Alan Pardew has to shoulder a portion of the blame for that, as do the players and the ownership. Combine all that with a bit of bad luck with injuries and you end up where we are now.
Pretty much everyone agreed that it was a bad move not to add numbers over the summer, especially with the Europa league to contend with, and for me that failure to strengthen the squad sufficiently is what is causing most of the problems now. There is no cover for certain positions and no competition for spaces. Compare that even to last season where we had players like Ryan Taylor and Leon Best trying to prove a point and you can sort of see what I’m getting about.
It wasn’t about spending millions in the summer and it wasn’t about buying a world class player for each position but there were certain areas of the squad which needed beefing up and we failed to do that. That is the fault of Derek Llambias and Mike Ashley for me as they hold the purse strings, and those who seem to believe that Alan Pardew is just a puppet should go along with that as it would contradict their argument if they didn’t.
Now with January just around the corner the issue of strengthening will crop up once again. We’re already being linked with lots of players but I don’t expect to see a flurry of activity during the next transfer window. We don’t need a flurry of activity in fairness, we just need what should have been done in the summer. Thing is, where do you start?
Goalkeepers
Personally I think we’re alright here. Tim Krul has had his shaky moments but overall he is still our number one and to be fair he has decent backup underneath him. I wasn;t sold on Rob Elliot but fair play to the lad, he has done well when called upon in the Europa League. We also have Steve Harper in the background so we’re fine here.
Defence
This is one area that needed strengthening over the summer, especially in the heart of the defence. When fit we have just three central defenders which is not enough when you consider one of them tends to spend half a season sat in the stands watching games with this or that injury.
Fabricio Coloccini will always get in the team because he is a class act. He’s made some gaffes but he’s also put in some masterclass performances. He’s also the captain so will get the nod barring a serious drop in form.
Where we struggle is who to pair him with. I’m of the opinion that Mike Williamson is one of those players that has become a scapegoat for fans. He’ll carry the can for errors both he and others make in the eyes of some and any good work he does will get overlooked. He’s not without limitations, but with a lack of another central defender to replace him due to injury what options does Alan Pardew have?
Then there are the full-back positions. Davide Santon has been much improved this term and appears to be finding his feet in the Premier League. Maybe it’s to do with the Geordie lass who is feeding him up these days? Behind him we have Shane Ferguson who can be called upon and even Jonas Gutierrez who has operated that left-back role at times so I think we’re fine there.
At right-back it’s different though. We have Danny Simpson who again I don’t think is as bad as some make him out to be although again I do concede he has limitations. After that we’re looking at James Tavernier who, whilst promising, is yet to really mount a challenge for a spot in a Premier League side. Pretty weak if you ask me and certainly an area for improvement.
Midfield
Much of this part of the discussion will depend on formation and perception of roles, but I think we’re actually fine in the heart of midfield. We have Yohan Cabaye and Cheik Tiote who are the first choice pairing and it’s a shame they have only played three times together this season.
We then have an improving Vurnon Anita with young players like Gael Bigirimana and Mehdi Abeid supplemented by the likes of Romain Amalfitano and Dan Gosling so we do have numbers.
Out wide we do have numbers but unfortunately not many of them have exactly been lighting up the pitch. Jonas Gutierrez appears to have lost something while Sylvain Marveaux has been hit and mainly miss. Gabriel Obertan is in the same boat as Marveaux. In fact the only one who has contributed has been Hatem Ben Arfa and I don’t think he’s really what you would call a wide man.
Maybe this is something we need to address in the next transfer window? We are lacking a supply from out wide which will lead me on to my next area for interrogation.
Strikers
This is where we’re really struggling right now. We have one striker who is not exactly firing on all cylinders, another who is but may well be off in January anyway, and then there is Shola…
Again it was a position that needed strengthening in the summer but again it was ignored, although this was despite some rather public interest in former number nine Andy Carroll. However, the exact intensity of such interest remains questionable as does the fitness and form of a player who has played just nine games and scored one goal since the end of August.
The problem here is there are very few options to call upon, options which may well be depleted further in January should Shola answer the call for Nigeria and disappear to the African Cup of Nations and should Demba Ba decide to activate his release clause leaving just Papiss Cisse who is yet another who is attracting his fair share of criticism for “not doing anything” when he isn’t scoring or not being able to “trap a ball” even though the stats show that Cisse is the second highest creator of chances in the team with 16 from open play, and despite the fact that Demba Ba has a higher percentage of wayward first touches…
Having said that we definitely need our forward line added to.
Conclusion
I think you can split our strengthening into two categories. Both are important but some are more important than others. Having a wide attacking player who can provide assists would be great, but is the need for a player of such attribute ahead of another defender or striker? Depends on opinion I suppose.
I very much doubt everything will be addressed in one transfer window but I’d like to hope that the squad is added to. Perhaps we could start with a central defender and a striker to ease the shortage of number in both departments?
Then perhaps we can look at improving on Danny Simpson or other players we already have who can at least do a job in the shorter term?
What do you think
Hope this report that Benny won’t be fit until after Xmas means he is on his way in January.
Groucho(Quote)
The Kid Hope you got my apology on the previous thread.
Groucho(Quote)
Toonsy very good read and I agree with that 99% one thing that stands out for me is the bashing that Cisse has been getting of late, some labeling him as **** etc etc , so last season and the season before in Germany must have been a total fluke, so I found your quote on it very interesting
“Papiss Cisse who is yet another who is attracting his fair share of criticism for “not doing anything” when he isn’t scoring or not being able to “trap a ball” even though the stats show that Cisse is the second highest creator of chances in the team with 16 from open play, and despite the fact that Demba Ba has a higher percentage of wayward first touches…”
Are you sure that’s right because as you say a lot of fans have blasted him for “not doing anything” so either they are blind to what he has been doing and where he has been playing or a handful of us have got it all wrong ❓
Big Dave(Quote)
I got a interesting line up in a 4-3-3 formation. Anyone fancy this.
——————-KRUL——————–
(Right Side) (Left Side)
—-Simpson—–Mike/Steven——-Colo———Santon
——-Jonas———Cabaye——– Tiote
—–Ben afra——-Cisse———-Ba/Sylvain Marveaux
AngelOfDeath(Quote)
BIG DAVE i agree with you on Cisse and once Ba leaves in January i think it will be the start of seeing the Cisse of last season . I hold my breath as too how much investment will be made in January but i hope too god we get at least Debuchy through the doors , that would give us 2 fullbacks with pace and attacking awareness /ability . Something that Simpson is sadly lacking . With Santon and debuchy on the flanks that would give us a threat which we just dont have at the minute, freeing up HBA to sit in the hole and give us more flair in the middle of the park .With an ever improving Anita and a fit Cabaye CM would then be sorted ,leaving at least 1 new CB to come in and a striker , Remy Loic with Marveaux going the other way has been reported and i hope that one comes off .Then we will have replaced BA , the ideal CB for me would be Ryan Shawcross but we wont have a cat in hells chance of getting him 😥 so long as we dont bring Douglas in ,he is a disaster waiting to happen .
Axel(Quote)
Sure we are a thin side, in quality players that is.
And yes, every dog in the street knows we have always had our share of injuries here.
That plus the fact our schedule, EPL, Euroe and various cups, would require a substantial squad.
It does’nt take a genius to realise our back line needs the most attention.
C’mon Toonsy, Williamson just does’nt belong in this league and yeah Taylor is often injured (because he throws his body around, he being the.only one)
Collo and his fellow Argentino, are slowing down, we need a name CD and a quality backup.
Being Ashley is not about to pay a decent Simpson,, then we should destabalize Debushy and offer a lowball bid again (kidding)
We should sign him, how much can a full French RB cost.
If we were to bring in Both Alderweireld and Douglas, plus Debuchy, defence solved.
We really dont need anyone else, in to-days game playing two strikers is a luxury and one we cannot afford.
I sisagree on Marveaux, he has’nt had any real match practice, but then neither did HBA and Sansom, untill they forced their way into the side.
But all of this means nothing, unless Ashley fires the two clowns now in the top roles.
Talking about the refugee from some casino our (you dont know how horrible we can be GM) ermm. yes we do Derick, also how dumb you can be (look where the not big enough for NUFC ) manager is, then look where our top o the line BIG Name guy has us.
Untill we hire a knowledgeable manager and GM, this side will go nowhere.
chuck(Quote)
It’s true, Cisse has created around 17 chances, whereas Demba Ba has only created 10.
Both players struggle to hold the ball, with Cisse being dispossessed 31 times and Ba 40 times.
Between Demba Ba and Cisse we’ve had 100 shots, yet only scored 13 goals. That is pathetic.
The Kid(Quote)
Also, between Cissa and Ba we have completed just 9 dribbles this season. Neither of them even complete an average of 1 every other game.
The Kid(Quote)
I think it would be a good idea for the board to strengthen the team fully, ie 4 players, in January, with the clear understanding that we wont be making any changes in the summer, unless we lose someone to another club.
Wont happen, but it would mean we could all have a good summer and be at full strength for next pre season.
Meh 👿 clueless bastads.
Beardsleys Boots(Quote)
“Between Demba Ba and Cisse we’ve had 100 shots, yet only scored 13 goals. That is pathetic”
ouch ❗
thats a shocking stat. 😯
Beardsleys Boots(Quote)
The most telling stat is the following though.
Papiss Cisse through balls – 1
Demba Ba through balls – 1
That is shocking and confirms that these two just don’t work as a partnership. Demba has only attempted 2 through balls this whole season. That is absolutely criminal considering he is the striker that comes deep to receive the ball.
The Kid(Quote)
I read on here the other day that Demba Ba works harder than Papiss Cisse.
Demba Ba – 4 tackles and 6 interceptions
Papiss Cisse – 17 tackles and 14 interceptions.
It’s not what strikers are there for, but considering Demba generally players deeper than Cisse you would expect him to have contributed more defensively.
The Kid(Quote)
Axel – “so long as we dont bring Douglas in ,he is a disaster waiting to happen .”
why do you say this ❓
Please explain
Beardsleys Boots(Quote)
plays*
The Kid(Quote)
Keep going the Kid, you’ll get to the offsides soon 😳
Bottom line for me, is I want strikers who can stick the ball in the onion bag.
I dont expect them to be defending most of the time or having to come deep to get the ball. That just hi-lites our weakness in other areas.
Beardsleys Boots(Quote)
Axel Debuchy has made it pretty clear that he doesn’t want to move in Jan so I think we can stroke him of the list.
The Kid @ 7 > Between Demba Ba and Cisse we’ve had 100 shots, yet only scored 13 goals. That is pathetic.
What is the break down in that stat ❓
Big Dave(Quote)
surely the tackling stats just show two players in different positions.
cant compare them against each other.
If they were both rotated as a central striker then fair ’nuff, but Pardew wont even consider that.
Beardsleys Boots(Quote)
BB i live in Holland and seen him play a fair few times he has a concentration problem and has these moments of madness when on the ball , i think he thinks he is Messi and starts on a run ,trouble is his passing is poor and ends up giving the ball to the opposition and is hopelessly out of position. He is a sort of cross between Boumsong and Bramble ,seriously we need to stay clear of him .
Axel(Quote)
Imo we need a left winger more than anything… I like Jonas but he just dosnt deliver in the final 3rd and i think it makes our side pretty 1 sided with all our good attacks comming thorugh Benny. Ba can leave for all i care, the clause is doing allot of damage to our spirit and make no mistake, his agent aint forcing Ba on this. Agents are there to look the bad guys so that players dosnt have to, so if Ba really had wanted to stay he would have signed that rumored 60k per week contract he was offered instead of waiting for a 90k one and told his agent to do one. I also agree that Ba is probably hampering Cisse, we already know he have made noises about his reluctance to play on the left in a front 3 which made us successfull last season. After left wing i would say we need a good back that can cross the ball, since we wanna attack the wings and put balls in for the strikers to attack, its no good that we use Simpson who couldnt make an assist to save his life. After that i would say a good central mid like that Sissoko we were linked with and a central def.
valle(Quote)
BB
Offsides:
Papiss Cisse – 18
Demba Ba – 8
That is no surprise to me for the following reasons: 1. Cisse has been very poor at timing his runs, and 2. Cisse players furthest up the pitch.
People keep pointing to Demba’s goals when defending him, but it’s to the detriment of the team. He doesn’t pass enough when in good positions. This sees his individual stats rocket, but we still lose games. Man City was a great example. He scored, but wasted a fair few opportunities to put someone else in when he either shot, or tried to work himself into a position to shoot. He is too selfish.
The Kid(Quote)
The Kid @ 12 yeah I have seen that being said on here, but I always stated that I have seen Cisse working harder coming back to try to win a ball and put a tackle in, but I keep getting told that he doesn’t work harder I also here quite a bit about him being caught offside but no one seems to take it into consideration that it could be that he is used to people playing the ball a lot earlier as I have seen him stay onside when Benny passes the ball.
I have seen a few players that don’t seem to see the pass so they look around to see what to do so by the time they make up there mind Cisse is then offside. I do know that he is at fault sometimes but not all the time.
I have also noticed when watching Ba that he is so easily knocked of the ball and most be getting lessons of Strolla for how to land on your **** 😆
Big Dave(Quote)
plays* …What is wrong with me today.
Big Dave
Cisse – 30
Ba – 70!!!
The Kid(Quote)
The Kid @ 20 I agree with you but I noticed a lot of people were screaming about Cisse skying a shot but seemed to miss some of Ba’s misses.
As for @ 22 that surprises me I know Ba likes to shot at any given chance but I didn’t think he had more than double the shots of Cisse
BB I have seen Ba pull out of tackles and other times where he just doesn’t look interested in tackling, now I do know that isn’t his job but then it isn’t Cisse’s job either but it shows me who works harder for the team
Big Dave(Quote)
BB
#17
I see what you are saying, but surely you would expect the player situated closer to midfield to contribute more defensively than the furthest player up the pitch?
Big Dave
Shola is the only striker we have with a decent first touch. How embarrassing is that?
The Kid(Quote)
Big Dave
#23
It’s just because Ba scored a goal. Therefore any other bad decisions he makes in the final 3rd are forgotten…
The Kid(Quote)
Good article Toonsy.
For me the priority is full back, with Simpson looking highly likely to leave. I say full back coz with Santon, if we find a more suitable left back we can move Santon over to RB.
Then, and probably equally as important is CB, coz I agree with only 2.5 CB we defo need at least another. I don’t know what the long term plan is for Tav and Good, but I expected to see a bit more of Tav this season.
Next would be a CF for me. I don’t think we have anyone on the bench who will score goals if we’re taking Ba or Cisse off. Shola and Ranger aren’t gonna do it.
Then a wing forward for me, someone like Remy would be a great signing for us.
FB – Debuchy or Pieters
CB – Douglas or M’Biwa
ST – the Ukranian lad Artem or for me Schieber
WF – Remy or Ince or Redmond or Phillips or Puncheon who has 6 months left at Saints.
Pieters wouldn’t cost the earth. M’Biwa could possibly be loaned with a buy option in the summer. Artem could be got for 6-7m and I think Phillips or Puncheon could be got pretty cheaply as well.
What I’m trying to do is think out the box, weigh up all the options. Something I hope the board does this window. If we have £10m to spend, do it wisely and consider loan deals coz were not in a position to play hard ball. We need to strengthen quickly.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Axel – as a realistic possiblity – is there anyone from the Dutch league you’d fancy at the Toon?
Have you seen much of Dejirick at PSV and what Pieters injury stats at the moment mate?
Sharpy17(Quote)
SHARPY17 Pieters is still not fit enough too train yet ,he is penciled in for end of December to join group training.Dejirick i dont think would pull up ant tress in the prem . The players i would go for are Anderwiel from Ajax and Hereveen’s striker Finbogasson that lad would score in the premiership . Midfield i would go for Wijndalum from PSV
Axel(Quote)
That should read any tree’s
Axel(Quote)
Axel – have to be honest, I’ve never heard of Finbogasson?. Do you seriously think we’d have any chance with the other 2 mate?.
I’ve only seen Dejirick afew times and looked ok but it’s a different league like.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Midfield is our problem. With Cabaye out we have very little ability to start and maintain an attack from the central third. So we hoist a long ball. Boring to watch, and unsuccesful to boot.
None of the crowd of mids who are not Cabaye and Ben Arfa (who is used as a wide player, so isn’t really in the mix for selection as a center mid even when he isn’t injured) amount to a creator, field general, or attacking minded. Marveaux was a wide player when he arrived and has never found form, Bigi, Tiote, and Anita are defensive minded, Vukcic is of course injured, Amalfitano never even makes the bench (why did we recruit a 22 year old who can’t even make the first team bench?), Abied has yet to be given a shot, anyone else I’ve forgotten has been forgettable…
The first player we need to bring in is someone to allow us to go with 2 attacking minded mids in the center of the park if we want to, and to rest or replace Cabaye if required. Not someone who Pardew can tell to go play between the large crowd of defensive mids and the strikers, someone who just goes and does it because thats how he plays.
BLee(Quote)
Axel – just Wiki’ed Finbogason and he has a good scoring record like and a young enough lad.
How much do you reckon he’d cost like mate?
Sharpy17(Quote)
Sharpy @26 agree on that ,I said a while back we should use Santon as a RW not a rb as that’s where he used to play to good effect apparently ,and if fit bring in Pieters for LB .We also need to get in a Cb .If we can get a strong confident defence in place then the MF and forward line could well improve with the freedom to go forward witout fear of a swift counter attack. It’s so frustrating how we get FKicks and corners and rather than score or create anything it goes straight to the opo and a swift counter attack ensues. 🙄 😳 Toonsy this is an interesting read and I’m glad you put the bit about Cisse in as I think he’s getting some unfair slagging off of late .This is a guy who played great in Germany in a **** team and lit up our season last time out ,that’s not a fluke imo and his only fault is he is trying too hard to get a goal from being placed out on the right in the same way Ba was trying too hard when out wide end of last season. I watched CISSE as closely as possible yesterday and generally thought his ball control and passing was very good ,it was actually better than Ba’s tbh. Ba is still trying the long glory shot when he would do better to pass aswell.
KIMTOON(Quote)
I’m not Ba bashing by the way as he is an amazing striker but they clearly both need to be played in the middle and should not be on the pitch together imo.
KIMTOON(Quote)
SHARPY17 i think Anderwiel would be in the 8-10 million range Finbogasson around the 5m
Axel(Quote)
Glad that some people are seeing that Cisse is not ****. By the way my comment at 1 should have said “does not mean”. No way do I want to see Benny leave.
Groucho(Quote)
Kim – from Axel it sounds like Pieters probably isn’t quite up to fitness. I’d like to see him in though. Think he would cost around £3-4m. I bet we could get Puncheon for 1-2m with him out of contract in the summer, nee world beater but 2 goals 5 assists so far this season ain’t bad for that money, and only 26 so a better squad player than Obertan IMO. If we could loan M’Biwa that would postpone that cost til the summer when we get TV and Wonga money. Alternatively Douglas would maybe cost £5m. Matt Phillips may only cost around £2-3m and Artem is reported at around £6-7m.
That’s 5 players that would improve our squad for around £20m!. I’m not suggesting the board will spend that of course, or that we should get these particular players. It’s just an example that we don’t have to spend £10-15m on one player to improve.
Sharpy17(Quote)
GROUCHO as brilliant as Benny is , he does have baggage with him and for that reason alone i do not think he will move . He is the type of player that needs to know that he is loved and Pardew has man managed him well . A lot of teams will look at his behaviour at his last club and stay well clear .
Axel(Quote)
Always said wing/forward was the most important as I assumed we’d be rotating Ba and Cisse, and Jonas, even before this season when he was actually good, would always have been the first to be replaced imo.
If we’re not going to use Marv there (and I’m unsure if its his best position anyway) then we need some form of upgrade on Jonas, or someone who can play off the striker…
Tayls has proven he’ll probably never be able to handle a full PL season so ideally I’d like 2 CBs in, a youngish one in the Colo mould and a strong one to replace taylor and willo. Then a right back I guess, as whilst Simmo has been decent he looks like he’ll be off, and when he sorts out where he’s going his contribution will probably wane.
Newkie(Quote)
Well i will throw this one out their ,It was reported in the Sunday rags that sloppy floppy chops wants to sign Ba for QPR ,well how about a straight swap Ba for Taarabat now their is a player in the same mould as HBA we then have 2 creative midfielders that can play through the middle or out wide and Ba leaving means Cisse plays in his prefered position ,thus getting the best out of him .
Axel(Quote)
Sharpy ,that’s true you ain’t got to spend shedloads just think outside the box a bit really. 😉
KIMTOON(Quote)
Axel – I’d take it in a heartbeat but would never happen mate. Plus, we have no remove to negotiate as all QPR have to do is meet the asking price.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Axel @40 nice idea but he’s got a bit of a rep as hard to handle . What is it with Arry always after our players 😕 and the media reporting it just befor we play them ,gets up my nose ,always has to be unsetteling our players.
KIMTOON(Quote)
Who ever suggesting getting Schieber
I’m under the impression that Dortmund signed him in the summer so doubt they’ll sell him 5/6 months later.
Axel
What do you think Alderweild’s best position is CB or RB?
Andymag(Quote)
KIMTOON HBA has that rep too 😀 It could be just the rags churning out more **** like . Their is one other thing to put into the equasion Ba whoever he signs for needs to pass a medical , he failed his medical at Stoke because of his knees Did pass it at the Hammers but how much did they pay for him ?he passed our medical because their was no transfer fee to pay . Maybe 7.5 million is too much of a risk for him too pass a medical .Just a thought
Axel(Quote)
The Ba to QPR story is classic press doing their mate ‘Arry a favour before we play them.
The Kid(Quote)
ANDYMAG CB , the lad is as good as his mate Vertongen.
Axel(Quote)
Axel
Anderweireld is very good, but he is also very highly rated and would cost a fortune. Also, there are bound to be better and bigger clubs interested in his services.
The Kid(Quote)
THE KID everyone thought that about Vertongen too , think 10 million would get him .
Axel(Quote)
Axel
Vertonghen cost £10million and went to Spurs, who are a much better side than we are despite us finishing one place behind them last season. They featured in the Champions League the year before and were unlucky not to get into it this season. We can’t compare to them.
The Kid(Quote)
The January transfer window is going to be very ugly indeed.
Carr has already pulled 3 rabbits out of the hat, I cannot seeing him doing it again this time round.
The planets are colluding to put us in a really difficult situation. HBA now long term injured, Ba wanted out by a large group of mans (mental really), Tiote missing from a critical part of the second half of the season, and a team desperately in need of a transfer boost being lead by amatuers.
Munich Mag(Quote)
£10m 😯 , no chance of Ashley paying that for a CB. If only this was FIFA, then we could offer them 6/7m + Willo or Obertan.
Andymag(Quote)
£13million
The Kid(Quote)
MM
😕
Gotta have faith, In Carr we trust
Andymag(Quote)
AXEL i agree with you re;douglas i said during the last window i hoped we dont sign him i have watched him closely last season 2/3 times be it only on tv i think he might be a bit like tiote in the epl imo,mind he is good in the air as he should be the size of him
icedog(Quote)
Andymag…. I trust Carr, it’s the rest of the wasters that worry me…. 😆
Munich Mag(Quote)
AXEL you have the fee wrong for BA for a club to sign him him the package would be 30mil,7mil,4yrs at 90grand a wk and agents want 5mil for doing the deal,even if the agents did it for nowt (lol) your talking a hell of a lot for a 27/28yr old with a medical risk if anywhere it might be turkey
icedog(Quote)
MM
Carr’s meetings with the board must go like this
DL “So Graham what have you got to show us today?”
GC “Well lads I’ve found some players that I think will really improve the team.”
DL “Well, we’ll see about that.”
GC “I’d like to talk to you about a CB that I’ve scouted. His name is Toby Alderweild. He’s 23, Belgian and plays for Ajax.”
DL “Is he out of contract in the summer”
GC “Well, no.”
DL “Has he got a release clause under £6m?”
GC “I don’t think so.”
DL “Is he injury prone? Well enough so his price will be lowered?”
GC “No Derek, he’s at the peak of physical health, great tackling and is the target centre half you’d want in the box.”
DL “Graham, Graham, Graham. How many times have we told you. We don’t buy ‘great’, healthy, expensive players. Now stay out of Holland and go look at the French lower leagues.”
GC “But Dere….”
DL “GO!”
Andymag(Quote)
I have to agree with BLEE @31 about Amalfitano. Why bring in a 22 year old from a second division club who can’t even make our bench? He has trouble when playing in Europa and not nearly strong enough for the Prem. Very strange one there. With a cheap owner we need to focus down on 2 players to really push for who can most help the team. If Ba goes 1 of the 2 absolutely has to be a striker. With our luck Ba will leave and Cisse will immediately get injured so a striker is one of the 2 top priorities as I have given up on Shola yet again and Campbell needs more time. As for the other key position surely it has to be in the spine of the team and it has to be a CB. We can argue about who but a CB is as crucial as another striker to me. My third priority would be a RB. Simpson has decent games and bad games like Willo and both really need to be squad players or gone for me. We will have to pray for more commitment than we have seen from Ashley through Llambias. It’s up to Ashley really. Does he want a team in the bottom 6? If so he is even more incompetent as a football man than he has already shown himself to be.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
Well said @58 Andymag!! That sounds exactly right to me. How many times have we tried to pull this stunt now? It has become pathetic really. You would think we had a 20,000 seat ground and a bin dipper for an owner. This has gotten sickening. If we get more of the same in the window then Ashley deserves any and all criticism he gets for me.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
Andymag – would be very funny if it quite possibly wasn’t true.
Alas…..
Beardsleys Boots(Quote)
Its nigh on impossible to 2nd guess players the regime will TRY to bring in on the cheap.
Lets be honest, most, no all of us were stunned by the Cisse signing last year.
I include Pardew in that too. I dont think he had a clue ’til the deal was done. And after all, he had made it clear he wanted a CB. or FB as priority.
As far as I am concerned he is NOT fully in the loop. Just as KK wasn’t.
The board knows best. 😳 😳
Beardsleys Boots(Quote)
We’ll see in January whether Ashley will loosen his purse strings, if he spends on the necessary targets and Pardew plays decent football with them then we’ve still got a good chance of a top 8 finish.
Andymag(Quote)
While I’m on this subject I think there’s more to say. I am sick of having Scrooge as the owner. I know he has a huge amount of money invested in the club. But as of last season we had turned the club around and were building a strong competitive side thanks to Carr and some hard work by players and coaches. With continued investment Ashley could by now have a top 6 club for a second season and probably worth at least 300M pounds on the market in another 2 or 3 years with the new TV contract and growing interest in club with involvement in Europe. Now look what actually happened. We had a 4M pound net spend in the summer. We brought in 1 half decent player but not at a critical position. We let go 1 half decent squad striker in Best. We let go 1 up and coming goalie for 2M pounds. We had Llambias running around Europe telling clubs how poor we are and how we absolutely have to get a bargain (as if they should care). Ashley is flushing his investment down the toilet again by keeping an idiot like Llambias around and acting like a miser. Penny wise, pound foolish. It makes my blood boil that the man can be brilliant in business and a moron in football.
GeordieTwo(Quote)
BB
As I was typing my comment about the Carr meetings, I was thinking of the Cissé signing and how they broke their golden rules for that one. I reckon Carr had Llambias by the bollocks, for that one.
GC “Listen you owl-faced f-ck. This guy will not only secure a top 8 finish, he’ll get you challenging for a CL spot.
DL “Uh… ok Graham, whatever you say Graham.”[water stain appears down side of leg]
GC “Now you just need that defender to secure that top 4 finish.”
Andymag(Quote)
Four wins in 17 games says it all for me. Owlheed out!!! 👿
GeordieTwo(Quote)
Woops premature sending
GC “Now you just need that defender to secure that top 4 finish. You will sign one won’t you?”
DL “We’ll try and get someone, Williamson has a friend who’s good, we’ll offer what we think he’s worth for him”
GC “Okay, but as I said we need a better CB if we want to get in the CL”.
Andymag(Quote)
Axel @ 38. Re Benny. I think you are wrong there and we will be lucky to keep him.
He has grown up a lot and and there are always other clubs prepared to give a 2nd chance. Take Barton for example.
No. With a decent coach, playing him to his strengths, he could light up this league.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Wenger puts a bid in for him.
😥
Beardsleys Boots(Quote)
BB@68, Wenger will try and swap a few of his duds for Benny….. 🙁
Munich Mag(Quote)
Shake yer heeds man… sell Ba… are you’s crazy. If we sold Ba and Cisse had to play the lone striker roll he wouldn’t get a sniff of the ball. If Ba goes we’ll get relegated, just my opinion though 🙁
Munich Mag(Quote)
I would agree with you BB. The 2 most likely players to leave us are Ba and Ben Arfa. Tiote has probably taken away a lot of the interest from last season with his suspensions and spotty play. Cabaye is injured, Colo is a fine player but in a very poor defense. I like Santon but right now we can’t afford to have him galloping up the field because he gets caught out of position too often and Jonas clearly isn’t covering for him well. I’m not going to say any more about Willo and Simpson. The scapegoat claims just don’t cut it for me I’m afraid, they just aren’t good enough. Unless we improve defensively we aren’t going to improve enough to climb up the table. Bottom 6 is beckoning Ashley. Do you really want to take that chance?
GeordieTwo(Quote)
aye like Geronimo 😳 😳
epic fail wenger 😆
Beardsleys Boots(Quote)
ironically, lambastad would probably think swapping Benny for Geronimo is a good deal for NUFC.
👿 Utterly clueless w@nker 😈
Beardsleys Boots(Quote)
MM
AW “Ehhh…I am ehhh…Interested in ehhh… Atem.”
DL “Dunno. Benny boy is pretty important to the team, he’s worth quite a bit. Probably over £20m.
AW “Ee is not worth that much. I can ehh…. Offer you 12 million ov your Englesh pounds, ploos our player Jenkinson. He is Englesh yes? Would be better with your Englesh manager no?
Andymag(Quote)
Right just off topic a mo, but who do we think will win SPOTY 12 ?
I’m going for MO Farah.
Beardsleys Boots(Quote)