That promise never materialised though and we find ourselves again being taken for a ride by the club’s hierarchy. Now, where I am going with this article is not to support the board or to slate them but let us take a step back and asses the strikers who moved on deadline day. I realise that it is not just the deadline day strikers that we should have been after but the clueless pack of jokers that run our club were always gonna leave it as late as possible.
So,the following is a list of strikers that moved on deadline day and whether I would have had them in at our club.
Peter Crouch
Well, where do I start with this? He has an amazing goal scoring record for England and has shown that he will score if given a prolonged run in a team. But is he somebody whom we need right now? I don’t think so. We already have big strikers and targetmen at the club and having Crouch will only add to a trait we already have. Plus the fact that he is 30 and has had a pretty dismal scoring record at Spurs makes it a no-go for me. Anyway, I have always felt that putting a 6 foot 7 inch pole on the pitch would have the same effect as him.
Cameron Jerome
Another Stoke signing and another signing I wouldn’t have wanted at the club.He can run the channels and can be a busy player but he is definitely not the quality that we wanted. He just does not have the ability or spark to stand out from the rest of our strikers and for that reason a No for him too.
Nicklas Bendtner
And now we come to the self proclaimed “one of the best players in the world”. Now, this is a player that I would quite frankly have liked at the club. He has the talent and is so confident that some tests revealed it to be abnormal. He is I feel a striker who needs his managers backing and continuous time on the pitch to get better. With our lack of quality strikers and the job Alan Pardew has done with the likes of both Taylor’s and even Guttierrez to a certain extent, I feel he would have gotten on well here. He also would have had countryman Peter Lovenkrands to settle him in. His ego is a huge issue though and makes him a bit of risk. And now that he has joined the unwashed, I will loath him with a passion.
Jermaine Beckford
Another striker whom I feel wouldn’t have increased the quality of our strike force. We were after him last year when on a free from Leeds but it didn’t work out and am glad that it didn’t work out this time either. He frankly is a championship striker who has found his level.
Craig Bellamy
Bellamy was one of my favourite strikers when he used to play for us. His pace and guile was so very complimentary to Shearer’s play that he struck an immediate cord with all of us. But I guess that is where all the affection ends. Bellamy caused that huge stir with Souness, had a falling out with Shearer and was quite a horrible human being with an ego bigger than his house. He has also not replicated his Newcastle form at any of his latter clubs and at 32 is not getting any younger. So, it’s a No for him too.
Yakubu Aiyegbeni
Well, he would have been a hit or a miss signing. He has the ability to score goals but just does not have the quality to lead the line on his own or create goals out of nothing. I don’t think that he would have added more quality to our frontline and therefore I must go with a No for him too.
Orlando Sa and Denis Stracqualursi
Now, I just put in these two players as they are technically strikers. But, their goalscoring records are not at all impressive and are not proven strikers, so am saying a No to them is pretty easy.
Shaun Maloney
Another striker who I don’t think would have made our strikeforce any more fearsome. We need quality and he definitely is not it.
Bryan Ruiz
And finally we reach the player who was our last resort in the striker hunt. Now this is a player I definitely would have liked us to sign. He is the sort of player who plays as a second striker or an attacking midfielder but despite that his goalscoring record is phenomenal. We went in very late for him and the player had already suggested that he had been in talks with Fulham for many days. He might not have led the line for us on his own but would have been great playing off or behind players like Ba or Best. Perhaps we have Ben Arfa to take over that role once he regains fitness.
I am sad that we didn’t sign him but scoring goals in the Dutch Eredivise is different from scoring in the Premier League. Just ask Afonso Alves, Ryan Babel and others. Hope he doesn’t haunt us and make us think – “Just what if he’d signed”.
Of course, these are the players who only moved into or out of the Premier League.The strikers who did in other leagues include players like Diego Forlan, Helder Postiga, Mauro Zarate, Ikechukwu Uche and the likes, players whom we didn’t have a chance in hell of signing or would have been completely useless in improving the team. 🙂
So, there you go. Would any of you have had the above mentioned strikers at our club now?
Thanks to Deepak for sending in this article.
Shane Long is the only one I wish we had gone for!!
Scottie(Quote)
I would have gone for Bellamy and Crouch – however, I’m not sure if they would have come to NUFC!
Gary(Quote)
What happened with the loan deal of Macheda?
I thought that was a done deal.
Certainly better than what we already have!
Gary(Quote)
It isn’t about deadline day deals.
We supposedly had scouts all over the place scouting for a new striker and they had months and serious money raised from tranfers and wages saved to buy one.
There was no intent to replace AC just cash in the bank for Ashley making interest.
Sirjasontoon(Quote)
That’s the one saving grace for me in all of this, the fact that really im not 100% convinced that any of the strikers we were realistically linked with towards the end of the window were actually much better than what we have and worth the money clubs were asking.
Id have had Bellamy back like a shot but age wise, wage wise and due to past history that was never gonna happen. Id have had Bendtner as I dont really think he has ever had a fair crack of the whip at Arsenal and is a good all round striker but not that fussed about any of the others although I have to say there are a couple I know nothing about whatsoever.
They key for me is getting Ben Arfa fit and playing – with him in the team I think the likes of Best, Ba and Ameobi can score more than enough goals for us to do ok.
Toon Stew(Quote)
Bendtner deffo. And Bells was free! but he did admit he would have nobody to play for up here if he returned.
mark(Quote)
Probably would not have wanted any of those but surely that is not the point. Our club had 7 months to identify their replacement striker and do a deal with £35m sitting in the bank.
NO EXCUSES.
Mags(Quote)
Agree with Scottie@1, I was well pi55ed off when we missed out on Shane Long. In my opinion he fitted the bill for us perfectly, and at a decent price too.
Bendtner going to the unwashed for nowt also done my head in, I had a feeling we might have gone for him for a while, but I was thinking around 7 or 8m. So £0 to the filth just made it smart even more.
There was a similar pattern to all of our main transfer targets over the summer – they’d either made up their minds they wanted to go to a different club, or their club never wanted to sell them. We’ve had 7 months to sort out a No.9. This was obviously way down the bottom of the list for Fatboy. Makes me fkn sick.
…..”We will get a striker over the line, 100%, and that will be before the window shuts….It’s not complete yet but by the 31st August it will be.”
…..hahahaha.
Rodzilla(Quote)
Denis Stracqualursi was top scorer in the argentinian premier league. Yeah not a proven goalscorer. Obviously doesnt mean he’s gonna score in the prem but what does someone need to do in your eyes to have a good goalscoring record. 60 goals in 107 games. he’s obviously never seen a football before
BillyV(Quote)
People, have anyone of you actually seen Ruiz play? I have, and 9 out of 10 games he is *****. I am very happy we didn’t sign him, and the ammount of money that was payed for him is absolutely ridiculous. I can’t understand why so many toon fans wanted us to sign him, but I can only guess that people haven’t seen him play and thinks that anything beats lovenkrands and shola.
If someone would like to defend Ruiz’ abilities (and actually have seen him play) I’m happy to hear their opinions, but the matches I have seen from him has been absolutely terrible.
Erlend(Quote)
Any striker would have done as long as he had pace and finishing touch. Shane Long would have been my preferred choice. Anyways, what’s done is done, and now we have to get behind our lads and hope we can continue to do well until January. Howay the lads!
King Arfa(Quote)
Btw, not blaming any of the previous posters for glorifying Ruiz, it is just my general understanding that many Nufc fans wanted him.
Erlend(Quote)
Erlend, I’ll admit I’ve never seen him play, but 36 goals in 61 appearances is a pretty awesome tally in anyone’s book. I’d struggle to view this as a ***** record.
Rodzilla(Quote)
Would have liked to see Cisse from Freiburg. Shane Long? Bendtner would have been
a) wildly entertaining from a comedy view point
b) a good acquisition
c) both a and b
Fans Should Own The Club(Quote)
….as a comparison:
Luis Suarez spent 4 years in that league with a goals to game ratio of 1.35.
Ruiz spent 2 years in that league with a goals to game ratio of 1.7.
…not much difference in that, and Suarez is class. That’s what I based my judgement on.
Rodzilla(Quote)
I am more angry that through incompetence a great talent in the making, Darnel Situ, was allowed to go to Swansea.
Cisse they were asking silly money for, and Maiga was no better than Sammy Ameobi. The other Frenchman was not much better and Marseille weren’t going to part with him.
But why the hell not get someone ON LOAN for God’s sake ????
Sturridge preferably, but the Man U Italian kid who WANTED to come ????
Incompetence beyond belief from LambsArse, and a chained wallet of Ebenezer Ashley – Pardew had to contend with both.
But he came out of it just as badly.
Phil K(Quote)
….*I meant games played in to score. I worked that out a bit weirdly.
Rodzilla(Quote)
Ruiz
He is an outstanding player, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him bought by a bigger premier league club next year for around 20 odd mil.
Also, would have had Bellemy on a free…
Other than that, no, nobody.
JJ(Quote)
4 years: 110/81
2 years: 61/36
…I’ll get mi coat.
Rodzilla(Quote)
Rodz
That goal ratio for Ruiz is also handicapped by the fact that half the time he was playing on the wing, not as a striker.
JJ(Quote)
JJ, if your prediction comes true, fatty will be kicking himself!!! Nice littler earner there!
Rodzilla(Quote)
Yes, Ruiz scored a fair amount of goals, 24 of them when Twente won the league 2 years ago, but I dare say that most strikers will score a lot of goals playing for the best team in a division. Also scoring goals in Holland doesn’t mean he’ll find them as easy in EPL. Suarez is class, but Eresdivise is the league in europe with the highest average amount of goals per match.
He may obviously prove me wrong, but i really doubt he will be a hit in the EPL from what I’ve seen of him. And for more than £10m one should be able to get a striker with more proven class.
Erlend(Quote)
Mike Ashley licks *****.
King Arfa(Quote)
I don’t get it – what’s everyone moaning about?!!
On the whole, we’ve done an excellent job in the window. Arguably another striker and defender would have made us stronger, though I don’t think we’re that bad with strikers and we have a lot of mf’s who could score goals on a regular basis too.
Counting Ben Arfa (when fit), Gosling and the youngsters who seem to be much more ready than a year ago (Sammy Ameobi, Vuckic, Tavernier etc) we have 10 or 11 players we didn’;t have a year ago but have really just lost 4 of any real significance.
Personally I’m mostly relieved we didn’t lose anyone important on the last day!
Adam(Quote)
Adam, we seem to have done a few good deals early in the window, and we’ve at least kept hold of Tiote, Colo and Saylor, for now. I’m just pi55ed off we still ain’t got a No.9 and have had 7 months to sort it out.
Yeah, we’re doing fine in the league (until the inevitable injuries start kicking in), but we were as good as promised a striker and I feel let down.
We’re so close to having a top squad, I’m not moaning – just disappointed. Not bringing in a proven No.9 could well be the difference between us finishing 7th and 14th this season.
Rodzilla(Quote)
Our main aim for this summer was to find two top strikers. Fair enough we bought Ba on a free but he doesn’t seem the ideal Carroll replacement. I still have faith in our lads even though our squad is dangerously thin. Also, no decent cover for left-back, and defence is still ***** with only Williamson and S. Taylor to rotate for a position. Come January and I bet we’re still without a striker. What do you expect? It’s fookin’ Mike Ashley we’re talking about here!
King Arfa(Quote)
I’m surprised we didn’t go after Ruiz a lot sooner, and certainly sooner than the 11th hour. Also, I wouldn’t have felt good about gazumping Fulham. Bad form. Anyway, I’m now ready to give 100% backing to Leon Best and Demba Ba with a very strong midfield to back them up. Let’s see the glass as more than half full. HWTL!
Paul in Hollywood(Quote)
Wouldnt have any of the deadline day strikers on offer, with the time and cash we had available our target should have been sorted long before then, no excuses, epic failure.
Robert(Quote)
Ruiz and Bellemy
Shearers Receeding Hairline(Quote)
http://www.nufc.co.uk/articles/20110902/newcastle-united-statement_2281670_2439966#.TmELskpvE3A.twitter
hitman(Quote)
I would have took a couple of the deadline day one. But would have prefered to sort one out in the 8 months before deadline day.
But I dont really think we had any real intentions of getting one in that would cost
Big Dave(Quote)
Ruiz and bendtner.
Hit man has already posted the link to the club statement.
It’s about as revealing as a burka and as exciting as concrete.
Micky Toon(Quote)
Who is in the Europa League? Not Sion, Not Sion. Whey.
Shouldn’t field ineligible players, silly gonks.
funkyjesus(Quote)
Hitman I cant fuking believe that statement, it is a total embarrasment and to think that they have been at that all day. you could have threw that together in 2 mins, that is one of the biggest problems I have with the club , communication and lack of it, and when we do get some its like a slap in the fuking face from that ******* Lambsarse.
It seems that he hates talking to us and when he does it just makes things 10 times fuking worse.
They need to get shot of the PR team because if this is the result their wasting money
Big Dave(Quote)
ana dave,we are being taken for complete mugs…
Whilst we did turn our attention to alternative prospects in the latter stages of the window, we have a very clear transfer policy and will not make knee-**** decisions at the last-minute which are not in the best interests of the club. We understand that supporters will feel frustrated that we did not sign another striker during the window, but it was not for lack of trying that we did not bring our final target in.
was the zog not knee ****,same as ruiz and ridgewell..
fkin disgrace
hitman(Quote)
I am sorry but that is the most pathetic, lazy, non cerebral brush off I have every heard from a football club.
Why bother making a statement if you’re not going to say anything. It just beggers belief. For ‘value for money’ read we won’t be spending decent money for any player becuase we don’t think any footballer is worth >£10m – well unless we’re selling him that is.
Laughable!
Stuart79(Quote)
BILLYV – I agree with your point of Denis Stracqualursi having a good scoring record in Argentina.But many of those goals were in the lower divisions of Argentinian Football pyramid.And I just wanted to emphasize that he is not a proven striker.Am really sorry that the goalscoring records of him and Sa came toghether.And thank you for appreciating my knowledge about football.
deepak is an indian toon(Quote)
hitman says:
September 2, 2011 at 18:15
Don’t forget the knne – **** reaction of Richardson too!
Their actually really brightening my days these lot.
Stuart79(Quote)
Hitman Stuart to me this just confirms to me again that they dont give a fuk about the fans and just treat us with contempt.
Have we heard anymore about the new sign yet ?
Big Dave(Quote)
No, no, no, no, bloody hell no, no, no, no and possibly yes. In fact definitely yes. But we didn’t. Not many people are mentioning the emergence of Sammy Ameobi…
Penalty-Spot(Quote)
na nowt on the sign dave..
hitman(Quote)
Anyone thought that that statement could just be the truth (albeit watered down)? Sounds like the exact sort of statement you’d get from any CE in any company anywhere….
Penalty-Spot(Quote)
Predictable and meaningless, what was the objective of that statement?
TheDimpleboy(Quote)
Nothing wrong with that statement. What did folks expect – insider info? Announcements to the world who our targets are? – Get real and get a grip will some of you.
Stardust(Quote)
Agree Penalty spot seems like ur bogged standard comapny stance on any issue really, Not sure what i was expecting but once i read it I kidna new this is what they were gonna say if that makes any sense! Not really bothered by it to b honest , not sure whathe big fuss is over either. We tried to sign players over the summer n we didnt get them. **** happens. If people want to belive we put in transfer bids for the sake of it then thats their point of view. Depends on what you want to belive. The club have set up their transfer policy , buy low sell high. Again people might not agree with it , but if your not happy get some cash together and buy Ashley out. Simples. Until then get use to this policy. For what its worth I think there will be more good than bad that will come out of this policy.
Johno Toon(Quote)
Think it’s the hypocrisy of it tbh.
The club will NOT make knee – **** reactions? If bidding £8m for Richardson, or £12m for Nzogbia and £10.6m for Ruiz all at the 11th hour isn’t knee – **** then I don’t know what is.
It really is comical.
Stuart79(Quote)
Statement doesn’t really bother me to be honest, I wasn’t really expecting one and I’m just glad it wasn’t Pardew left to make the statement.
TheDimpleboy(Quote)
Johno Toon says:
September 2, 2011 at 18:54
You say that the club have set up their transfer policy of buy low and sell high – is that acceptable to you? How will we every be successful doing that? Nobody who consistantly sells their best players are successful – Arsenal fans. What’s the point in supporters turning up every other week? That transfer policy is for the clubs with small fan bases and small turnovers. Sorry but a club with the fan base like ours deserves better.
Stuart79(Quote)
Didn’t take long for MA’s ***** to come out and try to defend him. thats an extra reach around for you 🙂
Johno If they really tried to sign a Striker in the 8 months and failed god help us then. because we have no hope
Big Dave(Quote)
Maybe Joey is right that come the end of the season Colo and Jonas will be next to be shipped out, unless they accept the contract that they will be offered, but going by the way they have went about renegotiating other senior players I dont hold out much hope
Big Dave(Quote)
Dave,
That is a fore gone conclusion, mate. Nobody should be shocked when Collo and Jonas leave in January or the summer. It’s been very clear that the biggest earners are being sold however good or influential.
This club is being tee’d up for a sale – no other explanation imo.
Stuart79(Quote)
Stuart a few years ago when we were competingbfor champions league spot i would agree with u, but we were r a long way from there now. The club is been re built from sratch after relegation. the club was built on a deck of cards under sheppard n collapesed under ashley and its up to him to to re build , and like it or not he is goin to do it his way
big dave agree major disapointment not gettin in a striker but slowly but surely rhe squad will come together
sorry for poor gramer n spelling using new phone n dont quiet have hang of it 🙂
johno toon(Quote)
Actually as long as a striker came in,be it loan or permt,i guess everyone would be please.
I wonder why didn’t we even bring in a loan striker.O.o
AngelOfDeath(Quote)
The statement doesn’t really add anything to what we already knew or could guess. Amusing to say “we won’t make any knee-**** decisions at the least minute.” What was the offer for Ruiz then? Derrick really needn’t have bothered. Agree with you toonsy about the best 2 strikers on offer. Ruiz for sure would have been a great addition (why didn’t we start earlier with him?) and Bendtner could have been good as well if we could deal with his ego (but we have had practice with huge egos with Joey haven’t we?). I think Ruiz was actually too expensive for our owner’s taste so we left it until it was too late and then pretended to make an offer. The helicopter bit was hilarious.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
johno toon says:
September 2, 2011 at 19:19
You said Ashley is rebuilding it. Some might argue he has already rebuilt it economically. We will turn a healthy profit (unless he’s taking his money back and at a unrealistic speed) but lets not forget the club have recieved nearly £50m in transfer fees since January. Sorry but if we can still only afford to spend a couple of million on incoming players we must be on the verge of going bust!
Stuart79(Quote)
STUART i think you are dead wrong mate,ive said before there is no way jabba will sell this nice little earner,he has the club/fans as a tool to sell his products with a added bonas of PL TV ect cash no way he will giive that up imo 🙁
icedog(Quote)
Dave 😆
Got to admit I will be gutted if Colo and Jonas go – I would do anything to keep either but that’s me letting emotion get in the way – the business side says we have to improve – on the pitch and in the financials. You see if we get to a point where we have no debt – and salaries are controlled we would have a good sum every year for investment. But the fundamentals should always be adhered to — threy are trying to achieve the flywheel effect
We have to walk before we can run. Their policy is rock solid for the medium to long term, short term is a wee bit tougher.
Stardust(Quote)
wish i had a product line feeding me cash
icedog(Quote)
Johno sorry mate but have to disagree if the Fatman had off went about the Carroll sale properly and invested in a top quality replacment we could have maybe sneaked a euro spot last season. then invested again we could have maintained.
Big Dave(Quote)
Good question Angelofdeath @53. I wondered that myself when I saw Sunderland get Bendtner on loan. Would have been a good move. Maybe too much to ask from Llambias? Not sure how much he can be counted on except to protect the owner’s money. But is he really protecting it if the fans begin to get completely disillusioned? True faith article is an interesting read but maybe a bit over the top.
http://www.true-faith.co.uk/tf/features.nsf/0/1D795237DFFB3F2C802578FD0082543F?OpenDocument
GeordieTwo(Quote)
Stardy its easy to say that you will be gutted but you wont really know what it feels like until it happens, and as I said going by the way things have went it seems like that is something you will know soon enough.
I honestly dont think we will get anywhere with changing the team around by selling your best and most experienced players every season.
As for being debt free etc and having money to invest, well if you wont pay the money that the quality players are on we will never get anywher except to keep flirting with the bottom teams year on year.
Big Dave(Quote)
Stardy meant to add if the fans keep staying away as they are now thats roughly £9mill a yr we will be loosing out on.
Oh and it will be just more money we are loosing out when you think of how much we are loosing through having the Club rebranded as Sports Direct rather than a company that will pay for it.
We are being used as a giant billboard for Sports Direct
Big Dave(Quote)
Has anyone else seen the Joey statement? I hope he is not right.
http://www.caughtoffside.com/2011/09/01/joey-barton-names-four-newcastle-united-players-to-leave-within-12-months/
GeordieTwo(Quote)
“we have a very clear transfer policy”
Forgive me for sounding like a fan who’s not been paying attention, but what is that policy. Perhaps if they were to expand upon that, we might be able to accept the statement a bit more.
Although, I guess that’s hard to do without perhaps giving away operational secrets that may give them a competitive advantage when recruiting new talent to the team.
I dunno…still just a bit disappointed…overall ok, just would have liked to see that one extra player…
NorCal Toonfan(Quote)
as long as we stay in the prem and feed MA the cash he’s owed we’ll be ok in a yr or two. tiote, colo, Jonas, Krul next out and possible Vuckic if he’s show-cased enough for other teams to take notice..then big MA will take his cash and walk, forgetting about his sorry adventure with Ncle.
mark(Quote)
Stardust, it’s not your emotion that gets in the way, it’s your pug nose and size 4 feet that cloud your judgement (pissing myself icon)
Troy Stavers(Quote)
@big Dave
Ignore dustybin, he doesn’t know where SJP is.
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Good evaluations Toonsy 🙂 I really rate Bendtner and think we should’ve went for him, he’s a big lad and has a good technichal side.
Louis Tiplady(Quote)
GeordieTwo he named them on wed night mate and I can believe it .
Mark @ 65 what makes you think he will walk away from making money and all the free advertisment for his real love Sports Direct, he did say to SJH that he wanted to use us to advertise SD
Big Dave(Quote)
Stardust @57
your comment is correct in my eyes. we just need to go with the flow short term and hope we invest when we’re financially sound.
Make take a yr or two with players leaving but hopefully MA will leave too once he’s paid back
mark(Quote)
Dave – re the Sports Direct element, he may use it for cheap advertising for himself, or use it to input money from his company rather than his own pocket, but I would imagine since we are been ran financially well, that its likely to be the former and he will gain a benefit of cheaper advertising.
I understand your sentiments that we are missing out on revenue, as the business owner he will see it as payment in return for the substantial interest free loan he has given us.
As ever unlike the strip nothing is black and white!
Stardust(Quote)
@Big Dave
advertising at st.james isnt a big deal for me tbh. If anything it pays off his debts quicker.
I think he has no choice but to leave. He’s hated here and crowds are getting smaller. I honestly think when all his debts are paid up he’ll try his best to sell.
mark(Quote)
Stuart not going to say im i know what is going on at the club but i had a thought today that maybe the carrol money has gone to cover the losses we sustained in the championship. i prob am wrong but just a thought.
Big dave disagree about not re ivenest the carrol money in jan casued us to miss out pushing up the table. The dropped points in the games against sunderland and spurs cost us more than anything. if we had saw out both games maybe the confidence and momentum maybe would of taken us further but not to be in the end.
Right outta here to watch match a few beers n a curry.
johno toon(Quote)
I am disgusted with that pathetic statement that looks like it was written whilst sitting on the bog and suddenly realising that you had forgot it needed to be done.
Grab the tracing paper tissue at SJP bogs and scribble down something by the time finished your ****. Use the same bit of paper to wipe your **** and hand it over to the press waiting outside!
Absolutely abysmal ! I am fuming with that!
Troy Stavers(Quote)
@troy 74
I thought his statemant was spot on, short, quick and straight to the bullshit. I wouldnt expect anything else.
mark(Quote)