Can you really knock our transfer policy?

toonsy

All is well with our transfer policy
I’ve been trawling various NUFC websites and forums throughout January, just to see what people are saying more than anything.

One of the things that has struck me though is just how many people seem to not get what our transfer policy is all about.

It occurred to me when I read a whole bunch of comments regarding Alex and a proposed move to QPR – a move which has since collapsed by the way with the player and QPR unable to reach an agreement. Basically there was a fair few people saying that we should go for him, even though it would go against every rule in our transfer book.

Why? Well for a start he is 29 now and will be 30 in the summer. We generally don’t sign players over the age of 26. When the only real exception to the rule is Shefki Kuqi you can see that we generally stick to the age profile.

Then there are wage demands. High wages at the kind of level which Chelsea pay will not be tolerated and will scupper any deal before it even gets out of the starting blocks. Of course there is a chance that the player could drop their demands, but in the modern game there aren’t many professionals who would do such a thing.

Then there is the price. Now I personally feel that this is less of an issue. If the player is worth it we will pay the cash required to secure a deal, but if the fee starts to become unreasonable then you can forget it. £10m for Wilfried Zaha of Crystal Palace? Forget it… A bit of research goes a long way and it’s why we’ve uncovered players like Yohan Cabaye who we picked up for a fraction of his true worth thanks to a release clause in his contract.

The vast majority of deals we conclude will fit all three of these criteria. On occasion we may skip one, but in general all three of the boxes must be ticked for a deal to go ahead. To be honest, you can’t really knock it can you?

I mean you just have to look at the players we’ve brought in to see that, somewhat against the odds in a mad football world, our policy is actually working. Cheik Tiote, Hatem Ben Arfa, Davide Santon, Yohan Cabaye, Sylvain Marveaux, Papiss Demba Cisse, and Demba Ba all fit the profile, and that is the majority of our first team!

My only real bone of contention regarding our policy is the keeping hold of our players part. If we can sort that then I really don’t think it can be criticised at all, but even then we seem to have a canny knack of losing a player and replacing him with a player of equal or better quality.

It’s quite mad really!

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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162 thoughts on “Can you really knock our transfer policy?”

  3. Am gannin for a connect fawa here like. Toonsy said he’d up my post rate to 34p if I could get 4 in a row. 😎

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  4. Regarding the article in question, I’d knock it for 6 if we let any of our important players out before the window slams shut.

    For the time being though, I’m happy.

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  5. good write up toonsy.

    agree with that look at the players we signed, owen cacapa geremi. to name 3, got us absolutely no where, well relegated. this policy is amazing and its working wonders wouldn’t mind seeing us break the 10million mark for players like shakiri though.

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  9. 😆

    its been a fantastic window for us signing papiss so no im not going to knock our transfer policy!! hope cisses playn in an hour

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  10. Toonsy I agree that the clubs dealings have been real good, but the only bit that worries me is that we can keep our best players and built the team with them 😕

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  11. …that’s pretty much where I’m at Army, chuffed we’ve got Cisse, but the wind would be well and truly taken out of my sails if we lost, let’s say, Tiote. I hope we’ve turned the corner now, and only sell if we’ve got a replacement. I know it’s probably not that easy, but we could always just say “no, **** off” to any late bids, and sell once we’ve lined someone else up.

    I bet there are a lot of fans out there whose opinions on our transfer dealings are resting on February 1st. I know mine are.

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  13. I think our policy is spot on to be honest.
    I understand peoples concerns about players leaving or getting targeted but I don;t worry about stuff like that because at some stage with every club, it’s gonna happen.

    The pleasing thing is, if you think about it, no one is bleating on about being unsettled here or hankering for a move, which is a very good sign.

    Naturally we all know that the very back end of the window usually sees the most desperate clubs banging in bids and it might happen to us but I just can’t see anyone of any significance leaving us.

    We ‘could’ lose a few fringe players maybe and a few out on loan but I’d be very surprised if we lost a top player unless someone comes in with a late 30 million bid or something on those lines.

    As far as our buying policy goes, I think we are going about it correctly. 😀

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  14. Good article. Moved into a new flat over christmas and havn’t been able to get the internet up. First chance i’ve had to be on. What a lovely janurary it’s been. A few issues, i have come to think even if we let a big player such as tiote go for say 30million i would be disapointed but i wouldn’t be upset as i now have faith that we have the means and ability to replace these players with maybe not the same but good quality i don’t feel any player we have is irreplaceable.

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  15. Also i watched zaha yesterday and he’s a good player he’s skillfull, can beat a man and looks to go forward but has no final ball and doesn’t really do that much going backwards. For 10mill? hmmm we already have obertan.

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  17. And does anyone know if you get ‘loyalty points’ for hoime games or just away games off the box office? Got my tickets for the mackems game today and just wondered?

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  19. Can’t believe it was 17 years ago tonight since Cantona Kung-fu kicked that supporter.

    Time flies by. 😯

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  20. Friggin hell 17 years ago. 😯

    Is someone speeding the clocks up when we aren’t looking or what. 😯

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  22. Time flies indeed, and is such a healer – Mike Ashley may not arrive at SJP having rose petals thrown before him when he goes to work each day but he certainly has come a million miles in getting his Human Resources dept sorted. I hope that the days are numbered for the likes of Chelski and Mancini City spraying the world with dosh for diminished returns. NUFC have proved that real talent complete with work rate and dedication still exists for reasonable pennies and I hope it continues this way. Now, so I can get sculpting his pedestal, Mr Ashley just needs some work on his public image 👿

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  24. Well after watching Zaha yesterday i would say lets not bother , i think Sammy Abeobi is better so why spend millions on him . I am already pleased with this transfer window , if we could get a good CB in and not lose any of our Current squad apart from Xisco ,Smith and Forster then it will be the best transfer window in Ashley’s reign .

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  25. hold on!!! it said last night senegal were on eurosport at 6.30 tonight – now it isnt on!! is it on anywhere?? i wanted to watch the two demba geordies 😐 😐 😐

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  26. Loyalty points are just for away games, unless they’ve changed it since last season…..which would be unfair on ST holders as they’d get no points for home games 😉

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  31. Toonsy – good write up mate

    Rodzilla – congrats on the connect 4, awesome work mate

    Wolfie – good to see ya posts mate, miss a couple?!

    Completely agreed, the days of the marquee big money signings seem to be a thing of the past now dont they… and good riddens I say!!
    I think Wolfie made a great point, in that the players seem happy and whenever there’s talk of them being linked with other clubs they are quick to rubbish it and say they want to stay.
    Long may it continue…. Well for another week at least anyway!!

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  34. Army….commentators on the Libya game on Eurosport said the Senegal game is up next……I think 😉

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  38. ANyone else worried that BA and cisse start for senegal on a sodden pitch that really should not be being played on? 😕 😕 😕

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  44. TO the tune of “only fools and horses”

    no income tax, no vat, no points last week off man city, future’s grim, he’s looing pale, harry redknapp’s of to jail……… god bless hooky street la la hooky street hehehe

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  53. **** poor decision from ref there – nowt richards could do to stop ball hitting arm…. kin lucky bindippers

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  55. Pup…whey if ya wearing ya Dad’s hand me downs I’m sure ya look like a fine upstanding Victorian gent 😆

    Batty…I knew a lad in the army who shot like that 😆

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  60. @ batty……….u never cease to amaze me lol

    richie toon…. the clothes look fine its his hand me down sandles with socks and pom pom hat that draw the most negative attention 👿

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  74. Uh same here. No other team has so many of my least favourite players. Bellamy, Carroll, Suarez, Johnson, Downing. Bunch of nasty diving cnuts.

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  75. Troy from this point on we should all be supporting the scousers.

    If they lose then only the top 6 placed teams in the league get euro football

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