The Magpies were linked with the Montpellier captain last month as they looked to boost the depth of their defence – a task which they ultimately failed to complete.
Yanga-Mbiwa has been a virtual ever present since breaking onto the scene as a 17-year-old and is now helping his side go toe to toe with oil rich PSG in pursuit of the Ligue 1 title. In total he has made 175 appearances for Montpellier, which is no mean feat for a player that doesn’t turn 23 until later on in the year.
His admission that he would prefer to move to England comes in the midst of interest in the player from Bayern Munich who have been keeping tabs on him for a while. However it would appear that Yanga-Mbiwa has set his eyes on a move to England ahead of anything else.
“Bayern is a very big club. I’m really flattered, but my ambition is to one day play my football in England,” he told Sky Sports.
It is believed that it would take a fee in the region of £5m to persuade Montpellier to do business, and for that price I hope we are at least keeping an eye on the situation. By signing one player it could go a long way to adding some much needed depth to our defence as he can play right across the back four although he is primarily a centre-back.
That would give us cover in both full-back positions and added depth in the middle meaning that we’d probably only need another dedicated right-back (should Danny Simpson leave in the summer – a likely scenario given the reluctance to agree a new deal) and we’d be a lot more prepared than what we are now.
It’s a no brainer in my opinion.
JJ (and Troy to a degree)
I’m afraid I think calling Gary a clown because he’s not in favour of some *** defacing the ground that we all love is extreme. I take on board he’s use of the word thug which I would replace with vandal. But just because you agree with this TITs action doesn’t mean those that don’t are clowns.
For the record, if they had of spray painted a large piece of cloth or sign of some sort I’d be right behind them, but to deface a ground with 120yrs of history that I have been part of for the last 30yrs is simply wrong in my view.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Dan4Toon
Dyer had pace to burn, good dribbling skills and a good eye for a pass, as well as a work rate to match it… He would run up and down the field all day, and was ok defensively, where he actually started as an attacking right back.
At one stage during his best year with us, he was linked with a 20mil pound move to Manchester United. And although a different player to Gerrard, he was considered to have the potential to be as talented. However, his injuries just caught up with him and he never really ever got going.
He also had bad attitude, refusing to play on the right wing when Sir Bobby asked him to, which led to the belief that Sir Bobby had lost the dressing room, and played a part in his dismissal.
So now we all hate him 😆 😆 😆 😉
JJ(Quote)
I agree JJ @ 71 , but I think the sort of investment will come over a period of transfer windows , I think by the summer of 2013 we will really see a squad capable of competing at the right end of the table, It takes time but I firmly belive the club is heading in the right direction and the board will commit to the spending needed over time. Will it be enough to keep the fans and our better players happy long enough to achieve what we all want? I dunno! Hopefully though 😉
Johno Toon(Quote)
JJ, yeah I remember him from like 2002 onwards, always remember when we went to Leeds and won 0-3, he was brilliant that day! I was just wondering when he first joined whether it was classed a real coup and we beat off competition or we got him under the radar and Bobby worked his magic.
dan4toon(Quote)
Doesnt really make it any more like st james park because some idiot with nowt better to do defaces it, Nor does it make it the sports direct arena because ashley plasters cheap signs everywhere.
It is st james’ park to us and it always will be, The tacky name will be forgotten just like the website one was once the furore dies down…
CC(Quote)
Many will say that Mike Ashley has vandalised SJP by renaming it.
He bought into a football club which is not owned financially by the fans but they own it in their hearts.
I do think a football club is a unique commodity and despite what some will say, that it’s Ashley’s club and he can do what he wants with it, that’s not strictly true IMO.
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Brought into us through Bobby’s links with Ipswitch…nothing spectacular.
EvilFranky(Quote)
@ Troy/Gary
Fair enough, I actually interpreted what he said incorrectly 😳
I thought he was labelling some of our posters “thugs” for finding it slightly humourous, not the people who committed the act themselves…
My apologies then Gary.
Just getting a bit defensive of them/and myself, because quite honestly, I the first time it happened, I thought it was quite funny (I don’t think that makes me a thug), but I get that isn’t what you intended now 😳 😀
JJ(Quote)
I’m all for signing versatile players.
Yanga – Mbiwa – yes please.
If we sign Vertonghen he is as good at MD as CD . An ideal replacement for Tiote when necessary.
Gosling is a good RB.
Supermac was a LB who was used as an emergency CF and his career
took off . I doubt he would have been as successful if he had been a defender throughout his career.
sidekick(Quote)
Dye was signed by Gullit
CC(Quote)
Evil Franky
In this case, we have performed so far above expectation, that of course we are punching above our weight.
I think the fact that we were only really competing on one front (we didn’t last very long in the Cups), allowed us to keep up with the Big Six for the length of time we have.
As it is, our squad is still struggling to keep up, and one or two injuries could see us slip badly.
If we were (as the other clubs are) to be competing seriously in four competitions, I don’t think we would be anywhere near were we are in the league now) – our squad is fighting the likes of Liverpool, Chelsea, and Arsenal in the league for a European place, when it has absolutely no right to in terms of depth of quality. At the moment, we are punching above our weight.
Its not a bad thing, its a very good thing. Something to be proud of… But if we want to challenge for trophies, as all the other top six clubs are doing seriously each year. We have a long long way to go.
JJ(Quote)
* Dyer
CC(Quote)
@Sharpy
I was defending Gary not challenging his views.
If you read my post earlier you will see that.
I fully understand people are disgusted with the vandalism. Normally, I feel exactly the same about mindless vandalism.
In some circumstances though, I understand what spurs some to commit the acts. I wouldn’t do it and if the perpetrator is caught then they must face the punishment.
But I wouldn’t stand up and totally condemn them as Dave quite rightly points out, it takes people who are prepared to break the law to change the law.
History is full of people who are now famous and not infamous for doing so.
Troy Stavers(Quote)
i see where JJ is coming from ,how can you call some 1 a thug because they think its ok that some 1 has done a bit of vadilism 😕
batty(Quote)
@JJ
fair do’s. We’ve all been there .;-)
Troy Stavers(Quote)
CC, ah right cheers.
dan4toon(Quote)
FSOTC
As far as what Gary has said, I don’t think it does any good vandilising the walls of St James’ Park. I said as much earlier… And I hope it was done because of hurt feelings rather than a stunt to impress friends.
Still, when we are young/sometimes old and drunk and stupid, we act in silly ways, believing it will make a difference. I could see myself doing something like that 10 years ago… Its probably just silly kids trying to show their feelings, in a way they feel hurts nobody but Ashley. Certainly don’t believe it makes them thugs… Just young and nieve…
It would get a bit ridiculous if it happened every week though. But its done out of frustration, because as much as the club is the fans and the supporters, we have no power, and Ashley can do what he bloody well wants to… 😥 For some, it may feel this is the only way to exact revenge… however Ashley doesn’t care… The poor guy who has to clean it up is the only one who suffers… (sorry Batty, must be hard work)… 😉
JJ(Quote)
Troy’s getting into the philosophical realm of what ownership, fandom and identity are all about–good discussions. Obviously in the legal sense, Jabba owns the joint. But his heart ain’t in it, like us.
Honest question: What rights does that give us?
Fans Should Own The Club(Quote)
@FSOTC
What right does that give us?
None legally.
Morally loads. 😉
Troy Stavers(Quote)
JJ, I hear you, but as Troy and others have said, which is the real act of vandalism–the removal of the sign or the replacement, in spray paint, of the sign?
Is this a case the legal definition of vandalism vs. an emotional definition of vandalism?
Fans Should Own The Club(Quote)
Bingo, Troy.
Why do so many of us resist the idea of turning our moral or emotional right into actual legal rights? ie: fan ownership…
Fans Should Own The Club(Quote)
@Dan4Toon
I think Dyer cost 5.5million at that stage which was a lot of money, and he was a right sided defender/wing back.
He was a coup of some sorts, because it was obvious he had talent at that price and quite a few teams were after him, but he was very much a raw undefined talent… He never realised his potential…
JJ(Quote)
dan
He was man of the match on his england debut playing at right back, He was one of the best young talents with a fair few big clubs after him so it was a coup at the time.
Shame his injuries and attitude cost him…
CC(Quote)
@FSOTC
Ashley owns the property, and so, he cannot theoretically vandilise it as it’s his, but he can make it tacky and cheap, and he’s trying his best to do just that…
JJ(Quote)
JJ – Firstly, the spray painting is a crime, pure and simple. If you think it is a perfectly fine thing to do then fine, but I have the law on my side.
Secondly, ‘punching above our weight’ would suggest that we don’t deserve to be where we are. I disagree with that. In the games we’ve played our team has fought tooth and nail and have proven that they do deserve to be in the running for a European spot.
I agree that to consistently challenge teams like Chelsea and Arsenal we will need to invest. However, I wasn’t talking about the future. I was debating whether or not the players who have represented our club this season have been good enough and, for me, they have.
If this means my opinion is branded as a ‘crock of ****’, then so be it.
Gary Watson(Quote)
We are performing to the abilities that our players are capable of, in this case it is enough to have us 6th with a 3rd of the season left to go. It is up to other teams to up their game if they want to knock us off our perch, so far they have not. Punching above our weight would mean players playing far better than they are normally capable of and if this was the case we would have been found out months ago. We would not be able to sustain it for as long as we have, hence I don’t believe we are punching above our weight.
Arsenal are out of the cups too and the other two have been found lacking in the league all season, swings and round-a-bouts. The only thing important for us at the moment is league position, the higher we finish the more money we will make and the higher profile the club becomes meaning better players becoming more interested in playing for us.
Who are we struggling to keep up with exactly? We are 1 point from 4th, 1 point behind 5th and 3 points clear of Liverpool. Any of the 3 teams around us will struggle with injuries also.
EvilFranky(Quote)
The graffiti at the ground is as pathetic as the bed sheet brigade and only feeds the medias stereotypical perception of the fans, it cannot be condoned and needs to stop.
Robert(Quote)
JJ & CC, cheers. Typical that injuries for Dyer, Woodgate and to a certain extent Bellamy hampered them whilst with us.
Just hope the same doesn’t happen in the long term to Marveaux because he looks a great talent.
dan4toon(Quote)
EVILFRANKY – My views exactly!
Gary Watson(Quote)
Troy,
I forgot I tagged you to that comment before I started my rant. meant to address your previous comment but got carried away. Sorry mate 😳 😉
Sharpy17(Quote)
The lawman has spoken.
Fans Should Own The Club(Quote)
@FSOTC
Everyone has different breaking points.
For some, it’s the treatment of ex Legends.
For others it’s the name change.
If Ashley decided to change the colour of our strips from black n white to blue and red, would those criticising the vandal feel any different if it came to a vandal writing we want our stripes back.
I dare say some of your breaking points would have been well and truly snapped and you would be up there with your cannisters. 😆
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Gary – It’s common sense.
EXPECTATIONS at the start of the season from media/pundits was that we would struggle due to selling established players for foreign unknowns. What has happened is the unknowns have clicked and we have played some bloody decent football this season without being spectacular…all within the abilities of the team. NOT punching above our weight.
EvilFranky(Quote)
If I owned and lived in a house for say 50 years, then had to sell due to financial difficulties, would my emotional connection to the property make it perfectly fine for me to go and burn the new owners furniture?
Gary Watson(Quote)
Gary
“Firstly, the spray painting is a crime, pure and simple. If you think it is a perfectly fine thing to do then fine, but I have the law on my side.”
Well, as long as you have the law on your side… 😆 😀
Secondly, as long you brand other peoples opinions as “rubbish”, I will continue to label your opinion (if I disagree with it), as “a crock of ****”.
Also. You may have been debating this season, but everyone else was debating the future… which means you then agree, we would not be able to match the top six consistantly, unless we make some quality investments. As our squad is still some distance behind those clubs.
As for this season, we deserve to be there out of pure determination to hang in there. But on paper, we have no right to be there in terms of quality and that will eventually catch up to us… (you only need to look at our goal difference compared to the clubs around us to see we don’t really match up)…
Which is why this season was so important to push hard and invest, as we might struggle to be in the same position we are now. Being in Europe would have given Mike Ashley the incentive and income to go out and spend on quality…
JJ(Quote)
Gary @109
Did you really just make that comparison 😯
Firstly, you’re house wouldn’t be supported by 52 000 fans each week, who supply your income and are the very reason for the houses existance 🙄
JJ(Quote)
Secondly, “what a crock of ****”… 😉 😀
JJ(Quote)
Troy, Breaking points… man, there have been so many with this club over the years. I think the only thing keeping me from tagging that wall is my cowardice. And the cost of flight to Newcastle.
How about if Ashley changed the colors to red and white stripes and decided to call the stadium “The Stadium of Light”? Would that be okay? He’s the owner. The law is on his side.
Fans Should Own The Club(Quote)
🙄 😯 Gary what point is that your trying to make about burning furniture 😆
As for punching above our weight I honestlythink that other teams punchingwell below their weight has helped us ? No
Big Dave(Quote)
Troy, I think I’ve seen you come out in support of fan ownership on here in the past, right?
Fans Should Own The Club(Quote)
JJ – It is impossible for the sentence ‘we ARE punching above our own weight’ to refer to anything other than the present. Telling me you are talking about the future is nonsense.
Oh, and when did I refer to your opinion as ‘rubbish’?
Gary Watson(Quote)
What on earth are you going on about ‘right to be there with the quality we have on paper’??? here is NO such thing. The same reason that Man Utd and Man City have no god given right to be in the CL and their **** performances in that competition have proved this.
Our goal difference reflects the type of defensive football we have played all season, hence why we haven’t thumped anyone 5 or 6 nil. We don’t really score goals from midfield that has been left to Ba and his goals tall reflects this.
It has nowt to do with hanging on, we are a defensive team.
EvilFranky(Quote)
@JJ
that example by Gary is irrelevant . Sorry Gary but a poor comparison.
Ashley bought a North East institution not a semi detatched in suburbia.
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Evil Franky
No… punching above our weight IMO would mean the club performing better than it is usually capable of… And yes, I believe thats what we have been doing…
Up until last week we were in 4th place, I believe come the end of the season, we will be no higher than sixth… Which would mean for the first 2/3 of the season, we were punching above our weight.
Its all a matter of interpretation in the end… But in my opinion, we are not a top six team – we are the best of the rest, and that is were the league table will have us come the end of the season.
I would group us with the Scum, Everton and Stoke. So far we are the best of those four. But without investment, we could fall behind again.
I will say one thing. The gap has certainly narrowed. And that shows why we have been able to compete with Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea for 2/3rds of the season.
Without any injuries we could push for 6th… But with injuries we will slip to 7th/8th, whereas I think the other teams, don’t have any many concerns about injuries becaue they have the depth in their squads to see them through… we don’t…
JJ(Quote)
Nevertheless, burning Jabba’s furniture is a nice idea.
Wait, have I misunderstood that? Silly me.
Fans Should Own The Club(Quote)
Gary see 119, oh… and
“As for ‘punching above our weight’, what a load of rubbish.” – Gary Watson
February 20, 2012 at 13:44… 😉
JJ(Quote)
BIG DAVE – Yes, other teams have performed below par and that has helped us. But that doesn’t mean we have performed any better than we are capable of.
TROY – It probably was a bad example mate, but it’s the same thing from a legal point of view.
Gary Watson(Quote)
@FSOTC
Ha! Only your cowardice stops you. You’re probably speaking for thousands there. 🙂
The breaking point issue was only to highlight what the name change means to many.
There’s an awful lot of fans couldn’t care less. That’s fine, but if the club announced the strip change to blue and white then I dare bet many of those same fans would be applauding the vandals then.
I just don’t believe some fans understand how much the name change means to some.
Troy Stavers(Quote)
Some arguments on here really are strange.
@Gary man you’re fighting a battle that noone is contesting.
If you asked do we and the players deserve to be where we are?
The answer by everyone on here would be yes.
If you asked are the players punching above their weight? i.e. would Perch/Guthrie/Williamson/Shola/Best/Raylor/Simmo be able to get us into almost 4th position every year?
The answer would obviously be course the players are performing higher than expectations, how can you dispute that?!
SolanosTrumpet(Quote)
*Sigh*
We have been out of then back in the top 4 previously in this season and could quite easily do this again over the remaining games.
The squad of players formed over the summer had not played together, how can an opinion on their ability be formed when you had never seen them play???
EvilFranky(Quote)
JJ – I apologize for that then. Didn’t mean any offence by it.
Gary Watson(Quote)
Gary @122
Why do you only ever see things from one perspective…
You admit that Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool have performed below par, you you refuse to admit that we have performed above par.
If you are saying it is not possible to perform above par, then it shouldn’t be possible to perform below par.
Recently you said, if we were to get injuries and slide down the table, we would be “unlucky”, yet I said if we were to remain injury free, I would consider that fortunate, because injuries are inevitable… Yet you disagreed. If you believe in bad fortune, surely then you must believe in misfortune… No? 😐
JJ(Quote)
Yes, Troy, cowards like me are a dime a dozen. At least I’m in good company.
It’s true the name change weighs differently on us all. But there are many things we (humans) get used to that we just shouldn’t get used to. I’m still pissed off about advertising on the shirt!
Notice how Barcelona rolled that out–with UNICEF to break the ice. Hard to criticize UNICEF… hard to criticize ads on the shirt…
Fans Should Own The Club(Quote)
Gary @126
Alright then, no offence taken 😉
JJ(Quote)
Yeah agree completely JJ, we were 3rd for a brief spell in the season, it was blatantly punching above our weight, doesn’t mean we didn’t deserve to be there for that period.
I think it is simple: Take whatever position you felt we were capable of, for me it was 8th this season. Are we higher? Yes. To me that means we are performing above expectations.
With Papiss my expectations are raised that we should be breezing to 7th each year.
With further investment in the squad i think we should be able to challenge ****/Liverpool again next year
SolanosTrumpet(Quote)
Also I shall refrain from saying anyone’s comments are “a crock of ****”, unless it’s Richietoon, because his comments usually are and I would just be lying if I said otherwise… 😆
JJ(Quote)
JJ the comment at 131 is a crock of ****, man.
Fans Should Own The Club(Quote)
Solano @130
I completely agree with that… which is something of a landmark for us… 😆 😀
JJ(Quote)
Ha JJ to be fair I think with Shola in our squad we are easily capable of qualifying for Europe every year 😉
SolanosTrumpet(Quote)
I think I posted about an hour and a half ago that i’m off to work. This time I mean it. Dammit. So long, folks.
Fans Should Own The Club(Quote)
FSOTC
I have supported Barca for a long time… Behind Newcastle of course, dunno why, maybe I’m a sucker for punishment.
But Unicef was a part of the Barca shirt long before they signed a shirt sponsor…
In fact they refused a shirt sponsor right up until they just couldn’t afford to refuse it anymore… Eventually they had to do it, due to debts. Which as a fan was very saddening…
In the end, money always wins.
JJ(Quote)
JJ – I won’t be drawn into another debate on luck. I summed up my feelings at the end of that particular thread and that’s that as far as I am concerned.
You seem to have misunderstood what the term ‘punching above our own weight’ actually means. It does not have the same meaning as over achieving, which is where I believe you’ve went wrong.
To over achieve means we have performed above all expectations. This is what we have done this year.
‘Punching above our own weight’ implys that we are fortunate to be where we are because our players aren’t capable to match that of players from the teams in and around us. I believe that is wrong and our players are capable.
Comprende?
Gary Watson(Quote)
Solano @134
If you are gonna get the rod out for me, you gotta at least disguise the bait… 😉
JJ(Quote)
Gary Watson
Punching above your weight means to fight (literally or figuratively) at a level above what would be expected of you.
Do you not think that is what we have done? 😕 ❓
JJ(Quote)
Gary @ 137 Perfectly put.
JJ – You had no idea what this team was capable of at the start of the season so have no benchmark to set as to state whether we are ‘punching above our weight’ because you had never seen that group of players play.
EvilFranky(Quote)
It may also mean “we are fighting above our league”…
I would say top four is out of our league, would you not say that?
In my opinion we will fall down to 6th/7th and again next season we will be fighting for about a 7th to 5th place finish.
As to date we have been fighting for a top FOUR position, we have thus been punching above our weight… Can I make it any clearer for you? 😀
JJ(Quote)
@Gary
Chelsea finished 2nd last year.
As you rightly say we only got promoted a year a half ago so people need to be patient with how we are progressing.
So how can we say we aren’t punching above our weight? Do you believe our squad matches those just above us or below us? Really?
I think you need to reassess your definition of the phrase, firstly you know what people mean when they are using it so you don’t need to get nit picky when you agree we are over achieving.
Secondly punching above your weight has nothing to do with fortune, it is purely exceeding expectations.
SolanosTrumpet(Quote)
JJ – No one knew what level our current team where able to compete at. It is only now we are finding out.
Gary Watson(Quote)
Evil Franky @140
On the contruary, I said at the start of the season, I believed the best our team was capable of was a 7th place finish and I said we should finish no lower than 10th.
I now think the best we can finish is 6th but 7th is far more likely and the worst we will finish is 9th… Thats not too far off…
JJ(Quote)
Unreal.
Expectations and punching above our weight are completely separate and have no relation what so ever.
EvilFranky(Quote)
Ahhh evilfranky are you mad!
Okay you know the qualities of our players now, assuming it doesn’t change over the summer what would your expectations be for next season?
If you say challenging for 4th you must be on crack.
If you say 6th or below you agree we are performing above exepectations!
SolanosTrumpet(Quote)
“Secondly punching above your weight has nothing to do with fortune, it is purely exceeding expectations”
Again completely agree Solano. But Gary has his own very special definition of what fortune is too. He believes when things go wrong, its bad luck, but when things go well, there is no fortune involved. 😆
JJ(Quote)
@EvilFranky i can guarantee every definition of punching above your weight you find will contain a reference to expectations.
SolanosTrumpet(Quote)
What the **** has next season got to do with anything? I am clearly NOT the mad one here.
All we have spoke about so far is the progress made this season.
Honestly what the fucking hell has next season got to do with anything at all!!!!
Of course if we don’t buy anyone in the summer we will likely drop as other teams WILL!!!
WHAT FUCKING RELEVANCE DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH ANYTHING WE HAVE SPOKE ABOUT.
EvilFranky(Quote)
Solano @ 146
Hahahahaha… I know exactly the frustration you demonstrating. I just can’t understand how they cannot see that logic. Just shows you we all see the world in our own way.
Gary – a question…
If the Premier League put an embargo on all transfer, and we had to play next season with the same squads we have now… No clubs were able to invest. Would you put money on us being in the top four after 24 games of the season gone?
JJ(Quote)