Damaged Villa no pushover

Saturday sees Newcastle face Aston Villa in a crucial Premiership survival contest at the very ground which saw the Magpies related from the top flight in 2010.

Many will be expecting a relatively straight forward victory for Newcastle considering their recent form and the fact that Villa have been so poor this season. Rafa Benitez though, is far too experienced to assume that three invaluable points will be gift-wrapped and offered up for Newcastle to gleefully accept and take back to Tyneside.

Villa’s predicament means that they simply have nothing to lose. Already relegated with the crowd fully focussed on venting frustration at their ownership, the players have the freedom to perform without expectation. In fact, they are expected to lose. It is a bizarre situation that Newcastle will have to handle with defiant determination and controlled professionalism. Benitez is just the man for that kind of proposition and he has let his side know exactly what he expects of them.

Benitez will be prepared for the task at hand, make no mistake. Janmaat is available again at right back but is no longer a certain starter following the form of Anita who could well keep his place in the side. He may well field an unchanged side, which Rafa rarely did at Liverpool and Chelsea but he seems to see the value of consistency when results have gone so well in a relegation fight. The time for rotation and experimentation is not exactly now. Rafa must go with what he trusts. That is one of the reasons why it wasn’t exactly a shock to see Obertan and Marveaux leave the party early. With absolutely no chance of involvement in the final two fixtures, the French flops were given the opportunity to seek employment elsewhere.

If Newcastle are to survive, a victory is essential. The noises coming out of the squad are so much more positive than earlier in the season. The players seem to be united at last and there is a sense of togetherness that has been so dearly lacking for a number of seasons. The fans are up for it too with a considerable upturn in performances allowing fans to dream of a survival which seemed so unlikely five games ago.

Wins for Chelsea and Man United would certainly help ease the nerves too, but first and foremost, Newcastle must do the business at Villa.

In Rafa we trust!

513 thoughts on “Damaged Villa no pushover

  1. Thanks Kim – sounds about right for NUFC 😆

    Yup, relegation will smash us and honestly I think we will be lucky to hold onto the players we actually want to stay – any team would be mad to pass up Mbemba and Ayoze for a couple of mil. Our scouting system is backward and our coaching system even worse, Armstrong is about the only hope we have of a player who could step up next season. It will be nice to see a local lad banging in the goals for us again, but I doubt we can expect to win as often and as easily as we did hunder Hoots, the Championship has become a much tougher division since then. If we don’t come right back up we’re done, and even if we do Ashley is going to want that money brought back and will return to his frugal ways, which will lead us nicely to eternal relegation battlers.

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  2. That’s the big fear, Newkie. Until we get a new owner who is hell bent on Newcastle becoming a winning club we might as well all stop going.

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  3. Stuart79:
    That’s the big fear, Newkie.Until we get a new owner who is hell bent on Newcastle becoming a winning club we might as well all stop going.

    Ding ding, we have a winner.

    Why do people still go? Honestly?

    Go to the Tottenham game and give it a go for Rafa to try and keep him with us somehow but after that?

    Never go again. Let them all rot.

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  4. Players like Mitro, Gini, Perez and even the likes of Thauvin all have talent but they should be bit part players until they are use to the PL and shouldn’t be automatic first choices. I just hope whatever happens the regime learn that teams need to be full of a mix of experience and youth and if a player comes along that will cost £12m aged 30 that will give something to the team in for a couple of years then we shlould sign them. The money should be made by being in the PL, winning things and climbing higher and higher up the league, not by selling players.

    Look where that has got us.

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  5. Stuart

    You’re not worried about losing our best players but your biggest concern is losing our best players? Eh?

    Of course we have some good players! Just been shocking management mostly and not always signing the right players.

    As for Hoots…sure he’s done well for Brighton but that’s his level. What’s the point in going after him again, when we know he’s not good enough to manage in the PL?

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  6. TDS – My comment about losing our best players is regards to what has happened over the last 5 years when we have had to sell our best players just to keep the club breaking even and that repeating itself if we came straight back up. It wasn’t a comment based on todays squad.

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  7. Stuart

    You’re really talking rubbish today…you really don’t understand how football clubs are run, do you?

    Regarding the mix of youth and experience, every time an older player has a dip in form, loads of fans are on his back saying he’s finished! Perez has barely done anything for us this season (he’s not a kid anymore – he’s 22) but fans are still behind him, Colo has been playing in a disorganised team for years and he’s been written off time and time again. We have plenty of PL experience and we need to use it well. Shelvey was brought in with PL experience and has done very little.

    We actually have a good squad and with good management, we’d do alright. But with bad management and with players terrified and with no confidence, we’re shocking. Compare our squad to what we thought of Leicesters 12 months ago…

    I made the point about Taylor v Morgan a few days ago. If we signed a 28 years old central defender from the Championship for £1m, many fans would never give him a chance and would slag off the owners for being cheapskates. Yet, that’s what Morgan cost! I don’t think he’s an amazing player either, I just think Leicester have great teamwork.

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  8. Stuart, you wrote, “I am not too sure we need to worry about losing our best players. Relegated teams usually have very few good players in fairness. ”

    And then, “My biggest concern would be how far behind every other club we will be even if we went straight back up. Would we have to go through the whole selling our best players”

    Are you suggesting that we’ll have better players in 12 months time than now? Not very likely.

    As for selling our best players, be realistic! Who actually left? Carroll for mega money, Cabaye for PSG and CL football, Ba for CL football because of a release clause, Enrique for CL football, Debuchy for CL football…not one of those have been excellent since we sold them. Every one of them (except for Carroll) wanted to leave for CL football. It’s not like the fire sale than Leeds had!

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  9. Thanks for the glowing reference, TDS. I won’t remind you of the ridiculousness of your comments over the past season. I think I remember you being nearly right on one occasion but after that – complete and utter mind boggling comments which this season has basically made you look more of a mug.

    anyway something for you to get to grips with. Since we got promoted we have bought 40 players. Only 7 of them had played PL football previously. I am not sure how that fits in with your way of running a football club, but it wouldn’t be mine.

    But then again, you are somebody who was very happy Colo signed an extension and didn’t think we need another defnder or striker. The mind boggles!!!

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  10. ToonDarnSarf:
    Stuart, you wrote, “I am not too sure we need to worry about losing our best players. Relegated teams usually have very few good players in fairness. ”

    And then, “My biggest concern would be how far behind every other club we will be even if we went straight back up. Would we have to go through the whole selling our best players”

    Are you suggesting that we’ll have better players in 12 months time than now? Not very likely.

    As for selling our best players, be realistic! Who actually left? Carroll for mega money, Cabaye for PSG and CL football, Ba for CL football because of a release clause, Enrique for CL football, Debuchy for CL football…not one of those have been excellent since we sold them. Every one of them (except for Carroll) wanted to leavefor CL football. It’s not like the fire sale than Leeds had!

    No I am not suggesting we will have better players this time next year. If you could follow my logic (hard for you I know) I am talking about the whole 5 years cycle which we have had to sell to buy.

    Where do you think we would be now if we hadn’t have sold, Carroll, Ba, Cabaye, Debuchy or Enrique? Forget about what they did when they left, they were all excellant players for us and we suffered when they left. We still haven’t actually replaced any of them sufficently.

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  11. Stuart

    Why do you constantly twist facts to suit your own agenda? If you’re going to comment on what I thought in the past, at least get it right. I said that once McClaren confirmed Colo as captain and he signed an extension, plus he publicly endorsed Tayls and then they signed Mbemba, plus we had Lascelles, then there was no way we would sign another first team defender. One sure way of totally destroying a team’s trust in the manager is to say all of that and then undermine the squad by signing someone else.

    Similar with a striker, I said it depends on what formation they want to play. With Cisse, Mitrovic and Perez, plus Riviere, SDJ and Armstrong, that’s a lot of strikers. With Mitrovic just being signed and McClaren not having a good look a the others, I said I didn’t think we’d sign another striker until January either.

    In both instances I was 100% correct! Of course I’d like to see us sign top players, but the manager also needs to protect squad unity and spirit. However, I didn’t rate the McLaren appointment from day one…again, I was proven right and not only did we not sign top players but he damaged squad unity and gave them no confidence.

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  12. TDS, I never said go for Hoots, just that he’s doing a fine job down there. It does bust the myth that it wasn’t him that made us a success in the fizzy but the players though. As you say it’s possibly his level but he never really got to stay and prove his worth. Was Pards, JFK and tufty really any better? Has Rafa (a good coach) really got the best out of this squad, not really though I agree he’s had no time.

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  13. Stuart

    We basically sold all of those players at their peak and all of them (except for Carroll) were demanding a move! Look at all of the players that Southampton lost when they demanded CL football.

    It gets my goat when ‘fans’ are slagging off our club for things that every other club does too. Even Arsenal and Man Utd have sold players at their peak because they demanded moves or the money was too good. I can think of Ronaldo, Henry, Sagna, Fabregas, Kolo Toure, Pogba all gone for financial reasons or because the player demanded it.

    The crucial thing is that it takes years to build the correct infrastructure within the club and someone has to guide that. The only one man I would trust to build a legacy at this club right now is the one man who has a clause to leave after the next game when we get relegated…

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  14. Colo’s contract should never of been extended, the guy has no pace left and the fact we could of flogged him to Palace makes it all the stranger. Also if he’s captain material I’m a monkey.

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  15. Kim

    Brighton have been knocking on the door for years with a good squad. They got a new ground a few years ago too, I believe, so they’ve had higher matchday revenues. But yeah, Hoots doing a good job there at least. No good group of players gets promoted with a **** manager, he deserves plenty of credit for what he did for us. JFK? Complete joke of course. Pards? Better than Hoots imo, but full of **** in the press conferences and that never appeals to Geordies. Tufty? Wrong appointment from the beginning and blew it at Derby.

    Rafa would need a lot more time to get the most out of this squad. Sadly, he’s not going to get it. The only thing we can realistically hope for is that we get an up and coming manager who can grow very quickly, take us back into the PL and take to it like a duck to water. Or maybe we’ll end up with someone who has already failed higher up like Moyes or Rodgers?

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  16. TDS, Yes players ask to leave but we actively sell the club as a stepping stone to entice them here in the first place. How does that build team spirit when you know you can side step when the going gets tough because, **** it I’m off if we drop anyway. It’s exactly the same with Villa too, zero love for the club by most of the players and we both have owners who don’t give a **** about the club and fans.

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  17. ToonDarnSarf:
    Stuart

    We basically sold all of those players at their peak and all of them (except for Carroll) were demanding a move! Look at all of the players that Southampton lost when they demanded CL football.

    It gets my goat when ‘fans’ are slagging off our club for things that every other club does too. Even Arsenal and Man Utd have sold players at their peak because they demanded moves or the money was too good. I can think of Ronaldo, Henry, Sagna, Fabregas, Kolo Toure, Pogba all gone for financial reasons or because the player demanded it.

    The crucial thing is that it takes years to build the correct infrastructure within the club and someone has to guide that. The only one man I would trust to build a legacy at this club right now is the one man who has a clause to leave after the next game when we get relegated…

    No, no, no, no and no!

    Do not compare us with Southampton or any other PL club! They sold players and replaced them. We haven’t replaced any of the players we sold.

    More stupidity from your fingers… Please think before posting.

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  18. Kim

    Problem with our defence last summer, is that we needed someone with PL experience and who really understood the club there. Tayls would have been a better option if he could only stay fit and stop doing rash things. But I think that’s why he got the extension. For continuity. What SHOULD have happened is that they should have signed his potential replacement the PREVIOUS SUMMER. But Colo still hasn’t stood out as our worst player. There have been several candidates there and they’re not all bad players.

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  19. ToonDarnSarf:
    Kim

    Brighton have been knocking on the door for years with a good squad. They got a new ground a few years ago too, I believe, so they’ve had higher matchday revenues. But yeah, Hoots doing a good job there at least. No good group of players gets promoted with a **** manager, he deserves plenty of credit for what he did for us. JFK? Complete joke of course. Pards? Better than Hoots imo, but full of **** in the press conferences and that never appeals to Geordies. Tufty? Wrong appointment from the beginning and blew it at Derby.

    Rafa would need a lot more time to get the most out of this squad. Sadly, he’s not going to get it. The only thing we can realistically hope for is that we get an up and coming manager who can grow very quickly, take us back into the PL and take to it like a duck to water. Or maybe we’ll end up with someone who has already failed higher up like Moyes or Rodgers?

    Brighton were in danger of being relegated before Hughton got the job last season after Hypia. Hardly knocking on the door…

    One last go to see if you can get something correct…

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  20. Stu, Agree mate, we never replace but sign inexperienced profit making youngsters. one or two max should be in the side with the rest proven quality, we are always unbalanced to me, and it stinks of profit before on field success.

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  21. Kim, that’s exactly what it is. Pardew said exactly that. He said the club bought players for the benefit of the club not the squad. That really is a sad indictment of the regime. How is it possible to achieve anything but relegation running a club like that?

    Modern day Wimbledon.

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  22. Stuart

    Of course we replaced them! Sadly, just not right away in all cases. But in some cases (Carroll), there was no time to replace him. No doubt there have been **** ups in the transfer stakes, but please stop making out that we were constantly selling players to balance the books. We sold players because they demanded to leave.

    And don’t forget, when Southampton sold all their players, most people said that they hadn’t properly replaced them and they were relegation favourites. Better transfer policy and management from us would have seen other players step in and do the job. They failed.

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  23. TDS
    But I think that’s why he got the extension. For continuity

    😆 Yes mate to keep us continually ****

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  24. Stuart

    And the 3 seasons before Hoots took over? 10th, 4th, 6th. Like I say, knocking on the door for years.

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  25. Have we replaced them players with players as good? Who did we bring in to replace them?

    Forget this bullshit about letting players go becasue they want to. Utter garbage. Everton didn’t let Stones or Baines leave and WBA didn’t let Berahino leave.

    We sold them to balance the books and provide funds to purchase inferior players.

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  26. We have had 4 years to replace Carroll and Enrique, 2 and half to replace Cabaye and Ba and 2 years to replace Debuchy. How long will you allow them to replace them? Maybe wait until we go down?

    Our tranfsfer policy is flawed beyond belief but I am not surprised you’re defending it though.

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  27. You’re only as good as your best striker. Mitro will do well with some champ footie behind him, but Cisse has been a lost cause for years, surprised Benitez doesn’t realise it but then why would he have been watching NUFC play in that time, he’d never actually expect to have the problem.

    Defoe is a hell of a lot better, and he’s basically saved their bacon on his own.

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  28. I think we’ve seen several successful models for a football club over the year, so I can see what they’ve tried to do at our club. But I can also see how they’ve executed the plans absolutely terribly. Keeping Colo might have been the lesser of two evils, but we should never have been in that position. Colo, Tayls, Willo, Lascelles and Dummett is not central defensive options of a club wanting a top 8 finish…

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  29. Stuart

    It’s comments like that which really make you sound silly. How the hell do you expect us to sell players good enough for a CL club and replace them with a player as good? When that happens, it’s extremely rare and very lucky!

    As you well know, all of those players have been replaced in the squad.

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  30. Newkie

    The only reasons I can think of that Rafa has been playing Cisse is that Mitrovic isn’t fit enough to play 90mins, so he brings him on when the opposition tires, and/or he doesn’t trust him to stay on the pitch for 90 mins.

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  31. ToonDarnSarf:
    Stuart

    It’s comments like that which really make you sound silly. How the hell do you expect us to sell players good enough for a CL club and replace them with a player as good? When that happens, it’s extremely rare and very lucky!

    As you well know, all of those players have been replaced in the squad.

    I am not sure you’re understanding. We have not replaced the players with adequate quality. That means we have got worse as a team. If it is rare to replace players you sell with players as good then don’t sell them. The risk is too high we will go backwards and that is exactly what happened. How can you not grasp that?

    I’d also like to pull you up on your view that the players we sold were good enough for the Champions League. How many went on to play regular Champions League games? How many are still at the clubs they left us for? None is the answer and that’s why we were stupid to sell them all. Only Carroll was thought to be good business but in hindsight I am not even sure that was.

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  32. Although on the basis we stayed in the PL for 4 years after selling Carroll maybe it was good business. God knows where we would be without getting that money in.

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  33. Stuart

    You don’t think £35m for Carroll was good business???? Ok, on that note, I’m just going to give up on this conversation and crack on with work…

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  34. TDS – Maybe the “not trusting” bit, but surely play him until he picks up a yellow. He was really daft for one match this season, other than that he’s not really been that bad – and actually he’s had cbs leave their foot in on him and he has acted really well and calmly. Cisse’s spat in someone’s face before “for revenge” so not really sure he can be trusted 100% either.

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  35. To be honest, Newkie, I am not too sure Rafa fancies Mitro. Or De Jong, Shelvey, Colo and certainly not Saviet.

    Reckon a season the Fizzy will do Mitro, Perez and Thauvin some good. Bit like it helped Colo, Jonas and Enrique.

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  36. Stu – yeah, Perez is a real odd one. Schteve obviously did a “Pardew” on him – because he was quality under…Pardew, and even Carver. This season he’s just not been the same. Thauvin, well, fingers crossed. He doesn’t seem to be much of a fighter though, all the players you mentioned had some bite in them, but Thauvin worries me.

    He should be able to tie the players in a few knots so here’s hoping he gains confidence and goes on to be a good player..

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  37. I think Perez has had to much shoved on his shoulders, again it is our flawed transfer policy being shown up for what it is. Both Mitro and Perez are no Remy or Ba’s yet, they ideally needed edging in gently but too much has been expected of young lads inexperienced at this level. I think given time and with the right approach both can be good for us but throwing them in the deep end all season was not the best idea. If we’d had a striker such as defoe to play alongside them it may of lessoned the pressure somewhat, as it is they are groaned at for every miss. I am as guilty as the next guy on that count, but if we weren’t in such a dire position it likely wouldn’t get them the slagging off a lot of fans give them. It really hacks me off that promising players have been chucked in to such a bad situation which when it goes so wrong could set them right back in their development. It borders on negligence the way we have been run under this regime, it’s taken a crisis to actually buy a couple of PL experienced players in Townsend and Shelvey in January otherwise neither player would ever of been signed. We can see how for most of the time Townsend has been an astute signing, less so Shelvey. As usual it’s bolting the stable door after the horse has bolted with our lot. Talk about bolting the horse to the cart, this cart has lost it’s bloody wheels and is heading straight for a cliff edge.

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  38. I give us a small chance of beating Spurs. It’s all down to whether or not Sunderland can be held to 1 point from 2 matches while we beat Spurs. So it’s not in our hands anymore. A win at Villa was absolutely essential and we couldn’t do it. We were the first club held scoreless there this season apparently. Another low point.

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  39. The first thing that should be cleared out of this club is the owner. Nine years of incompetence. Nine years of complete ignorance of the game. Nine years of idiot executives. How they got Rafa to come even for 10 games is beyond me. One chat with Charnley would be enough to frighten anyone off. Carr is laughing all the way to the bank. What does it matter to him that the club has been destroyed? It’s time to see a new owner with new ideas in.

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  40. ToonDarnSarf:
    Stuart

    You’re not worried about losing our best players but your biggest concern is losing our best players? Eh?

    Of course we have some good players! Just been shocking management mostly and not always signing the right players.

    As for Hoots…sure he’s done well for Brighton but that’s his level. What’s the point in going after him again, when we know he’s not good enough to manage in the PL?

    Why go for him again? Because next season that will be OUR level while he is managing in the Premiership. Who are Newcastle as a club and its fans to claim anyone is beneath us anymore?

    We’re the most pathetic club this sport in England has ever known. We go beyond mismanagement and transcend into embarrassment. We’re a stain on the sport. We should be eradicated and made to start from scratch as a new club. It is permanently ruined.

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  41. Summary of Ashley’s Review Statement for 2015/2016:
    “Hmmmmmm. Ahhhhhhh. Sigh. Yes I see. So Charnley actually is a pillock. Hmmmm. Ooooh that bottom line looks really, really bad. Ugghhhh. Look at that wage bill. I think I going to be sick. Where’s Joe Kinnear? Someone get him for me…..

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  42. Funky – TDS had some sort of breakdown this afternoon. I don’t think he knew what he was saying so don’t worry about it.

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  43. TDS is an optimist so he’ll be back. We’ll need a **** good manager, some money spent properly and the greatest supporters on the planet to get back up (which we fortunately already have). I still have a tiny bit of hope left but Sam has that lot playing pretty well now….

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  44. Only Sunderland over confidence or a great performance from Everton will save us (providing we can beat Spurs) but I have also seen so many “After the Lord Mayors show” performances we could see another.

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  45. Stuart: I read an article a few months ago and seem to recall that most of the TV money from the old deal is at the end of the season. They were also talking about front loading some of the new money to the start of the season but I am not sure what happened with that.

    I don’t think we are in anything like as big a mess financially as Leeds or Portsmouth when they went down. And the Balloon payments are actually so large that they are more than most Championship clubs total revenue.

    The wildcard is what we will get for players that want to leave and how much salary we can get off the books for high earners? I think we might be surprised at what we can get with all of the money in the PL and China. Average players will be going for silly money so I think we will get decent money for Wijnaldum, Shelvey, Sissoko for example.

    I think Shelvey would be an asset in The Championship but not at a purported 80k a week. I therefore believe some of the player sales might be unpopular but will be dictated by The Championship financial reality.

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  46. I am a bit worried we might do a QPR and be stuck with some deadweight that we cannot shift. Colo for example. What team in their right mind would take him on with an 80k per week contract and why would he leave NUFC if he can pick up 80k a week for sitting on the bench?

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  47. they said on 5live that villas parachute payment is £40m, ok it’s not £100m but it’s still a fair wedge and I reckon a lot of PL clubs will waste a fair old wedge of their windfall on over inflated player fees, agents and wages. Not every signing will be a winner and I can see a fair few clubs getting well ripped off. I would not be letting ours go cheap either, if we must go down I’m damned if those remaining should get the cream of our squad on the cheap.

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  48. The main problem we will have is the transition with nobody on the board safe and probably gone. Who will select a new Manager? Who will decide and negotiate player sales?

    Ashley’s tenure over the past 5 years is characterised by inertia or foolhardy shots in the dark like with Kinnear, Pardew and Lliambas. When we last went down he dithered for 6 weeks before appointing Hughton. Pardew went on death spirals and still kept his job. Carver was selected to keep the seat warm for Schteve. Carr had been looking at Schteve since his Twente days and still hired him even though his record had been terrible since. And then of course we kept Schteve for too long.

    So we have the problem that Ashley doesn’t have anybody to run the club or choose a new manager and has a history of sitting on his hands when having to make such decisions or just rolling the dice.

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  49. You have to think that Shelvey and Townsend were bought with the understanding we could get most of our money back if we were relegated. If you add Tiote, Cisse, Wijnaldum, Krul and Sissoko you have to assume we would be getting 50 million in transfer fees and 20 million a year in salary off the books.

    The books could be balanced but we would need a few new senior players as I would not want to face a Championship season with inexperienced foreigners and kids. Although I do think Mitrovic would tear up The Championship similar to the way Carroll did. You don’t need as much pace in that league.

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  50. Oh, and Obertan, Marveaux, Cabella and Taylor were on decent wages. Probably 6-8 million a year combined? With bit of shuffling and the balloon payments I think the books could be balanced and we could have a competitive squad. However, who would be left to do the shuffling ?

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  51. By the way, most of the players leaving except maybe Shelvey and Townsend would be gone anyway whether Rafa stays or goes.

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  52. Shelvey said he wants to stay and gets us back up.

    He did say this when he was getting play time though. He probably already wants out now he is stuck on the bench again.

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  53. I see the likes of Townsend, Sissoko, Janmaat, Tiote, Gini, De Jong, Krul and Thauvin will all be sold. Might get maybe £60m for them. Suppose that fills the gap from what we lose. Got to build a team round Mbemba, Lascelles, Shelvey, Aarons (if he’s still here), Mitro, Armstrong, Dummett, Perez and maybe even Riviere might find his level.

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  54. I just think we cannot put values to what we will get for players. We could sell about 10 and only get £25m for them all.

    We aren’t exactly in a position to be strong sellers in this situation. It is a case of accept what you’re offered or be stuck with the wages.

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  55. It’s nice to see TDS trying to teach Stuart on how a football club is run. I think 35 was good business for AC myself. In the summer we signed Ba on a free so good business also but not replacing Ba or Remy was just sheer stupidity.

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  56. It was good, Terry. It was good for blog morale. Certainly I had a good giggle.

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  57. They still play Cisse though Stuart and he can’t do those things either.

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  58. With our impending doom the one thing you can say about NUFC in the next few months is that it will be interesting. Possibly not in a good way, but possibly so if by some miracle Rafa stays. But there will be monumental changes within the club, there have to be. An overhaul of the whole youth and U21 systems. New executives and scouts? A purging and revitalisation of playing staff. Hell knows, even a sale (doubt that).

    I am scared as I fear that if Rafa does not stay there will be too much turmoil for us to return to the PL at first attempt. There is just too much to rebuild without someone with National and International connections in scouting, Management, coaching and administration to do in one go. It is almost Rafa or bust.

    I think Pearson could do a job but he is not going to fix a broken club in all of the areas I have mentioned as he does not have the experience or connections.

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  59. Eric 6 million pounds down the drain when we could of signed Charlton Cole on a free.

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  60. for one,

    i cannot understand our fellow villa fans,taking the ****,when you last went down.
    for me,newcastle are similar to us,

    **** owners,**** prospects,but great support from both sets of fans.

    me and my mates,have always shared a few pints before our games.and may it long continue.

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  61. I see Lee Ryder is saying Ashley is going to turn to Keith Bishop for advice if we are relegated! Also that the structure won’t change regards the football Board. I wish I lived in his world. There’s just no price for failure!

    Or on the other hand was it Bishop who told Charnley McClaren needed to go or that Rafa would be a good choice? Since Bishop was on the scene we’ve heard more from Ashley a lot more. But still no idea what he knows about football!

    But one things for sure, I would have absolutely no confidence in Charnley or Carr picking the right manager.

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  62. Who cares what Keith Bishop thinks from a football point of view. He is simply an ex BBC employee who acts as a PR Guru for people like Nancy Delolio and Pat Sharpe ffs. There is no hope if this is MA’S answer.

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  63. You would be right there, Sham. I doubt he knows anymore than Ashley about football. But then again it looks like Charnley, Carr and Moncur don’t either.

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  64. Pity Scum aren’t playing West Ham tonight, I can imagine they will want to go out with a good win 🙄

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  65. Shamrock:
    Who cares what Keith Bishop thinks from a football point of view. He is simply an ex BBC employee who acts as a PR Guru for people like Nancy Delolio and Pat Sharpe ffs. There is no hope if this is MA’S answer.

    Well we aren’t really surprised are we ? We know lessons will never be learned, why employ a good football man when you can just carry on as you were.

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