Maybe, just maybe, next weekend will prove more fruitful in terms of football results?
We’ll see on that one, but on the basis of the performance against Liverpool I wouldn’t want our highly-paid footballers to feel put out by having to play football for 90 minutes. Heaven forbid. Perhaps I’m being harsh? Maybe it’s understandable that the lads are looking a little jaded? I mean we have had to soldier on with pretty much the same starting XI for the bulk of the season.
That’s part of the problem though – strength in depth. We all know it, it’s been said umpteen times by many posters and we have to hope that it is one of the things that will be addressed in the summer. Adding to the overall quality of the squad is a must, but to add quality first you must maintain what you already have at your disposal.
Keeping hold of the core that we have is vitally important for us. Players like Joey Barton, Kevin Nolan and, even though I think it’s futile trying to attempt to, Jose Enrique is equally as important as strengthening the squad is. This is where the problem starts.
It’s very very easy for me to sit here and type that. It’s common sense that you need to keep hold of your better players. Unfortunately it’s not always quite as easy as that and there are other factors that come in to play yet we, collectively as fans, seem to assume that it’s some sort of failing on the part of the club if a player chooses to move on to a better club.
Unfortunately, and this may come across as a big negative, it’s time for a bit of realism.
The fact is that we are, at the moment, a club that is looking to stabilise in the Premier League. We are unlikely, barring some miracle, to be in a position where we can push for Europe next season and top-ten is probably the realistic goal we should be aiming for.
There are an awful lot of clubs that are much much better than us. There is a new top-four made up of Manchester Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City, followed by Tottenham and Liverpool who pretty much have Europe sewn up year-on-year. The fact is that these sides have been improving whilst we have been declining in the last eight years or so.
It will take time, investment, patience and good luck to be able to get in a position to compete over the length of a season with any of those teams, so with that in mind, if you were a player that had your eyes on playing in Europe would you go for the long haul or the short haul option? I’m guessing the latter.
I’m using Enrique as the example here, even though he could still surprise us and sign on again at Newcastle. Put yourself in his shoes. If a team playing in Europe came calling, what would you do? Remember, there is very little loyalty in football, and we constantly get told that footballers have short careers. Why not instant success?
I guess the point I’m trying to make is that when certain clubs come calling there is generally only going to be one outcome. I call it the football food chain, and right now we aren’t near the top of it. It isn’t new and it’s always happened.
Until we can get ourselves to a level where we can compete with the big boys around Europe we will see our better players leaving. There may be odd exceptions to that rule, but it’s generally how it works – in fact it’s how Newcastle, for decades, have worked.
All this talk of aiming for Europe is premature in my opinion. We aren’t going to take the Premier League by storm like last time. We aren’t in 1994 anymore and the league is a very different proposition to what it once was. The fact that this season has been widely regarded as being one of the closest and exciting leagues to date yet the same teams occupy the top spots says a lot.
Players come, players go, but as long as they go to the top clubs I’m not overly concerned as it means they must have been doing something right for us in the first place. It’s just, unfortunately, one of those things.
It’s when we start selling our better players to teams that are worse than us I’ll start to worry!
@big Dave
I think Stu is devastated cos it’s our first tiff .
The first tiff is make or break for many relationships.
He might be asking his parents for advice. 😛
Bobby Shinton number 9(Quote)
BSN9,
Carroll is no different to Supermac/Waddle/Pedro and Gazza!
They all ASKED to leave 😉
TonyGreenSupreme(Quote)
Bobby i’m sure you’s will be ok and probably become stronger for it 😆
Big Dave(Quote)
@toonsy
You’re getting too friendly ! I don’t like it!
It’s the first time I’ve felt safe from being barred.
You condescending *****! 😉
Bobby Shinton number 9(Quote)
Imre Varadi never asked to leave(not a Geordie I know) but it still hurts 😥 😥
richietoon(Quote)
I stand by my choice. For that money and given the situation he had to go (providing we get the money to reinvest).
If we had a different owner who was spending money on players and we were closer to Liverpool not a million miles away I’d have told Liverpool to **** off, but unfortunately we have a knob owning us.
Needs must I’m afraid, I just don’t believe it will stop there.
Stuart79(Quote)
@TGS
Supermac asked to leave ? Not what he says. Gordon Lee didn’t want big personalties or superstars just like Ashley.
Bobby Shinton number 9(Quote)
Andy Cole never asked to leave!
But we got Sir Les. 😆
TonyGreenSupreme(Quote)
Supermac also said Shearer was finished about 5 years before he hung up his boots too though 😉
richietoon(Quote)
BSN9,
Read Supermac’s book! 😉
TonyGreenSupreme(Quote)
DAVE its a lap top i got mate,but thanks for your thoughts,i will have to go off now its banging again 😥 laters
icedog(Quote)
toonsy,
Are you up for WBA binge fest?
TonyGreenSupreme(Quote)
Ice….have ya got the brightness right down……..not on ya intelligence but on ya screen 😉 😆
richietoon(Quote)
richietoon
Posted May 2, 2011 at 8:49 PM
“intelligence”
😯 😯 😯
😉
toonsy(Quote)
Ice be good mate 😉
Big Dave(Quote)
TGS – Up in the air at the minute. I’m still training at the minute but once I get passed that I’ll be able to see what shift I’m on. Mark has a ticket I can use so fingers crossed!
toonsy(Quote)
Big Dave- I see what you are saying in regards to tiote, but I don’t think he is a dirty player like de jong. I think most of his yellow cards are just a fact of him being a fraction slow in making his tackle. I hope by next year he will be a bit more used to the speed of the prem.
MDS(Quote)
Toonsy 😉 😆
richietoon(Quote)
Bobby Shinton number 9
Posted May 2, 2011 at 8:43 PM
“You’re getting too friendly ! I don’t like it!
It’s the first time I’ve felt safe from being barred.
You condescending *****!”
Would you like a bit more cut and thrust you fanny? 😉
toonsy(Quote)
MDS there is times when to me he looks like he has lost control and in that situation anything can happen. I know what your saying but I know a few Shitty supporters that swear blind that De Jong isn’t a dirty player just hard 😕
Big Dave(Quote)
Toonsy Stardy said Bobby likes abit of thrust 😆
Big Dave(Quote)
@stu
Some things in life mean more than money.
His sale is the catalyst for the unrest of Enrique, Barton and others .
You have said it yourself about sending out the right message to the players. What better way than to keep your local hero.
The facts of the matter are, and I’m surprised you haven’t picked up on it, knowing your views on the regime, the club were talking about spending £20m per season on transfers prior to the sale of Carroll.
We are now in a situation of having lost our talisman, banked £35m and promised that the money is available but includes wages.
Im surprised that when fans were saying cos he wants to leave then it’s a good deal. What did you really expect the club to do?
It sounds like you were taken by surprise that the money wouldnt be reinvested wholly on transfer fees.
Bobby Shinton number 9(Quote)
@TGS
Enlighten me.
I always thought supermac had no choice just like Carroll. 😉
Bobby Shinton number 9(Quote)
@toonsy
I could never get patty on the backy with a cyber blogger.
You can’t judge anyone on here unless you meet them.
You may find you dislike the ones you’ve found friendly on here and like the ones you disagree with.
I’ve got an image of you lookin like a tall, gangly, receding, big chin pointy nosed bloke. 😛
What’s your image of me? 😎
Bobby Shinton number 9(Quote)
Bobby but you have allready seen him so that isn’t fair 😆
Big Dave(Quote)
“big Dave
It’s true! I was cheating! 😛
Bobby Shinton number 9(Quote)
Bobby – my image of you? Peewee herman 😉
toonsy(Quote)
What with bobby shiton, ice, dave and toonsy paying homage to oneanother, this is fast becoming an alternative to Friends reUnited! Great fun fellas – oh and Stardust – keep up the convivial conversation!
lesh(Quote)
gangly? 😯
I’ll have that 🙂
So far everyone I’ve met from here have turned out to be top people 🙂
toonsy(Quote)
Gangly gives an image of skinny though, that he definately ain’t 😆
richietoon(Quote)
Bobby – I have made the exact point on here. We would have had a transfer budget this summer if we hadn’t have sold Carroll but we won’t be getting any extra.
I am absolutely convinced the guy is plodding along until he gets an offer for the club and he’s going to spend as little as possible until he finally gets rid. From his point of view now I believe he’s interested in making it a viable, profitable business more than being a successful football club.
This will only be good for him, not us because it could have an adverse effect on the playing squad.
Stuart79(Quote)
Lesh – after nearly 200 comments on one article its only natural that the conversation will shift.
I mean other sites don’t have that much conversation to contend with so i see it as a positive sign for sure 🙂
toonsy(Quote)
Stuart…..maybe good for us in the long term tho, if we get shot of the fat fecker……here’s hoping anyway.
richietoon(Quote)
I tend to sit on the fence about the whole thing. I do feel you need optimism in looking to the future and as previously mentioned by a few others, I am willing to give the club the benefit of the doubt and see what happens in the summer.
Without this optimism and excitement for the future, it takes a lot of the joy out of following the club in the present day.
What concerns me is Mike Ashley sitting and thinking he has cracked football club ownership.
He is a business man and has just sold an academy product for 35 million and could sell Tiote for 5 times the amount less than a year later. He could be sat there thinking ‘this is a piece of ****, just have to keep doing that and I’m laughing’ whilst replacing them with free transfers and championship players.
Gambling on survival whilst reaping the rewards.
And why not?
He isn’t a Newcastle fan. He isn’t a Geordie. If he pays any attention to the majority of fans, we hate him and want him out. What does he owe us?
At the same time though….better the devil you know. Wouldn’t be happy with venky’s chicken muppets owning the club.
Also, at which other clubs do players have direct contact with the chairman? Why is it a surprise to some fans that our players don’t know the boards plans? Pardew re-iterates the same message in every interview so either the players don’t believe him or the don’t pay attention the the media….
Moreno(Quote)
Sy, you got a new article up soon?
I got borde of you arguments on this one faster than I got borde of wolfie 😆
SpencerTheToon(Quote)
@lesh
We’ve been verbally howkin each other for hours whilst you’ve been hiding in the washing basket.
I’ll give you a shout when ive reloaded my musket.
You coward., 😉
Bobby Shinton number 9(Quote)
Norwich are up
AndrewNUFC(Quote)
Spence you cheeky fok 😆
Its better than you chatting **** about Xbox games 😉
toonsy(Quote)
Toonsy….I take it you havn’t met Spencer yet then? 😉 😆
richietoon(Quote)
@stu 79
We are back on track.
Flicks or restaurant ?
Bobby Shinton number 9(Quote)
Not mad on Norwich coming up. We always do shyte at carrow road 😕
toonsy(Quote)
I vary rarely do that 😉
Ide rather chat about raylor 😀
Anyway, I found somthing to do to occupy 15minutes 😉 😆
SpencerTheToon(Quote)
@Moreno
Do you vote Lib Dem?
Bobby Shinton number 9(Quote)
lets not talk politics lad’s, this is a footy blog, 😆
SpencerTheToon(Quote)
@Bobby,
No.
Moreno(Quote)
I like them as a club but don’t think I’ll be making a trip there next season, made the 6 hour treck up to Ipswich last season which was probably worth it!
AndrewNUFC(Quote)
Andrew- course it was worth it, Raylor scored one of his specials 😛
SpencerTheToon(Quote)
Bobby here is one for you 😀 would you be happy enough at the sale of Carroll, Enrique and Tiote if the Fat c@nt was to fuk off after it ❓
Big Dave(Quote)
Im saving all my money over summer to do as many away days as I can next season
SpencerTheToon(Quote)
Per toonsy;
TGS – Up in the air at the minute. I’m still training at the minute but once I get passed that I’ll be able to accept shintons right. 😛 😛 😛
Bobby Shinton number 9(Quote)
@big Dave
I always reiterate that we need the right owner. I would not have an argument if Ashley put the club up for sale at realistic amount and no buyers came in.
So far he hadn’t done that. Businessmen of any ilk won’t be made a fool of by Ashley trying to get one over on them.
The sale of Carroll Tiote and Enrique is hypothetical and irrelevant. No offence for my bluntness.
Bobby Shinton number 9(Quote)
🙄 you blunt c@nt 😆
Do you think we could get a worse owner 😀
But when I was talking about selling the club I had Anil Ambani ?? in my mind
Big Dave(Quote)
My strong belief is that our club has more potential than any other English club. It doesn’t need to be winning titles with extortionate amounts of money to get crowds of 65k or more ( with an extension obviously) . It needs, only for us to be competing within the top top four.
Spurs and Arsenal do it without astonimical investment and I would love to see if there are potential investors out there who want to take us over but aren’t prepared to be made a fool of by Ashley asking too much money for the club to line his own pocket.
Bobby Shinton number 9(Quote)
Anyway lads, that’s me for the night
Nighty night bobster 😉
toonsy(Quote)
Toonsy all the best im away mesel
catch you’s tomorrow 😉
Big Dave(Quote)
I agree with bobby@203 😯
richietoon(Quote)
see ya lads, whey I’m away to do a bit of Spanish(as in learn 😉 )
My life be so much easier if everyone spoke English 😀
richietoon(Quote)
@toonsy
Nothing wrong with saying I’m off to bed.
It’s when everyone chips in with , night toonsy, see you tomorrow , sweet dreams.
Just gan and say nowt or don’t expect best wishes.
Aaaaaaaaaaargh. 👿
Bobby Shinton number 9(Quote)
Night toonsy xxx
AndrewNUFC(Quote)
@Richie
Thankyou . You’re in the minority though.
Bobby Shinton number 9(Quote)
bobby…at the risk of being called deluded, I honestly believe that no other club in this country would be capable of getting 50k+ crowds having not won a domestic trophy for 56 years, let alone one from a city with a reasonably small population. 🙂
richietoon(Quote)
@Richie
I wholeheartedly agree. But don’t for one minute think that the attendances will remain as high. They’ve already fallen by 7k and will continue to drop year on year if we continue with the same ideals.
Many bloggers dismiss this but I believe I’m experienced enough to have witnessed fan apathy others haven’t .
Bobby Shinton number 9(Quote)
Well here’s hoping the summer brings some good news….not holding my breath though….well Spanish calls 😉
richietoon(Quote)
I believe with long term success we would be the second best supported team in the country without doubt.
( success affording extension to the ground ).
Bobby Shinton number 9(Quote)
Toonsy. Agree totally with your post @182.
Great craic and long may it prosper!
lesh(Quote)
@lesh
Sad
Bobby Shinton number 9(Quote)
Sorry Lesh I should have put a smiley face next to my comment or some people get the wrong impression. 😀 😀 😀
Bobby Shinton number 9(Quote)
Jose’s on late kick off doing an interview so the bloke asks him about his dog…Because thats what we want to know.
AndrewNUFC(Quote)
😆 What was said Andrew?
SpencerTheToon(Quote)
He’s happy to stay, if he has to go he’s happy. Basically said hes leaving.
AndrewNUFC(Quote)
😆 😆 It’s laughable because im excpecting it and he looks like a kid whos been made to play on a sunday morning when he dosent want to.
SpencerTheToon(Quote)
BTW programme about Shearer on ESPN Classic Wednesday night, think it’s at 10pm for anyone who’s interested
Geordie Deb(Quote)
I noticed a few have mentioned Ba and Obinna from West Ham, the player I would target from them is Carlton Cole…….
( nah 😛 ) the one I would target is Freddy Sears. I think he is a little pacy winger/ striker that we could do with. Theres been so many times Ive watched them and he has stood out like he should be playing in a better team than them.
DJG(Quote)
Sorry but Sears is garbage imo about a goal every 35 games, I know goalies with better strike rates than that…..and on that note I’m away. later lads 😉 ..oh and bobby@214, easily 😀
richietoon(Quote)
Just read through the whole thread over breakfast. Good one. Some interesting comments. Nice to see Stuart ditching his anti-Ashley hyperbole and offering his opinions in a rational manner rather than in that irksome superior-than-thou manner. More of that please. Starbob is just a persona so his opinions are irrelevant – entertaining perhaps, but not to be taken seriously.
At the end of the day nobody trusts Ashley and his cohorts, which includes, rightly or wrongly, Pardew. So whatever is said during negotiations over a new contract can’t be believed. The only thing that matters is actions.
If I were Enrique I’d have a clause inserted giving a way out if I wasn’t convinced that the promises matched the actions.
In my football career, I moved clubs 4 times. Two of them didn’t work out – I either didn’t fit in with the play, the culture, the personalities at the club. In hindsight, I think I should never have left the 2nd team I played for. I suspect this sort of thing happens in the professional sphere too. Players have to weigh up not just their ambition to be part of a successful club, but whether they will actually be happy there, whether their career will progress.
Enrique has guaranteed first team football at Newcastle, some good friends here and he has a great fan base as well. Would he want to give that up to gamble on making a similar splash somewhere else, knowing how long it took him to settle at Newcastle? It’s a difficult choice for the guy. There are a lot of cases where promising players got lost at bigger clubs and went backwards.
I agree with the general thrust of the thread: if a player wants to leave, there’s not much point in fighting it.
Brisvegas(Quote)