Siem signs on!

toonsy

A better de Jong?
A better de Jong?
I had almost finished writing an article late last night when news broke which meant I had to pretty much bin the whole thing.

Never mind. I’ve had a nice couple of weeks in Turkey enjoying the culture (Efes, Raki, Quad Bikes etc) so don’t mind starting again.

Anyway the subject of the planned article was that basically that during all the time I’ve been away stationed in some mountains somewhere not too far from Syria, in a land forgotten by the internet, that nothing has changed.

Less than 12 hours after my return, and no more than five minutes before publishing a fresh article which you’ve no doubt been waiting for, there has been a change and we’ve managed to sign former Ajax captain Siem de Jong.

The 25-year-old has signed a six-year contract with the club for an undisclosed fee believed to be in the region of £6m-£7.5m – a reduction on the £15 million Ajax were looking for last summer, presumably as the Dutch club fear losing him for nothing when his contract expires in the summer.

Born in Switzerland to Dutch parents, de Jong has represented Holland at every level and currently has six full international caps with two goals to his name. During is time at Ajax he racked up 244 appearances in all competitions over seven seasons, scoring 78 goals operating mainly as an attacking midfielder with occasional stints as a striker when required. Here is a video of him in action.

The lad has shown class in the Dutch league but only time will tell if he can replicate that in what is a much tougher league. Maybe I’m just being overly cautious after the failed loan spell his brother Luuk had with us last season? I don’t know. I’d be ecstatic if it worked out though.

This is now our third summer signing following the arrivals of Jack Colback and Ayoze Perez earlier on the summer, but more still needs to be done if we are to have a squad anywhere near ready for the new season which is now approximately seven weeks away.

Maybe this is just the start of that process?

About toonsy

A lifelong Newcastle fan and current webmaster of this very 'blog who has the sole aim of creating a place by Newcastle United fans, for Newcastle United fans.

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1,107 thoughts on “Siem signs on!”

  1. GEORGIO

    You know what I mean… 🙂

    All the same style…and we couldn’t get Giroud or Lambert now anyway. I’d be delighted with a Heskey style player to be honest. I think we’ll have a lot more potential goalscorers this season.

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  2. KIM

    Lots of players started in different positions as a youngster. I seem to recall Howey was a striker, Henry was a winger and Barry was a LB.

    Leave him be in his best position and sign a proper right back.

    It’s almost as if some fans can’t get their heads around a right footed left back.

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  3. Kim

    If it was a loan i cant see Everton offering much more than 60/40 wages. If we offered his wages in full, Chelsea would surely accept our offer and knock back theirs 😉

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  4. Deffo real RB, and that seems to be the plan. Santon is out of pre-season training anyway, so this is Haidara’s chance.

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  5. I have never been convinced on Santon defensively tbh , prefer Haidara .

    CC, I was thinking less about wages and more about a desire to return like.

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  6. I think i would only want Ba on loan. He would be a good option for the short term (this season). I think it would be a waste of money to buy him outright again.

    GTE

    I think we will know in a few days, if the Janmaat rumours are true.

    Just looking at some other fan sites. They are still talking about the Carroll money to be spent lmao and £94 million surplus Things like that remind me why i always thought this was the most sensible nufc site 😆 😆

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  7. SANTII

    I got sick of the .com site. Full of below average intelligence fans who fancy themselves as master accountants, businessmen and managers…

    We’re all entitled to opinions, that’s the beauty of sports fans, but it gets my goat when people spout ‘facts’ based on pure ignorance and stupidity. Not seen much of it on this blog and don’t think any from any regular posters…

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  8. KIM

    I don’t think we’ve seen enough have of Santon be convinced he should be our number one left back. He was also injured a fair bit last season.

    Looks like he’ll have his chance to establish himself now though. For competition’s sake, I hope he takes it and pushes Santon to up his own game. No great choices at RB really…happy with Raylor, Saylor, MYM or Anita as backups but not regularly…

    Cabella, RB and big lad striker please!

    Centre back will rely on one of the 4 leaving…

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  9. TDS

    “master accountants, businessmen and managers”

    plenty of that on here as well (me included sometimes 😳 ) but at least you can make sense of what someone is saying here even if you don’t agree.

    Seems facts don’t matter in other places though. 😆

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  10. I’d be fine with this Rivière guy plus Ba on loan.

    Ba
    Cabella De Jong Sissoko
    Colback Tiote
    Hediera Collo Willo Janmaat
    Krul

    Subs: Eliot, Rivière, Gouffron, Anita, Ben Arfa, Staylor, Santon

    That a pretty solid team right there. Cabella could play the middle if DeJong ‘s ever out, Gouffron and Ben Arfa could back up the wings and Anita, Bigi, Abeid can provide depth in MF.

    Looking at that lineup really shows how badly we need a top forward. Could also probably use another attack minded winger

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  11. SANTII

    Well said. We all overstep that line of opinion and fact from time to time, me included. The difference is that reasonable people don’t keep forcing their opinion down other peoples’ throats as facts…

    Mostly good debate on here. Good fun!

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  14. For me haidara is already our no.1 left back, we’ve needed rb cover for a while so be interesting to see what they do

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  15. I tend to agree with that, Newkie, about Haidara – I wonder if we might try the Dutch 3 CBs and Santon / Janmaat wing-backs, however?

    As for RB cover, I imagine that’s Raylor…

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  20. I have to say… Thiago Silva has never overly impressed me when I’ve seen him and I’ve seen him a fair few times watching Ligue 1 on BT. He is held as the world’s best centre back for what reason? Barton was right when he called him an over-rated lady boy, lol.

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  22. Cant even be arsed too watch the game it hurt watching Holland loose on penalties nearly as much as it hurts when the Toon lose but weirdly for some reason it did not bother me when England went out and i am English and proud Geordie

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  23. Axel I think you’re assimilated man:)

    Though I’m sure if England went out in penalties in the semis you’d have been gutted. Expectations thing

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  26. ITV just listed Janmaat, who is coming on, as our Debuchy replacement so I guess there are legs to it if they are saying in on air.

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  33. Here they are saying that Feyenoord have refused our offer for Janmaat and we will have too up the bid a fair bit . They are talking about 9 million (euros) too wrap the deal up .

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  34. Axel, Funny enough I just read in the mirror they are looking for at least £7m apparently.

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  36. Axel, How much is left on his contract, do you know?, I know they are trying to get him to sign a contract extension, so I’m guessing it’s up next summer ❓ If so then £7m is a tad rich .

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  38. KIMTOON he has 1 year left but for 9 million euros or 7 million quid i would hope we seal the deal . He is worth much more ,the lad reminds me a bit of Stuart Pearce he is every bit as strong and as hard in the tackle ,but has more technical ability than pearce ever had .

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  39. We don’t have the wiggle room of other players in that position. Outside of Raylor, who is back from two years major injury, we have Anita and Jonas who can cover and I guess Saylor. It isn’t like other times we’ve played the waiting game on prices – we need a RB.

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  40. Obviously players into the last year of their contract often go cheaper but for me it doesn’t matter at all, we need a RB now not in 1 year or 2 years.
    Is the player worth what they are asking? yep he is (imo) would he be a better player if he had 5 years of his contract left? nope he wouldn’t, so get the fecker bought and then get the striker situation sorted out.

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  41. Axel@863, Thanks for reply, sorry I’m late getting back to you, was busy with the lad late last night. Well if he is worth more then we should get him in, we are desperate for a RB and at the end of the day £7m isn’t out the way for quality. From the little I have seen of him he does look good and I hope we can get him . I see the odds have been slashed on him coming in which is good news hopefully.

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  43. Agree with all of that Kim. Pardew messed the guy about big time. You’d think by now he’d realise it takes time and games to adjust to the PL. Apart from all of his other faults he’s too knee **** when things go wrong. Trust is needed.

    I really like Janmaat and what you get from the dutch is football intelligence. Heard an interview with Davids the other night and he talked about this. Dutch players will question the manager, even Van Gaal. If he asks them to do something different they want to know why and the manager has to explain. Pardew will probably forget what he asked them to do.

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  44. and yeah we’ll definitely need another CB. Always needed a replacement for Willo. For 4 years now!

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  45. Georgio…That’s the only silver lining with Mbiwa “allegedly” going(sad to see if true). They were never going to buy another CB whilst we had the four “experienced” ones on the books, no team was going to buy Colo and match his wages and no one was going to buy Willo and Saylor because…well because it’s Willo and Saylor. Hopefully we’ll get a decent CB as a first 11 starter.

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  46. Hopefully Richie, hopefully. Still don’t trust the buggers to do the right thing ever 🙁

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  47. Kim – I agree that he has potential and hasn’t been given time to fulfil it.
    What’s wierd is that we spent alot of money getting him in (for us anyway), and went through the drama of transfer requests and pissing Montpellier off.
    But that said, if Pardew knows he isn’t gonna play him, then we’re right to sell him. We have too many players who still have plenty of football in them, but are stagnant in our squad at the moment.
    If Mapou goes then we definately need to replace him too. I think Good, Satka and Street have loads of potential and at least 1 will come through. But it’s still early for them yet, and I think we should loan someone in next season to allow those 3 to develop a bit more then see how things stand next summer.

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  48. Georgio – how is Mapou not settling in Pardews fault?!. He hasn’t been convincing when played and football is about confidence. If Pardew gave him that first team game time and he kept fucking up, what’s that gonna do to his confidence?!. Also, we assume this is purely down to football, but it may be that he’s struggled with the language or culture change. These things happen and it’s better we allow him to leave so that he can progress his career and so that we aren’t ‘flogging a dead horse’ for want of a better phrase.
    Get Janmaat in and try and maybe loan Micah Richards with an agreed fee if we choose to buy him if the loan goes well. He’s a bit injury prone so a loan move would allow us to properly look at him. Colo and Richards at the heart of the defence with Janmaat and Haidara either side would do for me like.

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  49. Appears most contributors on here are ecstatic over one decent signing, the others being no more than squad players or “for the future”.
    Talking bout Cabella.
    Rumour has it that Jamaat & Riviera may be on their way (neither a household name and from their reported value, certainly not in the class of those being bought by BIG CLUBS)
    Possibly good enough to keep the club (mid table mediocrity) in the PL,but going nowhere.
    While the Liverpool, the Manchester & London sides are breaking the bank in terms of spending, our guy is still shopping in the bargain basement, quelle surprise!
    But it makes little difference who we buy, as we are screwed as long as we depend on Pardew to miss-manage the side.
    When one thinks of the decent managers we could have signed, Pochetinno, any number of Dutch managers,Martinez, hell just about anyone.
    I don’t get it? Ashley is a smart guy and obviously see’s what the problem is, well actually he’s got what he needs, a suck-*** who does as he’s told and untill he threatens the club with relegation, I guess his job is safe, plus he comes cheap.
    So that’s it, the plan, another season dedicated to reaching the heights of mid table mediocrity, thanks Mike.

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  50. The thing is Mapou played well along side Willo when Colo went absent injured and all the talk was of him going back to Argentina . People seem to have forgotten that and when colo came back and was put straight back into the side our form started too dip ,no wonder Mapou wants out .Its a crying shame ,he would of been brilliant in a back 3 with 2 wing backs all we needed was another quick Cb with colo and Mapou . Debuchy and Santon bombing down the flanks .Tiote and Sissoko holding the midfield and HBA playing 10 .Still we have Dejong now and if we get Janmaat in we could still play that way if only Pards had the tactical skills to come up with such plans .

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  51. Seems the Newcastle blogs have deteriorated some over the last few years and can understand why.
    Certainly many fans have become dissolusioned with the way the club has been run.
    The St James’ Park fiasco, WONGA, the lack of success, Pardew, a lack of spending, the understanding that Ashley is only interested in using the side as both an advertising board for SD, it being (the club)no more than an adjunct and money maker for his real business SD.
    Soh ! Untill he eventually sells up, those of this great clubs fan base can expect to be subjected to more of the same.
    That is unless like a number of fans who have cancelled their season tickets, being they are both tired of Ashley’s attitude and the way he is running the club, believing a reduction in attendance would get his attention and possibly a change of direction, which in fact may be the way to go, let’s see ?
    As for the other blogs, I see where Ed has reduced his former mega-blogging to a human scale, as has this particular blog, both loosing many former contributors.
    However Worky’s .org is now down to himself and one contributor who bore the **** out of each other, having nothing better to do sad really.
    ,

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  52. At least there’s debate, and not just ranting, on this blog – no-one suggest that Ashley has any real ambition for the club, but there are those who think he’ll have us in relegation fights and those who think he intends top-10 stability, those who think Pardew’s an utter fool, those who think he’s ok for that limited ambition. I like that crack, meself.

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  53. Without slagging MYM as i like the lad and i want him to stay (I hope his wage demands scupper the deal) Im really not into this guff about his career being ruined by playing full back. He played there for Montpellier and France.

    Aaron Hughes, Perch, Stevie Watson, Robbie Elliott, Venison, Ando off the top of my head all alternated between full back and centre back without us berating managers for ruining their careers.

    I will blame Pardew for dropping him after the Chelsea/Spurs matches as hed earned the right to have run in the team

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  54. Hi Chuck, welcome back.

    If he does sell where are we going to get someone who is prepared to spend the hundreds of millions needed to compete on a level playing field with 5 other clubs in order to chase the top 4 spots. Bearing in mind that anybody who did do that would be barred from playing in Europe given the FFP rules.

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  55. Axel – yeah the truth is that we have 4 senior CBs and none of them are particularly solid and dependable. Mapou seems to be the fall guy or scapegoat, but I think that’s probably because he holds the most value of the 4 just now. I’d rather get rid of Saylor personally, but I’m not sure there would be the interest in Saylor that there is in Mapou.
    Colo and Willo probably have 1 or 2 seasons left in them so hopefully Good and Satka will be there natural replacements. But I think we desperately need a Mr Dependable at the back who will communicate and keep the back line organised.
    I don’t know if City would consider a loan move, but I’d like Richards in that CB position rather than RB.

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  56. Chuck – there is absolutely no point in comparing our signings to the top 5-6 clubs in the PL. The difference in spending power is worlds apart.
    For years Arsenal sold their better players to balance the books to help pay for their new stadium. Chelsea have in the last 2 windows brought more money into the club than they have spent. Spurs have built on selling players – Berbatov, Keane, Modric, Bale for example – well reinvested but no success from it and lost count of the managers now. The Manchester clubs are in huge debt. Our club could be ran so much better, I’ve said mean times and earlier in this article as well how I think we could and should improve. But equally, I don’t think it’s all that bad.
    As for this blog. There is a good variation of views on here from people of all ages and from across the global. But things are generally well discussed, with little rant or petty name calling ****. I’ve been posting on here a while now and enjoy the banter and various views. It’s well ran by Toonsy and has a number of people who write well balanced articles – best toon blog IMO.

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  57. SHARPY17 agree ie Richards , he would be the ideal signing for us but i think the wages ill be the problem and the fact that he loves Man City FC . even though he is not getting played the lad by all accounts is sky blue through and through . Richards , Colo ,Mapou as a back three would be good Colo’s lack of pace would be covered by the other 2 and colo could play from the back . Would make us a more attacking team with hopefully Janmaat and Santon/Haidara providing width Cabella the10 Dejong and Riviere upfront then a choice between Tiote ,Sissoko ,Colback holding the midfield for me it would be Sissoko,Colback both are more box to box than Tiote . Trouble is our manager is just not attack minded .

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  58. SHARPY you sum this Blog up well mate , its by far the best NUFC Blog with no idiots on it just loads of differing opinions and thats how it should be .

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  59. Eric Dier from Sporting lisbon is the lad they want to replace MYM allegedly, Haggling over the fee

    Would like to see this lad here; very gifted, young and some english players wouldnt go amiss tbh.

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  60. Prem

    Imagine using logic to win an argument. GET OUT!!!!

    Good post Sharpy

    Can’t believe the MYM story. If there is any truth in it i would be gobsmacked.

    CC

    I am pretty sure he has a release clause as well. I dont how good he is but i have heard a good bit about him. Probably because he is one of the few Englishman who have played abroad his whole life (i think)

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  61. CC just been reading about him its a wiered one this .Born in Cheltenham come through the youth ranks at Sporting Lisbon and played for England at Various youth levels . Been on loan at Everton but did not make the first team , it seems if he came its probably another signing for the Future and not a straight first teamer . Would as you say be good too have another English signing though .

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  62. Sporting lisbon apparantly have financial problems so they are probably hoping to get a million or so knocked off by paying up front.

    Reported £5m fee

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  63. Any CB coming in as an Mbiwa replacement is starting as 4th at most 3 rd choice – so he fits the profile.

    Anyone else got anything on rumours that Feyenoord have accepted bid for Janmaat?

    Getting to be all about the striker(s)

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  65. Lee Ryder @lee_ryder · 44m

    Newcastle United hope to tie deal up for Remy Cabella in next 48 hours http://bit.ly/1tDHNJN #NUFC

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    Lee Ryder @lee_ryder · 47m

    Cabella on Tyneside for medical today http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/newcastle-united-hope-tie-deal-7414580 …? #nufc

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    Lee Ryder @lee_ryder · 53m

    Cabella understood to be undergoing medical this afternoon with #nufc

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    Lee Ryder @lee_ryder · 4h

    #nufc working hard on three deals at the moment. Cabella from Montpellier could be tied up today and announced later or tomorrow.

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  66. Sharpy@872, I thought he did well in Colo’s absence and it was a shame he was dropped on his return. Maybe he hasn’t settled to the culture or just doesn’t like not being first choice or played at FB 😕 who knows. I would like to know the reasons behind the sell though, you can see he has potential given time and games so it’s odd if true. Colo took a while to adapt so I don’t see what the difference is if it’s a case of that.

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  67. TOONDARNSARF
    July 12, 2014 at 17:41
    SANTII
    I got sick of the .com site. Full of below average intelligence fans who fancy themselves as master accountants, businessmen and managers…
    We’re all entitled to opinions, that’s the beauty of sports fans, but it gets my goat when people spout ‘facts’ based on pure ignorance and stupidity. Not seen much of it on this blog and don’t think any from any regular posters…

    That’s not nice Tds.
    We all missed you on there, and now you’ve gone and ruined it.
    We won’t be buying you back. You can stay here with Geordietwo. Harummph

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  68. Kim – I don’t mean to sound nasty, but I’m not really bothered about Mapou. He isn’t ***** but I just haven’t taken to him to be honest. I think maybe because he was who we spent the money on that Jan I had higher expectations and he hasn’t really delivered. I’m a bit ‘if he stays he stays, if he goes he goes’ – so long as we replace him I don’t mind. Like I say I’d rather it was Saylor, but Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da.

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  69. For me Colback was Gosling’s replacement.

    Siem de Jong is Cabaye’s replacement.

    Ayoze Perez is Luuk de Jong’s replacement.

    Cabella has been bought as Ben Arfa’s replacement.

    We still need to replace Loic Remy, Debuchy, Mbiwa and Shola.

    Janmaat may be Debuchy’s replacement if signed.

    But at the moment, we are four players short of last season and we didn’t have enough quality then…

    So despite the shock at us having made some good signings. We still have a long way to go (four MORE signings) before I think we have a squad capable of challenging the top six.

    Assuming of course Pardew pulls his finger out and finally gets the best out of the players he has at his disposal.

    Unfortunately, I don’t see us making four more quality signings, so as usual we’ll be a couple top signings short.

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  70. Saylor taking a lot of abuse. He’s no worse than Willo defensively.

    He’s better with his distribution, better in the air and more of threat from set pieces. Hardly the pathetic player people make him out to be. He’s just not the home grown star people wanted him to be.

    Good squad player IMO.

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  71. Would be sorry to see Mbiwa go as i believe as others have said that he has some quality and would be a good deputy for Collo or have a role in a back 3 with 2 wing backs (a formation I like a lot with our personnel)

    That said I think they like a few of the CBs in the youth ranks and probably don’t want to pay a 4th CB the wages they are paying Mbiwa.

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  74. Agree with the comments on the blog. There’s probably 1520 or so regulars whose opinions I value and it stays respectful when disagreements arise. There’s 2-3 others whose recent absence from here has made the blog a much better place IMO

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  75. Kim that’s the thing had he been given a long run at CB I think he could have been a good one but Pards seems to rate others more. And that’s fair enough as I’m not at training or analyzing things as closely as he hopefully is

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