It’s strikers that we really need! Is Demba Ba the answer?

A risk worth taking?
Ask any Newcastle fan where they think the team should be strengthened and they will probably say up front, with a striker, maybe even two strikers.

I agree with that assessment to be honest.

The capture of Yohan Cabaye is of course welcome, but our need for a central midfielder isn’t as great as our need for someone who can find the back of the net on a fairly frequent basis. As Cabaye himself said, he likes to pass the ball and create chances, and with Hatem Ben Arfa it certainly looks like we’ll have a more creative edge next season. It doesn’t matter though if there is nobody at the end of a move who can put the ball in the back of the net.

Now for me the type of striker that we end up with is entirely dependent on the system that Alan Pardew wants to play. With Ben Arfa seemingly destined for role in the hole there is a case for acquiring a bigger, stronger, hold up player, but there is also a case for buying a workable pair of strikers. Ben Arfa can still play in the hole behind two strikers you know.

Where do we look though? Well not at Kevin Gameiro certainly as it appears he has no interest in joining us and Gervinho is rumoured to be off to Arsenal, although to be fair he is not really a striker anyway. Where does it leave us though?

I see Demba Ba is supposedly close to joining us according to The Mirror. Personally I have reservations about him because of his injury concerns (failing two medicals on two occasions at two clubs is worrying) but if he can stay fit I think he would be an excellent acquisition.

After that though there isn’t really a lot. I mean lets face it, we aren’t going to be in for any top, top strikers as they will be out of our price range, so what bracket are we looking in when it comes to recruiting a striker? An accepted bid of £10 million for Gameiro would seem to suggest that we’ll go that far for the right striker, but I just can’t think of anyone that we could get. Can you?

Mevlut Erdinc and Yousef Al-Arabi are two names that keep bouncing around, but they are hardly proven are they?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m chuffed with the capture of Cabaye, honestly I am. I think a central midfield of him and Cheik Tiote could be brilliant as they both like to spray the ball around and it would help to give us some much needed creativity in the middle of the park. I just think it’s addressing a problem that doesn’t really exist.

Up front, where we do have a problem, should be next on the list!

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.

100 thoughts on “It’s strikers that we really need! Is Demba Ba the answer?

  1. Bobby – Odds on that he will be sold to Liverpool on the final day of the window so the money can’t be spent.

    This club is so predictable.

    Bobby that wont happen, you will be proven wrong 🙂

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  2. Cannot understand why Nolan at his age would want to return to the Championship to be honest. At the same time, maybe the lure of working with Alardyce is too great for the lad. I have a feeling that Alardyce will convince the West Ham owners that Nolan is a key player, and that they will pay the toon asking price….I reckon about 6 million quid and he’s outahere…just my opinion though..

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  3. According to the media the club have apparently made Jose an excellent offer.
    According to the media Jose is waiting for his preferred club Barca to make an offer.

    The toon fans can only sit back and watch it unfold….easy really.

    In the mean time, the club are looking at alternatives in France, Swansea, and young Ferguson is on a power diet of Greggs Pasties and Guiness to get himself beefed up should Jose leave…and all on a new 5 year contract too…well done to the lad.

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  4. Why would Nolan want to play in the fizzy again? I’d only sell for 10m.

    Anyway im at York races today, any tips greatly appreciated.

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  5. Sky Sports tipped Irish Heart or something, I dont think we will let Nolan go too easy,

    Barca have a budget of 40m and they want Cesc so the need to sell players to stump up the rest of the cash they might not have the funds to buy Jose, an i honestly thing if we sign few more of Cabaye calibre he might be convinced to stay

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  6. I think we will do well with Best and young sammy up front with Arfa behined them !!! we do need a goal scorer but I think in a pinch this set up could work !!!

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  7. Toonsy, spot on article, apart from Best our current strikers dont trouble opposition defences too much, Carroll did, Demba Ba can and is tried and tested at this level so is not too much of a gamble.
    Shola and Lovenkrands went public after Carroll went saying they would fill the gap, well they had their chance and blew it, i would sell these 2 and spend what cash we have left on replacements.

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  8. bobby i agree with sell lovenkrands, but i have a soft spot for Shola he has been around so long he is like part of the furniture and it could help Sammy develop…. I think Ranger should be sent out on a Loan spell instead of sold it might do him a world of good … then get in Demba ba an possible shane long

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  9. Put him on a pay as you play contract so we don’t get stuck with another Owen…he’d be a decent signing but I still think we’d need a second to go along with it…danny graham would have been nice.

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  10. Newkie…the interest in Demba Ba is quite high I believe…he may not agree to a pay as you play contract…

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  11. Im a west ham fan and if you get Ba it will be an amazing signing. Scored 7 goals in 10 games for us, and to be honest we were **** and Grant was playing him out wide! If you do manage to sign him and he stays fit he will definatley scored 20+ goals next year. In fact if he does leave west ham im going to put a fiver on him to be the top scorer in the premier league.

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  12. True MM, but how many clubs will be willing to sign a big contract with him? Even stoke rejected him….most will be wary, and we can just offer him more per game. If he’s confident he can play and our medical team think he’ll be alright then he should have no problem with it. If even he thinks he’ll get crocked at some point and wants months/years of injury pay he’s not worth it.

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  13. I dont think we are even interested in ba, although he is on the cheap, I think that might be a reason he is linked, Like people have said above he has a dodgy knee, I dont think we would sign him and then think that would solve our striker crisis, If ba does get injured we are back to square one, if we bring him in + another striker then I think that may be the safest bet.

    Reading some above, I can understand why some people want n’zogbia back, due to his obvious talent on the pitch, but he was a massive tw@t when he was here before, he couldnt wait to leave. If he joined, I think it wouldnt be long before he vents his spleen and tells us all about the fairytale clubs who want him 🙄

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  14. John, thats Sholas problem, hes got a nice cushy number and is a local lad so gets cut quite a bit of slack, he has never developed into the player he could have been, drives me mad watching him.

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  15. Yea dat is true Bobby there was one point under Roeder i thought he made the break through 7 goals in 10 games den he got injured, maybe if Sammy shows him up might it be a wake up call for him, still think he can be a good squad player, back up to our main strike force if we get one

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  16. ‘If he’d been close to being OK we would’ve signed him,’ said Pulis, who has seen Ba, 25, score three goals in four games.

    ‘But the medical reports we had showed there was a massive risk. Luckily for him and West Ham, nothing’s happened.

    ‘However, we could’ve lost him after a training session and the money Hoffenheim wanted was unreasonable.’

    If he would take reasonable wages on a short term contract or a heavily performance loaded contract then he might be worth having seeing as it would be a free transfer. We have other strikers so it’s not like the burden would be completely on him. When he is available he is a good striker. He seemed to play quite a lot for West Ham.

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  17. CC
    Posted June 11, 2011 at 9:42 AM
    I would take Demba Ba, Maybe risky with his knee probs but not as risky as bringing in a player for £10m.

    Spot on, at the end of the day, he would only cost wages. It’s a gamble but so is every player. Ben Arfa turned out to be a gamble we lost on in the first season. If you sign a player for £15M or so then that is a huge gamble and putting you eggs in one basket. Ba might play 20 games and score 10 goals but even so he’s not gonna cost £1.3M per goal like Owen is he.

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  18. Craig @ 65: wingers aren’t there to cross the ball theses days, man. This is not the 1970s (notice there’s no apostrophe there)

    It seems to me that Pardew is looking to play the ball on the deck. Probably playing a variation of 433, which is where the game is at these days.

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  19. Does anyone see Best getting a regular start this season. Ba is a definite improvement on the others but his agent has touted him like ***** for the past year and you wonder what his wage demands must be for only a desperate west spam to take him on.
    Strikers are most difficult men to find and buy.

    On Jose if he wants to go to Barca great for everybody. Barca might blow all their budget on Cesc surely Barca have some players they can exchange Bojan for instance

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  20. As a quite few above have already said, yes it’s a risk but sign him on a pay as you play contract, or pay when 100% medically fit, no lose situation really 😉

    ……..for the 2 hammers fans on before, what are your thoughts on your new boss Big Fat Sam 😯 😯 …..we admired him up here a while back :mrgreen: :mrgreen: 😕 😕

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  21. @dan4toon

    You say;
    Bobby, as predictable as getting Cabaye, a French international that pretty much no one would of thought of when discussing transfers?

    Wrong. It’s a predictable signing. A good one which ive maintained throughout and never said we wouldn’t get him. £4m-£6m is our standard bracket. He’s a predictable signing like Tiote, HBA.

    It’s the dreamers who I disagree with when they get excited at the thought of signing the likes of Gervinho, who is a step up in terms of transfer fee and wages.

    That is what you miss because you only jump in having read half my posts and get the wrong end of the stick.

    @Andrew
    Knowing the recent history of how we conduct dealings, what do you base your opinion on that we won’t sell Jose on the final day of the window, or is it you just trying to be clever?

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  22. @93……couldnt agree less tbh mate. wingers needgto be the full package and that includes killer crossing, running with ball, vision, scoring , the whole deal. jonas runs well with the ball and has great engine. thats it. can not pass or score goals, take free kicks, cross .. anything really. i like him though!! haha… he could do a much better job out on the right with zogs on left.

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  23. If Demba Ba is a free agent or will come for very little then we should take him as the first of 2 strikers we would try to sign.

    He’s got energy and seems like a handful. He’s decent in the air and will hopefully get on the end of crosses. I don’t think he is the most natural finisher with his feet though.

    If we play 2 up front he can be one of them. If he goes down injured we always have Ameobi or Best coming off the bench.

    The other striker we sign should be more of an all rounder and good on the ground.

    If we add 2 strikers we would likely have to lose 1 from our current line up. Perhaps a loan move for a youngster. I hear Ranger might be out the door but i hope not. A loan move to the championship might do him some good.

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