisize him.”
——–> talking of these guy…they were all huge, one of them hand his ankles chained to a weight he was carrying and decked it right in the middle of Haymarket. Anyway….one of the lads (who sounded like he was from Shields) admitted to being a Man utd fan.
The lads were like…”eh why the f*ck do you follow them”
“Because me da was so he made uz follow them”
Then one of the blokes says “So explain this to me…….how can you have been born, when your Da’s a f*cking Gay?”
I was creased.
Moreno(Quote)
RICHIETOON
August 14, 2011 at 17:14
Hitman….you look like that Norman Stanley Fletcher from a distance like
i would luv to know how you know this,considering im a cross between brad pitt and george clooney 😆 😆 😆
hitman(Quote)
Hitman…I heard it was Eartha Kitt and Rosemary Clooney 😆
richietoon(Quote)
reet im not happy here who has outed me as a women,that was toonsy secret.. 😆 😆 😆
hitman(Quote)
😆 😆
richietoon(Quote)
Supermacs comment about erdnic ratio 1:2 we should look at him ,have we?,will we? doubt it
Tommy Gibb(Quote)
Ritchie toon i have heard you are a cross between cesc fabregas and Brad Pitt.Does that make you Cesc Pitt,LOL
Tommy Gibb(Quote)
Moreno really good analysis of the game, we did not look sharp and i do not think we played to our strengths ,but let us accept it was game 1,I sometimes I think fans bought into the keegan way being NUFC football,yes it was great but it was never us.It was an isolated window with stupid money spent,so we are now reaping the rewards.
PS I loved it
Tommy Gibb(Quote)