Is the worst case scenario enough to keep our players?

Is the worst case scenario enough for our players?
After a stunning season whatever happens later today, I’m safely in my comfort zone once more and have reverted back to looking at the worst case scenario for United.

Call it pessimism if you like, but I’ve found over the years that if you don’t get too far ahead of yourself you don’t have as far to fall when things, inevitably, come crashing down around you!

As it happens though, the worst case scenario this year is a place in the Europa League and a fifth placed finish in the Premier League ahead of the likes of Chelsea and Liverpool, earning plaudits along the way and being talked about in a positive light once more. There, that’s not so bad is it?

However there is a sneaking suspicion in the back of my mind that the bare minimum of the Europa League may not be enough to tempt some of our blue chip players to stay on Tyneside.

Make no mistake about it, the performances of some of our players, or all of them in fact to be fair, have been top notch for the most part which will not have gone unnoticed by some of the games giants. They’ll be circling, and whilst we all pretty much understand that it would take silly money to sell one of our prize assets the real fact is that the clubs that have been conditioned for Champions League football regularly have the resources to do so.

This is why it is vitally important to take the bull by the horns today and try as best we can to grab a spot in the Champions League. I know that Michel Platini and Co are working on a way to make the Europa League more lucrative to teams, but at the moment you only get the big bucks by playing in Europe’s elite club competition.

That could cause a problem for us. The money on offer in the Europa League, whilst not to be sniffed at, is hardly enough to warrant a change in our approach to transfers or wages. Alan Pardew has stated numerous times now that if we qualify for the Champions league the finances will then look after themselves, but we have to get there first.

Prestige is fine, and the Europa League has some of that, yet there is the glaring and glittering lights of the Champions League ensuring that the old UEFA Cup is left in the shadows somewhat. It’s good, but it’s not Champions league good, and that unfortunately means that there is another level for players to consider when it comes to both prestige and pay.

Before I wasn’t really bothered about us making the Champions League, and I’m still not really as I’ll be over the moon regardless with how the season has gone. However, I’m now starting to wonder of qualifying for it is more important than I thought?

Your thoughts please…

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.

78 thoughts on “Is the worst case scenario enough to keep our players?

  1. We weren’t in Europe when our “blue chip” players signed on board with us. Maybe we might be over valuing it… but for what it is worth I think the euro footy will help keep the wolves at bay in regards to a few of our players. The problem is that the may not want to leave like Jose and Carroll 🙂 but the offer is too good to refuse for Deka and Mike

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  2. Good question Toonsy. I think (probably hope more like) that they will give it another year if we miss out on CL this time around. Unless some amazingly ridiculous offer comes in for some of our players by a top Champions League team I think they will stay. Still have a doubt about Dembe but not sure it will be money related, more his chance to get the plaudits again by being the main man. Exciting day and well done to the boys for a truely amazing season whichever way it pans out. On another note just saw Fat Freddy bidding on Rangers – and they probably thought things couldn’t get any worse.

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  3. As Aussie says, they signed up when we weren’t playing Euro footy and Cabaye even gave up CL football to come here although he was signed with the “promise” of Euro football in the future if I remember right. So with that in mind I think Europa will help to keep them this season but I suspect they’d be wanting us to push on further next season for Cl football(if Europa is what we end up with this season) but if daft offers come in MA will possibly take the money anyway and force a players hand…..that said if the “big clubs” come calling even Champions league football is unlikely to help us, sad but that’s football.

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  4. Are we building the players up too much. Yes for me we have some good players who have excelled all season but are they great players that the so called elite are looking for. Until last week I thought Tiote was the best holding player in the league then I seen Toure

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  5. Aussie…I prefer to say my comment was more like Debs, as though you were right on this occasion you’re generally a blithering idiot and whey too negative for my liking 😉 😆

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  6. whey!!! Season’s not even over and big Col’s at it again
    Colin ‏ @cwarr07
    Won’t be confirmed until #Ligue1 season is over but #nufc have agreed a deal to sign Debuchy for a fee in the region of £6.5m. Great signing

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  7. Toonsy tricky one like Deb I would like to think they would give it another season, and not bale now.
    Part of me thinks well if they bale so soon are they the type of plzyers we want ? But then players with big ambitions is the type of players you need.
    IMO we are 80% of a CL club so with a few good players brought in we will get there.

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  8. TLR…I don’t think we have any players that could walk straight into Citeh’s team as yet but I do think we have one or two who’d go into the rest of the pack. Toure is just plain awesome imo.

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  9. Rich can you stop booming me up all the time.. 🙂 Ice did tell me a while back the you had a lot of womanly thoughts tho 🙂

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  10. Wonga unfortnuately talks too. Some players could be tempted to leave for better salaries rather than a career move. Its the world we live in. One of the pleasing parts of Pardew’s interview the other night is that the replacements are already identified for any who leave. We are just starting the process of getting back to the top six on a regular basis. Some will leave and some will come in before the mission is complete

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  11. Andy Dunn on the sunday supplement is a knob. Saying Pardew did nothing to win manager of the year award

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  12. Aussie….You have to try and keep in touch with your feminine side, as opposed to trying to touch females, as that gets you into all sorts of bother..so I hear 😉

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  13. Ive supported nufc for over 40 years, i remember going round a schoolfriends house to watch the 1974 cup final because they were one of only a few lucky families to have a colour tv in the village! and i remember only too clearly “crying my eyes out” all the way home!! we have won nothing in my lifetime…but what a season we have had! we dont need to sell anyone, and im sure mike ash is as excited about this group of players as i am. PLEASE mike…with 3 or 4 quality additions we can win something!! we are only on this planet once so go for it! you can go from being hated… to the man who finally provided this famous club with a trophy. keep this team together, give pards 30 million, and sit back and enjoy!!!! hwtl.

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  14. Well its obvious to me that we aren’t yet at the CL level and have a bit further to go to get there.
    Dont get me wrong, we have done better than ANY of us expected. Infact we laughed when new signings were telling us that Pardews aim was to get us into europe and that convinced them to sign for us.
    We have achieved our first target with these guys, but they still have more to prove and achieve in getting NUFC back to the big time.
    I’m not worried about losing any of our key players. If they want away so badly, then so be it. No player is irreplaceable, we have seen that already.
    But tbh the only question is over Demba Ba, and he has stated he is very happy here.
    I think we will be pleasantly surprised come Aug 31st.
    The big question is ‘can we win the europa cup?’ YES we can.
    Prepare for NUFC to take europe by storm.
    Howay the Lads
    😆

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  15. I’m currently in Berlin lads. Does anyone know if the Toon match is on any German TV?

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  16. Yeah Rich, I got in trouble with missus the other night, I shuffled up behind her and gave her a bit of a “rub”.. enraged, she told me to give it a rest. I respond with “I was trying to be romantic” She ignored me and proceeded to finish washing the dishes.. 🙂 what does a bloke have to do.. 🙂 🙂

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  17. That is romantic for an Aussie :mrgreen:

    Evil Franky…no German channels listed on Nufc.com as showing it 😕

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  18. I was in germany early in the season and I couldn’t find anywhere to catch a game Evil.. Munich Mag might know if he is around…

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  19. I dont think its fair to have a go at Ashley for accepting stupid money bids for any player. Thats the business side of things.
    But the players themselves will be the ones that want to go, or not.
    If its just about wages then we cant compete just yet.
    Maybe once we have been in the CL for a few years, we will be able to be more competitive with wages, its gonna take time tho.

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  20. Agree with others. When these players signed, we were a mid-table PL team and the “promise” was that we would have plans to progress up the table. Had we finished 7th or 8th this year many people, myself included, would have been well satisfied, especially after all the predictions of doom and gloom. What has happened is that the players have settled in and gelled as a team far quicker and better than anyone expected – as the Manager of the Season put it, the Toon are a year ahead of the plans in terms of achievement.
    Never under-estimate the power of job satisfaction. I know personally that it’s a great feeling building something up yourself from small beginnings and working with a team you feel happy with – better than joining something that is somebody else’s success and perhaps finding cliques and friction. Some players will not be lured by money or “instant” CL – especially if they’re joining a squad where they may warm the bench rather than play all the time and be a big hero. And if they are purely interested in the money then they can b****r off as far as I’m concerned!

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  21. Evil Franky…. I’ve just emailed a mate who lives over there, defo not on. 🙁

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  22. BB…I don’t think anyone is having a go at him, it’s life I’m afraid 🙁

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  23. Thanks Rich, I thought so too 🙂

    Our recuiting team have got their act together so if stupid money gets offered – take it.. the only problem is that we will not pay over the odds amounts.. We have seen that this has held up deals and it has meant that we have gone without. We didn’t see a centre half come in during the January window because of this policy.

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  24. Toonsy ,interesting debate this and not really sure what the right answer is .Clearly some players have more ambitions than others in that it’s not just about CL football but what club you play it at .Whilst Ba for instance is happy at Toon ,even if we can offer CL football if a club he prefers comes in for him it’s likely he’ll go and the same can be said for others I suspect. Other players may feel a debt of gratitude to Toon for makeing them an household name and feel they have a job to continue with us.And then we have the guys that follow the money complicated by an owner who loves the money! ,so who knows how it’ll all pan out. Financially it’s important to gain CL status ofcourse but we are in the process of building a top 6 side who have probably overreached this season in all honesty. If and its a big if we can keep a core group of Cisse ,Tiote ,Cabaye ,Benny and Krul and add to them I really think we can compete for CL spot for many years .I did not include Ba in that group as sadly I think we are set to lose him due to THAT clause 😥

    Can I just say a Big thanks Toonsy for all the articles you have posted over the season ,your dedication knows no bounds and over the last few weeks with the birth of your son too it must of been difficult to keep em coming. There bet i’ve made you blush now 😉 😆 😆

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  25. KimT…you can’t blush if you have no shame 😉 but I agree, well done to Toonsy and all the other writers….and to all the bloggers(well most of them) especially Richietoon for his witty, intelligent and insightful comments 😆

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  26. Lets all have a hug 🙂 actually I will stay out of the hug due to the dubious nature of some bloggers..

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  27. Yeah Toonsy has done a fine job but I wasn’t going to say owt as he allready has a massive head.
    Was just thinking how **** its going to be after today with no footie to look forward too 😥 .

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  28. Thanks Kim 🙂 Yeah, I didn’t think it would be wise to mention Ritchie name in that post, so I kept it a little cryptic 🙂 🙂

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  29. Aussie 😯 😥

    Dave…just think how much fun the transfer window will be 😕 😕 :mrgreen:

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  30. Sorry Rich, your not dubious mate 🙂 dodgy, maybe – definately not dubious. 🙂 🙂

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  31. Dave rich Kim sure well have to support bayern next week and then worry about the euros 😉

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  32. Transfer windows stress me out big time, all the big boys hovering overhead like an impatient gang of vultures ,yuk ,hate it. 👿

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  33. Dub @37 Yeah I can do that no probs ,even better if we could watch Arsenal or spurs sweating on it whilst we sit in 3rd though. :mrgreen: 😀

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  34. The only one im worried about is Ba, For £7m (allegedly) he is a snip and id be amazed if he didnt get offers even with the knacked knee and poor form since the acon.

    On the flip side he is the easist to replace out of the crown jewels as much as it pains me to say it (Victor Moses and Steven Fletcher ??)

    It would be awful if Colo or Tiote left because they are totally irreplacable for a club with our budget IMHO… 🙁

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  35. Hey Evil . where in Berlin are you? I am in Berlin 3-4 times a year and know my way around. I could provide you with a couple of adresses of decent pubs that show English football, if you like .. Cheers

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  36. CC – Tiote is far from irreplaceable. I think we’ve coped pretty well without him to be honest. We could get Matuidi for less than half what we’d get for Tiote I reckon.

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  37. Agreed, CC – Matuidi is no longer an option. Moussa Sissoko from Toulouse might be though. He is a quite similar type of player, and he, along with Matuidi and M’Vila, is being touted as the next “Patrick Vieira” ..

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  38. Tiote is the one for me. Sell him for £25m then strengthen the squad from there. Plus I believe we still have money left from Carroll sale.

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  39. I Got home from playing a gig at 5 this morning..
    I only slept for 4 hours because i am too god **** excited for The game today!!!

    Playing Thrash metal gets you a sore neck..
    Following Newcastle keeps your heart going!

    HWTL!!!!!!!!

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  40. at the end of the day its all down to money,nowt to do with CL,cabaye gave it up to come here,the gunners are normally in the CL they lost two good m/f one club were not in the CL,m/u lost there biggest star to r/madrid,ect ect,thats life now in the footy world as in most walks of life CASH

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  41. Financially we are in a better position than we`ve been for years. Our last accounts showed a trading loss of £3mill (before player amortisation inc Carrol/Enrique/Nolan money which will be in accounts ending June 2012) on a turnover 2010/2011 of circa £80 mill.
    This season we get £10 mill as every club does for being in the prem. league.
    5th place is worth circa £12 mill.
    30xtimes on Sky/Espn @ £400k a time = £12 mill
    TOTAL = £34mill or 43% of TOTAL 2010/2011 turnover.
    This does not inc. normal revenue streams inc gate receipts/corporate/merchandise etc.and of course better long term contracts have been awarded to key players which will use up some of this extra cash., but it gives us great bargaining power to max transfer fees for players that do want to leave and in turn re-invest in new players. 😆

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  42. Less than 3 hours to a game where we have nothing to lose yet everything to gain yet Im shitting it like never before this season.

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  43. Funkness – that would be great! We are on a stag weekend and staying in Spikklmarkt…think that’s how you spell it.

    But we are mobile and using the trains to get round easily.

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  44. Just think yourself lucky that you get Soccer Saturday on a Sunday at all 😉 :mrgreen:

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  45. TOON CHICKEN the trouble is one player that can replace Tiote is leaving the club .Guthrie played well when called upon to take Tiote’s place in the team . It will be a shame to watch that lad playing for another PL club .

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  46. DUBTOON good advice there from richie,think yourself lucky richie doesnt normally know what “day”it is 😆 😉

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  47. 😆 good point Richie. Finished my exams yesterday and footy games at three so feels like a Saturday to me :mrgreen:

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  48. Can’t wait for the game to start. Three o’clock always takes so long to get here 😈

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  49. Afternoon all. In sunny Boulogne and managed to get done 50 minutes early so I shall be partaking of the football 😀

    Bring it on 😉

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  50. I can read comments on me phone now for some reason :mrgreen: , Richie and evil – screw weißbier, try weißwurßt it’s class 😎 😉

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  51. it’s looking ominous re. getting a feed for today’s game

    only 1 confirmed station on wiziwig.tv – not a good sign 😥

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  52. DubT…hope ya exams went ok.

    Ice 😆

    EvilF….I drink it more now than I did when I was over there :mrgreen:

    Andy….you like a bit of white sausage? 😯 😆

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  53. there’s nowt on fsinfo yet Richie

    if there’s only 1 on wiziwig, there won’t be many others out there – lets just hope it’s a good feed 😐

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  54. M…nae botha, just hope some of them work. Getting bloody nervous now like 😕

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  55. Off topic – watching F1 GP to pass the time until the football. What the heck has happened to Maclaren pit crew. They’ve been a disaster recently Poor old Lewis Hamilton must be seething

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