The Manager of the Year has taken time out over the summer to enjoy some time with his family, and why not after such a successful season last time out and with the possibility of another big one this time round?
Personally I can’t wait for the start of pre-season either. It’s pretty dire on the news front to be truthful so once everyone gets back to work we might start seeing things moving along a bit, and there is still a lot that needs sorting this summer!
We have the whole saga with Demba Ba to get sorted one way or the other, our right-back conundrum with strong interest in Mathieu Debuchy being rumoured, a bid for a Dutch international midfielder that may or may not be revisited, plus now a firm interest in FC Twente striker Luuk de Jong. There is also the small issue of trying to keep our key players together ready for an assault on Europe.
Things are bubbling away underneath the surface and all it takes is one thing to happen to start a domino effect so that the others start to fall into place. Yes it’s quiet right now, which is less than handy for a blog writer I’m sure you’ll understand, but I very much doubt that will be the case come the end of the summer.
We need this squad strengthened, especially when you look at the numbers of players who are leaving us over the close season. Danny Guthrie is off and it looks like Leon Best may follow along with a few other inconsequential players like Alan Smith and perhaps Nile Ranger and Fraser Forster – not first choice by any stretch of the imagination but still a reduction in numbers that will, hopefully, be sorted by the time the big kick-off comes around.
So Alan Pardew isn’t the only one looking forward to pre-season by any stretch of the imagination. So are we!!!
Aussie @295
You got Troy on the end of your hook again?
JJ(Quote)
Aussie, just glad he ain’t our problem anymore. 😀
kimtoon(Quote)
Good story from skysports, an interview with Pardz and he is saying that he and Carr were at the euros looking over their targets.. the least this says to me is that our targets will be quality.. who they really are is anyone’s guess.. it also states that newcastle are no longer a selling club 🙂 🙂 not sure on that one 🙂
aussie magpie fan(Quote)
JJ 🙂 🙂 Troy doesn’t like it when some one out smarts him, he will be sitting next to his keyboard, desperate to write something in return but he can’t because he knows he will be falling into my well set trap once again 🙂 and as Troy would say – whoo hoo
aussie magpie fan(Quote)
“the least this says to me is that our targets will be quality”……unless they’re English 😉
richietoon(Quote)
I was going to say that Rich but I thought it was “too soon” to crack jokes about it 🙂
aussie magpie fan(Quote)
It’s never to soon, you have to laugh in the face of adversity….as you should know 😉
richietoon(Quote)
Adversity?
aussie magpie fan(Quote)
Link to the article AMF?
Brendan(Quote)
BRENDAN this one ?
http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11095/7841133/?
icedog(Quote)
Ice @310 I’m confused by that interview as it completely contradicts what he and Carr said in a previous interview at the end of the season . Remember when they said they accept we’ll probably have to sell a top player in order to bring some in, now apparently we are not a selling club 😯 😕 😉
kimtoon(Quote)
KIM dont think we are the only ones confused 🙁
icedog(Quote)
ICE ,we will soon see the truth come deadline day 😉
kimtoon(Quote)
Carr said something similar on talkshite the other week about fat mick wanting to keep the current team and build the side up so maybe thats the plan be interesting if we get a carrollesque off like… 😕
CC(Quote)
CC ,that’s the interview I’m on about, it’s very mixed messages at the mo. 🙄
kimtoon(Quote)
Maybe they don’t intend to sell but as you say can’t turn down £30/35m .
kimtoon(Quote)
In hindsight as gutting as it was at the time, I dont think any club could turn that offer down for Mandy, But the situation is different now we are in a far better position on and off the pitch, It will be interesting to see when the next offer does come because is taking £20m-£30m worth it when they could make 3 or 4 times that by qualifying for the champions league, Finishing higher up in the league and being on telly more…
CC(Quote)
KIM i think you should write a thread for the blog to put the female view on the season,please dont think ime being sexist ime not,nowt wrong in seeing all sides imo 🙂
icedog(Quote)
Remember a few weeks ago they had that big meeting to discuss transfers. After that the tone changed regarding transfers. Maybe Ashley decided make some funds available. I seem to remember an article with a line about ash making 20m available but didn’t pay it any mind. But look at what we’ve reportedly offered for debuchy de jong and that other Dutch lad….about 18m. Hmm….ilable. Didn
MDS(Quote)
Sorry lads, my phone went haywire there. I’ll try again:
Remember a few weeks ago they had that big meeting to discuss transfers. After that the tone changed regarding transfers. Maybe Ashley decided make some funds available. I seem to remember an article with a line about ash making 20m available but didn’t pay it any mind. But look at what we’ve reportedly offered for debuchy de jong and that other Dutch lad….about 18m. Hmm….
MDS(Quote)
Maybe Ashley’s/the clubs stance has changed or maybe we just read too much into interviews and quotes. We all contradict ourselves at times, we’ll give different answers to similar questions and how you answer them can depend on mood, how the question is asked, who asks it, etc etc. I don’t doubt Ashley would like to keep this team together and improve it, I don’t doubt he’s made cash available to the manager that doesn’t depend on selling a “big name” player, I also don’t doubt that if a “Carrollesque” type offer came in for a player he’d take it and probably rightly so… que sera sera 😉
richietoon(Quote)
Agreed richie
MDS(Quote)
ICE@318 That’s hillarious ,I can hardly string a coherent sentence together,poor Toonsy would have a mare editing it 😆 I will leave the female perspective to Zoe who does a brilliant job ,talking of which ,what’s happened to her ? anyone follow her on twitter ? I don’t do any of that stuff. 😉
kimtoon(Quote)
RICHIE is always right on mondays 🙂
icedog(Quote)
KIM you back-heeled that well 🙂
icedog(Quote)
Ice… it’s my sober day 😉
richietoon(Quote)
ICE, 😉 😆 years of practice mate .
kimtoon(Quote)
Kim..there’d be no point in coherent sentences on here with all us thick feckers, Aussie struggles with owt above neanderthal speak 😆
richietoon(Quote)
I see Norwich and Southampton have joined the chase for besty, hopefully it’ll start a bidding war and we can get a bit more money from it, which can be redirected back into paying for debuchy/de jong. Gosling is also interesting blackburn, if they offer £2m+ I say we sell him.
Andymag(Quote)
RICHIE dont know how you stay sober with the **** you have had,and with aussie to put up too,strong like bull 🙂
icedog(Quote)
ANDY hard to judge gosling mate not enough playing time,very one paced like
icedog(Quote)
Ice…. 😆 speaking of **** I’ll email ya the lateston the hoose saga when I get the chance 😐 🙁
richietoon(Quote)
Ice
Aye, hasnt had much pitch time but when he starts warming up from the sub bench I always let off a little moan, just seems like a younger version of smith i.e five minutes into coming on he gets booked and has even got sent off when he was only on the pitch for a little bit.
Andymag(Quote)
😉
icedog(Quote)
Andy I wouldn’t wait to try to start a price war for best I would get shot the 1st proper offer comes in, we don’t want to be stuck with him, I would even sugest a BOGOF offer with Shola 😆 😆
Ice “Richies like a Bull” we know he’s big but is there any need for that 😀
Big Dave(Quote)
DAVE be careful you will have the shola warriors after you,but i agree
its monday so i didnt put a four letter word in front of bull 🙂
icedog(Quote)
follow up word i should have said
icedog(Quote)
Dave
Don’t know what ‘BOGOF’ means but thats blasphemy talking of getting rid of Shola 😡 😉 , we need wor shola for the last 15min of every game apart from the fourty minutes that we give him in each match against the mackems
Andymag(Quote)
ANDY you takeing the water! “bogof” bye one get one free,and ime 100% with dave on that,your happy with part time players then
icedog(Quote)
Andy BOGOF is for Buy one get one Free, he is ***** and a total waste of a shirt and number, 27 appearances or 1005 mins last season with 2 goals 😳 I would expect more from a striker
Big Dave(Quote)
Andy I was just checking there Best played 1163 mins and scored 4 goals Shola 1004 mins and 2 goals so between them they played 2167 mins with a grand total of 6 goals maybe you and others are happy with that but I expect better when you consider Cisse played 1113 mins with 13 goals in a new team, league and country 😉
Big Dave(Quote)
DAVE shola must hold the record of being off-side so many times in such a short time on field of play
icedog(Quote)
Ice he also holds the record for most time spent on his **** and the greatest amount of attacks broken down 😆
Big Dave(Quote)
he must be one of the biggest ****-kisser too,how else is he still here oh yes no one wants him
icedog(Quote)
Gan on Dave 😉
TonyGreenSupreme(Quote)
Big Dave,
There is an old saying that goes…”you can’t polish a turd” 😆
TonyGreenSupreme(Quote)
TGS @ 346 aye I know it well and use it almost everyday, when someone asks me can you cover this black blob of ink with a red rose 👿 or can you cover this big bit of tribal with a Koi 👿 😆 but I guess thats easier than getting Strolla to score
Big Dave(Quote)
‘Buy one get one free’ 😳 yeah I knew that one 🙄 . I don’t think Shola generally comes on to score goals, Pards brings him on for his tremendous hold-up play, few are better at it and I stand by that statement as if you actually watch him when he comes on his close control is brilliant as is his short passing and heading ability, both of which he used when he teed off Cisse for the wonder-strike v Chelsea, and Shearer’s goal v Everton.
Andymag(Quote)
Andy he is supposed to be a striker and his job should be to score goals.
Believe it or not I HAVE watched him thanks, and yeah sometimes he possesses the skills you talk of and yeah he set Cisse up but that doesn’t mean we have to over look the fact he is a **** striker.
But if you actually watch him you must also see that he continually gives the ball away, breaks down attacks, gets caught offside, spends most of his time on his ****, is as slow as a tortoise and he can’t score 😉 but don’t let that put you off him
Big Dave(Quote)
Just sent Sebastian Boenisch a message to get signed up for the toon. He’d be a great signing, international experience, young, and is available on a free. German media are reporting it too…
Munich Mag(Quote)
MM have you seen much of him ❓
Big Dave(Quote)
MM i take it you rate him,mmmmmmmmmm,then again you rate shola 🙁
icedog(Quote)
these storeys never ending this one has a picture like
http://nothingbutnewcastle.com/2012/06/blogs/picture-demba-ba-spotted-in-saudi-arabia?
icedog(Quote)
Dave@347 That’s got to be seriously annoying having to put your work on top of an ill thought out tatt .Why don’t they just get it lasered off .My daughters had 9 laser sessions so far at £80 a pop to get rid of a £50 tattoo. She went through a funny stage had it done then realised what a bad idea it was 🙄
kimtoon(Quote)
its like pulling teeth trying to get comments the neet 🙁
icedog(Quote)
Kim I see that every single day at work , and I often get asked to do stupid stuff that I know they’ll regret but if I think it’s wrong I won’t do it.
But the sad thing is someone else will do it for them.
As for cover up work I generally get a buzz out of it as 99% of the time the client has hid it for yonks and is normally embarrassed of it, so when I finish with it they are usually over the moon with it 😉
Laser can be a strange thing we had one but we normally only used it to lighten a tattoo so that we could cover it with something, but I do know that Laser companies charge a fortune for it and normally have it turned down so that it doesn’t remove it to quick.
Big Dave(Quote)
Dave ,YOU can hardly see hers now .She had writing across the top of her chest . I completely lost it when I saw it ,had to leave the house to stop myself lamping her one I was so cross . It’s beautifully done but really inappropiate as she admits herself now. 😉 I’m not anti tattoos I love em ,when they are well thought out and in the right place . 😉
kimtoon(Quote)
Kim that wasn’t a very good place to get tattooed 😕 I take it she has others ❓
Big Dave(Quote)
Dave ,only a star on her hip that she had done whilst at school 😯 Took me two years to discover that little gem :lol Apparently the laser hurts more than the tattoo did 😉
kimtoon(Quote)
Kim thats a **** place to get your 1st real tattoo, and whoever done it should have tried to talk her out of it, but sometimes the client thinks they are 100% sure that thats what they want and will never change there mind.
I was asked by one of my regulars to tattoo the side of her neck but I told her that I think she was making a mistake but she insisted that she wanted it, so I told her to comeback in a few months and if she still wanted it I would do it for half price.
But I didn’t need to because she changed her mind and realised that it was too much.
Yeah laser is a bit nippy I have blasted meself with one a few times but Tattoo removal acid is even nippier 👿
Big Dave(Quote)
Dave ,Removal acid 😯 wow ,never heard of that ,that’s a bit hardcore 😉
kimtoon(Quote)
News filtering through here in Holland that newcastle are interested in Tovinen from PSV . Hope to god it does not happen ,he’s a idiot ala Ballotelli
Axel(Quote)
Kim you have to try these things 😆
Big Dave(Quote)
Dave , I did a lot worse than her in my youth but I’m not about to tell her that 😉
kimtoon(Quote)
BIG DAVE a question for you mate , my daughter is 15 and wants a tattoo me wife said she can have it and although i am well covered in tats i said no . I think at 15 its far too early too get one , she wants a sort ring on her finger . Am i being to hard to say no .
Axel(Quote)
Axel ,whats he done that’s bad enough for us to give him a wide birth ? ,I don’t know much about him really.
kimtoon(Quote)
Axel
Not that scary man 😥 😆 , sold him on FIFA when I was 10 cus his pic scared me 😕
Andymag(Quote)
Axel no your not being to hard mate, its actually against the law to tattoo anyone under 18 even WITH their parents consent, I have tattooed 17 yr olds that I knew or their parents were customers, but it was more through the fear that they would go to a tattoo party and get something stupid by some fuking knob that thinks they know what they’re doing.
I have tattooed my 3 daughters the 1st 2 I tattooed when they were 17 the youngest I done for her 18th, 15 IMO is far too young mate and especially somewhere that is so visible and cant be hid
Big Dave(Quote)
BIG DAVE cheers m8 , here its not against he law if the parents give written permission , which i think is a disgrace . imo 18 should be the youngest age allowed . Its good that you covered some 17 year old’s though better a real tattoo artist like you than a knob with a tat gun
Axel(Quote)
KIMTOON every thing Ballotelli does he learned from Tovinen , the guy is a nutter .
Axel(Quote)
Axel ,Oh 😯 🙁
kimtoon(Quote)
Our lass left a note on the telly for me it read ‘ It’s not working , I’m leaving ‘ . I plugged it in, turned it on, nowt wrong with the tv………….
ice pup(Quote)
i got mine at 16 mum knew i wud get one and stopped me by getting a friend to tattoo me….. thank god she did….. he was a tattooist by the way that since got covered up
found i grew a lot after 16 and although the work was good my body changing altered the tattoo hence a monster cover up as a excuse =D
ice pup(Quote)
I see talkshite/caughtoffside seem to think that city want to put a bid in for cpt colo 🙄 , can they not think of something a bit more creative 😕 ❓
Andymag(Quote)
Pup 😆
Andy…they don’t need to be creative when they can regurgitate an old one that was just as laughable the first time around…sounds like how Mrs Aussie describes their honeymoon night 😆
Axel…What’s Toivonen done wrong then? can’t find owt on wiki and his disciplinary record doesn’t seem that bad(though he did pick up a few yellows last season)…or is he just a general alround loon lik Balotelli?
richietoon(Quote)