Those clouds are brewing mainly because of the situation with Yohan Cabaye and reported transfer interest from PSG.
Personally I’ve tried to stay away from any transfer talk this window as most of it is baloney, but Alan Pardew’s public doubt regarding the ability to keep Cabaye combined with the transfer blueprint at United are not exactly good signs.
However football is cyclical and players come and go. It would be a shame to see Cabaye leave, especially in the form that he is in right now, but these things happen in football. I’ve long gone past the stage of becoming emotionally attached to players under this regime and we all know that every player has their price and once it is matched then that is generally the end of it.
Anyway I’m in danger of getting into a rant about it so I’ll curtail my thoughts on the matter for if, or when, anything concrete develops. For now it’s back to the football.
Norwich:
Jonas Gutierrez is ineligible to face his parent club as he is only only loan at Carrow Road from United. The Canaries are also without injured duo Michael Turner (hamstring) and Jonny Howson (back) while Elliott Bennett is doubtful.
Newcastle:
Mathieu Debuchy is available once again after serving his three game suspension. Fabricio Coloccini is sidelined with a knee injury while Ryan Taylor continues his long road back to fitness.
Previously…
Newcastle have not won at Norwich for 20 years although admittedly there has only been four games played at Carrow Road since that victory in January 1994.
Unsurprisingly this fixture tends to favour the home side. Of 24 meetings in East Anglia, United have won just six times with ten victories for Norwich.
Overall though we have the edge, just. The 49 games contested between the two sides have yielded 24 wins for the Magpies compared to just 14 for the Canaries.
Stats and facts…
Newcastle are looking for a 300th Premier League victory.
Loic Remy and Yohan Cabaye have scored as many goals as the entire Norwich squad so far this season.
Norwich have not won back-to-back Premier League matches since the final two games of 2012-13.
Final thought…
When Newcastle apply themselves they can beat anyone on the day. This season has also shown that we aren’t afraid to play away from St James’ Park with six league wins clocked up on the road already this term.
However Norwich have a knack of winning when they need to. Much of the talk prior to Norwich beating Hull last time out was regarding the future of Chris Hughton. Apparently a defeat would have signalled the end of his tenure at Carrow Road, but they won the game and the talk has gone away.
I say this every away game, but there are no easy fixtures on the road in the Premier League. Getting back to application, if United can apply themselves and play as we can without any distractions from this whole Cabaye scenario then we have the tools to win.
Howay the lads!
Date: Tuesday, 28th January, 2014
Time: 7:45pm
Venue: Carrow Road
Sod the French guys, sell Cabaye and do a swap with Norwich – Shola for Robert Snodgrass.
You may laugh but he is a threat at set pieces and he gets stuck in with a bit too much pleasure at times. Boosts British players number too.
funkyjesus(Quote)
well these games just before the window closes tends to take the edge off games IMO,just hope does not have the same effect on toon players,but I doubt it
icedog(Quote)
To have Debuchy back is a real boost, I think it’s about time our no.10 put in a good shift and is the creative spark in a team of travelling grafters.
DJG(Quote)
Do we know the full squad. Cisse Offside is supposedly out. Hope Marveux has stayed behind to keep him company
Toby Le Rhone(Quote)
We really need the 6 points this week. Get it done lads!
MDS(Quote)
Funky – Snodgrass is ok but I said at the time of Norwich signing Leroy Fer and Nathan Redmond that we should have been getting them. Fer was around £4-5m and Redmond was £2-3m.
Fer would have been a ready made replacement for Cabaye, Redmond would have given a different option – well actually it would have been the Obertan option but with results 😆
Sharpy17(Quote)
Good preview 😉 will be interested in seeing if Cabs gets a slight strain or pull in training 😯
As DJG says I think it will be a big boost to have Debs back.
So I am going for a 2-1 win for us
Big Dave(Quote)
What’s the craic with Colo?, is he anyway near being fit yet do we know?. Great that Debz is back though.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Heard an article at the weekend that the Argie clubs are all on the bones of there **** and have no money. River Plate, known as the “Millionaires” couldn’t get 5 mill euros together to sign a striker.
The chances of San Lorenzo picking him up are nil…Collo can only buy himself out of his contract or si,e tight and retire at the toon…
See, the toon CAN play hard ball if they want, but not with Cabaye 😳 😳
Munich Mag(Quote)
Sharpy
Aye mate. Norfolk FC made some good signings didn’t they? It’s a wonder Chris is struggling (he is the best manager ever apparently 🙂 )
DJG(Quote)
P.S.G agree a fee in principle for Cabaye.
stem(Quote)
Stem if its not confirmed tomorrow day time I think we’ll know what is happening when the team sheets come out.
But it wont be a surprise to me if he is away, as he has allready proved that he wants away.
And TBH I dont really blame him as our club has no ambition at all.
Big Dave(Quote)
Big Dave I’ll be sorry to see him go but I wish him all the best. I don’t know if Joe or Mike have anyone in line. I won’t be to surprised if no one joins.
stem(Quote)
I think that PSG will have offered £18m – £20m for Cabaye.
Hands up all those that think we will spend any of it on players in.
sidekick(Quote)
Dave@12, Here here.
KIMTOON(Quote)
Sidekick I would be amazed if we spend more than a third of it, but I wont be surprised if we dont replace him this window as is getting a bit late in the window and im sure the selling clubs will dig their heels in meaning that we fail to get them over the line 😉
Big Dave(Quote)
right then Joe, lets see what you’re made of…
a least it wasnt last hr of the transfer window, we have no excuses not to buy, especially when we’ve done our “homework” for the last 2 yrs..
mark(Quote)
I’d be shocked at how dumb PSG are if it’s one penny over £20m.
Better and younger players available for that money than him.
funkyjesus(Quote)
tbh I thought in the days of Liambias we we’re going to sell most of our stars each year, We’ve kept them all apart from a few greedy t**ts.. (barton, Nolan) and Carroll, Cabs.
Not too downbeat about it if we buy replacements, if-not, we know what direction our club is heading (around 10th each year) 😆
mark(Quote)
Dave, the most we can expect from this window is the loan deal for De Jong – but I’m not holding my breath.
I see the scum have signed the Argentine Internacionale striker Scocco. He will probably make his debut against us.
sidekick(Quote)
Goodbye Johan. Great watching you, but the inevitable has happened. NUFC was only a stepping stone for you, as probably is for the many. I don’t blame you for wanting to leave for a club with ambition of winning major trophies, let alone a cup.
My only hope is that the club use the money from you to strengthen the squad. I won’t hold my breath though.
As always thought NUFC – a selling club!
Just look at the transfer dealing in the last 7 years for evidence and for this I don’t blame you for leaving.
Stuart79(Quote)
FJ
As good as Cabaye is, if the offer is over £20million, I think they should take the money and run, any club in our position would be stupid not to, we aren’t a top 4 club in the position to turn down that sort of cash.
DJG(Quote)
I agree, he isn’t worth £20m. I’m shocked PSG offered that.
funkyjesus(Quote)
FJ
It’s like with Abramovich when he kept adding £5m on. A fool and his money…. Especially a fool with lots of money. 😯
DJG(Quote)
well he’s gone no surprise is it,getting medical in morning,they say he asked to go,AGAIN,good luck son that’s for the time you gave us,you like most of the fans have sussed how it is at toon mid table and jabba is a happy bunny,now we have to hear the **** pardew and company will come out with,60 mil plus 20 mil for cabaye,nice one and one loan player in even he does not want to stay after season end,oh the joy for toon fans
icedog(Quote)
I reckon we will buy now, maybe it will be the summer but we will spend.
Although we clearly need to have the funds in place before we buy. We’ve dragged our feet since the summer over Gomis and others as we couldnt sell anyone. Funny how it takes us ages to agree to buy but we sell in an hour 😐
mark(Quote)
Pardew is full of s###. But his hands are tied, it’s not like he can tell Ashley what to do is it? lol.
DJG(Quote)
@premandup
What qualification would i like a manager to have that Pardew doesn’t?
I’d want a manager that had a good & progressive track record with his previous teams & was moving himself up the footballing world.
Pardew was being sacked on his way down & out of the football league but for some bizarre reason we gave him a job!
If he deserves to be at this club then so does every other Championship manager. Is he even better than Kinnear?
What qualification would i like a DoF to have that Kinnear doesn’t?
It’s almost identical to what i said above.
KK(Quote)
Maybe we’re a stepping stone for Cabaye.
We shouldn’t forget Cabaye is a stepping stone for us. We want to keep replacing players with even better players.
Ideally we would also replace a manager with a better manager & a DoF with a better DoF but apparently it’s silly to want something like that.
We should all be grateful for Pardew & Kinnear.
KK(Quote)
We’ll win tomorrow. There is no reason we shouldn’t.
Hopefully most fans will focus on the performance rather than the 3pts.
Despite not being a Pardew fanboy i do think that a break is a good thing.
Lets just hope that the players are up for the game instead giving a lazy, disjointed performance.
KK(Quote)
Re the break organised by Pardew – i should have added CREDIT TO PARDEW!
GOOD JOB BY PARDEW for arranging the trip because apparently Pardew doesn’t get the credit he deserves for turning this club around.
KK(Quote)
Hopefully Mbiwa will play alongside Williamson. That is our best centre back pairing.
I imagine playing a 5 man midfield is enough to control games against most clubs so that’s probably the surest way of getting 3pts.
Personally i’d like to see Sissoko & Cabaye dropped for Marveaux & Cisse. Maybe Remy for Ben Arfa too. No point giving game time to another clubs player.
I’m not sure if Hadaira or Dummett deserve to be ahead of Santon because i haven’t seen enough of them.
———————-Krul—————-
Debuchy—Williamson—Mbiwa—Santon
—————Anita——Tiote———–
——-Remy—–Marveaux—-Gouffran–
——————–Cisse—————–
KK(Quote)
Simple change for me the morra. HBA in for Cabaye playing the no. 10 role
Stuart79(Quote)
@31-Will take a while to pick up all those toys 😆
Newkie(Quote)
so 19/20 mil for cabby then. Thought we could have got more had we waited until after the world cup imo, France might have imploded but still think it would have increased value. Still, much rather sell to PSG than anyone else in the league so maybe it’s best for all parties. Now about that reinvestment…..
Newkie(Quote)
@NEWKIE – 34
I haven’t finished throwing my toys out ❗ 😆
KK(Quote)
Yes, the Cabaye deal is happening!
Obviously it would have been better to get something in the region of £30m but i still think we’re getting a better deal than PSG!
Certainly not worried about the reinvestment. Our transfer business has been the best in the league for 2-3 seasons now.
Unless i’ve wrongly assumed that Carr has been putting this squad together & not Derek Llambias we should continue to do well.
On the other hand, if Derek was the biggest mover behind the scenes re transfers in, then we might have a problem (Kinnear).
Still, i can’t call for Kinnear to be sacked – he is just as qualified as Pardew 🙄
KK(Quote)
I do wonder if we could have got £25m for Cabaye though.
Obviosuly he is only going to PSG because of who he knows (Laurent Blanc) so perhaps we could have squeezed a bit more out of them.
I don’t think Cabaye is Worldclass & he is only going to PSG because of his connections with Blanc.
Most other managers would have found someone else to sign…
KK(Quote)
Bye bye Cabaye… not worth 20m imo.. great deal for the club.. I think that we have deals agreed in principal on certain players riding on the back of the Cabaye deal going through.. All we are waiting for is Cabaye to sign on the dotted line and we will see a player or two come in.. I hope 😯
Just a thought… Cabaye was an arsehole earlier this season when he went on strike to force a move to Arsenal…. Now he wants to move to PSG and he is a top bloke and Joe/ Ashley are the arseholes for not having enough ambition! 😆 It seems that even Jack the Ripper would be a saint when compared to the company of Joe and Mike 😛
Prem – can you drum up some stats on the $$ value of players at all the top Champion league placed clubs? I think you may find that most of the champion league clubs pay big fees and wages.. so who wouldn’t want to join them 😉 Oh, I haven’t forgotten about the glory of playing in the CL, I’m sure that all the players involved would do it for nothing if they had to! 😆 😆 😆
Aussie Magpie Fan(Quote)
I’m full of conflicting thoughts about the whole deal
1) The market is insane and 20m with add ons is a ridiculous amount for a player who goes missing at times in games that said if Felliani is worth 27m Cabaye is worth more
2) You have to sell players and replace with quality. 1 class player could mean 2-3 players who improve the overall squad.
But on the other hand
3) it’s clear the deal happened because we’re safe and aren’t going to get relegated
4) even worse it seems designed to actually reduce our chances of Europe or pushing on
5) the fact the club is becoming a model of “financial stability” rather than football success is sickening. I don’t care if we make a marginal profit. I want to win things. That doesn’t have to mean bankrupting the club.
6) There is zero chance of the squad being improved as a result of this sale. The money will go into the spreadsheet not on the aforementioned 2-3 top quality players.
SJP14(Quote)
Fellaini was a one off deal.
Moyes knew him & Man Utd just wanted to make a signing for the sake of it & to avoid the negativity of not signing anyone.
The price paid was because Everton didn’t have to sell.
PSG on the other hand don’t really want Cabaye. It’s Blanc that has been pushing for this deal.
PSG want better players than Cabaye. Heck they even want a better manager than Blanc! They could quite easily just walk away imo.
We’re quite lucky that they’re not too bothered about over paying.
KK(Quote)
I think Pardew said that Cabaye was rubbish at one stage anyway… or was it Anita he was talking about? 😛 😆
Aussie Magpie Fan(Quote)
I think we’ll have a better season now that Cabaye is gone although that will only be the case if we see more from the likes of Anita, Marveaux & Ben Arfa.
If on the other hand Pardew prefers to go with Shola, Obertan etc than we’ll probably do worse.
Shola & Obertan do offer us something but we have altrenatives that offer more.
KK(Quote)
*alternatives
KK(Quote)
@aussie
That was another good joke 😆
Keep it up buddy, you’re better at playing the clown on here than i am 😆
KK(Quote)
KK 😉 , you may have sniffed too much lead based paint as a child but you seem like a decent fella! I find you humerous in lieu of any other genuinely funny posters at this hour! 😛
How is Troy going? I have not seen him about of late?
Aussie Magpie Fan(Quote)
Could we not just have accepted 14 million and gave them Marveux and Overton instead of 19 plus add ons
Toby Le Rhone(Quote)
Canny preview, I feel a cheeky win coming the neet
If the links with Grenier are true then at least Carr reads my comments:
richietoon
August 17, 2013 at 09:32
“Watched Lyon last night the young midfielder Grenier looks a canny player, seen him 4 or 5 times now, one to watch methinks” 😉
richietoon(Quote)
Some thoughts…
– First, it sucks to sell our best player.
– He was an integral part of our surprisingly effective and eye-pleasing away from home playing-style (home equivalent still a work-in-progress)
– Very nice player enjoying his most consistent season but he’s a bit overrated and has been since arriving at the club (members of the media who clearly don’t watch the majority of our games have always gushed over him despite flaws)
– This is the right club to sell to – not Prem and unlikely to ever face us in a competitive game (tho it would be cool if we negotiated a cheeky summer friendly as part of the deal, maybe in Asia or the US – ‘bout time we got creative commercially)
– Not disclosing the fee makes sense, if we’re in the market for a replacement and we want to avoid being forced to pay a premium
– Cabaye’s career path will help us continue to attract high-quality French players to the club
– In the era of super clubs (which we’re not part of and are unlikely to ever be) this is a very sensible approach to incremental improvement. Sell player A at his peak, replace with cheaper, younger but equally potentially talented player/s B and/or C. Time will tell if we can pull off the 2nd part of this equation… or if we even want to
M(Quote)
M…Yep agree with that, it would be nice if we could say and we’ll definitely use all the fee to “replace with cheaper, younger but equally potentially talented player” or players 😕
richietoon(Quote)
M @ 49. Good post, mate. I’d agree with all that.
Good to see some reason on here (maybe it’s because you only have one letter in your username instead of two of the same).
Brisvegas(Quote)
M
Yep, people can whine about being a selling club all they want but at the very least we are just following Spurs/everton/arsenal.
Well, that is, IF we spend the money now or in the summer.
solanostrumpet(Quote)
Bris… 😆 Whoever could you mean??
richietoon(Quote)
Aussie try
http://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/en/default/top-teams/basics.html
got to knock us down to £115m with Cabaye gone.
NB all these figures are guesses estimates re in this market who knows?
Premandup(Quote)
Aus
Note the correlation Man Utd excepted between squad value and league position.
Premandup(Quote)
It’s always disappointing to loose one of your better players, but I honestly have no affiliation with any of our current squad to be honest, so for the money we are getting I’m not too arsed.
I think the players in the squad without him are still more than capable of getting at least 5-6 more wins which would be around the top 10 finish Ashley is after.
So I think £20m in the pocket won’t change the ‘right player, right price’ approach at all
Sharpy17(Quote)
I know some people think this is a meaningless stat. Lets hope they are right.
This season so far and last season Cabaye has started 28 games for us and we have accumulated 47 points from those games. That means that without him we have got 30pts from 32 games.
So were that to continue with him we could have finished on 63pts but now he has gone it could be 51. That is the difference he has bought to this team. Is he worth £20m. Yes of course he is. Can we replace him. lets hope so.
Premandup(Quote)
good price for cabs.means **** aal if its not reinvested in new players tho.
hitman(Quote)
Prem,
There are several people saying how “overrated” Cabaye is. Personally, I think he’s underrated.
He contributes in every area of the park.
Direct set pieces, keeping the ball in midfield. Making himself available for the pass, tracking back, getting in hard tackles, long range shots. Good technique from volleys. Excellent distribution from deep.
What more can you ask for from a midfielder in the premier league?
Agree, he is worth 20mil if not more in this inflated market. No hard feelings if he goes.
Will we get a replacement as good? Its possible given that we have that money to spend. But I doubt it.
We should use the money to get a replacement for him that likes to play a more advanced role (no.10). Anita can slip in next to Tiote and play deep.
The rest of the money should be used to tie Remy up to a permanent deal.
If we do that. Which I doubt we will. It’ll be more good business in the transfer market.
JJ(Quote)
Yewh cabs was a top top player in a few games, but there was as many if not more games that he was very poor in.
it was also telling that last season he was vice captain yet after his strop at the start of the season Tiote took over, so fornme we were never going to get the best out of him as his heart was never in it.
As I said I can understand why he wanted away as he has no chance of CL footie with us, and the only chance he had was if we build on the team that finished 5th but then he seen the clubs real ambition.
Big Dave(Quote)
Thanks Prem, that pretty much shows where we are at and why players would chase champions league football.. There is some serious coin on offer if you sign on with anyone in the top 10 to 12
Aussie Magpie Fan(Quote)
Bye Bye Cabaye then, good luck to him. I can’t be sour about it as it’s good coin, just hope it’s used to strengthen the team that’s all. The Scum and Norwich will no doubt be pleased he’s not in the squad to face them. Hope we can get this Grenier lad in ,especially if he’s as good as they say like ,would be a real lift to us all. Not that fussed about De Jong but maybe it will be Grenier and Gomis instead 😕 .Right then Joe and Mike we are waiting 3 days left, tick tock.
KIMTOON(Quote)
With Cabs gone will it effect the lads tonight, lets hope not.
KIMTOON(Quote)
The sale of Kebab to PSG should serve to remind our other players that if they put in some decent performances for us then a dream move to a CL club is always on the cards for them.
What more of an incentive could there be ?
Surely this can only be good news for NUFC.
Expecting to see some outstanding performances from the likes of Benny, Debs, Remy etc.
3 points tonight and our mediocrity in the epl is achieved.
Happy days.
No threat of relegation or progress in any of those pesky cup competitions. Pardew wont have to worry about that dreadful European football either.
Just wonderful.
And still we flock to the ground in our thousands every other week or so.
Its a win win for mike – our saviour.
Beardsleys Boots(Quote)
BB Sarcasm, you? 😆
If it wasn’t for the fact that we have endured so much worse I’d agree with you. Few years of this is OK with me.
Premandup(Quote)
All depends on what is done with the money, and the money, now or in the summer, from Cisse, Obertan (20p), Marveaux, maybe Ben Arfa and a bit of even more fringe movement. Some will go to reduce the debt to Ashley, but if even half of the cash, plus wage room, is spent wisely then that could mean 3-4 genuine first team players which solitude us in the top half.
Mind, we probably need one or two of those signed now, to bed in like Sissoko and Gouff did in the second half of last season.
Gallowgate Terrace West(Quote)
Good call on the Grenier lad Richie – are we serious about signing him tho ? Or is it just more guff from above to keep us all onside.
As for De Jong, looks utterly ***** and out of form, so sounds like a perfect gamble opportunity for Fatty to take on. Provided we can get his price down to rock bottom, the jobs a good ‘en.
Beardsleys Boots(Quote)
Lee Ryder @lee_ryder · 10 hrs
#nufc now light on offensive options with Yoan Gouffran also expected to ruled out through injury tomorrow #ncfc
Expand
KIMTOON(Quote)
Last year a number of games drifted him by and I think most of our players looked to him for inspiration. If he sulked or wandered around others followed suit. Imo we look much more of a team with Tiote as captain, his passion for us, as well as the game, is quite obvious imo. Cabaye was forgiven for getting his head down and working hard and playing well this season, but with him going on strike the way he did it was never going to be the same.
Could be a good move if it means we are forced to find a way to play Benny. I’d still like to see him given a new 2/3 year deal, but we’ll see how it goes for him if he does play in the no.10 for the rest of the season..
Newkie(Quote)
Prem @57 – that’s interesting mate, it kind of backs up what I was thinking when I’m saying the players left are more than capable of 5 wins from the remaining games – that would be exactly the 51 points you’ve suggested without Cabaye.
Based on last season though 51 points would have got us 8th spot, so I reckon 51 points would still be a top half finish. I’m not saying I’M happy with that, but I know of a couple of cockneys who’ll be over the moon with it.
Sharpy17(Quote)
That’s a great predictive text typo – we’re suppose to ‘solidify’ in the top-half, not “solitude” in it…
Gallowgate Terrace West(Quote)
**** Goofy is out? He played well against them last time out. Remy out wide, Cisse up top? Or Sammy out wide?
Please don’t be obertan…
Newkie(Quote)
Newkie, yep, think we’ll miss him, see a loss tonight mate 🙁
KIMTOON(Quote)
Kim-could go either way. I think Hooters is always keen to try and get one over on us but he’s not had much success so far. Some elements of the squad will be gutted (Debuchy) but hopefully the rest can respond. It is a big chance for whoever comes in for Cabaye, they have to know that and honestly I think Ben Arfa would worry Norwich’s defenders a lot more than Cabaye would. They don’t like direct, technical players.
Newkie(Quote)
I thought honest-Kinnear said nobody would leave in Jan 😆
Stick Marv in the middle to pull the strings alongside sissoko, Anita and tiote. I’m sure we still have enough bite without Cabs. we just need someone who can create.
mark(Quote)