Call me cynical, paranoid even, but to me it just seems as though there is something not quite right with Cheik Tiote.
To me it smacks of the whole Andy Carroll scenario again. Cast your minds back. Remember Carroll was injured and was ‘touch and go’ for quite a few games before he finally packed his bags and trotted off to Liverpool. With Tiote training well then not training then being available then not being available and not training all week it kind of gets me all jittery and leaves me wondering if we’re heading down a familiar path once again.
Interest from Chelsea doesn’t exactly calm my nerves either, much like Alan Pardew’s words from last weekend where he effectively said that if any player leaves it’s going to be for mega money. There then is this that is printed in The Observer today.
“You’re talking about Newcastle United – nothing is certain here. We could lose one of our great players, who knows? Some of the financial decisions are taken out of my hands,” said Pardew when asked about the same of any of of his key players in January.
“I want to strengthen in one or two areas but we’ll have to be on our guard against one of our best players going when the window opens. You can never think you’re OK. I learned that in my days at West Ham, but the Andy Carroll thing brought that home more vividly than most things.”
I really do hope that I’m just being paranoid about the whole thing, but a look at the form book is enough to make me feel, shall we say, pensive, about the whole thing. It gets back to the whole question of ambition. Do we have ambition to build a team that is affordable and can run from within our current income? Or do we sell yet again and start from scratch?
My Dad thinks I’m bonkers for thinking this, but I just can’t help thinking there is something amiss. Like he pointed out, would Tiote be shielded from a potential injury so far away from the January window? Probably not, but this is Newcastle United and common sense is a rare commodity.
Does anyone else think it’s a bit fishy?
284 GAMES WITH 40 GOALS – WHAT A PLAYER FOR US!!! RIP GARY SPEED
Army69(Quote)
RIP GARY who gives a fuk aboot footy when this **** happens 😥 😥 😥
my mrs nursed mental hea
icedog(Quote)
Aye true enough Batty.
I imagine we have all been down and in despair at some points in our lives and it’s easy to put a front on for the outside world isn’t it, then go home and suffer in silence not wanting to put your burdens on others.
It’s just hard for me to get my head around with someone like Gary Speed because it’s not like his career was over and onto the scrap heap.
He was fit, a decent bloke and doing well with Wales.
I suppose it’ll all come out in the wash but it’s one hell of a shame in losing a legend like him and a travesty for his family and close friends. 🙁
wolfie(Quote)
stunned by this like. RIP Gary Speed. He was an immense player for us and i true gent. I wonder if we will retire the number 7 now? Stunned, totally stunned.
craig chisholm(Quote)
sorry,my mrs nursed mental health people for many years its hard to understand 😥 😥
icedog(Quote)
Wolfie, depression takes no prisoners mate. You can have all the money in the world and a supermodel wife and it’d make no difference. Terrible condition. I’m presuming it was depression anyway, not much news out at the moment. Still, awful. Makes it so much worse to think it could’ve been a treatable medical condition.
Rodzilla(Quote)
agree rod
batty(Quote)
i see that SAF took the **** out of AP’s words too, saying’ i dont know what game he was at” etc etc. talk about a bitter old ****.
craig chisholm(Quote)
I’ve put together a little tribute article for the lad, which should hopefully be up later. Absolutely gutted about this 😥
Shamrock(Quote)
Aye Carroll was genuinely injured, and the aim of saying he might be fit was to keep us calm so we didn’t all clamour for a new striker because our current one was crocked(*****). This time I guess pards was trying fergie mind tricks?But with the opposite effect? Dunno where the fck he is mind because we really do need him around.
Newkie(Quote)
woah what is this all about gary speed? He’s dead? fucking hell 😕
Newkie(Quote)
R.I.P gary speed. one of my all time favorite toon midfielders. sad sad day. just shows money doesnt always buy happiness.
Yes Icedog. 4 of my family members work will mental health and alzheimer’s, very hard to understand unless it efects u directly.
mark(Quote)
Poor Gary. Must have been under huge strain trying to keep a brave face to the outside world being in the media spotlight all the time while suffering such inner turmoil. Just devastating news about a really nice guy. Hopefully everyone can pay their respects next weekend against Chelsea.
geordie deb(Quote)
would be a nice gesture,if club allow fans, to place to place tributes in or around the ground
mg man(Quote)
I agree with you ROD, as they say ,depression is an illness and no one knows the full aspects of severe depression unless they have or are going through it.
I agree that material things and loved ones would take a back seat for someone with that mindset.
To someone like Speed, I would imagine that he was too proud to go and seek help and instead just sank deeper and deeper until he snapped.
What a waste man, it’s just hard to get your head around isn’t it.
wolfie(Quote)
*work with..
mark(Quote)
Can’t believe the news about Gary Speed. So so sad. One of my favorite players, always gave his all. My condolences to his family. 🙁 🙁 🙁 🙁
MrT76(Quote)
my mate’s mrs hung herself in ireland a few years back. when it came out in the wash she had had an affair and could not live with the guilt. he then topped himself two yerars later and ended being put in a joint plot in belfast, they left an 8 year old son. depression and the mind is something that is hard to phathom and easy for people to brush off people who are suffering from it. very sad news.
craig chisholm(Quote)
MARK aye mate,bloody thing is its not something you can see unlike a lot of other illnesses its sad 😥
icedog(Quote)
It’s shocking Wolfie. My mother is bipolar, thankfully she’s finally now on medication that works. I think the hardest part is realising you have a condition, then seeking help is the next step. Anyway, I’m clutching at straws here. Should wait and see what’s officially said.
Gutted.
Rodzilla(Quote)
…nice one Shamrock anyway.
Rodzilla(Quote)
Gary Speed RIP. An absolutely great player.
SJP14(Quote)
So sad, thought I had misheard when the news was on the radio. Poor guy and his family. RIP
ToonTom(Quote)
CRAIG , that’s a gutting story that…
Rod.. you’re right about some that don’t seek help for whatever reasons , pride, creating no fuss, believing they can win it over e.t.c .
Luckily, your mother got help and can manage it..
Footballers and people in the public eye probably find it a hundred times more difficult to admit they have a problem then the average Joe on the street I think.
But as you say Rod, I think we have to wait and see just what the true reasons are behind it . Either way it’s gutting.
wolfie(Quote)
Jez cant believe that Gary Speed is no longer with us, funny enough I was watching FF yesterday and thought that he looked as fit as a fiddle and looked happy enough.
But sometimes the mask you can wear for others is a happy one.
Big Dave(Quote)
Absolutely gutted. He was a true footballing legend on and off the pitch.
R.I.P Gary. 😥
dan4toon(Quote)
RIP Gary tragic news indeed.
aussie magpie fan(Quote)
😥 😥 😥 😥
MrT76(Quote)
getting back to toonsy thread for a minute…if one of our stars had to go, who would you want it to be?? Cabaye, colo, staylor, krul, Ba, Tiote…. for me, i would let tiote go if one HAD to go.
craig chisholm(Quote)
RIP gary speed a brilliant footballer and a true legend of premiership football .
Axel(Quote)
Just want to say R.I.P Gary Speed!
Followed your Newcastle Career, and i must admit you where absolutely commited and an intelligent workhorse on the field!
Thanx for the years!
ToonfromDenmark(Quote)
Watching Robbie Savage on BBC news channel, very difficult viewing. RIP Gary Speed, will be sadly missed.
cornish-magpie(Quote)
RIP Gary Speed. What a shock 😥
New article up in tribute to the man 😥
toonsy(Quote)
Tragic and a **** shame. Lost my kid brother 9 months ago, same way. Thoughts to his family.
Robert G(Quote)
R.IP. Gary Speed,,True Gentleman..
Seen Him on Football Focus yesterday & thought he wasn’t as jocular as usual,Shocked my thoughts are with his Family,Wife & 2 Bairns.
Mickg108(Quote)
Rod,
How’d your bet go fella?
Is Batty about? I see they have stopped taking bets on Brucey biting the bullet.
Moreno(Quote)
moreno aye m8 closed the book good luck mate 😉
batty(Quote)
Bruce is ganin naewhere yet, he hasn’t finished his job there yet!
richietoon(Quote)
Haha!
I know, Mission failed if he gets booted like. Wonder who they will get….Martin O’Neill?
Moreno(Quote)
Guthrie is only back up for Cheik. If Cheik goes who is the back up for oh-so injury prone Guthrie?
Our midfield enforcer is a big part of why our defence has conceded so little this season. Would we have only picked up a solitary point and shipped four goals in the last couple of games with him in the side? Given the quality of the opposition it seems almost surreal that the answer is possibly not, but that’s how much more he brings to the team.
I cannot believe the “oh well, **** happens” attitude of some fans all of a sudden.
Surely even Mike Ashley can see that keeping our best players and qualifying for European football will bring higher financial gain, given that his fat ugly “sports direct” signs will be beamed all over the continent?
How ironic that we constantly have the need to “balance the books” rammed down our throats, yet the mega-millions that NUFC should receive for power-advertising his “other” company is conspicuous by its absence.
I was under the impression that the stadium renaming rights were up for grabs to generate the extra cash needed to buy new players? Perhaps we should concentrate on keeping the players we have first.
lee(Quote)
Stop Scaremongering re Tiote. These stories – invariably invented by the southern/North West press always rear thir heads when we start challenging the London or Man mafia. There are never any quotes just general speculation that we don’t need repeated by so called toon fans
tom(Quote)