John W Henry could easily have been talking about the Newcastle boardroom when he asked “What are they smoking?”
Does the £35m price tag placed on Moussa Sissoko make sense?
It does in one way: the club agree with Rafa Benitez and don’t want to sell the player. £35m is double the money we hoped to recoup last year. Even with three good games for France this summer, scouts will have noted his inconsistency last season when he didn’t show up often enough.
Don’t get me wrong, I would sell him in a heartbeat at that price if another met that price but if it was set to deter buyers, I’d rather Ashley or Charnley made an emphatic statement which said, “You got us into this mess, you stay and get us out of it.
Trouble is that in this day and age, players hold all the power. If he wants to go, Sissoko could find another club without too much trouble, I think. It’s easy for an agent to persuade a manager that Moussa is a fine player and the problem was that it all fell to him last year; ‘no support, you see and only when Benitez arrived did the club turn the corner but it was too late by then’ – it’s an easy statement to make and a tough one to disprove.
My problem is the same as yours: I tell myself that players don’t have the same commitment to the cause as you or I but that is swamped by the heart which says they want to bleed black and white. No matter what else: if the lad wants to go, let’s get shot of him. We need players who will fight for promotion, not turn up when it’s to their benefit.
Andy, Cheers.
Yes, well you all know my feelings on Sissoko, imo he sold us very short with his displays last year, he played exactly like a player who saw us as a stepping stone to bigger and better things.
It’s a difficult one isn’t it, on the one hand we can’t blame him if he was promised a move if a better offer came in but he also has to understand that the club should be able to expect what they consider a fair offer. It’s a pity we only saw the best of him in the last few games under Rafa and again with France. Would things of been better had he played under Rafa from the get go, probably. In all likelihood we’d still be a premier league club that finished top 10 had he come in when Pards left us. But in the end you have to analyse Sissoko’s general play and for me his end product is poor, much like Obertan’s. Both players have pace to burn but not the intelligence to go with it when it comes to finishing. It is frustrating watching him run up and down and left and right but ultimately end up no where. I do believe he could be a really good player with the right coach and that coach could be Rafa, but it would need a proper commitment from Sissoko to pledge to stay and fix what went wrong and no more utterings of undying love for Arsenal every five minutes and soundbites about how he should be playing at a higher level.
We all know this will never come to pass so he has to go for as much as possible, I don’t see it being £35m more like £20-£25m tops which is only fair when you see Ibe go for £15m this week. West Ham said if Progba is worth £100m then so is Payet, from what I have seen of Progba he is not worth £100m and if he is then at todays prices big Al would of commanded crazy money . Al this TV money is setting a dangerous path for many clubs imo and they may be awash with dosh right now but it could drive smaller clubs to the wall in the long term as if they were to drop from the top league they can’t guarantee the sell on of an expensive but underperforming player . Also more and more players are demanding relegation release clauses or refusing to take lower wages in the event of relegation. Yet still clubs will sign up these players in a desperate bid to remain in the upper echelons of football.
Kimtoon(Quote)
https://www.eveningtelegraph.co.uk/fp/liam-kennedy-shut-door-way-newcastle-moussa/
Kimtoon(Quote)
Cheers.
Think you hit the nail on the head with regards to end product. I think it was against Man City last season where he got himself into numerous good positions but couldn’t demonstrate the intelligence to know what to do with the ball. Physically, he’s a beast – mentally he’s rough around the edges and believe the Euros has led to people seeing him with rose tinted glasses. Will he really perform like he did for France in those three games for the duration of a Premier League season? Will he ****!
Andy Magpie(Quote)
KIM that’s about right mate,I just want the guy out imo we a united dressing room and I think he will spoil the harmony of that players are not daft they will see he only puts a effort in when “he” wants to and that will cause all sorts of bother in the group
Icedog(Quote)
Andy, Ice totally agree,for the sake of squad harmony he simply has to go now.
Kimtoon(Quote)
Forgetting the Pogba fee for a second coz that’s just stupid money.
I would use the comparison with Jordan Ibe at £15m. If a team like Bmouth (no disrespect meant) are shelling out that much money for a relatively untried and inexperienced player, then a bigger, richer club should expect to folk out at least £10m more than that for Sissoko.
Personally, I think £35m is unrealistic, but then I thought that about Carroll too. If a club are prepared to pay it then it’s realistic.
But if a club came in with at £25m bid, I think we would be foolish to cut our noses off.
I think we could buy better for a lot less than that – and the same applies for Gini. He is a more talented player with a much better end product, but Rafa dropped him so clearly isn’t sure.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Sharpy, exactly, at £25m we still make £23m profit or £18m at £20m, that’s a good return by anyones standards. The Ibe comparison is a fair one imo.
Kimtoon(Quote)
For me and I know it’s easy to say as I don’t own the club, but it’s more about shifting a problem than maximising profit.
Kimtoon(Quote)
Sham just sent me your article, very good read! It has been scheduled to go up at 5pm today.
We have yet ANOTHER new writer (nickname TBC) tomorrow morning doing a piece on the Newcastle captaincy – struggling to keep up!
I think for main thread pieces on the homepage, we’ll limit it to two a day (one in the morning and one in the evening) so everyone gets a fair crack, sound good everyone?
Andy The Magpie(Quote)
I do like Gini though, as Sharpy says, a better end product but went off the boil alarmingly towards the back end of the season and couldn’t do it away from home. Always found that odd as the pressure at SJP is way more intense.
Kimtoon(Quote)
Andy, yes sounds good, great to see the blog thriving again with lots of new writers mate, I’m enjoying the new threads very much.
Kimtoon(Quote)
Agree mate sounds very fair,don’t want us to end up like eds blog,God forbid
Icedog(Quote)
Rafa said this morning we are close to new signings,boy toon fans must be in a spin,get some of the dead wood out while your at it Rafa,Siko for a start
Icedog(Quote)
http://www.justarsenal.com/arsenal-get-big-sissoko-transfer-boost-but-can-man-utd-ruin-it/52264
Kimtoon(Quote)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2016/07/14/wales-up-to-11th-in-new-fifa-rankings—two-places-above-england/
Oh dear
Kimtoon(Quote)
Lol at England football team.
Ice – there is a lot of dead wood still on the books. Looking forward to seeing that shifted as much as newcomers…
Shamrock(Quote)
Yeah me too, good to get some fresh views!
Does Ed let others contribute or is he a one-man band?
Andy The Magpie(Quote)
I said it on the last thread. As well as Sissoko played at the Euros he still had ZERO goals and ZERO assists.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Eric, shoosh. You’ll knock £15m profit out the clubs coffers!
Shamrock(Quote)
More new signings on the way apparently. I do find it astounding though, and very damning, that we could still let another 12 go and only miss one first teamer in Townsend! What on earth have they been doing with recruitment for effing years?
Sammy, Vuckic, Bigi, De jong, Riviere, Haidara, Thauvin, Saivet, Elliott, Good, Gouffran and Janmaat.
Unbelievable!!!! 🙄
Georgio(Quote)
Toon make third bid for Hendly this time 5.5 mil,Rafa must really want him,let’s wait and see now what happens
ANDY eds is a one man band,don’t think he ever makes a comment mind I only look at it rarely,still a lot of very childish comment (my da bigger than your da)
Icedog(Quote)
He does all the threads mate, he says we a lot in his articles which I think refers to his sons.
Kimtoon(Quote)
Georgio: I don’t agree that all of those players are useless. Elliot and Janmaat certainly aren’t.
I am not sure we have seen enough of Thauvin, Riviere or Saivet to judge.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Ice, I don’t get on there much but I have never seen him comment or engage with his readers which I find most odd. It just renders it a news blog with posters bickering most the time. I used to read his and this one but this was the only one I felt comfortable posting on.
Kimtoon(Quote)
Ed’s is pretty good and brings a lot of Toon stuff together in one place. He is a better writer than a lot of the people at The Chronicle (Ryder). Some of it bickering, but who am I to ***** about that 🙂 Actually, Troy’s brother makes the most sense on there. Maybe that is why Troy and him don’t talk any more.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Where is Troy? hope he’s not locked in the laundry basket again.
Kimtoon(Quote)
Kimtoon: Troysta is hiding from you because of his England prediction. Next he will say that Fat Sam’s grand slam will win the world cup in Russia.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Eric, aye you could be right
Kimtoon(Quote)
Fat Sam’s career winning % is about 36.3%. About the same as Schteve. What does that qualify him for? The Mackem job, I would say?
England? Probably, 36.3% is about right at tournaments.
When you play the equivalent of non-league teams in the qualifiers even Mr. Roy and Fat Sam can look good for a while.
Can I have the 3.5 million quid a year and confuse all of the players and let Rooney run the team? I can write a 500 word pre-prepared farewell note with the best of them.
I can even turn up at the post-failure press conference and ask incredulously “why am I here” and “how come I stole all of this money from you with very few qualifications to do the job and my main claim to fame being failing at Liverpool and rubbing my face in a very strange way when things inevitably go wrong?”
Eric Sykes(Quote)
He copy’s and pastes most of his threads
Icedog(Quote)
I don’t mean to go on a rant here but… I have won nothing, and have never had a team relegated. Does that qualify me for the England job?
I can go out and buy a Louis Vuiton man bag if that will help?
Eric Sykes(Quote)
ERIC Moyes is waiting to step in at scum if Sam goes they say he about the only “known” manager out of work unless you know someone better that would suit scum
Icedog(Quote)
Ice: I can fly in from Chicago and guarantee relegation!!!!
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Ice, no forget Moyes mate they MUST employ Steve Mac, that would make my year.
Kimtoon(Quote)
Lee Clark, sans t-shirt?
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Clarkie would only be interim manager though. Until Rafa turns up and Troysta says he wanted him all along 5 years ago before he managed Real Madrid, Inter and Napoli of course.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
😆 😆 😆
Icedog(Quote)
Think there’s a new thread up???
Icedog(Quote)
New thread ,,>>>>>>>>>
https://www.nufcblog.co.uk/2016/07/14/flirting-with-optimism/comment-page-1/#comment-569969
Shamrock(Quote)