Granted we’ve lost Demba Ba although I don’t think there was much that could have been done about that. Once a club he wanted to go to met his release clause we would have always been on shaky ground.
However in terms of players in we have just under half of a new starting eleven to pick from should we choose to do so. Mathieu Debuchy, Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa, Massadio Haidara, Yoan Gouffran and, most recently, Moussa Sissoko have joined the ranks at St James’ Park giving us more options all over the pitch and more strength in depth which is something that has proved costly this season.To top it all off, Fabricio Coloccini stays at Newcastle for the time being at least.
Personally I get the feeling our business is done now though. I don’t know why but it was just the way that Alan Pardew was talking after the Sissoko signing yesterday. It was more of a review of our transfer window the way i read it although I could of course be wrong.
So the next question to ask is would you be happy if the transfer window ended now? Do you think we’ve done enough to strengthen? I know a lot of it should have been done last summer, but have the board finally put things right by back Alan Pardew or are we still desperately short somewhere on the pitch?
Personally I’m happy with what we’ve done in this window and if it was the end of January and we couldn’t bring in any more I wouldn’t be bothered at all. An extra striker would be nice but I honestly can’t see that happening.
However what I want to know is what your opinion is on the matter, so get voting and leave a comment below.
[poll id=”74″]
i’d be gutted….hopefully some mug will bid for Ranger
mark(Quote)
nope want either ronaldo or messi then it will be a decent window 😉
batty(Quote)
Wenger’s idea about a limit is dumb as you’d just get Man City buying Messi and Ronaldo in January while other clubs can only afford Marcus Bent and Akpo Sodje.
You either leave the system the way it is or you get rid of January completely and make the summer window end before any season starts. You can theoretically change your entire squad from the first game in England to the end of the summer window too, same issue.
funkyjesus(Quote)
Hasn’t taken the club long to make money off their transfers:
https://shop.nufc.co.uk/cgi-bin/live/ecommerce.pl?site=theclubshop_nufc&state=item&dept_id=40&sub_dept_id=10&product_id=301070
funkyjesus(Quote)
Funky. Spot on mate , Wenger only jealous cause his scouts havnt been doing as good a job as wor mr. Carr!!
Still like to see a CB and a STR in before the window shuts, that why I voted NO!!
Toonsoldier9(Quote)
We only spend what we got. One out before one in. This regime’s tighter than a ducks ****. Surely only extreme optimists like wumpie could vote no. We must have exceeded the wildest expectations of the neggers.
Premandup(Quote)
by all accounts Gouffran sounds like he’ll be playing a forward role. so the striker side, i’m happy enuf till the end of the season.. We have Barfa to come back and the macken slayer.
mark(Quote)
lol FJ. only a £1 for a beret. canny 😀
mark(Quote)
Ifeel awful given how many we signed but confess to a no vote . I still feel we need a quality striker .Now that Colo remains in body if not spirit CB is less of a worry ,but should he leave in the summer he must be replaced also or else we are back to square one defence wise. But for me a striker is needed for much needed depth.
KIMTOON(Quote)
Greedy girl me 😆
KIMTOON(Quote)
I am reasonably happy with the window so I voted yes, but as Toonsy says most of these should have been bought in the summer
Big Dave(Quote)
I would most definitely be happy with the window. We have addressed the balance of the team and strengthened the squad in the just a few weeks.
People on here want another striker, but what quality striker will leave his club mid-season without the guarantee of 1st team football?
Aubameyang is our main target and we will probably return for him in the summer.
The Kid(Quote)
I voted no but only because I’m being greedy.
I still think we need some sort of striker….even if its just as back up. A cheeky loan bit for that John Guildetti ( don’t know how to spell it) from man city would do me. Especially if we had a but option in there for the end of the season if he turns out to be really good for us 😆
Oblong(Quote)
http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2892/transfer-zone/2013/01/26/3701189/i-needed-newcastle-exit-coloccini-claims-in-open-letter-to
👿
Munich Mag(Quote)
simce the end of last season when 4 players left and demba ba left in this transfer window we have recruited 6 players(inc anita)so we are 1 player up on last season so if simmo leaves we will have the same size squad as we did last season
oldbobaycliffe(Quote)
I have a feeling Gouffran would have been signed regardless of whether Ba stayed, or Remy joined. He is here to add quality depth.
I disagree with those who say “we need” this and that. We don’t. Our squad has more than enough to survive this year.
The Kid(Quote)
Ranger out! Another striker in (One who’s different to Cisse or Ameobi)
Mark(Quote)
Ecstatic with the reinforcements coming in. I just hope we start to hit it off up front, cos we need to find some goals in the side.
btw I voted “unsure” because of the striker issue…
Munich Mag(Quote)
I personally voted unsure.
I feel our goalkeeper, defence and midfield situations are pretty much as good as we can get at present.
My concern is the striker situation. Unless we really give Adam Campbell and Obertan a chance up front, we’re still short as it’s a bit much to expect Gouffran to hit instantly and Cisse can’t do it all.
funkyjesus(Quote)
Collo has really pissed me off with that letter. Didn’t he sign the new toon deal a couple of months ago whilst talking to the Argie bosses at the same time ?
How long has this scenario been in existence, and how long have the club known about it. It’s probably been going on all season, cos Collo has been way out of sorts this season
Munich Mag(Quote)
Could someone tell me what Ranger has to do to have his contract recinded ? Obviously the club don’t want rid of him, otherwise he would be toast by now surely ?
Munich Mag(Quote)
we still look to lack a bit of depth up front so maybe could do with another striker, although i would now go with 451 for the rest of the season
Some may see it as a negative formation but i feel we could control possesion more this way, hopefully play the passing game we are supposed to, we now have two very attacking fullbacks, so we could do with an extra player to cover when they bomb forward
alanthedog363(Quote)
Ranger has to get convicted. Can’t use the recent charge until found guilty, them sacked for giving the club bad press by association
Darren(Quote)
Has our stock sunk so low that we are not worried about someone coming in for a Tiote or a Krul over the next few days? Whilst Ashley will want to protect his investment by trying to avoid relegation, he will be looking for a way to cover the £40m including salaries that this months investment will cost. Be worried very worried !
Stevo(Quote)
Darren, you’re spot on. I was just thinking of the previous demeanours all adding up, lumped onto the current charge, which as you say needs to be proven.
Munich Mag(Quote)
Team for rest of the season
—————————–Krul—————————–
–Debuchy——-M’biwa—Colocinni——-Santon–
—————-Tiote—-Sissoko—-Anita—————-
———-Cabaye————————Ben Arfa——–
—————————–Cissé—————————-
Subs:
Harper
S.Taylor
Haidara
Bigirimana
Marveaux
Obertan
Gouffran
Andymag(Quote)
MM BB posted that on the last thread and it disgusted me that he took the time care and attention to pen that to the fans and club of san lorenzo, yet he couldn’t open his mouth to his own Fans, add to that that he has never really came out and said much to us I think Owen spoke more to the fans.
I said that he should have had the armband took of him as he clearly doesn’t want to be here and he has no respect for us or the club I have lost a lot of faith in him over the last couple of weeks but that letter just took the last bit I had for him.
Big Dave(Quote)
Stevo
Good point. I’ll be distraught it Ben Arfa leaves.
Tiote can go for all I care. Very good player when in top form, but a liability otherwise. Also, the game is going away from what he’s best at – destroying!
My perfect midfield is Sissoko, Cabaye and Anita. Three hard-working players that provide pretty much everything you need in midfield.
– Pace (Anita & Sissoko)
– Power & drive (Sissoko)
– Passing (All)
– Vision (All, but mainly Cabaye)
– Technique (All)
– Height (Sissoko)
– Tackling ability (All)
– Versatility (All)
The great thing about Anita, Cabaye and Sissoko is that they can swap positions throughout a match and remain comfortable. The same goes for our LW and RW positions. Gouffran and HBA can swap positions throughout the game.
The Kid(Quote)
DAVE but has it been proved that the letter is from Colo,maybe its a fake by batty lol
icedog(Quote)
Andymag@26
Where is Shola???
Certain starter against Villa.
sidekick(Quote)
don’t know how true it is but storey going round is that some toon reps have traveled to Holland ??
icedog(Quote)
I’m not sure what to say.
I think the five players we have got have exceeded my expectations for what we could ever hope to receive under our tightfisted owner.
But then I’m not entirely comfortable with the idea of being ‘happy’ with what weve got.
That, in a way, is the kind of thinking that lead the owner (and all hos armchair accountants) to declare that we didn’t need to strengthen the squad in the summer.
I always want us to improve. If the window closes and we don’t get anyone else I will be fairly satisfied with our dealings, but at the same time I would also be very happy if they brought in another quality forward.
Pootle(Quote)
SIDEKICK please don’t swear on here (shola) lol
icedog(Quote)
Revised:
If we bring in a decent forward and get rid of Shola Inanimateobi I will be ‘happy’
Pootle(Quote)
I was reading that after 10 years at the club they were going to unveil a statue of Shola but they couldn’t work out which one was the real Shola and which one was the statue 😳
We’ll start scoring goals once Cisse moves into the middle…. 🙄
Munich Mag(Quote)
Big D@27, my sentiments exactly. For a leader of men and a wonderful captain he didn’t say much did he during his years at the toon. He owes the fans an apology, and if we weren’t in such a precarious position in the league, of which he has played a major part by the way, I wonder if the fans would welcome him or boo him ?
I’ve never ever heard Collo speak to be honest, maybe he has a voice like Donald Duck for all I know. He’s Donald Ducked now in my opinion 👿
Munich Mag(Quote)
The Kid @ 28
I totally agree.
If Pardew can’t see that a midfield 3 of Sissoko, Cabaye and Anita is the way to go and he plays 4-4-2, then I think he should be relieved of his post ASAP.
Unless Tiote sorts out his disciplinary record then I would be ok with him being sold too.
I hope Gouffran can be the versatile forward you suggest, because if he is o think this team could have an exciting future.
My main concern at the moment is Pardews coaching and tactical choices to be honest. I fear he is not up to the job. I hope he proves me wrong.
Pootle(Quote)
Sorry Ice – but after the team selections this month I’m convinced that Pardew must have promised Shola he’d start every game and play the full 90 mins in exchange for not going to Acon.
I really expect him to play the full game on Tuesday.
sidekick(Quote)
Ice nah thats not batty’s work 😆 😆
MM I could never cheer him after that he should hang his head in shame 😳
Big Dave(Quote)
MM, you know, it comes across like you blame Cisse for Ba leaving.
Ba left because he engineered a clause in his contract with the express view that he would **** off as soon as a club that would pay him big enough wages would trigger it.
He was playing with a pet lip because when Pardew moved him out left the goals dried up. He was clearly furious because he felt this reduced the chances of anyone coming in to trigger the clause and give him another big pay day.
Yes, he was a good player and a loss to the team but he left because we were just a stepping stone to his next big pay day.
That’s down to Ba, and no one else.
Pootle(Quote)
I don’t believe that Colo letter for a second. It just doesn’t sit right. Wouldn’t surprise me if San Lorenzo wrote it….
Like I said, I read something earlier where they compared that signature to the one Colo uses for the match programme and autographs and so on and there are few if any, real similarities between the two.
toonsy(Quote)
Pootle @ 40 – Absolutely bang fucking on. I’m amazed I still read some fans saying that “we sold him” like we had some choice in the matter. Realistically he was always off and we were just a means for Demba Ba to get to his end.
toonsy(Quote)
Still think we’re short up front.
Stuart79(Quote)
Incidentally if Pardew actually sets us up in a way that gets our midfield providing decent quality balls to our forwards and Cisse still fails to score then I’ll criticise him too.
I refuse to hold him responsible for not being able to feed off the hoofball ***** that Pardew has been serving up lately as it clearly doesn’t suit most of our team, let alone Cisse.
Pootle(Quote)
MM. ,Yeah like yourself and Dave ,I’m not overly happy with that letter ,I commented on the previous blog. Don’t know why he should do it now ,it only serves to rock the boat and ultimatly turn the fans against him and is very poor imo. Think we need to be looking to replace him with a quality CB in the summer and if things don’t improve transfer list him ,hopefully a richer Argie club will bid for him by then and at least he’ll be home.
KIMTOON(Quote)
Toonsy well if it isn’t real I would expect it to be made public in no time as im sure the club would make it nknown that it was fake, and surely if it is san lorenzo they would have left themselves wide open to the law 😕
Big Dave(Quote)
Dave – You mean like the Colo situation was made public. I reckon it’ll kept in house.
toonsy(Quote)
I reckon his father wrote it.
It was after all HIM who was trying to drive the deal all along.
Like I said, I wont be surprised if Colo’s family return to UK soon.
The whole business stinks
Beardsleys Boots(Quote)
Toonsy ,Do you really think it’s fake then? .We’ll soon know if the club release a statement saying it is, as I’m pretty sure they won’t be too pleased with it.
KIMTOON(Quote)
First the Ba saga ,now the Colo saga ,oh and Ranger too .I swear we are jinxed. 👿
KIMTOON(Quote)
Kim – I just think it stinks a bit really. Colo has never come across like that before…
toonsy(Quote)
Pootle
#37 –
I’m glad I’m not the only person with that view of our best midfield. Pardew’s coaching is also a concern of mine, but my main concern is the first team coach and assistant manager. Just looking at it logically, if you were a top quality French international being coached by the likes of Stone, Carver etc, would you be happy? Would you learn anything? Would you develop? Throw in the fact they all speak French and none of the coaches do and you have a real issue demanding respect from your players.
#40
Couldn’t agree more about Ba. Also, we needed rid of him to re-balance the team.
The Kid(Quote)
Great signings so far. Mbiwa being the best of the bunch. I honestly think he is the best defender France have got and is a real commanding captain.
I would be over the moon if the window shut today but thats not to say i wouldn’t mind another 2-3 players in :D.
Shame about Ba who has moved onto better things but we all expected it to happen sooner or later. I think he was a negative influence on the team anyway.
Colo should be stripped of captain for sure. I tell you know if had been anyone but Colo crying to leave we would be calling for their head. I was listening to the world football phone in the other day and Tim Vickery had a great idea about Colo let him leave for nothing and ask for 3 or 4 of the best young players .
Also does anyone know what his personal problems are? Has he cheated on the wife or something?
Santii(Quote)
Pootle – I agree with your point 433 is the way forward and, to be fair, the signings we’ve made suggest that he’s thinking along the same lines thankfully.
Although i’m happy with what we’ve done this window if the players are there for the right price then get them in like we did with Cisse when he became available in Jan for less than his summer price tag. Sporting are in financial trouble, the lad Wolfswinkle fits our policy criteria and looks to be real quality. Could take us to the next level and I recon alot of fans would want another CF in summer so why not get him in now before he smashes another 15 goals in and adds another mil or 2 to his price tag.
Danny(Quote)
Pootle@40 how can you read that into my comments ? You are about 25 million light years away from the truth there mate. I have never at any time insinuated that, and I think you are way off the mark.
There was no way that we were going to keep Ba once he started farting about. My only issue was and always has been how to replace Ba’s goals in the team. By the way I am still concerned about replacing Ba’s goals in the team, just so you know where I stand 😉
My comment about Cisse scoring goals once he is moved into the centre was a tongue in cheek comment. Since you haven’t been on the blog for a long time you may not have been in on the crack which was going on at the time 😉
As Toonsy might say, “Absolutely bang fucking….er..off..not..” 😆 😆
Munich Mag(Quote)
Toonsy Colo has never came across like that before ? how do we know we never hear owt from him, as I said before Owen spoke to the fans more.
I meant to add that if that is a fake letter well I think they will have made a right fuk up because I couldn’t see them ( san lorenzo ) getting Colo after a stunt like that.
I believe it is from Colo and after the carry on we have had with him nothing would surprise me , and regardless of this letter I still feel that he shouldn’t be the captain of a club he doesn’t want to be at, How can he lead his team into a relegation battle when he doesn’t want to be here and is hoping to fuk off at the 1st chance he gets,
I can remember people saying about some of our relegation players didn’t really care because they knew they would move on if when we were relegated, even though we didn’t know for sure 😯 but we know for sure that Colo doesn’t want to be here
Big Dave(Quote)
Pootle, I would like you to retract your insinuation at 40. You got that one sadly wrong.
Munich Mag(Quote)
Big D….Collo our voiciferous and outspoken captain who is in the chronicle every other week preaching to the punters would never come out and say anything bad about San Lorenzo. He’ll be moving there in the summer, it would be really stupid of him to do that 😳
I cannot see Pardew taking the captains armband from Collo though. It’s Pardew’s style to take one on the chin for Collo.
Munich Mag(Quote)
MM @ 55 you did defend Ba quite a bit and sided with him even though you knew he wanted away, and you threw your toys outta the pram with me a few times over it because I made it clear that Ba was a problem in the club 😉 😆 😆
Big Dave(Quote)
I think we shouldn’t get to hung up on it folks.
Colo wants out.
Maybe its because of some strumpet. Maybe its cos his bust up with Pardew was bigger than reported. Maybe its cos he doesn’t like the snow 🙄
At the end of the day it doesn’t really matter. He can’t afford to get out of his contract now so hopefully he will at least give us his best effort until the summer even if his heart isn’t in it.
Then it would probably be best for both parties to try to find an amicable solution unless he has a complete change of heart.
I agree he shouldnt be allowed to just walk out for free, but keeping a demotivated and unhappy player just to prove a point won’t really benefit us in the long term either.
Pootle(Quote)
MM @ 58 well after that letter Jabba might decide he isn’t going to san lorenzo 😆
Big Dave(Quote)
I would assume we are going to morph into a flexible 4-5-1 or 4-3-3.
4-5-1 essentially IS 4-3-3 with a more defensive slant and 4-3-3 IS 4-5-1 with a more attacking slant. Same players in same positions.
Keegan is 4-3-3, Big Sam is 4-5-1, lol
funkyjesus(Quote)
Big D@59, you are spot on there, and you and me did joust a bit a few weeks back. However, my only issue was purely and simply replacing Ba’s goals cos I thought we would be in the ***** without the goals. I wasn’t totally convinced that Cisse would step up to the plate and everything would be hunky dory. However at no time did I ever call Cisse over Ba. You may not recall but I was one of the first ones shooting my cocoa when I heard we were signing the lad, cos I watched him scoring goals in the Bundesliga 😉
At the moment the bloke still couldn’t hit a barn door…but he will start to score once Pardew get’s the team working properly
Munich Mag(Quote)
Pootle IMO no matter how professional you are it’s near on impossible to give 100% to something that your not happy with, so maybe 90% is enough but I would rather have Mbiwa and Saylor giving there all for a club that they want to be part off, But I do realise that it’s not what I think and the chances are Colo will be playing 😯 but I can’t see how the other players can respect him when he doesn’t want to be part of it
Big Dave(Quote)
Funky we could morph into anything with Pardew at the healm. He’s got to get things moving and pdq. A win at Villa and an 18 game unbeaten run until the end of the season is the minimum as far as I am concerned 😆
Munich Mag(Quote)
I might be treading on peoples toes, but I don’t really get the need now for a new quality striker.
I thought Cisse was shaken this year all because Ba got to play up top with him 😕
If we buy another one and he bangs the goals in, Cisse will again be on the bench because imo we need to play 4-3-3. We won’t spend 10mil on a striker to sit on the bench either, only man city can do that…Of course if we’re going with 4-4-2 then we would need someone, but surely this shift now has made 4-3-3 the perfect choice for basically our whole squad.
Give me a young and promising striker , perhaps 21 because its clearly too soon for campbell
I said this from yesteryear as well, we need a higher contribution from the rest of the pitch. We geordies have been spoiled by top centre forwards down the years, we will need a higher contribution from Benny, cabs etc and whoever else plays in the attacking roles… The fact that the defence don’t contribute is also very costly to us-our set pieces haven’t been a threat in two years. 😕
Newkie(Quote)
MM @ 63 so do you now agree that I was right then about Ba causing Cisse problems and the team 😀 😉
Big Dave(Quote)
MM, just because I haven’t been posting doesn’t mean I haven’t been Xie king up on you. Lol 😆
I’m not insinuating anything. Just pointing out that the tone of some of your posts seem to suggest you resent Cisse for not being Ba.
I’m just pointing out thatits not Cisse’s fault that he isn’t suited to Pardews hoofball. Most of our team aren’t.
It also isn’t Cisse’s fault that Ba used us as a stepping stone to greater personal wealth. That was his agenda from the get-go and it was fairly transparent, so I don’t see the point in getting upset about it.
Pootle(Quote)
Maybe ime wrong but I think the club have rule that players do not speak to the press without running it past the club first,BA used to put his point over abroad then nobody quite knew how the press here put itover,always a get-out for players
icedog(Quote)
sorry but I agree with DAVE we both said months ago that there was trouble in camp somewhere,and got slated for it
icedog(Quote)
MM sorry if you wern’t one of the ones taking Ba’s side it was just the impression that I got from the verbal jousting 😀 but I do know there was quite a few on here that would run Cisse into the ground just to make Ba look better, even though he never wanted to be here I for one will always support the one that will give his all for the team even if it means playing in a position that they don’t like, and I don’t like when players get to big for their boots and start making demands.
Big Dave(Quote)
Newkie,
I think the concern is if Cisse gets a serious injury – then we’re back to Shola starting every game up front on his own. That’s the worry.
funkyjesus(Quote)
Ice @ 70 your spot on young Fella
Big Dave(Quote)
FJ @ 72 from what I have read about Gouffran I don’t think Strolla will be No2 anymore, well I hope not
Big Dave(Quote)
Funky-True, I do get that bit, but I’m not so sure we need a “top” striker to cover in case of injury. Gouffran can play up top and in all honesty if we have an ultra mobile midfield I think Shola can link up decently-you just can’t rely on him for the goals. Ideally we would have kept Best. I’d still be happy with him leading the line, given all our current midfielders 😕
Newkie(Quote)