Has there been a long term plan all along?

Part of the plan all along?
Evening all. How are we doing? All well I hope, although I see I’ve not exactly missed much on the news front.

Some of you may have wondered where I’ve been, most of you probably won’t care, but suffice to say I’ve been busy at home these last two days!

So here is a quickie aimed at getting some discussion going. Basically I was reading The Chronicle earlier and stumbled across some of the comments beneath the article. I can’t remember it word for word but it was an article with no foundation just basically saying that we may or may not still be in for Luuk de Jong, Mathieu Debuchy and Vernon Anita.

Thrilling stuff that none of us know or have heard about previously. Sarcasm intended.

Anyway one of the comments underneath, again not word for word, went something along the lines of backing the transfer policy we have now as Mike Ashley finally seems to have a plan to take the club forward. Of course it is personal opinion, but is it right or wrong? Have some fans just left it too late to realise that this has been the plan beyond the last couple of years?

The only difference now is that we are in a position to action the plan now that we are back in the Premier League. I remember, as most will do, the speech about buying carefully, no more Michael Owen’s etc etc, and that came long before our recent success in the transfer market.

It’s not a new thing. The only difference now is that fans are actually starting to see that it can work for us and that we can bring in good players on modest fees and play the transfer market to our advantage.

This isn’t a new plan – It’s the original one finally being realised!

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.

114 thoughts on “Has there been a long term plan all along?

  1. If we improve on or match last seasons signings, I will be more than happy and I dont believe a word in the chip papers as they got nothing right last season.

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  2. I would find it hard to believe anything Mike Ashley has done in the world of football has been based on a formal plan.

    Financially, he has had no choice but to scour for some cheaper (or many would say more realistic) priced players with talent.

    He has been very fortunate that Chris Hughton had brought in Graham Carr and we have pulled some rabbits out the hat.

    But, all that said, I don’t think you will find too many complaints about the current formula.

    Fingers crossed for the 60 odd days left of the window…….

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  3. I think its fair to say that we as supporters know very little about running a big succesful business, some do, no doubt, but the majority are just loyal supporters who care about the club and speak with their heart.

    It takes a strong person who can rise above that and make unpopular decisions. how many clubs fans shout for a change of manager then regret it, slag off when players are sold, shout for change of owners and end up with venkies and the like. we all want the best for our club and we see that as big signings, keeping our heros. but in the end there is a bigger picture.

    some say we are a selling club, that may well be the case, but I think every club is now, at the right price, ronaldo left manure, van persie looks like hes off from arsenal, modric at spurs, torres from liverpool etc..the players decide to leave, contract or no contract. the only thing the club can do is get the best price, seen van persie being quote at £20m or just over half a Carroll.

    I’ve seen the years, Macdonld to arsenal, beardsley to liverpool, waddle and gasgoine to spurs, cole to man u, ferdinand/asprilla/ginola all gone… so dont see a lot different these days, some of those hurt like hell, maybe I’m getting too old, but barton,nolan,given and the like didn’t have the same effect, but dont think its a sudden obvious change. If you have a good player others will what them and the way it is, the player calls the shots.

    What is different are the replacements, there is obviously more work going in on that side and a genuine attempt at getting some reserves though, a clear the decks at the end of last season shows that. so a new plan… maybe… but it not so different for my last 40 years.

    as I started the ramble, we might care, but we dont know it all, heard some gooner on talksport this week slagging hodgson off saying “he doesnt know football, he doesn’t understand the tactics” and thought this cockney wide boy has obviously won the champions league three years on the trot with hackney west end under 9’s, yes we care but sometimes we just need to think before putting our views out there. Otherwise we can look a bit of a t*t like most of us have over the last season.

    As they say we pays the money we have the right to voice an opionion an so it should continue (where’s the singing section this year).. I’m sure we will buy some failures too, law of averages etc, but at least there is a policy, buy young, buy cheap and if someones wants to leave, sell steep

    I dont think we will be top six next season, so there’s my opinion, thought we well over acheived last season, but then again I was one of those t*ts who thought it would be bottom six last season.

    ramble over

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  4. I don’t believe M.A had a long term plan from the moment of his tenure because once he realised the clubs debt ,did he not try to sell it on. That does not strike me as someone having a long term plan ,nor does bringing back KK, firing KK ,Dennis the menace and JFK ,none of which suggest long term security .He then tried to offlload it again when the fans pissed him off ,which I can kinda understand. Then dragged Big Al in when it all went tits up too late to solve owt and saw us relegated. 🙁 I do believe however that a plan was put in place at the time of relegation and luckily for MA Chris was awesom at getting the best out of the team and the rest as they say is history. I have come to like our new transfer policy as we as a club have made money and become much more viable and long term secure .However we need to be carefull not to always penny pinch as some times you really do have to pay that little bit more for quality. Presumably MA wants top 4 or 6 footie every year ,if so then he needs to bring in real talent and it often comes at a premium sadly.

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  5. Kind to tend to agree but up to a point…When since when does it become good business to let players like Enrique,Guthrie and Simpson run down their contracts without tying them down for a little longer and then get full value for money when the time comes?

    Just worried when the likes of James Tavernier gets loaned out ,gets a few games,and then decides that he’d rather be playing than being part of the development squad.

    Difficult to fathom, Debuchey may have cast a shadow over his chances of getting into the 1st team, think he’d have fancied his luck against Simpson..

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  6. godda agree with kimtoon.. i think there was zero plan at all. we have a kind of pre relegation and post relegation thing going on dont we. i think we have been nothing more than fortunate tbh in finishing 5th. it semed to be the most fuked up season ever, no team enjoying total fluidity in results, plenty of suprise results.
    I think that ashleys plan is not different than it was ever… make money out of nufc. Thats it first and foremost and i guess he is right to demand that.

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  7. Andy ,think i’ve just missed it as it’s Cricket on SS1 now 🙁 😕 thanks
    Anyway . Oh well MOTD on now 😀 ,Better be a better game than last night .

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  8. I do believe that when MA bought NUFC he had a plan … but it wasn’t the one he’s working to now!!
    I think when MA first took the club he was given some very poor advice and he made some very poor decisions and pre relegation we were sinking fast and could well have ended up as a Leeds.
    It was around that time I think it dawned on Ashley that he didn’t know enough about running a football club and I think he look of advice and left alot of decisions to DL.
    I think the 2 of them sat down and came up with the current plan, which really grew legs when they appointed Pardew. Then you had DL making the hard financial decisions and his close friend AP making the tough footballing decisions – with each of them building a team around them – and of course MA bankrolling it all.
    I do think MA came in clueless, and his appointments of Wise, Jimenez and Mort certainly backed that theory, but credit where it’s due, the bloke rung the changes (reluctantly perhaps) and I think the club is probably in a better position now than any of them ever envisaged at the time Pardew was brought in.

    They just need to get their fingers out now and sign up the 4-5 players we need now to kick on next season.

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  9. KIM you cannot say it was bad game,least they could pass the ball very un-like england,plus i really thought it a treat to watch a class c/h in PEPE 😉

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  10. Kim
    Was quite short, they both spoke in Spanish which I thought was odd considering they’re both supposed to be quite fluent in English.

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  11. Craig… disagree with the “fortune” bit, Liverpool and Chelsea apart, every team in the top 10 got more points than they did the season before last, we didn’t finish 5th through fortune, we finished there because over the season that’s where we deserved to finish 😉

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  12. RICHIE you know our village,well its flooded at the mo no way in our oot,glad i live on top of hill,poor shops donald ducked,might gan doon tomorrow got to be some cheap gear going 😀 😀 😀

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  13. Ice…My mate from back home who lived around the corner to me sent a photo and it was almost up to his door…..he still sent his lass oot to cut the grass, just give her a mop and bucket as well to give her a fighting chance….all heart he is 😆

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  14. Craig – I’m with Richie mate. I think to put last seasons success simply down to good fortune is unbelievable unfair, and miles off the money for me like. Like most teams over the course of a season, we had some luck but there was also alot of hard work and good football.
    Regarding Ashley, you don’t become a Billionaire being clueless, think he got it wrong to begin with be has put alot right since in my opinion. But if he’s only in it to make money out of NUFC, it’s going to be a long time before that happens saying as he’s around £140m down up to now

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  15. SHARPY dont you know its only the toon that have good luck the rest of the lge have none 👿

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  16. Ice….As the weathers so **** he’s letting her use a sickle, says it’ll take her too long with the scissors 😉

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  17. RICHIE “some woman have nee idea,why always leave the brain work to men as if we didnt have enough to cope with 😀

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  18. Ice@10 ,I was speaking more about the lack of goals not the passing quality, I like to see goals 😉 .

    Italians don’t look too tired do they, Baloteli off to a flyer.

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  19. Richie@24, Feel free ,I’m quite thick skinned you know ,just like an elephant ,I never forget . 😀

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  20. Kim… 😆 my ex never forgot owt either, except the offside rule, she never got to grips with that 🙄

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  21. Think this could be a great game ,if it stays 2.0 to half time the germans will come out 2nd half right fired up . 😀 😎 lovin this game so far, still want a German v Spanish final though.

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  22. Ice – sorry mate, was putting the boy to bed (so with him gone the comments will get **** again :lol:). I come from Blaydon (which is where I’ve been today) but live in Lumley now, which is near to Durham County Cricket ground but is on the top of a hill – so I’m just on painting me arc (which sounds far more rude than it is!!) 😉 😆

    Where you at like mate?

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  23. SHARPY know it well,a little village called lanchester for me sure you will know it ,ime born bred west end lad but left there many moons ago,not because of richie starting knocking aboot there but many would say that.done my time at vickers armstrong then round the globe a fair bit,and long hols 2 and half yrs in aussie once,been here canny few yrs noo.here ends the storey 😀 played fair bit of footy in between,wine woman and song,cannot beat it 😀 😀

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  24. Ice – Lanchester, as in down the road from Lumley 😯 😳
    Why the F did I think you were in Ireland?! 😕
    There’s me explain the weather and geography of the North East and ya under the same fucking cloud!!! 😆 😆 😆 told ya me crack would get **** when the boy went to sleep 😆
    Nice place Lanchester though, take the boy to Hall Hill farm quite a bit.

    The Italians look awesome tonight like, does that make England better than Germany?

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  25. Ice Italy look as if they have hit a bit of form where as Germany looked as if the peaked from the start and just hit the skids at the wrong time.

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  26. Well not how I thought it would pan out 😯 Was sure we’d get an Germany v spain final .Oh well Italy v Spain it is then. How good was Balotelli as well . Also not just England that can’t handle Pirlo then 😉

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  27. Man this Pirlo is summat else… 33 and he still covers 10 miles a game, a star. The Jaaarmans couldn’t work him oot either.
    Black armband year so far for Bayern and Germany… 😉

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  28. dOESN#T THIS SITUATION WITH gALSGOW rANGERS JUST MAKE YOU LAUGH: iVERYbody is voting against them joining the sweaty league… 😆 😆 The Sellic fans must be ecstatic…

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  29. KIM pirlo has been the best m/f there bar none,and to think they gave him away 3yrs ago saying his knees were gone,pepe has been the best defender by far,but for the life of me i cannot say i was impressed with any out and out striker,balotelli is just a nut case never twice the same

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  30. On Topic Jabba had a short term plan and that was to get the club on the cheap and flog it as fast as possible and make money outta it, the only problem was he was that greedy that he jumped in without any due diligence.
    IMHO a lot of luck has got us were we are now, I think its only after relegation that they really had any sort of plan

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  31. Ice yeah the strikers have all been very hit and mostly miss, and generally very poor, but ballaballbag was untouchable tonight

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  32. Jeepers ,just watching the news and my god Newcastle as turned into Atlantis ,crazy rain. 😯

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  33. DAVE aye jabba thought he stole a march getting the club the way he did and threw money away on managers,**** players on daft wages,until the true books came to light,and suffered with bloody bad advice,still think the club would be a better place if we could shift monkey heed imo

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  34. Ice @42 ,Nowt wrong with them knees ,far as I could see and does anyone else think Pirlo looks like a young Henry Winkler? 😉

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  35. KIM thought you knew,ime sitting here with iron lung on god its heavy but keep comeing up to type 😀 😀 😀

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  36. Dave – I think the main bit of luck we have had was Liverpool being daft enough to not only spend £35m on Carroll but also pay it up front … and I mean that genuinely, coz I think it brought us forward by about 2-3yrs, without that money to buy the players we have I think we would have been mid (ish) table last season

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  37. ICE , How could anyone not love the Fonze 😀 Seriously ,I loved happy days ,used to watch it befor going to Baileys under 18’s disco . 😎

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  38. Ice .so we have made an increased offer then ,guess it’s looking a little more hopefull .I wonder if we’ll go back in again with 8 or 8.5 ,can’t see it myself.

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  39. KIM hes comeing have nee fear 😉 at the end of the day if the board want the cash the manager has nee say

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  40. Kim did you manage to find that foxy avatar pic for Ice 😯
    As for Debuchy if he wants to leave he’ll leave I just hope we don’t **** about trying to screw Lille

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  41. Kim – I met Henry Winkler on Broadway in New York, he’s as cool in real life as he was as the fonze 😎

    Well it looks like Debuchy is top priority this summer then! … there’s worse players to get I suppose 😛

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  42. DAVE ive been waiting for that picture for days,think you have lost your touch now mate 😉

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  43. Ice I haven’t lost it mate, I talked Kim into putting the pic back up for you but she thinks she has accidently deleted it 😥

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  44. Ice – ****, I didn’t think about that! 😕 and she hasn’t posted for a little while now

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  45. I’ve got a feeling that this weekend will be a good one regarding transfers, think we might just get Debuchy.

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  46. Been busy with the lad,can’t leave you lot for 2 seconds can I ,tut tut.

    Dave ,that pics defo lost 😉
    Sharpy, He’s over here alot going round schools doing stuff on dyslexia as he’s also a sufferer.Always seems a really nice bloke on t.v.He was not my crush though ,that would be Alice Cooper and David Bowie at that time. 😉

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  47. Andy ,I think you may just be right but don’t think we are in the running for De Jong any longer.

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  48. Was Alice cooper good looking? 😯 I may not know about that kind of stuff but he doesn’t look as though he’d have been attractive 😕

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  49. Kim
    De Jong may have been our primary Striker target but I’m sure Carr has got a few up his sleeve, will prob be someone we haven’t yet been linked with that we’ll get for a very good price.

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