Newcastle 0-2 Watford: A display that summed up the Ashley era…dire & depressing

Well that was an absolutely shocking game of football – and a deserved defeat meant it became the 13th straight year where we’ve failed to reach the last 16 of the FA Cup.

We were appalling, with a Watford reserve side beating us comfortably (a team who rested practically ALL of their star men after making 11 changes).

There was no energy, no drive, no creativity and no quality. It was a performance that reflects the depressed mood around St James’ Park right now.

Rafa’s future, the failed ‘takeover’ and the lack of signings are one thing, but the fact we are STILL yet to reach the 5th round of the FA Cup during Mike Ashley’s 12 year tenure just says it all. There’s no hope right now, and our performance showed it.

A 34,000 crowd turned up at St James’ Park today, yet our first shot on target came on the 67th minute – and that was a lob from right-back Javier Manquillo that was easily blocked by a Watford defender on the cover. The magic of the FA cup they say.

On the plus side, Murphy was better and had his moments, with Longstaff also putting in another tireless performance from midfield, but both Kenedy and Joselu were absolutely abysmal. Absolutely nothing came off for the former – with him losing the ball or trying something silly more times than he completed a simple pass – while the latter was his usual self. He (Joselu) only completed 50% of his attempted passes and failed to have a single shot.

One thing I did not understand was Rafa’s reluctance to bring on Rondon, with his third and final sub being to bring on Schar for Fernandez – who did not appear to be injured. Given how poor Joselu played we were crying out for Rondon’s introduction, although you could argue that we need to wrap the Venezuelan in cotton wool – with Joselu frighteningly the next striker in line if he was to get injured.

Next up is another home game on Tuesday with Man City coming to won. To say we need to be much better in that one is an understatement, otherwise we’ll be on the receiving end of an absolute hammering.

A day to forget for Newcastle United, although I don’t know how many times I’ve had to say that after a game at St James’ Park this season.

It was reported earlier this week that Rafa was at ‘breaking point’. After the events over the last 24 hours, I think the whole city is..

(Fancy writing for us? Send any articles/ideas over to us at [email protected] & we’ll get back to you!)

About Olly Hawkins

As a Junior Magpie since birth and season ticket holder, I eat, sleep and breathe all things NUFC! Here at the blog, I aim to bring you news, views, match reports and transfer exclusives as and when I get them.

72 thoughts on “Newcastle 0-2 Watford: A display that summed up the Ashley era…dire & depressing

  1. Joe Root out for 22. Worst game as captain/selector but there is no-one else guaranteed a place. How this team beat India 4-1 I will never know.

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  2. Ashley is to blame for most that is wrong with our great club but he is not to blame for everything. He doesn’t pick the team. Anyone who has watched Newcastle regularly this season would have sent Kenedy back to Chelsea some time ago. Neither would I pick Joselu. People will say he has no choice because Ashley hasn’t backed him. True. But the two players I have mentioned have been consistently so poor that we would have been no worse off in selecting some U23s. Then who decided to send Sorensen out on loan? Roberts wasn’t even on the bench. Sorry Rafa you have to show some flexibility and cojones.

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  3. We know that Ashley cares as much about wages as transfer fees so we could open up a couple of slots by getting rid of some wages, even for reduced fees:

    1. Kenedy’s head is not in it for whatever reason. Sending him back would open up a loan slot. Why doesn’t Rafa have a glass of red wine with Pep on Tuesday? Kenedy is probably a high earner since his benchmark is Chelsea who pay much more than us.

    2. Hayden is pwssy whipped and his head is not in it. Give him his wish, even if it is below our valuation.

    3. Joselu is supposed to be on about 30k a week. I think Dubai Toon offered to drive him to China the other day. We can all chip in for Petrol money.

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  4. Any manager who makes substitutions by the clock as Pardew did and as Rafa does it not paying sufficient attention to the performance of individuals. Maybe that’s why we see puzzling subs where someone having an acceptable game is taken off but someone playing dross stays on.

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  5. I assume that we were allowing the players who are out of form to find form and save others for Spurs? All that was proved though is that certain players are either not good enough or their heads are not in it. Hayden, Kenedy and Joselu should be ditched. Murphy loaned. I am not sure who we would replace them with but I believe we have unlimited loan options from Europe so anybody would be better than these slackers/no hopers.

    Who do we play against City?

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  6. Olly – please stop referring to Joselu as a striker!
    Eric – you’re looking spot on about Woodman. He’s slow, small and not the prospect he’s been made out to be. Having said that he had nine others out there on Sat. Sean Longstaff looks the real deal and he should stay in the team even when Diame and Shelvey are fit.
    Rafa must be seething about the lack of transfers. I no longer care as I’m seething about him!

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  7. You have to question what Rafa is thinking when he plays Joselu, though it probably wouldn’t have made any difference yesterday mind. Sometimes a manager is just too stubborn or set in his ways. You saw it with Jose at Man U. Now all the Journos are w@nking over them again, usually the 1st 7 stories in The Mail and Sun are Man U whoever is top. It is good though as they will appoint Soljkaer who has benefitted greatly by just not being Mourinho. The job is too big for him and he will fail when his 77 year old minder has to go back into retirement. It will be good to watch the reality come back after a false dawn. Hope I am not watching from The Championship.

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  8. I just can’t get excited about loaning a Monaco reserve left back. Aren’t Monaco bottom of League Un? I also see that that Sunderland striker went to Bordeaux. They are very close to administration if they don’t get promoted because Ellis Short has a lien on the parachute payments.

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  9. I’m not so angry about him not playing Rondon, if he’d started and got injured then we’d be screwed for league and any further progression in the cup if we’d won.

    Bottom line is we have zero depth and little talent in the first team so needs must i suppose. Rafa doesn’t want another Relegation on his cv and i can’t blame him for that. Jabba has tried to mug him off at every opportunity and force him to sign or leave. Rafa is playing a blinder not giving into him or talking about transfers or contract. Ashley will be the biggest loser ultimately , he’ll lose a world class manager, scores of fans are ditching season tickets and next season if not this we’ll go down and not return for a long time.
    He might weather one relegation and no tv coverage for his tat but he won’t stomach two i’m certain.

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  10. Are we seeing that Lachelles needs Lejeune next to him to perform up to scratch? I think we are. Jamaal has been overhyped to an extent and has a mistake in him. But Lejuene obviously makes him better and they perform well as a partnership. This is, and is not, a slight on Lascelles. I just think he has much more confidence with Lejuene next to him and that is how we should set up the team from now on.

    Against City we will go with 3 centre halfs, probably Fernandez. I expect a 4th in midfield with Schar instead of Hayden. Do we put out our strongest team, and what is our strongest team? Without Ki, Muto and Shelvey:

    Dubravka

    Yedlin Lejeune Lascelles Fernandez Ritchie

    Schar Longstaff

    Atsu Perez

    Rondon

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  11. Eric Sykes:
    I just can’t get excited about loaning a Monaco reserve left back. Aren’t Monaco bottom of League Un? I also see that that Sunderland striker went to Bordeaux. They are very close to administration if they don’t get promoted because Ellis Short has a lien on the parachute payments.

    Eric, i’m at the point that i hope we sign no one rather than a no mark or cheap loan. He’ll get pelters from the media if he doesn’t strengthen, even SSN are saying stuff now about our lack of activity and ambition. Phil Thompson was spot on when he said Mike needs to stop taking the mickey out of Newcastle .

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  12. Under normal circumstances we would put in some fringe players and accept the 3-0 defeat to City. Save Rondon’s and probably Perez’s legs for Spurs. But we don’t have an y fringe players. They are all **** or injured.

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  13. Eric, totally agree about Lascelles and Lejeune , it works well and the chemistry is right. You do see this in a lot of teams, the individual is lacking but whole alongside another.

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  14. Eric Sykes:
    Under normal circumstances we would put in some fringe players and accept the 3-0 defeat to City. Save Rondon’s and probably Perez’s legs for Spurs. But we don’t have an y fringe players. They are all **** or injured.

    Yep

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  15. Spurs are depleted due to injuries, i’m really hoping we take advantage of that and use our better away form to get something i’d not expected from that game.

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  16. KIMTOON: Eric, i’m at the point that i hope we sign no one rather than a no mark or cheap loan. He’ll get pelters from the media if he doesn’t strengthen, even SSN are saying stuff now about our lack of activity and ambition. Phil Thompson was spot on when he said Mike needs to stop taking the mickey out of Newcastle .

    Kimtoon: the only permanent signing even talked about now is Almiron. Loans don’t usually make that much of a difference. We were lucky with Dubravka last year and Kenedy is showing where his head really is this year. It is Almiron or bust. I think if we sign him we have about a 75% chance of staying up. If not, I reckon maybe 40%.

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  17. I still don’t get Ashley. I think by spending 25 million on Almiron we could save the season as I rate him very highly. We lose a lot more with relegation. We need a boost to turn things around and raise the fans’ spirits. Then we have a number of 1st teamers to return – Diame, Shelvey, Muto, Ki, Dummett. At the very least we will have a stronger bench. But, as I say, we need more than a return of the players who helped get us into this mess and need a spark.

    Certainly not a reserve player from 2nd bottom of Ligue Un.

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  18. It’s hard to think of a more disfuctional club than ours. Are we sure it’s incompetence or is it actually Jabba trolling us all?

    Please remember this transfer window when people are slagging Rafa off or the players he buys.

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  19. I ask the Magpie Group to call off the Man City sit in. Do you really want to be Theresa May and go ahead with something that you know will be an utter humiliation for you (Brexit vote)?

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  20. I haven’t followed it closely, but does anybody actually have a plan for Brexit? One way or the other? Seems like a slow motion train wreck from my view 4,000 miles away.

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  21. Stuart79:
    It’s hard to think of a more disfuctional club than ours. Are we sure it’s incompetence or is it actually Jabba trolling us all?

    Please remember this transfer window when people are slagging Rafa off or the players he buys.

    Stu – I don’t believe I’ve ever seen anyone ‘slag’ Rafa off.
    I’ve probably questioned and disagreed with some of Rafas decisions more than most – that doesn’t mean I’m slagging him off.

    I think he got it wrong yesterday, and keeps getting it wrong when he selects Kenedy and Joselu.
    I think he’s wrong for not sending Kenedy back and using that loan slot to bring someone in who can contribute more.

    Do I think he’s working in impossible conditions, of course I do – but he knew what he would be getting with Ashley – or he should have!!.
    That said, do I think he’s done an excellent job – in the main, absolutely yes.

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  22. Rafa has done well but his decision in constantly selecting Joselu is perplexing to everyone. 52,000 every week can see the guy just isn’t up to PL football but Rafa plays him time after time. Hayden’s little better. I watched him yesterday with 20 yards of empty space ahead of him and he turned and passed it back to Clark. He goes down injured every game, needs prolonged treatment and then there’s never anything wrong with him. Every game! Pathetic.
    Don’t know what’s happened to Kenedy. He’s gone so far backward he looks hopeless now.
    Whole club’s just a mess.

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  23. Stu – having given Joselu as many chances as he’s had, I would have gone with Sorensen rather than loan him out – him or Toure. I know they are young and lack experience – but neither could do much worse than Joselu. At least give them a chance – especially Sorensen in the form he’s in – instead we’ve sent him out on loan and how well will his development be managed now?.

    I’d rather he was given £30m to replace Joselu of course, but as that isn’t a realistic option, then give one of the young uns a chance.

    Or send Kenedy packing and try to bring another loan player in – Abraham or Origi for example – or Niasse who went to Cardiff would have been a better option than Joselu even.

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  24. Stuart79:
    Georgio- who else would you pick instead of Joselu?

    We could probably find a Donkey on the town moor that we could have for a few carrots that would be infinitely better than Joselu. Stand the fu.cker in front of goal and sooner or later a ball will bounce in off him… Joselu wouldn’t hit water if he fell off a boat in the middle of the ocean.

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  25. Sharpy – I think it’s fair to say that if everyone at the club like Rafa and the under 23 coach thought Sorensen was good enough or even as good as Joselu he would be playing. They haven’t sent him on loan because they think he’s better than Joselu. Maybe he just isn’t good enough yet or ready? Regardless, it doesn’t matter – we are outrageously short in attack. That’s not Rafa’s fault. If, on the other hand you think he should be doing better with what he has then that’s fair enough.

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  26. Stuart79:
    Sharpy – I think it’s fair to say that if everyone at the club like Rafa and the under 23 coach thought Sorensen was good enough or even as good as Joselu he would be playing. They haven’t sent him on loan because they think he’s better than Joselu. Maybe he just isn’t good enough yet or ready? Regardless, it doesn’t matter – we are outrageously short in attack. That’s not Rafa’s fault. If, on the other hand you think he should be doing better with what he has then that’s fair enough.

    I am not as certain as you are Stuart in your first sentence I and many others believe that Longstaff only got his chance because of injuries. Nevertheless even if one accepts that Sorensen is not quite ready wasn’t it silly to send him on loan given our lack of striking cover.

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  27. Spurs are about to be knocked out of the cup… Arsenal out, West Ham out, Liverpool and Everton out, several other premiership teams out … what a chance for us to progress… if only… if only we had cared and tried… ???

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  28. Stuart79:
    Sharpy – I think it’s fair to say that if everyone at the club like Rafa and the under 23 coach thought Sorensen was good enough or even as good as Joselu he would be playing. They haven’t sent him on loan because they think he’s better than Joselu. Maybe he just isn’t good enough yet or ready? Regardless, it doesn’t matter – we are outrageously short in attack. That’s not Rafa’s fault. If, on the other hand you think he should be doing better with what he has then that’s fair enough.

    Stu – you may be right about Sorensen mate. So cut short the loan spell of Kenedy and loan a better forward in?!.
    There was talk Chelsea were ready to recall Abraham and send him out to a PL side to see how he got on at that level – they haven’t so maybe that won’t happen now.
    But Niasse has gone to Cardiff – that loan defo has happened. I’m not saying the lad is world class or a player we should be aspiring to, but I’m pretty confident he’d offer more than Joselu.

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  29. Spurs’ best chances of winning something go up in smoke in the space of 3 days. That stadium will be a millstone around their neck for years to come just like Arsenal’s was. Their revenue isn’t enough to sustain it and they will be back to 6th soon because they have the lowest revenue and now biggest debt. And probably no manager soon.

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  30. Under normal circumstances and for a normal club this would be a good time to play Spurs. An injury crisis, out of both cups, no signings and no guarantee of CL football next year with Man U sneaking up and Arsenal and Chelsea having a shot as well.

    The stadium is 500 million over original budget and no number of cheese rooms will pay for that.

    But we are NUFC and we can give them their crisis and raise them a Joselu as our only centre forward after a loanee from a relegated club and no new signings because our owner would rather prove a point to the manager rather than keep us in the PL.

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  31. It seems that Rafa is standing by Kenedy who will stay after the transfer period ends. Sorry Rafa you have lost me and probably a large number of fans. Does he judge a player by factors not related to performance on the pitch. I must admit my concerns started when he froze out Mbemba who was a better player than some who feature regularly for us.

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  32. Sharpy17: Stu – you may be right about Sorensen mate.So cut short the loan spell of Kenedy and loan a better forward in?!.
    There was talk Chelsea were ready to recall Abraham and send him out to a PL side to see how he got on at that level – they haven’t so maybe that won’t happen now.
    But Niasse has gone to Cardiff – that loan defo has happened.I’m not saying the lad is world class or a player we should be aspiring to, but I’m pretty confident he’d offer more than Joselu.

    Isn’t the fact we’re talking about doing things like that the biggest nonsense in our history? The PL is the richest it’s ever been and we’re scraping around for loans and thinking about sending one loan player back so we can get another loan in… How can any manager work under these circumstances?

    Allardyce wasn’t particularly full of praise about Niasse on the radio last week and he was worse then Joselu against us. I’m not sure he’d be an improvement.

    Don’t you think it’s odd that the club keeping saying there’s money available but we keep getting loans in?

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  33. Groucho:
    It seems that Rafa is standing by Kenedy who will stay after the transfer period ends. Sorry Rafa you have lost me and probably a large number of fans. Does he judge a player by factors not related to performance on the pitch. I must admit my concerns started when he froze out Mbemba who was a better player than some who feature regularly for us.

    If it’s true, then we can only hope that once he knows he has a future at a club and will play that he’ll settle down. He has had a very painful toe too and couldn’t even get his boot on at one point.
    To be fair he was great when he first come to us, so we know h has it in him, lets hope that form returns for all our sake’s if he is staying.

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  34. Stuart79: Isn’t the fact we’re talking about doing things like that the biggest nonsense in our history? The PL is the richest it’s ever been and we’re scraping around for loans and thinking about sending one loan player back so we can get another loan in… How can any manager work under these circumstances?

    Allardyce wasn’t particularly full of praise about Niasse on the radio last week and he was worse then Joselu against us. I’m not sure he’d be an improvement.

    Don’t you think it’s odd that the club keeping saying there’s money available but we keep getting loans in?

    Something is very wrong Stu, i’m starting to think he’s taken a massive chunk of his loan back. I guess we’ll find out when the next accounts come out.
    I would accept no signings if it meant a big part of that bloody loan was paid off.

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  35. Groucho – you beat me to it mate:

    Asked about the performances of Kenedy and Murphy, Benitez said: “You have to have the people around you to help you play.” When pressed on their contribution, Benitez added: “Everybody has to improve, for sure. “We have to be better and we will try to be better. “We have to maximise what we have. There have been reports that out-of-form Kenedy, one of the club’s two permitted domestic loans, could be sent back to Chelsea this month.
    Asked if Kenedy would definitely stay beyond the transfer window, Benitez said: “Yes.”

    So according to Rafa, their poor form is due to the players around them not helping them. Nonsense, and I’m sure Rafa is trying to help those 2 players, but by protecting them and putting it on the other players he pisses the majority off!.
    One of those 2 players isn’t even an NUFC player and could be replaced – and should be replaced imo.

    I think he’s wrong on this, and I think he’s wrong to keep selecting them if they are lacking form.

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  36. Stuart79: Isn’t the fact we’re talking about doing things like that the biggest nonsense in our history? The PL is the richest it’s ever been and we’re scraping around for loans and thinking about sending one loan player back so we can get another loan in… How can any manager work under these circumstances?

    Allardyce wasn’t particularly full of praise about Niasse on the radio last week and he was worse then Joselu against us. I’m not sure he’d be an improvement.

    Don’t you think it’s odd that the club keeping saying there’s money available but we keep getting loans in?

    Stu – trust me mate, I think it’s utter madness that I should be having to suggest that Everton’s fourth or fifth choice would be a better option than our back up forward – in the same week we are announced as the 19th richest club in the world.
    It’s heartbreaking really.

    I think Niasse would score more than Joselu & Kenedy – I don’t think he’s a top performer, but he’s more of a goal scorer than those 2. It’s irrelevant anyway coz he’s at Cardiff now. But Rafa is wrong to hold onto Kenedy – he’s not creating or scoring goals and Rafa could and should send him back to bring in a player that could improve us on either of those fronts imo.

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  37. KIMTOON: Something is very wrong Stu, i’m starting to think he’s taken a massive chunk of his loan back. I guess we’ll find out when the next accounts come out.
    I would accept no signings if it meant a big part of that bloody loan was paid off.

    Kim – that’s the conclusion I’ve drawn in conjunction with the sale of the club. He’s clearing his loan – but the trouble is he’s doing it suddenly and that’s detrimental to the club. Is that because a sale is imminent or is that because the relationship with the fans is toxic – like Stu says he’s trolling us?
    Or maybe it’s just a debt he was owed and he’s using that money to buy up the high street.
    It’s the Mike Ashley show and we are just one of the many pies he has his fat little fingers in.

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  38. Why don’t we just sell Hayden to whoever he thinks is after him and use any money to top up a bid for Almiron. He doesn’t want to be here and is **** anyway. This girlfriend that he wants to be near is the one who was pregnant when he was sending d!ck pics to “models” on tinder and/or snapchat.

    The Chronic mention Villa and West Brom but they should think twice as they have PL aspirations and he is not good enough for the PL.

    Just get rid of him and play Schar in midfield if we have to. Shelvey, Diame and Ki must all be close to fitness anyway and would all be ahead of him, along with Lonstaff. So he is really only 6th choice. GET RID.

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  39. Tony Cascarino says Joselu is the slowest forward in the PL and plays like he did when he was 37 or 38. Probably about right 🙂

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  40. If Hayden can get a game whilst wanting away and playing this bad what must Ginger Jack must have done to get sent to the reserves?

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  41. Eric Sykes:
    Why don’t we just sell Hayden to whoever he thinks is after him and use any money to top up a bid for Almiron. He doesn’t want to be here and is **** anyway. This girlfriend that he wants to be near is the one who was pregnant when he was sending d!ck pics to “models” on tinder and/or snapchat.

    The Chronic mention Villa and West Brom but they should think twice as they have PL aspirations and he is not good enough for the PL.

    Just get rid of him and play Schar in midfield if we have to. Shelvey, Diame and Ki must all be close to fitness anyway and would all be ahead of him, along with Lonstaff. So he is really only 6th choice. GET RID.

    Would you trust the club to use the money to do that? I don’t think it’s about getting the money I think it’s actually about whether they think there’s value in the deal regardless of whether we have the cash or not…

    Sharpy – I wouldn’t be surpirsed if the club have told Rafa he can’t send Kenedy back because they wouldn’t get their money back and then they wouldn’t want to waste money on a nother loan when we already had a loan player here in Kenedy.

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  42. Stuart79: Would you trust the club to use the money to do that? I don’t think it’s about getting the money I think it’s actually about whether they think there’s value in the deal regardless of whether we have the cash or not…

    Sharpy – I wouldn’t be surpirsed if the club have told Rafa he can’t send Kenedy back because they wouldn’t get their money back and then they wouldn’t want to waste money on a nother loan when we already had a loan player here in Kenedy.

    Stuart you may be right about not wanting to waste money on another loan player but we are wasting money on his wages and getting absolutely nothing in return. Roberts could take his place and do as well or as badly. I just don’t see what we get out of retaining Kenedy.

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  43. Stuart: I was thinking as a normal club would think when saying that we could use any money from Hayden to fund incomings. We have seen with the Mitro deal that this does not happen at NUFC. But I live in hope, otherwise I would despair.

    The Fatman is obviously trousering money to pay back his loan. He will not want to leave anything in the NUFC coffers that will be taxed. I am sure we will not see the next accounts for a while. I am not sure when they are due but the last accounts were delayed by 6 months at least and then the figures were manipulated. There was even a more misleading press release for the benefit of the gullible but useful idiots at The Chronic.

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  44. I think I am right in saying that Ashley will have to repay some of his loan in order to avoid taxes if NUFC make a big profit. If he leaves that in NUFC there would be taxes due on that amount. If Ashley pays that amount back on his loan then there is no profit and no tax. I am not an accountant but I think that is how it works.

    Another way to avoid taxes would be to spend some of the bloody money on players to avoid relegation.

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  45. I see everyone else is as pissed off as me. What a mess!

    In answer to your Joselu question Stuart. Anything at all. Just don’t play him. Try Perez up top with Atsu just off him. Roberts instead of Kenedy. There’s nothing to lose in these games Rafa so blood some kids. And get rid of Hayden at all costs.

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  46. Any time a player wants away it manifests itself in a number of ways:

    * a bad attitude in the dressing room.

    * general sulking and not joining in.

    * not bothered if they pick up yellows, make bad tackles, get sent off.

    * disinterest and loss of form on the pitch.

    I would say Hayden has displayed all of these at times this season. When he is committed he tends to be overcommitted and makes stupid errors and fouls.

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  47. I am thinking that West Brom and Villa must be thinking that it is Hayden’s situation that is making him play ****. Like when Sanchez was at Arsenal or Pogba under Mourinho. I have news for them. It is Hayden being **** that is making him play ****.

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  48. I am not blaming only Hayden for our current plight. Ashley is also obviously at fault and Rafa for picking no-hopers like Hayden, Joselu and Woodman. Playing them along with players who are woefully out of form like Kenedy and Murphy is a recipe for disaster as shown on Saturday. We cannot save/carry 5 players in a team. There has to be a balance, even with injuries.

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  49. Reading some of these comments I could be forgiven for thinking we had top class replacements ready and waiting for these poor players.

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  50. I see Sharpy using selling a house as similar to NUFC, that you would not install a new kitchen if you are selling anyway. You would if you could get your money back on the upgrade and it is holding back the sale. If the kitchen is falling apart, an upgrade may even add to the value. If Joselu is your current kitchen any money spent will probably pay off.

    But it is not a fair comparison. Because if you don’t sell your house it doesn’t mean that you move the whole house to a new shIttier neighbourhood whereas NUFC may be relegated and have to move to The Championship (a much less desirable neighbourhood in real estate parlance).

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  51. Stuart79:
    Reading some of these comments I could be forgiven for thinking we had top class replacements ready and waiting for these poor players.

    We know there are not top class replacements but you cannot carry 5 players in 1 game. There is also addition by subtraction. In my opinion Joselu, Hayden and Woodman would never play for NUFC again and there are better options even if they are not ideal. Elliot > Woodman. Why are we saving players for City?

    Remember Wolves played 11 reserves against Man U once and got fined? I think it might have been Warnock. Why not reverse the order and play the team we will put out against City against Watford? We would be fined, but so what. Plus, Diame, Shelvey and Dummett may be fit for Spurs in any case.

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  52. Stuart79:
    Reading some of these comments I could be forgiven for thinking we had top class replacements ready and waiting for these poor players.

    Stuart No one is saying we have top class replacements. Ashley has seen to that. For myself I am saying that the players mentioned have been so poor that any replacement would be hard put to be worse, and may be better. At least some of the youngsters may put in the effort if not the skill. Certain first team players have shown neither of these over many recent games.

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  53. In my opinion, Rafa wrote off the wrong game. He has almost admitted that he didn’t care about the Cup and is only interested in the PL. Why? Us fans have already written off the City game so why not try to enteertain in the Cup game to make a change from the week in-week out slog that the PL has become?

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  54. Eric – the best analogy with a house would be that if your house was up for sale and the weather forecast was saying a serious hurricane was heading direct for your house and in its current state wouldn’t survive would you a) Do the up grade so it survived the hurricane or b) Leave it on the off chance the hurricane missed?

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  55. Here. I will show more of why Sharpy’s analogy of not remodeling a kitchen when you are selling a house does not apply to NUFC.

    Let’s say that you have a house in Darras Hall and it is not selling because of a shoddy kitchen. You have 2 options, lower the price so the new owners can remodel or remodel yourself. You might not get the cost of the full remodel, but you will get part of it. There is also not a timeframe for selling unless you are moving to a different city.

    In NUFCs case there is a timeframe – relegation. If we do not upgrade the kitchen there is a good chance that we will not sell, but even worse. It will be like a space ship came down and lifted your Darras Hall house intact and moved it to an Estate in Byker. Same house, different area (Championship), worth a lot less.

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  56. Stuart: we agree that Sharpy’s analogy of redoing a kitchen does not apply to NUFC 🙂 It only slightly applies if we are not relegated. It also doesn’t apply if you have to lower the price to sell with the shoddy kitchen or if it just doesn’t sell and you are stuck in limbo (NUFC after Rafa, no buyers, nobody interested because Ashley p!ssed off all previous interested parties and now the word is out).

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  57. Luckily for us I think only Fulham can realistically get anything tomorrow night from those down at the bottom. Maybe Huddersfield but I just don’t think they’re very good.

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  58. Eric – I never said don’t remodel the kitchen. I said you wouldn’t go spending £30k on a kitchen of a house you are selling.
    You may well add new doors and replace the work surfaces, lick of paint or whatever for a couple of hundred quid – maybe a grand. But you aren’t doing major expensive work to a house your selling coz that’s false economy.

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  59. Sharpy17:
    Eric – I never said don’t remodel the kitchen.I said you wouldn’t go spending £30k on a kitchen of a house you are selling.
    You may well add new doors and replace the work surfaces, lick of paint or whatever for a couple of hundred quid – maybe a grand.But you aren’t doing major expensive work to a house your selling coz that’s false economy.

    Yes Sharpy: but your house would not be “relegated” from Darras Hall to Byker (via a spaceship) if you don’t sell quickly either, so you may have to remodel just to KEEP its value.

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  60. The false economy at NUFC is assuming that all of our shopping can be done in the bargain bin. Some will work out OK like Ki or Dubravka and some will be busts like Joselu and Lazaar. At some point we will have to take a risk a proven commodity or somebody with a higher upside than Joselu.

    We cannot continue to pick up f@g ends and expect to survive.

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  61. We used to take risks on players with upside under Carr. Some worked and some didn’t but we made an overall profit: Gini, Thauvin, Sissoko, Shelvey, Mitro, Ba, Tiote. Some were busts like Marveaux and Cabella but we did take a few risks mainly on the Frenchies recommended by Mondial Group.

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  62. Eric Sykes: Yes Sharpy: but your house would not be “relegated” from Darras Hall to Byker (via a spaceship) if you don’t sell quickly either, so you may have to remodel just to KEEP its value.

    Eric – a club dropping out of the PL to the Championship wouldn’t drop it’s value that greatly. It would drop a bit, but not much due to the parachute payments and such like. A club wouldn’t have the income it would in the PL so a wage bill and overheads – but I don’t believe a club going down drops in value that much.
    If you were comparing a club that was a mainstay in the Championship in comparison to a PL side, then yeah it’s Darras Hall to Byker.

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  63. Eric Sykes:
    The false economy at NUFC is assuming that all of our shopping can be done in the bargain bin. Some will work out OK like Ki or Dubravka and some will be busts like Joselu and Lazaar. At some point we will have to take a risk a proven commodity or somebody with a higher upside than Joselu.

    We cannot continue to pick up f@g ends and expect to survive.

    Eric – I should add that I am not saying Ashley should not spend at all – my £30k kitchen would equate to £50-60m in the windows – which is what Rafa would really need to get a LB, CF and #10 that he wants.
    That face lift I’m on about could well be £25-30m in the window though.
    That with loan deals could be enough to keep us in the PL.

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  64. New thread Eric – I’m not cutting the comments to that article but I’ll look out for any reply on that one ?

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