Reports in France suggest that Newcastle are unhappy over the physical condition of the player and not even a second opinion will convince them otherwise. It now looks as though the move has been shelved.
Now call me a cynical old Hector, again. But if Maiga is failing a Newcastle medical then I would be very concerned if I was him. Perhaps he’s only got one leg or is on the verge of death? I’m sure you have to be that injured to fail a Newcastle medical. Remember, this is the club who somehow managed to pass Stephan Ireland through a medical, and Demba Ba, and Sylvain Marveaux… You get the point?
The point being that there must be something seriously wrong with Maiga for us to not go through with it. It just doesn’t sit right with me and it seems as though there is a rabbit away somewhere. Think about it. Why did we ensure the medical was done early? When have we ever done that? When does anyone do that in fact?
I have two trains of thought on this one. The first is that it will be used as a bargaining chip for Newcastle who will try and lower the price for Maiga. The second one being that there just may be someone else lined up, some a bit better or a bit more value for example.
Speaking of players who are not exactly value although we have been linked with, the Daily Mail are linking us with a £10m January move for Crystal Palace’s highly-rated 19-year-old striker Wilfried Zaha.
Now hand on heart I really can’t see Mike Ashley spending £10m on a player who has zero top level experience. the Ivory Coast born England U19 international has made 62 appearances for Palace scoring just three goals in his time, which is far from prolific but then again he is still very young.
I really don’t think we’ll turn our attention to Zaha after the seeming collapse of the Maiga deal. Not a chance. And at the rumoured £10m I’d be quite happy of that. What I can see is a deal being struck for Maiga still with perhaps a lower fee or a more structured payment deal where Sochaux get more money based on various strings attached to the deal.
Time will tell…
1st for CoolDJ 😛
Was thinking the same, poor guy must’ve come in in a wheelchair to fail a medical, lol
cornish-magpie(Quote)
I think you’re forgetting the fact tht Ba & Marv were freebies Sy & Maiga would have cost us near on £7m, which is a bit like why Stoke didn’t buy Ba for £8m when he failed there medical isn’t it 😉 luckily enough for us or we may have ended up with Crouch & they would have Ba…. I know who I’d prefer…. 😆
Anyways, I also doubt that Ashley will be willing to shell out £10m on an unproven 19yr old from a Championship club, not as if he has crystal balls & is able to see this guy truning into the next Rooney in 3yr times & being with £100m is it…. never gonna happen imo 🙄
Toon69(Quote)
price will be lowered or we buy a centerhalf me thinks 😀
mark(Quote)
I was reading about this last night on ed’s blog and in the chronicle. Jesus they get some morons on those sites.
Because Maiga has failed his medical —
-Ashley is trying to wreck the club
-Ashley had this planned all along
-We don’t want to move forward as a club
-Ashley is a greedy *******
Honestly, jesus… why can’t everything be as it reported – Maiga failed his medical, end of! It happens, get over it.
If there is the chance of an ulterior motive from Ashley it’ll just be to try and get Sochaux to drop their price a bit. So what? If you had the chance to save an extra million or whatever I’m sure you’d go for it is as well.
Narrow minded morons. 😈
Can we please get off this now and think about the Swansea game? We can’t help who goes in and out so there isn’t any point dripping about it!
Nobby(Quote)
Wilfried Zaha goal scoring rate is pretty poor for 10mil? doubt this will even get going, it might however push the Miaga deal thru if Sochaux think they have a crock on their hands. might be life in the Maiga deal yet.
mark(Quote)
We won’t buy a strikers. Ashley would have TOLD Lateral… You can have a defender or a striker… Not both!
Unless we sell… And so, the deal got canned by a “failed medical”…
JJ(Quote)
@Nobby
because in court Ashley admitted lying to the fans, so perhaps ppl don’t trust him, although I do agree if we can save 1mill it will be a good deal. We might lose him in the process tho
mark(Quote)
so Perch admits himself he struggles in the Prem?
Perch said: “Being honest, I probably didn’t think I’d still be here. I probably thought my time was coming up as a Newcastle player because I wasn’t anywhere near it, I wasn’t anywhere near the first team and I was struggling a little bit.”
mark(Quote)
@JJ
I’m nearly there with your theory and if Pardew had not spat his dummy out in the summer cos we didn’t get a striker we wanted I would be there entirely.
Surely Pardew will not accept this and therefore I feel it’s unlikely. We are losing Ba for 6 weeks, so I’m therefore confident as can be that they will still get a striker whether it be Maiga or otherwise.
It wouldn’t surprise me if they strike a loan deal for Maiga until the end of the season and if he stays fit we are committed to buying him.
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Morning all!! I have to agree with the comment above that you cannot blame ashley for the failed medical as any clubs doctors code of ethics mean the have to operate on an almost neutral manner. Also is he really that good? Could he be that kind of game changer we are looking for?? .
Personaly I think if we need a stiker for two good seasons until we can develop a young player we should make a cheeky bid for Drogba!! Give him the #9 shirt, make him a God and he will love it!!
scott(Quote)
Or could Maiga genuinely be knackered? Socheaux are all of a sudden keen to sell which is quite a turn around from the summer, and the fact he was having an early medical was kind of suspicious to me.
Anyway, on to Cattermole and Bendtner, im amazed at the way 5under1and are now the club that we were behaviour wise and is their and Brambles behaviour worse than Carroll and Barton? I would say so and could you imagine the media outcry if one of our players was caught in possession of a Class A drug and was then still allowed to play?
Robert(Quote)
Robert@11….spot on there regarding Sunderland. They are a shambles of a club and the idiot players wearing those ugly red and white stripes are bringing shame on the club. The media are surprisingly keeping a very low profile when all this idiocy is going on. I would LOVE them to get relegated, but unfortunately they sussed out the plastic makkem and fired him before he could bring our wishes to fruition. Sadly I fear that MON will save them from that fate. 🙁
I am so glad those days of shady players with dubious characters are behind us at Newcastle….(at least amongst the players…not sure about the upper management though !)
Munich Mag(Quote)
So what if the Maiga “fitness” issue is Ashley’s way of trying to get the bloke on the cheap. Maiga’s cage was rattled 6 months ago, and the bloke whipped himself up into an embarassing frenzy way back then. His heart has already left Sochaux.
Ashley could also be trying to force a wedge between the player and his agent, we all know agents are Ashley’s pet hate. At the end of the day Ashley is gambling with the blokes future too, cos there is a distinct danger that the poor bloke may be labelled as “damaged goods”. Of course we have to trust the toon medical experts, their track record is second to none over the last couple of years… 😆 😆
In the mean time, us fans just have to sit back and watch the soap opera unfold…trying times for the loyal supporters, the only constant throughout all of this madness !
Munich Mag(Quote)
Failing a medical despite independent doctors saying otherwise? I’m sorry, I hate all the negative talk too but this smacks of more lies.
Brendan(Quote)
For a doctor to fail someone’s medical he must have just cause. If the club doctors are going on record saying someone has a problem then their medical reputation would be in tatters if this proved not to be the case – or was just made up to get out of a deal.
Doctors can have different opinions about the severity or long term prognosis for an injury and when there is £7 million at stake you may be more cautious in your assessment. Stoke didn’t want to take the risk on Ba and pay £10 million – the Toon took the risk because he was on a free and on a pay as you pay deal. This stuff happens unfortunately but I don’t see anything sinister in it
3hourswasted(Quote)
Does nobody see similarities with the tiote ‘situation’? Both players havent played much for their respected clubs after inconspicuous injuries (who knew about miagas knees?) with everyone thinking its because they’re just being kept back back for a big sale. What if tiotes injury is worse than we think or is a recurring one, it would make a lot of sense why he isnt now playing as we could aggrevate it and scupper chances of a decent sale (plus £20mil sounds a bargain for him anyway eh?). Maybe the NUFC medical staff are just too **** clever for sochaux.
As for miaga, the prem is a tougher, more physical league than the french one and if this guy has a gammy knee or two, im sure players like de jong/cattermole would love to put it to the test with a crunching tackle. This could effectively put our big-money signing out of action. No point in risking it i would have thought.
Unkown blogger(Quote)
I wouldn’t be surprised if they’ve decided a striker isnt a priority anymore after the way Ba has been playing and have decided to buy a centre half instead.
Would anyone really be surprised if the board said to Pardew, it’s one or the other, not both.
Stuart79(Quote)
I’ll be extremely happy when the transfer window is closed at the end of January.
I hope I’m also extremely happy at the state of our club at the end of the same transfer window.
Wasn’t this supposed to be the transfer window which portrays Pardew in his true light ?
Munich Mag(Quote)
@stu
As my previous post, do you really believe Pardew would accept that?
It would undermine him again. Ba could be away for 6 weeks from january.
If it is the case, then Pardew will have lost the credibility he gained when he openly criticised the board.
Troy Stavers(Quote)
I’m glad. Dont see the sense in signing another striker that would be away for the ACON anyway. We need somebody a bit more local born. Plus his attitude seems a tad wrong…
Shamrock(Quote)
conspiracy wise…it all depends on who instigated the “early” medical. It the French, then they have something to hide, or are worried…if us – then perhaps we were looking for an excuse to get out of something we committed too early for, and needed time to correct….load of bullocks really!
clinath(Quote)
There are loads of top quality strikers available this summer for nothing, so I’m sure our scouting team and management will get something tied up that represents good value for NUFC, whether that be a cut price deal in Jan or a free in the summer I dont know. Not too fussed to be honest, definately more concerned about getting some quality defensive players in this January…
Shamrock(Quote)
All I’m saying is the amount of animosity is disproportionate to the action.
I mean ‘Ashley wants to wreck the club’. Really?
What a stupid fckin comment.
Lets put multiple millions into something and throw it all away.
Fckin morons.
Nobby(Quote)
Nobby if that is their opinion then they are entitiled to it without being called ‘ fuking morons’
Just because you don’t agree.
Thats the bit that gets me, we the negs are forever being branded as negs, moaners etc etc , but despite the ***** that jabba has already caused us and has proved in court that he is a lying bastad and cant be trusted, we the Negs refrain from calling fans stupid, thick fuking mugs for believing that he is going to change his ways, and splash some cash to give us a real chance, instead of selling our best players
Big Dave(Quote)
boys boys boys if the person isnt really there then say nothing……… dont call names its not the school yard and the other person dosent have the opportunity to punching your teeth down your throat ….. please blog standards at all times 😉
morning big dave your not moaning are ya !!
ICE PUP(Quote)
Dave… there’s being negative and there is going over the top… I’m always negative about situations within the club, it gets on my tits. But some people go well over the top.
Howay man? Wrecking the club? That’s a completely stupid comment.
If I came out with ‘Fred West was a canny bloke and being a killer/rapist wasn’t that bad’ – that would be my opinion, but a completely stupid one.
You have to have common sense with these things.
Nobby(Quote)
@big dave
😉
Troy Stavers(Quote)
@Nobby
You can’t use a Fred West analogy compared to Fat Mike can you?
Hmm. Maybe you can. 😯 😛
Troy Stavers(Quote)
PUp hows you mate ? All settled in I hope.
Nah mate no moaning yet mate sure what is there to moan about its not like Jabba is a bad owner that cant be trusted, or dosn’t walk all over the fans and managers, and he always gets us the players we need.
And while Jabba is in charge we know the name of SJP is in safe hands, because he is our saviour.
Big Dave(Quote)
Seriously though. I haven’t read the posts you refer to but I agree that wrecking the club is a strong view to have.
The thing is, he’s already took us down to the championship once and who knows where his transfer policies will take us if he remains at the helm.
These are very early days and the people who now say they are wrecking the club may turn out to be right.
Charles Darwin was ridiculed and persecuted when he discovered the theory of evolution.
Fred West, Fat Mike, Darwin. Wow! 😛
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Nobby doesn’t matter what they think thats their opinions, and surely they are entitiled to express them without being abused ? If you don’t agree with them thats your right but imo the min you call them ‘ fuking morons’ you have lost.
Big Dave(Quote)
Troy – I think a squad full of over paid greedy, lazy bar stewards are responsible for getting us relegated as opposed to Ashley – who could not change things overnight.
Now we are comfortably in the top half of the table pushing for Europe with a squad of players at the right age that will only improve for us, or make the club a profit if sold. Yes the squad needs expanding, but it is still a **** site better than it has been for a long time.
Shamrock(Quote)
ok, apologies to all 😉
Nobby(Quote)
am super smashing great dave thanks for asking… hope u got plenty of good prezzies for the little man this year lol
not agreeing with dave as hes a mate but i agree EVERYONE right or wrong is welcome to a opinion
u can put that across in away not to annoy or alienate others u dont see tv pundits saying EF U etc etc the wider given public pick up on it themselves
like thompson or le tissier ……. no one calls them knob jockeys but we know they are
ICE PUP(Quote)
@shamrock
I don’t necessarily disagree with you about our current squad but we may be wrong. The cheap buys may result in duds in the future.
Those referred to as morons may well be right in the future. My line has always been the same which may prove my downfall this season. Under Ashley expect nothing but mediocrity, mid table thereabouts.
Troy Stavers(Quote)
reet… shower then pub.
Howay the Toon! 😈
Nobby(Quote)
@nobby bravo takes a real man to do that hats off to u
ICE PUP(Quote)
Oh and btw I blame the relegation firmly at Ashleys feet. Also got to give him credit for promotion.
We had 5 or so managers tribunals before we got relegated.
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Dave – Shut up you negative moaning focker 😉
toonsy(Quote)
Shamrock I tend to disagree with that as i think having a manager merry go round was more to blame than the players and that was down to Jabba
Big Dave(Quote)
u inviting the fat controller round for xmas like dave i see a lot of love coming from u from him
😆 😛 😯
ICE PUP(Quote)
Ice pup – Just so we are clear. Le Tissier, Merson and Lawrenson are all total fooking half wits! I dont mind saying it. 😆
Shamrock(Quote)
Nobby you have went up in my estimations you fuking dreamer 😀
Big Dave(Quote)
@big Dave
You copying off my posts? 😉
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Dave, Troy. That did not help, I agree. However, the players still did not give a **** and that is the bottom line with me. 😉
Shamrock(Quote)
Toonsy 😆 PUP nah don’t think so.
Big Dave(Quote)
@ shamrock well mate i couldnt have put it better myself………. well apart from tattooing those lines on my hands and beating those words into there smug looking heads
ICE PUP(Quote)
@shamrock
The selling of crucial players in the January window and no replacements were what took us down ultimately. Relegation could so have easily been avoided. Ashley admitted himself that he fell woefully short of football knowledge following relegation. He told you himself so you don’t need me or Dave to tell you.
Troy Stavers(Quote)
@48 opinion and blame is always divided on the relegation, truth is everyone was to blame including Ashley, interested in your thoughts on this though… do you think we would be where we are now if we had not got relegated? could we have done the same thing as regards the overhaul of a squad while in the Premier League? If we did try would it have got us relegated in doing so anyway?
KeithRToon(Quote)
always an ulterior motive eh lads! Could it not just be that……..he failed his medical?
duh duh duuuuuuuuh!
On a different note, I’M ON LEAVE! Get in, match for me today!
I Love Mike(Quote)
As regards to the Maiga deal, I have my thoughts on it.
In the past, we would have probably rushed through a medical and brought this player in because in the past, we seemed to have the mentality of just getting them over the line first before someone else steals in.
With Maiga, I think a thorough medical has been done because of the fee involved and the fact that the club want to be 100% sure that the player we buy is ready to play out the season and not collapse after 2 or 3 games.
Naturally Maiga’s club are going to say he’s top notch and no problems because they need to offload him as they know fine well he doesn’t want to play for them.
I think this club is putting clauses into all this to ensure that we don’t get mugged and maybe the failed medical is a stalling tool until these clauses can be sorted out.
We have been burned too many times in the past and I think this club have took a full on stern ruthless approach towards any transfer dealings involving serious cash.
We could afford to take risks on Ba and Marveaux and Gosling e.t.c because we owe no fee or paid no fee.
I just don’t think Ashley is willing to take on a big gamble on a player who “could” break down after spending 7 million.
In a way it’s a sensible approach because a set amount of money will have been earmarked for players and if it’s all top be spent, it needs to be spent on players that can hit the ground running till the end of the season or we end up at square one.
Buying potential crocks at this stage of the season gains us nothing if they fail, which means we are back to square one and it will be as though we never entered the transfer market at all.
Failed medical = negotiate a clause that ensures we get a set amount of games from the player before the full fee is paid, or something similar and maybe it’s that which has stalled the deal.
Of course that just my guess and based on absolutely nothing but a guess. 😀
wolfie(Quote)
Can’t believe some people , the reason the medical was early is because the player will be joining his national team for the African nations about the same time the transfer window opens . The club were moving fast to get the deal done in time .I don’t know why he failed the medical , maybe their is something wrong with him , or it could be that Pardew /Ashley/ Lamearse realises that we need to replace Ba with someone that can come straight into the team . Maiga could not because he will be away in africa , i think we will get 2 new players in January a forward and a defender . I hope either Luuk De Jong (fc Twente )or Bas Dost (Heereveen ) will be our new striker both are big ,strong , quick good with both feet and in the air and score goals .
Axel(Quote)
Anyone think we got him over here and turned him down just to get one back at Sochaux for screwing us around, wouldn’t put it past Ashley and Lambias…
It was only the other week Lambias was saying we didnt know how nasty and vindictive they could be if they wanted…
Zaha is not worth 10m.
I tend to agree that Marv, Ba, Ireland only “passed” there medicals as there deemed low risk, maigas knee is probably no worse than Ba’s but hes costing a heck of a lot more also wouldnt again of put it past Sochaux to say he was in top nick to get rid of him and we feel like they have messed us around again…
iain(Quote)
Wolfie – bang on for me again mate, having bought Ba, Gosling, Marv and HBA who were all crocked at the start of their Newcastle career – well Ba was fasting but does also have a gammy knee… Coupled with the fact that Maiga will ****** off to the ACoN shortly after signing for us, I think there were second thoughts there to begin with, then when his medical has not come back 100% that has been enough for them to pull the plug.
I’ve read many comments saying they didn’t think Maiga was the striker we needed and he was too similar to Ba, then we pull out of the deal and the same people are saying it’s a conspiracy, or Ashley is pulling at the purse strings… I’m sure had we bought Maiga for £7m and after afew games he was out for 6-8 weeks injured the same people would have something to say again. If they go on to get him for less money, fine because he doesn’t seem to have been out injured much for him current club but for me, if he’s failed a medical let’s put that one to bed and move on.
For me, our striker situation is almost as concerning as our defensive situation. Other than Ba, I can’t see where the goals are coming from and when he leaves for Africa we’re knackered I think. I don’t think that Shola or Best is good enough if we were honest. They are not 15-20 goals a season strikers, infect I’m not convinced they are 10-12 goals a season strikers, where Ba is even missing part of the season with the cup of nations and having a slow start to the season.
There are some really good Africa strikers out there but with respect to them, we need a 15-20 goals a season striker that will be with us the whole season. I’m still a big fan of Luuk de Jong, but I have another theory:
What if Newcastle have done a deal with Montpellier to take both Yanga and Giroud for a combine fee?! It’s possible.
One things for sure, I’m still confident that there will be 3 new faces at newcastle in Jan and that will still be a striker and 2 defenders.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Aye rabbit away,we won’t get a striker cos the money or lack of it needs spending on a centrehalf more than a striker,fatty and co taking us for fools again me thinks
Johnny v(Quote)
No
Sharpy17(Quote)
I like most others have doubts about our ownership regime,at the match i find more top professionals sitting behind me ( Xbox ,PS3) but Ashley is a billionaire ,you do not get there by luck!!! I think we will buy but it will be value for money, just look at the bonus incentive sport direct have,He rewards success big style.Toonsy i need help i’m am supporting Ma. But more importantly today we supported Gary Speed and Bowburn mag,Howay the Lads.
Tommy Gibb(Quote)
Sorry if I missed this (if someone else has said it) but maybe the club has just raised its standards on medicals?
Lets face it, Ashley isn’t an idiot and I’m pretty sure it hasn’t skipped his attention that players on the treatment table are a real waste of resources.
The obvious solution (if you’re winding up with too many crocks) is to get tighter and stricter on medicals – test more and do not tolerate (ignore) as much potential for injury…
Sure, that will cost more initially (aside from anything else, if you spend money tracking with a player, negotiating and then give them a medical, you’ve got plenty of money spent already), but with the wages these players are on, avoiding a potential 6month injury at high rates of pay is going to more than pay that back, whilst maintaining a larger and more consistent “fit” squad for the manager to work with.
TK(Quote)