Is the Tiote deal a sign of Ashley’s intent?

toonsy

Ashley showing his intention? The news that Cheik Tiote has signed a new, long term, very long term, deal at Newcastle is of course very welcome and actually shows a glimmer of ambition for the club.

If we want to improve we must keep our best players, and securing Tiote on such a long deal will go some way towards that. It’s not foolproof, but with a deal of that length you would have to think that it maybe rules out a few teams that may have otherwise been circling in the summer, purely on the basis that the value of the contract is at a level which will put the price of Tiote beyond the reach of certain other clubs.

But is this a sign of Mike Ashley’s intent? Is he finally starting to show a bit of ambition whilst at the helm of the club? If he is, then it’s a good thing for all of us.

The sale of Andy Carroll has left a bitter pill in the mouths of many Newcastle fans and has lead to a fair bit of despondency amongst the black and white faithful. However, that has been and gone now, but the feeling of wondering who we were going to lose next was something that I was personally going through.

Things were going along rather smoothly on the good ship Toontanic. The players were happy and they seemed to be buying in to where the club were heading. The sale of Carroll brought doubts into the mind of some of them players though and left them looking for signs of ambition for the club before they are willing to commit to a long term future on Tyneside.

The Tiote deal could be the signal that those particular players were looking for, although I guess that only time will tell us if that is to be the case. Call it a publicity stunt by Ashley, a PR exercise with the hope of achieving some extra season ticket sales or call it anything you like, but if it works, and it entices other players to secure their future at Newcastle will it really matter? The fact is that it would have worked.

The players have asked for backing, and today is a tentative sign that the backing will be there for the right player. It may only be a new contract, and it may only be a worthless bit of paper, but it is also a sign that the deal will be there for the right player.

At least I hope so anyway 🙂

About toonsy

A lifelong Newcastle fan and current webmaster of this very 'blog who has the sole aim of creating a place by Newcastle United fans, for Newcastle United fans.

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231 thoughts on “Is the Tiote deal a sign of Ashley’s intent?”

  1. Sunderland boss Steve Bruce has committed himself to the club until 2014 by signing a new contract.

    The 50-year-old, who arrived at the Stadium of Light in the summer of 2009, has been in discussions with the Black Cats for some time and has now put pen to paper.

    Sunderland are currently seventh in the Premier League and bidding for a first top-10 finish in the top flight in a decade.

    Bruce said: “I’m delighted to have signed a new contract. It’s a magnificent club from top to bottom with wonderful support and everything is in place here for a manager. We have the makings of a fantastic young team.

    🙄 🙄 😯

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  2. for me it is definitely a sign of intent from ashley and a positive move. As I said on another thread why give him another contract and spunk an additional £25k a week if the intention wasn’t to keep the player and fend off interest by improving his wages.

    tiote’s fee for anyone wanting to buy him is no greater than it was as he still had 4 years to run on his contract.

    Of course he could still be sold but if that was the intention he wouldn’t have had his wages increased now.

    Carver is also a good signing – 5 and a half years shows Ashley’s commitment to putting the right foundations in place and is a vote of confidence in Pardew

    I’ve supported the Toon for over 50 years and have to say the way the club’s finances are being handled and all of the decisions Ashley has made since relegation have been good ones and give me optimism for the future. Though I felt sorry for CH after what he did for the club I think Pardew is a better manager and tactician.

    Now for Barton and Enrique hopefully and a few in during the summer

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  3. Jose and Joey have both questioned the ambition, this is a step in the right direction.

    In the summer if we can get rid of Smith and Xisco that will free up the money to give Jose a nice pay rise, obviously Joey needs to take a pay cut.

    I really hope Joey signs a new deal soon, just hope getting Tiote on a new deal persuades both of them to sign.

    Still can’t get over how class today has been, six and ahalf years man! :mrgreen:

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  4. For me am not so sure what to make of this, it could mean either two things, that we are boosting tiote contract lenght to increase his value and will sell him in the summer, or, mike is showing ambition to keep our best players.
    i would like to think we could keep a hold of tiote as he is a high caliber player who is great and clearly loves this club, and has the passion that all great players have for the game, by keeping him would really pull our team together and make us a force that we once were. lets just hope that we can solve the problems surrounding jose’s and joey’s contracts too!! =)

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  5. Ddavid I don’t think his value in the summer has been boosted by this deal. He still had 4 years left on his contract so likely to have needed the same type of offer whether he had 4 or 6 and a half years left.

    The advantage is he is on higher wages so it will be more difficult (but not impossible) for his head to be turned by wages.

    Hopefully this will encourage Barton & Enrique to get signed up as well – certainly can’t do any harm

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  6. davidtoon4life…I agree with you mate, it’s either a sign of intent, or designed to ward of potential suitors in the summer, I fear perhaps the latter. I hate being so pessimistic, but MA’s dealings over the last years have made me this way.

    Everyone has their price at the end of the day, and if they won’t commit at the salaries being offered then they’ll be off, but that’s part of supply and demand, if someone is willing to pay a player more, then loyalty usually takes a back seat. That’s why I fear for Jose and JB, I hope I’m wrong but time will tell.

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  7. If you have any doubts about MA’s intent, just watch him burst into a smile, hug and shake hands all around and generally celebrate when NUFC scores a goal. He may have made some big gaffs in his tenure, but he is a man who seems to be a lot happier with success – the higher the better, including Europe.

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  8. Who has Ashley sold who didn’t want to leave?
    And don’t say Carroll cos he is a judas and the blame lies at his door!

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  9. Everyone does have a price but under Ashley we’ve never sold a good player that didn’t want to leave.

    People forgot that, we tried to keep Carroll until he asked to go. Milner asked to leave, as did Given etc. Fair enough Martins might not have wanted to leave but with his wages in the Championship we had no other option.

    Right he’s made mistakes, bad ones, but give him credit when its due – getting Tiote on this deal is fantastic business.

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  10. Munich Mag

    you are right about the fact that some player are big headed and are not committed to the clubs that they are at and would jump at the chance of moving clubs for more money, but, i don’t think that is the case with joey, you can tell he is one of the most committed players we have, you can see this when he plays, the effort he put in is phenomenal, i’m just worried about jose that all.

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  11. davidtoon4life…big headed are your words mate, not mine.

    A footballers career is short, and they are obliged to try and earn as much as they can, and win as many trophys as they can. I’m not questioning JB’s commitment and effort, nor his love for the club. I just think it’ll come down to hard cash, and who blinks first…it’s all down to MA trying to get him to sign on for less wedge. Sad as it sounds, no-one is irreplaceable… I personally would like both JB and Jose to stay, like the majority of toon fans I would imagine..

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  13. It could be a show of intent, but it could also be a way of saying “I know you’re interested in him so if you still want him you’re going to have to pay a hefty wedge”.

    Just a thought though – Have the club used the Carroll money for this contract? If so, is it really a show of intent or is he just playing the supporters, making us think he’s investing money?

    Either way it doesn’t make it less likely he won’t be sold but it does make it likely we’d get a good whack for him if he did go.

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  14. Well it looks like it has been a busy day today, we all know if a player wants to go its pretty much up to them but I do think this shows a bit of commitment from MA to try to keep players here, now just a few more contracts to be sorted and show a bit more commitment 😀

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  16. flippin typical…aaal yee bloggers are finally waking up, and I’m off to the pub……ah well…

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  21. Guess we will have lovenkrands partnering best tomorrow. Just hope Ranger comes on just after the hour.

    Anybody think Elmander will have a sleepless night thinking he is gonna get the treatment again. I cannot remember any previous with Elmander.

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  23. I’ve been a big critic of Ashley and can’t say I’ve ever really been won over. But lets try and be positive about today. He has signed a contract and yes, doesn’t mean he will be with us for the whole term, but lets forget that bit and be positive about whats been done. We are taking steps forward, lets just suport the team and enjoy the football

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  29. Thanks Big Dave, It really doesn’t matter what team a person follows, it’s the same right across the wrold. Players come and go, they move on and doesn’t matter if we like it or not. We can hope that a good player stays with the club for as long as possible, but apart from giving them backing, nowt we can do about it. So lets just enjoy it while we can, hope for the best and enjoy it.

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  34. think there could be some old scores to settle willo/collo with a certain c/f of bolton 😉 step in mr tiote

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  41. Hi all. First comment but have been readin for a while now. Have to say the comments articles and banter on here are far better than o other sites so well done all.

    About Tiote, I don’t think many people see him being here for his full contract but it is at least a show of commitment from the board which is a refreshing change. They would do well to see the positive reaction this move has got and act in a similar way with other players 🙂

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  43. I must say that the past 2 weeks I have felt the board haven’t been treating us like mushrooms for a change

    Feeding us sh*t and keepin us in the dark

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  54. I have said all along Owl Heed is the biggest problem at the Club, if the Fat Controller got a Footie man in to run the place we would be laughing. What I would give to be the one to tell Owl Heed he’s fired 😆

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  55. Owl heed won’t get fired. He is on peanuts in terms of director pay so I doubt he’ll be away anytime soon,

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  57. Big Dave,
    We should bring back Tino as M.D, after all, he owns his own club in Columbia, he must kna what he’s deein!

    😆

    Would be class to see Tino throw an elbow at Karen Brady in his first game as M.D

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  60. DAVE think toonsy getting a pay-out for that clip too,his advert for his insurance company he uses on the tea-shirt.

    thought saga was for the over 50s like 😀

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  66. DAN aye m8,also saw quinn saying they may have to sell gyan,to balance books,is that to pay for his new contract 😈

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