Time for a change of plan?
This, however, excludes the costs of “free” transfers for the likes of Demba Ba, Sylvain Marveaux, Romain Amalfitano, Mehdi Abeid and Dan Gosling.
I’m going to hazard a guess that these free transfer costs still don’t amount to that £15 million, but for arguments sake, let’s say that those free buys along with our undersoil heating upgrades and improvements to other areas of the club, such as the training ground, do add up to that figure.
That basically fits in perfectly with the “no capital outlay” policy the board have in place.
We basically haven’t spent a penny in the transfer market (net expenditure) in the past three seasons, which actually makes our performance progress in that time quite remarkable.
The problem we have, is that you aren’t always going to have a transfer window where bargain buys are available and there comes a time where you have to pay market value – not overinflated prices – for quality players.
Our board seem to be quite happy, during these dry spells, to wait it out, until an opportunity arises for us to take advantage of a certain situation, where we can attain those Graham Carr bargain buys.
Financially, this is an excellent strategy and on the playing side, it has worked wonders to date, but have we gone as far as we can by using this strategy? Or have we perhaps even shot ourselves in the foot already?
Newcastle United enjoyed a remarkable 2011/12 season, finishing fifth in the league and cementing a place back in Europe.
Could it have been even better?
For some supporters, it was the ideal opportunity to take advantage of underperforming teams, such as Liverpool and Chelsea, by investing and pushing hard for that money spinning Champions’ League position.
Papiss Demba Cisse, was signed for around £8 million and what a signing he turned out to be. The Senegalese internationals goals proved vital in helping Newcastle United to a fifth placed finish – just four points off that much sought after Champions’ League place.
Every supporter was happy with the overall result, but some were left thinking, that perhaps with a bit more ambition, considering the rare opportunity, we could have got that fourth Champions League position.
We desperately needed some extra quality in defence, perhaps cover for Cheik Tiote in that all important anchor man position in front of the back four.
Perch stepped up and performed well, but wasn’t quite the quality we needed for a top four push.
Our main frailties were at the back and we had once again failed to bring in the quality centre half cover we have needed for near on three seasons now.
Regardless, most Toon fans looked back on season extremely satisfied, but knowing that some decent investment would have to be made for us to build on our progress from an excellent season.
Two days from the start of the 2012/13 season and Newcastle have failed to bring in any senior signings, with only the free transfer of Romain Amalfintano looking ready for first team football. Granted Vurnon Anita looks set to sign but it’s not a done deal yet.
Again we have failed, so far, to bring in quality defensive cover and we seem unwilling to meet the asking price for our main right back target Mathieu Debuchy, without having any obvious alternative options planned.
This along with the fact that we have lost Leon Best and Peter Lovenkrands, leave us with less depth in attack and the threat of losing both Demba Ba and Papiss Cisse to the African Cup of Nations in January, have some fans feeling anxious with the lack of ambition to push on.
Despite Alan Pardew’s statement that the market hasn’t really taken off yet, our main rivals have all made substantial investments in their squads. Newcastle United is one of only five teams (the others are Sunderland, Swansea, Everton and Fulham) to have made of profit on transfers this season.
There are still two weeks of the window left, and deals may or may not materialize before the September 1st deadline, but is seems, as ever, Mike Ashley is once again prepared to gamble.
With the progress made over the past season, I would suggest anything other than a top seven finish would be regarded as failure unless of course we secure a cup triumph.
In which case, Ashley would go down in Newcastle folklore as a hero!
I guess only time will tell, whether Ashley’s hardball strategy pays off, or has reached its expiry date.
What do you think?
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90 Comments
I think it’s a case of “As you were”. As you pointed out, our result was largely hard work and part underperformance from the usual high flyers. It would be wreckless to spend exorbitantly without being able to guarantee an equal finish in the league. I’d love to see the cost to each club in assembling the teams which finished where they did last season. 2 things would come of it. 1 It’s not a linear increase as you go up the league and 2 the cost of pushing for top 3 or 4 is outside of our spending power and therefore not prudent to chase just yet…
We have our modus operandi and should stick with it.
“It seems, as ever, Mike Ashley is prepared to gamble”.
Well he IS a gambler so why change the habits of a lifetime?
Got a feeling though, if he doesn’t get it right this window, our opportunity may have gone and we’ll start sliding back to lower mid table mediocrity.
I think that top players going in to see Pardew about a lack of investment should have started alarm bells ringing.
taken4mugs
August 16, 2012 at 09:59
“I think that top players going in to see Pardew about a lack of investment should have started alarm bells ringing.”
Really? When did Lee Ryder say that had happened like?
Think it is time to tinker with the strategy,we don’t need to pay over the odds but if we a are missing out on a target by about a million eg debuchey we need to ease the purse strings ever so slightly. If with the additions pardew requires, come in and we have another good season surely speculate to accumulate should be our strategy
I think it needs to be a mixture now. We have a foundation of a good squad. We don’t need whole rebuilding. I think spending good money on one player and looking for bargains to replace back up players to a better level each window is a good way to go.
So this window: a promising young striker who is not too expensive, cover wingback (unless Simpson goes – I’d be happy to keep him for a season if we get a CB in) and spend wisely on a solid accomplished CB.
I just don’t get the RVP to Man U. Yes he’s world class. But he’s 29. They already have 4 class strikers and theyre going to pay him £200k a week. Over 10mil a year times 4 years. Alot of money for a club who have so much debt they’ve just had to float 10% on the stock market.
I’d much rather be a ‘proper’ club by running by our means. Not like we did in the past.
Some people are getting wound up by the lack of money Ashley is spending. He has cleared out debts with an interest free loan – how do you expect him to recoup that? Surely better than being Rangers or Portsmouth. It could have been us.
Then Toonsy if ryder is to be believed.
http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/newcastle-united/nufc-news/2012/08/13/newcastle-stars-restless-at-slow-transfer-progress-72703-31611284/2/
In regards to your poll i think it needs to be a mixture if both. And I think the club are trying to strike that balance. £8 or £9 million on Cissie and the £6 odd million ob Anita shows that.
We have a good team here. I don’t think any of the players that went this summer will be missed bar maybe Guthrie. Well that is providing we get 2 or 3 players we need in. Which I think we will. Be a tough season a head but I think we will do ok
I think our policy of only paying what a player is worth is so obviously correct that it doesn’t need defending . Are you seriously advocating paying MORE than a player is worth?
It seems that GCarr finds a player and sets a value , which the club then bid up to and no further. So your contention that we only take “bargain buys” is incorrect in that market value does not equate to bargain buy.
It surely isn’t the case that you want the club to pay more for a player than he is worth or that the club should live beyond its means? I seriously hope you do not , and that is not just for our club but for football as a whole.
I think you can see other clubs beginning to see the light here, NUFC are not lagging behind they are leading the way in the development of the game!
Im certain if Simpson had left by now Debuchy would have arrived, Im not sure its a reluctance to spend decent(ish) money (As the Anita deal is showing) more that they arent prepared to do it until they believe its absolutely necessary.
Similar to the juan sheet/santon situation this time last year…
The strategy is right and we should stick to it. We’ve offered what we think players are worth not what the selling club demands and it looks like Lille moved the goal posts on Debuchy. As soon as you cave in and pay the extra £1 or £2 million the club gets a reputation and will get fleeced every time – we’ve had enough of that in the past and look at Liverpool now.
Looks very likely Anita will sign (he looks very good). Bigi also looks ready for the Premiership and a place in the 1st team squad. Tavernier has come back from successful loans and will be good cover for full back or CB. Marveaux is fit at last and hopefully will have a good season and the boy Campbell looks excellent and will probably feature in the cups.
Can’t wait for Saturday
JJ good read and I agree with pretty much all of it. I honestly believe if we had a better CB than Willo we could have made CL, and even Jabba knew himself that we needed better.
The bargain buys we have had have been brilliant but you can’t live on bargain buys alone, at times we’ll need to pay going rate which most other teams seem to have to do and are willing to do.
As for this season I don’t give a shite what Lee Ryder or anyone else says imo if we don’t challenge because of lack of investment our top players will question weither the club has the right ambitions, Cabaye has came out more than once to say we need to keep our best players and add to them, so it seems he feels the same.
Tommy Gibb
August 16, 2012 at 10:10
“Then Toonsy if ryder is to be believed.”
That’s exactly my point. Why should he be believed? There is nothing in there to actually back up his assertion.
toonsy
Is there a fantasy/prediction league planned for this season ??
Plus we’d needed to have finished third to have made the Champions League. Only five points but a LOT of if and buts… For everyone if and but you ask about us you can say exactly the same thing about any of the other clubs that were in the mix for it… Cest la vie
CC – I dunno mate. I had an e-mail the other day from a company asking if I wanted to use their “all singing and dancing” version but I’m taking a look at it first.
aye a bit of a mix of both imo,CC you may have a point on simpson mate
JJ – “With the progress made over the past season, I would suggest anything other than a top seven finish would be regarded as failure”
I disagree wholeheartedly. This is a medium to long term plan, no pressure from me, no expectation just really looking forward to seeing what we can do again. I hope for a top half finish and see great promise in what we are doing.
The neggars will be out in force again demanding this and that if we don’t improve / come higher than 7th – they were the same fools screaming at Keegan when we finished 2nd. I am happy to look forward to each game these days – with optimism.
I still sit nervously hoping for a RB or LB and CB – but I trust the club to do the right thing for the long term interests of NUFC (which is intrinsically linked to MA’s long term interests) . Keep on….keeping on…
@ 3hrswasted please tell me how Lille moved the goal post because I can’t find 1 shred of evidence to suggest they have ??
ROSSCO
How could we have been a Rangers or Portsmouth??
tired of hearing this
its such a lazy statement with absoultely nothing, nothinb to back it up
do you know how bad it is and got for those teams? do you know how many years it took them to get in that situation? do you know how bad the owners mis – handled the club?
Don’t fix it if it ain’t broke
Keep up the good work Mike and Dekka – Troy, Big Dave and Batty are all behind you 100% 
GFH carr doesnt set value. he is given a bracket i.e. up to 15 million by the board. he then finds a player and lets DL and Pards and charnley know.
DL and charley then ascertain between themselves what they want to bid, they are the value setters, not carr
Stardust so you won’t be dissapointed (even slightly) if we finished 8th or below?
just asking
Big Dave Lille moved the ‘goalposts’ because they rejected our bid.
to some on here for whatever dumb reason rejecting our bid equates to ‘moved the goalposts’
Doit, you have a crack at someone for not having facts to back up a comment and then you go and do the same thing.. have you got facts to back that Carr comment up?? Lazy rocket science 101
DIFSB – I don’t see how it was a lazy Statement at all.
We were in huge debts as we all know which were growing at a rate of knots due to interest and not buying players on credit. We had a huge wage bill – which I believe is now halfed. We were living beyond our means and it was getting worse. The way Shep was going we’d be in a right state by now.
How wasn’t it going to end up like them? Massive spiraling debt with no way to bring back in the money?
Aussie – this came from Pards mouth last year. It was on BBC Radio Newcastle so I understand that you wouldnt have heard this
Prove it
Rossco – Do you actually know the situation Portsmouth are in? their wage bill alone was bigger than their whole revenue. Same with Rangers. They owed local companies absoulte millions. Rossco – pompey could not even afford to pay local newsagents!
Even at height of our wages (owen, geremi and viduka days) it was north of 60% of our whole revenue. We were contanstly in the deloitte top twenty because revenue wise we make a lot
we were no where near rangers or pompy situ
no where near
To be honest, I don’t see how you can look back on the previous season and be disappointed that we only got 5th. Yeah maybe if we’d brought in some players they could have covered for certain areas better. At the same time could they have won us games, which Raylor did? Our squad players performed very admirably and have improved their reputation. It’s unlikely we would have been able to sell many off-like Perch, because everyone in the prem and even the CC thought he was shite.
There’s no guarantee imo, it could have upset the team balance, and I would also suggest that the people that were unhappy with our team at the start of last season were unhappy because they feared relegation, not because they saw an opportunity to push for champions league. I’m not quoting anyone, but that’s how I seem to remember it. To expect a club, newly promoted, to splash enough cash to reach third in the PL and guarantee CL would be completely unrealistic. Plus, Chelsea and Liverpool were widely expected to perform-indeed, Chelsea finished 2nd in the league didn’t they? Nobody expected them to do so badly this season, so attempting to compete with them at that would have been madness.
Anyway, yes I’d quite like a centre back around now…
aussie you joka
im sure someone can back me up on this
Doit, no stress mate
Rangers get a pittance in tv rev compared to us. Pompey too.
even in the championship we probably made more from TV (we were on every week) than rangers and pompey combined
season tickets, shirts sales and sponsorship again all more than these two clubs combined
if anything compare us to a leeds – tho we still spent no where near on players in such a short space of time as they did
no worries auss
I just don’t know how anyone can criticise our transfer dealings over the past 3 years. We’ve probably done a better job than any other club in the PL. People moaning that we didn’t get in a CB in January (despite the fact we tried)?! WE SIGNED CISSE IN JANUARY!! He was available to any club, and we were the only ones smart enough to snap him up. But just gloss over that and have a good old moan
It’s so funny to me that certain people think they could have done a better job. Fair enough you don’t like the renaming, you don’t like Ashley and Llambias, but in terms of signing players and rebuilding the team, I don’t believe anyone here would have done a better job given 10 times the budget.
I thought by now they would have earned a little bit of trust, at least in the transfer market, but the Football Managers of the world know better
i honestly think we will get one more in (i know i know, i dont know why i do either) and if so im happy with MA’s gambling tactics
they obv dont rate debuchy at that amount so fairplay. just as long as we do get another quality body in
(and by that i dont mean eva longoria!
)
Jon R
i agree with your comments in main
unfort it will take years to trust these guys for a lotta people
myself included
Aussie Jabba doesn’t have or need our support, but theres enough people on here that will give him their total support, no matter what shit he gets up to
Great write up JJ
Agree with GFH.
The most fundamental part to being a good negotiator is understanding at what point you’re better off to walk away and sticking to it.
Newcastle would hope to sign deb for 4m. Nothing wrong with trying for that. They increased their bid but should never go past their BATNA (best alternative). Once they reach they price they set, if there’s no deal, they’re better off going for someone else or waiting a few months, whatever they think is the best (after taking into account the desire to have someone til January in the price they are willing to pay).
To suggest they should pay ‘just 1 or 2m’ more is ludicrous. They take all the issues into account when deciding their valuation, so to go 2m over is huge.
Sorry for getting a bit theoretical there
DIFSB
Would I be dissapointed with 8th?
Its not the destination that counts but the quality of the journey to get there. I like this journey – it is real, enduring and sustainable. I can identify with the players, I like the youth set up.
Its easy to want more of anything, but I truly believe (along with Arsenal and Spurs) we are one of only a few top teams in Europe to be ran correctly.
We missed the CL boat by the mismanagement of FFS, I truly believe our strategy will get us there in time – then is the time to kick on.
JonR maybe you don’t have a problem with Liars ? but I do and I can’t see the day when I would trust a proven Liar they even lied to a judge in court so I tend to not trust people like that, but as I said if you want to thats your right, and I won’t be telling you that you shouldn’t
Reet have to do a bit be back later to see the pics of Anita in front of the big SD signs
JonR @34 – you’ve pretty much said it all, so thanks for sparing me the rant!
I actually find it embarrassing that people STILL call our transfer policy into question. We’ve been so far ahead of everyone else in this it’s funny. If some fans really do think “that perhaps with a bit more ambition, considering the rare opportunity, we could have got that fourth Champions League position” then all the allegations of ‘deluded Toon fans’ are true.
Utter idiocy.
Here’s hoping dave
I’ve just realised the irony here: Llambias made a lot of money running casinos, which are funded by idiots who just don’t know when to stop putting money down and walk away.
I really hope the ‘just pay a bit more’ brigade don’t by stuff at auctions..
nufc press confrence @ 2
Big Dave @40 – fair point, but a moot one right now, surely? Looking for an honest person in football is like looking for a condom machine in a vatican toilet.
Right now, we have much to be happy about and precious little to moan about. Perhaps that’s why we’re just re-posting the same moans from the last few seasons?
It would be a bit boring if people didn’t, though … thank gawd the season’s re-starting!
Whumpie @43 reminds me a bit of a certain scour football club too
Whumpie @ 43
Scouse
Newkie, I liked your post yesterday about if nobody cares about winning the Europa League why is it important to get into it? (or something).
After last year’s success it’s pretty hard to argue against the policy – whatever that policy is.
I think it’s a bit of joke for somebody to say if we’d invested blah blah we might have come blah blah. Especially when they were concerned about being lower table battlers before the season started – not mentioning any names, like, and all likenesses to living persons is purely coincidental.
Ahh yes , proven liars. Well Andy Carroll is one, yet people want him representing our football club again
DIFSB – I didn’t mean to sound like we were exactly the same as Ranges/ pmouth. They are extreme examples. But at some point in the past they would have been in the same situation as us, it just got worse. You’re right that we were more like Leeds but it doesn’t mean that we couldn’t have ended up worse.
The point I was trying to make is that I am happy with the way the club is being run financially. It will set us in really good stead when the ‘fair paly’ rules come in.
Bris-Yeah exactly, agree with you @49 as well, some peoples memories….
I’m confused as to why people want to qualify for it but they either don’t rate it as a cup, or want a higher PL finish because it pays sweet FA.
What I really don’t understand is that people who don’t rate it realise that it’s the equivalent of the last trophy we actually won..you know, the one we have to go back to all the fecking time. I’d much rather we gave it a go and attempted to win it-and came up short there and in the league, rather than constantly playing a reserve team just to finish 7th in the league.
Another point: surely it’s obvious that our recruitment policy – within its set principles – has evolved every window?
Two years ago we spent up to 2/3 million and focused on players just good enough to get promoted. Now we’re moving those on (O’Best, etc.) having moved up through a year where spend moved into the 5-10M bracket (Cabaye, then up to 9m for Cisse) and it got us to 5th. No doubt more tweaks have been made to keep us going in the right direction, and I’d be amazed if CL money wasn’t the aim now. If we really did make a bid of £12M for Carroll, that proves the envelope has grown again.
Honestly – it’s like watching an old western movie when there’s a draw between the ice-cool, non-blinking gunman and the terrified bloke who always ‘blinks first’.
Stop bloody blinking, ya poofs!
Anita confirmed, good news
http://www.nufc.co.uk/articles/20120816/united-complete-anita-signing_2281670_2886620
5 year deal as expected
Woo
Great news.
€6m according to david craig
Apparently disclose on the dutch side. Maybe axel can confirm at some stage? Great price that’d be
That’s £4.7m btw
Dubtoon Shhh…now people won’t rate him as high because we haven’t spent enough on him…
Can’t wait to see what negatives Troy can find with Anita.. the clock is ticking
Great news
True Newkie, might not count him as a ‘real’ signing
Oh dear, he thinks he can win trophies with us…
So does he slot straight into the first team?..Seems like we may not have a choice
Brilliant. Well chuffed.
Anyone else suspect there’s a CB signing being lined up? Or is it just my pills working too well again?
Whumpie i trust they’ll get one more in anyway, whatever position that may be
Number 8 suggests he’s straight in. More or less.
We signed someone
Fair play to the club for keeping this one under wraps 
Midfield 3 with him and tiote sitting deep and cabaye in front? Probably come off the bench for a cameo at the weekend
Ba is number 19 does that mean he is on the bench
It’s fitting that as this article is posted we sign a 23 year old Dutch international that has been a near regular for Ajax since he was 20 and just won back to back championships
Good thing as well. Apparently Krul was on the brink of leaving as we hadn’t signed any Dutch players yet and he needed a fwend
Agree with a number of comments on our transfer policy, particularly Jon R @34.
They should be lauded for signing Cisse (when it was clear that they HAD replaced Carroll anyway with Ba), instead they are moaned at for not securing 3rd place.
It’s easy to criticise basically.
Our transfer policy is the envy of the league.
Krul
Santon – Colo – Taylor – Guti
Tiote – Anita
Ben Arfa – Cabaye – Ba
Cisse
Looks good to me
Still looks like we could do with a LB/RB and CB tho 
Wouldn’t be suprised if Anita gets a start on the weekend.. with our list of maybe’s for the team this week, he could be right to go..
Very good news, but Anitanother sigining to be really happy.
Rossco, Rossco, Rossco…….. Anitanother…..
I think Rossco @5 got it spot on. The key word is ‘mixture’ – ie. bringing in one or two top quality players each year, but all the time allowing room in the squad for the youngsters to come through.
One thing I’ve noticed In all these discussions about how many players we should be signing is that everybody seems to forget about the 25-man squad rule. Another thing I’ve noticed is that when people talk about ‘additions’ to the squad, they only talk about new players coming in. They completely forget about the younger players we’ve already got who have recently turned 21 (or will be turning 21 soon) who will need to have their names ‘added’ to our squad.
For example, I think we’ve currently got 21 players (including Anita) aged over 21 who would need to be named in our squad for this coming season. If we sign another couple of senior players we would end up naming a squad size of 23 which isn’t a problem in the short term, because we’re allowed to have as many as 25. That’s right, isn’t it?
Well, yes, but what would happen this time next year? We’ve got several young lads who were all born in 1991 so they’d no longer qualify as under 21s for the 2013-14 season (includes players like Shane Ferguson, Davide Santon, James Tavernier, Paul Dummett, Bradden Inman & Conor Newton). I imagine Pards would want to include several of those players in his squad, but he’d have a slight problem if he’s only got two spaces available! And he might have a similar problem in the following year (if he’s still around) because we’ve also got a few good youngsters who were born in 1992 (including players like Mehdi Abeid, Sammy Ameobi, Haris Vuckic & Yven Moyo).
And so on……..
If I were pretending to be an ITK (which I’m not) I would predict that over the next few seasons we would see a trend of releasing several first team players each year, and replacing one or two (but not all of them) thereby creating a few spaces in the 25 man squad to accommodate the youngsters as they come of age, while continuing to bring in promising young players for the development squad. But that isn’t a prediction, because it’s exactly what the club seem to be doing already.
As Rossco rightly said, it needs to be a mixture now.
Newkie @52 ,That would be me you are on about
.I said yesterday PL is our bread and butter and we need to concentrate on that imo. Don’t get me wrong if we had bought in 3 or 4 players of quality then an attack at the Europa cup would be merited and welcomed but with such a small squad we need to be clever and make sure PL status does not suffer .The higher we finish the more the club earns after all .If there was parity with CL earnings then it would be worth risking a decent attempt at it ,but sadly it really does pay out pretty much sweet fa. I really thought after working so hard to qualify for Europe MA would push the boat out a little more in order to really push on ,and yes I know we have Anita now but it’s still not enough ,that’s just my opinion. PL and FA CUP run for me as we stand but more if we sign others .
Frank de Boer
“Of course he goes to Newcastle United with my best wishes.” “He is one of the hardest working young players I have ever seen.” “He deserves a move to a club like Newcastle United.”
“For me he gave everything during his time here.” “As I say, he gives everything for you.” “He never complained once to me about having to drop back into another position.”
“In training he works like he is playing a game and that it means everything.” “In the one and half years I worked with him he did not stop working.” “That is what has resulted in his transfer to Newcastle.”
“Newcastle fans will see a player who can deal with the game in England.” “He gives 300% for you. He is always concentrating on his game and he never ever gives up.” “He has a bright future ahead.”
As far as personal statements go, can’t be more gleaming than that, and from someone as experienced/respected as Frank De Boer, says a lot.
Reading good things about the calibre of player he is also so looks like we’ve done our work and pulled out another beaut here. C/B and a C/F hopefully and I reckon we’d be ready for decent European push
Thanks Chris G. I also agree with your point, it’s a good was to look at it. We have a lot of young players and hopefully some of them will turn out to be good 1st teamers. I have high hopes for Bigi and Amf after watching pre season. Gosling and Vuckic are promising but have stuttered recently. I wouldn’t be suprised to see one or two go out on loan.
We have a pretty big midfield now:
Cabaye, Gutierrez, Ben Arfa, Obertan, Tiote, Gosling, Marveaux, Vuckic, Abeid, Amalfiltano, Bigirimana and now Anita.
12 Players is a lot of Mids. Good competition for places I suppose.
On the Original topic ,good read JJ by the way . I did not vote as I’m somewhere in the middle on it,that is to say ,I love it when we get a bargain and I don’t want the club spending stupid money and crippleing the club but I also don’t want us missing out on a quality player because of penny pinching. It’s a balancing act and I’m glad it’s not me having to do it.
Yeah…plus no point in risking Tiote with further injury…and we may as well find out what this lad can do asap
AMF – I can see alot of these jokes on the horizon. And headlines for that matter.
Great name though. I remeber a teacher at my school was called Anita Bath! Classic. Not as good as Chris Peacock though.
@ILM
That is a great write up by FdB! Just the kind of player we are becoming accustom to these days. Players who want to play football. Attitude over aptitude everytime for me.
Nice to see he’s not bitter about it too.
@Rossco
If we’re playing 5 in midfield it’s probably about right.
Definitely wouldn’t mind seeing one or two to go on loan, especially Vuckic as he hasn’t ever had a sustained run at any competitive level.
JJ- quality article mate.
We went from relegation to a mid-table finish, to 5th and Europe, basically on the back of one sale and several excellent buys. Impossible to argue with the plan to date IMO.
But…what’s next? There’s no doubt in my mind that, with the current squad and the youngsters coming through, we should be able to solidify our position in the top 7 as currently constructed. If CL is in Mike’s plans, then we will have to invest- either through a player sale or out of his own pocket. I don’t think a lot is needed- maybe 2-3 more quality players and I wouldn’t trade teams with Arsenal or Spurs for sure (I wouldn’t trade squads with LPool as we sit right now(
@Kim “The higher we finish the more the club earns after all”
But surely it’s the same with each progression you make each cup game? The prize money isn’t massive, but I’d imagine a sell out SJP would make more than the 750k you get for each league place?
Personally, I think our players care more about winning trophies, particularly European ones (because they do matter in Europe) than they do about finishing 7th instead of 8th.
Newkie @88 ” Personally, I think our players care more about winning trophies, particulary European ones (because they do matter in Europe) than they do about finishing 7th instead of 8th.”
Well in that case we defo need to finish top 6 again this year or they wont be happy .Either that or win the FAcup to get into Europe again.
Big Dave @18 Newcastle had agreed personal terms and thought they had agreed a fee, but Lille appear to have backtracked on the situation.
Read More http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/newcastle-united/nufc-news/2012/08/02/debuchy-deal-takes-a-major-twist-for-newcastle-72703-31536238/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter#ixzz23jZ2vfKe
May not be correct but there were other reports similar at the time
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