Deadline day disappointment…again

A few days have passed now since arguably Newcastle’s worst deadline day in recent memory. We have had some bad one’s for sure but to not strengthen this time round ,when we desperately needed additions, feels like a mistake that is going to have serious consequences.

Farce on deadline day

Newcastle fans are used to staying up to disappointment every August and January but this was particularly alarming. It became clear early afternoon no business was going to be done, indeed, a panic loan move for Southampton’s reserve left back even failed to materialise. We have been told all window we need to move players out to free up the wage bill and space in the squad, before we can invest.

Lazaar was loaned out despite us having no cover at left back and De Jong, Hanley and Riverie were shipped out too. It was also finally the end for Tim Krul who was incredibly loaned out to a relegation rival. He may not be part of our plans but to loan him to Brighton of all people seemed odd. It was clear we needed at a minimum, a striker and a number 10 all window.

Dwight Gayle was even effectively floated on the market for a few days to no avail and now must be re-integrated into the squad. There has to be serious questions raised as to whether Lee Charnley is good enough to to retain his position as deal maker for NUFC. However, the likely wider issue may well  be that heperformed his role perfectly for Ashley, cutting the wage bill and gambling with our Premiership future with the smallest outlay possible. The claim that Charnley reports to Rafa now seems more ridiculous than ever.

Newcastle’s lack of ambition

After a decade of ownership, Ashley has not really showed any desire to take Newcastle to the next level. We got lucky with some excellent scouting to sign the likes of Cabaye, Ben Arfa and Tiote to propell us to that one season in 5th but after that, success has dried up. After two relegations, finally securing a world class manager made fans think Ashley has finally learned from his mistakes; it is his investment after all.

However, Benitez looks to be joining a list of manager’s who have been alienated by our owner. Keegan famously said that Newcastle will go nowhere under Ashley and this statement is more poignant than ever. Mike did another of his Sky interviews saying we can’t complete with Man City and we certainly can’t. Despite press sterotypes, Newcastle fans know this and do not expect top four.

However, a net spend of a measly £11m this window just isn’t good enough and when Brighton and Huddersfield have net spends of over £30 and £40m respectively, you know this was a deliberate and calculated lack of ambition. Every Premier League team has broken their transfer record in the last 24 months as TV money floods into the Premier League, whilst we still sit on the Michael Owen record transfer of over ten years ago. When Ashley bought the club, we had the third largest ground in the UK and now it will soon be the 9th as our rivals continue to grow and invest. In the meantime, Ashley’s focus has been to block planning permission so we can’t extend St. James’ – even after his tenure.

We have consistently been in or around the top 20 ‘richest clubs in Europe’ for turnover in the last decade and have sold our top players for good money when offered. The quality of players we have brought isn’t inspiring either. Merino looks a find and there are signs of promise with a few of them but when we had a weak squad originally we shouldn’t be gambling on promise, or players who didn’t cut it at other clubs. Some signings may be questionable calls by the manager but when he is forced to shop in the bargain basement it is clear not all signings are going to be a roaring success.

To not back the manager this window is another massive mistake and the issue is that Ashley doesn’t learn from his mistakes, quite the opposite.  We simply go from one error to another under his ownership and are forced to consume a diet of soundbite interviews through Sky every twelve months (not NUFC TV or club statements) while he promotes his other business interests in the public eye. This window showed a remarkable lack of ambition. It is particularly hard to swallow as having a manager like Benitez gives us all the cruellest thing in football, hope. Hope we can build something and once again compete in the top half regularly.

Does Rafa stay?

The marriage between a world class manager and owner such as Ashley is always at the forefront of the press. Since Rafa has arrived there has been a steady stream of speculation of how long we can keep him at NUFC. Now more than ever, this seems at breaking point. Benitez is at Newcastle because he wants to be near his family in Liverpool, has a rapport with the Newcastle fans and could see potential in the club.

After being undermined like this though, the most likely thing keeping him at the club is his contract, if stories are to be believed. Apparently any club wanting Rafa has to pay Newcastle £6m, which I think most clubs wanting him will pay. The issue for Rafa is he apparently has to pay that same figure to the club if he resigns. So effectively, Rafa could stay until another club comes in for him, which won’t be long you would imagine. West Ham have been linked and may make their move should they sack Slaven Bilic.

What next?

Newcastle fans will react as they did against West Ham and back Rafa to the hilt. Whilst he is here, he is our hope of staying up and building something, so we need to show him our support. If he leaves either through resignation or to another club I think the vast majority of fans would not blame him. Then you feel it would be the latest crisis and the biggest of Ashley’s reign, with many fans genuinely close to breaking point.

A dull international break may just allow everything to calm down and hopefully come January the club will try and rectify the lack of ambition this summer. Though being NUFC and Ashley, I wouldn’t hold out much hope for that and you get the sense there is far more fallout to come over the coming months.

About Simon Riddlesden

Lifelong Newcastle United fan and East Stand season ticket holder. Observations from a supporter who has followed NUFC during Champions League participation and through relegation, taking me from Milan to Scunthorpe.

167 thoughts on “Deadline day disappointment…again

  1. I looked at Burnley’s transfers and their fans must be furious. They lost probably their 2 best players – Michael Keane and Andre Gray. They did get Clark from Leeds but that is about it.

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  2. I don’t know what Rooney is thinking. Everybody has a mobile phone now and all of the tabloids have hotlines where you can sell stories or pictures. He is probably one of the most recognizable people in England and he just had that scandal where he got drunk crashing a wedding. I bet if you put a picture of Theresa May next to Rooney that more people would recognize Wayne than the Prime Minister.

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  3. Well the drink driving is abysmal but the womanising has to be expected for somebody that is mega rich, famous and has people throwing themselves at him all day. Cant really blame him tbh and his other half must surely expect it. I know this will be controversial to some but you would have to be a Saint not to be tempted from time to time in those circles. Its a different world.

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  4. shamrock:
    Well the drink driving is abysmal but the womanising has to be expected for somebody that is mega rich, famous and has people throwing themselves at him all day. Cant really blame him tbh and his other half must surely expect it. I know this will be controversial to some but you would have to be a Saint not to be tempted from time to time in those circles. Its a different world.

    Sham – firstly this is Rooney!!, I’m not sure women are throwing themselves at him buddy. Let’s not forget the same lad visited brothels – so went looking for it.
    According to the lass, Rooney sent his mate over to tap her up on his behalf – so not her throwing herself at him either.
    But come on mate, there is such a thing as self discipline, and if you lack it in drink, then avoid putting yourself in those positions. But his missus was away & he took full advantage & inevitably got caught out. I have no sympathy at all.

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  5. Yeah see what you mean mate but I disagree about people throwing themselves at him. They want a taste of the glamour and will happily be available for the night in the hope that they get their 15 mins, or be the bit on the side with the gifts etc that follow.

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  6. Would Rafa really consider Palace? They are at best going to be London’s 4th club. Behind Chelsea, Arsenal and Spurs and probably West Ham.

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  7. And Rooney, get a limo. If you know you are going out on the town/on the drink/on the pull at least be smart about it. The limo drivers are discreet as they lose their jobs if they are not. I am not condoning his actions, I am just saying with the money he makes he can afford a driver.

    He’ll probably have to get a driver now 🙂 You get suspended for a 1st offense drink driving conviction, right?

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  8. shamrock:
    Yeah see what you mean mate but I disagree about people throwing themselves at him. They want a taste of the glamour and will happily be available for the night in the hope that they get their 15 mins, or be the bit on the side with the gifts etc that follow.

    Sham – I afforded him those excuses when he was a 17/18yr old boy breaking into a world of mega stardom. I can’t imagine there being much preparation for that on the council estate he grew up on.
    But he’s 31 now and has already had his ‘incidents’ to have learned from. But he’s 31 now. He’s been Man Utd & England captain, he’s broke the scoring records for both.
    He’s just been give his dream move back to his boyhood club with the thought he’d be a role model for the younger players coming through the ranks. That’s on a professional level. On a personal level, his missus has forgiven him those ‘incidents’ – and was with him before all of the fame & fortune.
    All he has to do when a pair of tits flaunts themselves at him is say ‘thanks but no thanks’.
    If that’s one of the most difficult things in his life, I reckon there’s a few other pairs of shoes he could walk in for a while – just to see what real difficulties are.

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  9. Eric Sykes:
    Would Rafa really consider Palace? They are at best going to be London’s 4th club. Behind Chelsea, Arsenal and Spurs and probably West Ham.

    They are a PL side that backs their managers in transfer windows. The concern (if I were Rafa) would be the number of managers they have went through in recent years – and if they do sack De Boer after a handful of games, having been the ones to appoint him in the first place – yeah that would be a big concern I reckon.

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  10. There’s been uglier than Rooney have women fawning over him! Peter Crouch? Luke Chadwick? Money and fame is as much an attraction to some as is having a beautiful face.

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  11. I just read the Rooney story in The Daily hateMail and it gets more stupid. He took a cab to this woman’s car. Yes, he was in a cab at 3 times over the limit and decided to get her car. Like it wouldn’t be there in the morning!

    He also must have had her number because his wife, Coleen, called her to ask what had gone on.

    It is quite funny that even after retiring Rooney is making all of the headlines on the day of an England WC qualifier.

    Apart from Southgate saying Harry Kane can be as good as Messi. No he can’t Gareth, no he can’t.

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  12. Apart from Southgate saying Harry Kane can be as good as Messi. No he can’t Gareth, no he can’t.
    😆 😆 😆

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  13. Olly wrote an article about MBemba where he said Rafa doesn’t play him because of his lack of positional sense and that he doesn’t know the language. I have also seen that he is shy, which you can’t really do much about. He should get a few starts at left back because that doesn’t require the same sort of positional discipline as centre back. Dummy will be out for at least another month and it is time for MBemba to sink or swim.

    Language shouldn’t be an excuse anymore after 2 years. Either the club , or Chancel himself should have had personal one on one tutoring. He doesn’t have to be fluent but should really have picked up the football vocabulary by now. I mean, he doesn’t have to know the meaning of bucolic or recalcitrant but he should know the meaning of “mine” or “back-pass” by now.

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  14. Lots of empty seats at Wembley and part of the top tier is not even open. I read tickets started at 20 quid for adults and 10 for kids.

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  15. Seems there’s another ‘open letter to Mike Ashley’ doing the rounds but this one is by a journalist fan rather than a normal fan… even Ollie has reproduced it word for word… oh well… it was well written I guess.

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  16. England always do this with goalies. They did it with Shilton and Seaman who still had the positional sense but had lost their agility and reflexes 2 years before they stopped being picked. Hart made a lot of errors at Torino and their fans were on his back. This is not new, but Hart will probably be picked for the rest of the qualifiers and then Butland given half matches in friendlies.

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  17. I listened to a podcast tonight by James Richardson who used to do The Guardian Football Weekly until a few months ago. It was the most successful podcast on sport in the country. He had a couple of respected journalists on and the Director of Football at Watford. They were all saying that Rafa was putting out feelers not so subtly to anyone who would listen that he was ready to move on. If this is true, I am a bit more worried about Palace and West Ham now although both would be a sideways move. They were also saying some very derogatory things about David Sullivan at West Ham and that sounded like it would be out of the frying pan into the fire.

    If anybody wants to listen, it is at a website called Thetotallyfootballshow.com. Episode 8. There are also some interesting things about the transfer window in general.

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  18. Eric Sykes:
    I listened to a podcast tonight by James Richardson who used to do The Guardian Football Weekly until a few months ago. It was the most successful podcast on sport in the country. He had a couple of respected journalists on and the Director of Football at Watford. They were all saying that Rafa was putting out feelers not so subtly to anyone who would listen that he was ready to move on. If this is true, I am a bit more worried about Palace and West Ham now although both would be a sideways move. They were also saying some very derogatory things about David Sullivan at West Ham and that sounded like it would be out of the frying pan into the fire.

    If anybody wants to listen, it is at a website called Thetotallyfootballshow.com. Episode 8. There are also some interesting things about the transfer window in general.

    Eric – if that’s true then he’s gone down in my estimation mate. Hardly respecting the fans touting yourself so knowingly that like is it?!.

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  19. Eric, Sharpy, yep, that would be a worrying development but in all honesty he has been undermined badly by the regime and who can blame him wanting out .

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  20. kimtoon:
    Eric, Sharpy, yep, that would be a worrying development but in all honesty he has been undermined badly by the regime and who can blame him wanting out .

    Kim – then walk. He can’t sit there cashing his £115k pw claiming he’s only staying for the fans, whilst he or his reps are doing a ringing around to other clubs. If he’s been SO wronged, then he should leave. Otherwise he’s not staying for the fans, he’s staying til another offer comes along.

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  21. Do we know he’s ringing around though mate, I don’t think he or his reps even need to do that, his reputation and what’s gone on at Toon over last two windows speaks for itself .
    Further more I suspect that Ashley is depending on it, it’s obvious that now that Rafa has gotten us back to the PL and the sky tv riches and global audiences, mission is accomplished and I’m sure he’d much rather a yes man be at the helm now.

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  22. And Rafa has never said he’s staying for the fans, quite the opposite, only last week he gave an interview saying he doesn’t see us as a long term project. When we went down he said the fans and Ashley’s vision for the future persuaded him to stay on, it’s now obvious they are not singing from the same hymn sheet. Of course some fans could of told him that last season but many thought along with Rafa that there was a sea of change, a smidgeon of ambition at last, more fool us and him.

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  23. Worth remembering this
    Match of the Day‏Verified account @BBCMOTD · Sep 4

     More

    #OnThisDay in 2008:

    Kevin Keegan resigned as manager of #NUFC over disagreements with the club hierarchy about transfer policy.

    the one consistent at SJP is that all managers will eventually have to fall in line, rebellion is not permitted.

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  24. kimtoon:
    Do we know he’s ringing around though mate, I don’t think he or his reps even need to do that, his reputation and what’s gone on at Toon over last two windows speaks for itself .
    Further more I suspect that Ashley is depending on it, it’s obvious that now that Rafa has gotten us back to the PL and the sky tv riches and global audiences, mission is accomplished and I’m sure he’d much rather a yes man be at the helm now.

    Kim – that’s why I said if it’s true.

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  25. Just can’t read anymore of these made up Rafa’s leaving stories. Boring.

    Anyway on to the serious stuff. Would you drop Manquillo to bring Yedlin back? Tough call that. The lad played really well last time and is very keen on attacking like Yedlin. Lejeune will return but who for? Mbemba also played really well. Do you drop him and move the left footed Clark across? Or just leave it and drop Lascelles? I’d leave it.

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  26. Georgio, I think he’ll stick with Manquillo, he’s got a nice little Spanish clique there now which all seem to communicate well on the pitch. It’s something Merino alluded to in his interview too.

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  27. kimtoon:
    Worth remembering this
    Match of the Day‏Verified account @BBCMOTD · Sep 4

     More

    #OnThisDay in 2008:

    Kevin Keegan resigned as manager of #NUFC over disagreements with the club hierarchy about transfer policy.

    the one consistent at SJP is that all managers will eventually have to fall in line, rebellion is not permitted.

    Kim – big difference – Keegan felt failed and walked. Rafa hasn’t walked, he’s still there.

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  28. Will Clark be playing tonight ? He’ll be up against Mitro, hope the big guy doesn’t clatter him . It could also mean he’s too tired to start on Sunday , Mitro too.

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  29. kimtoon: Yes, for the moment .

    Kim – if he does he does. I’m with Georgio. Nee manager stays forever so what will be will be.
    I said the day after the window closed that i wasn’t happy, but it’s done now. Our next 3 games are very winnable, and whilst we will be without Mitrovic, Shelvey and a number of our injured will be back.
    If we can get 6-7 pts from the next 3 games, things won’t look as bleak.

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  30. Sharpy – I don’t things look bleak anyway. I’d like to see Rafa trying a 433 but he just does not deviate from his tactics/formation. Sometimes the players do during a game though.

    Re Rafa and all the nonsense. It’s worth remembering it’s the players that make the big difference. Finishing 5th was never down to the odious geezer Pardew. It was Benny, Ba and Cabaye, Cisse having stormers. (They’ve never been as good since.) So Rafa may leave.

    On the transfer window – we had much more money than was spent but what we had just didn’t enable us to sign players who were better than what WE HAD. Would you have got a better CB than Clark for £10m or a better striker than Mitro for £12m?

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  31. georgio:
    Sharpy – I don’t things look bleak anyway. I’d like to see Rafa trying a 433 but he just does not deviate from his tactics/formation. Sometimes the players do during a game though.

    Re Rafa and all the nonsense. It’s worth remembering it’s the players that make the big difference. Finishing 5th was never down to the odious geezer Pardew. It was Benny, Ba and Cabaye, Cisse having stormers. (They’ve never been as good since.) So Rafa may leave.

    On the transfer window – we had much more money than was spent but what we had just didn’t enable us to sign players who were better than what WE HAD. Would you have got a better CB than Clark for £10m or a better striker than Mitro for £12m?

    Georgio – if I remember correctly, Pardew stumbled across that formation of 4-3-3 thanks to injury more than good judgment.

    I look at what you would class as our rival clubs and the players they’ve signed – and yes some have signed some good players – but are they better off?. Swansea for example with Bony & Renato – but lost Sigurrdson & Llorente.
    I think WBA made some decent signings, and I like Will Hughes & Chalobah at Watford. But I think B’mth spent big – but Defoe for that money?!, Ake at £20m?! – can’t say I’m overly envious.

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  32. It’s not the money though really, it’s a manager giving up his summer break to speak with agents and players early and getting assurances to then find us taking a life time to do a deal by which time other clubs have nipped in. We dilly dally and low ball offer and part of me thinks that we have alienated several clubs now. It has to be that, why do other clubs deal with one another so much easier than us ? Why is every deal we do so protracted compared to other clubs, it’s not like we are signing Messi ffs. The blokes been dicked about and I’m really surprised he’s stayed tbh.
    So telling that he talks about no long term project now when that’s what he originally signed up for .

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  33. kimtoon:
    It’s not the money though really, it’s a manager giving up his summer break to speak with agents and players early and getting assurances to then find us taking a life time to do a deal by which time other clubs have nipped in.We dilly dally and low ball offer and part of me thinks that we have alienated several clubs now. It has to be that, why do other clubs deal with one another so much easier than us ? Why is every deal we do so protracted compared to other clubs, it’s not like we are signing Messi ffs. The blokes been dicked about and I’m really surprised he’s stayed tbh.
    So telling that he talks about no long term project now when that’s what he originally signed up for .

    On who though Kim? – Abrahams?

    Cabellero went to Chelsea – are we shocked to have lost out there?!. Reina didn’t move, so we didn’t loose out to anyone there. Perez maintained he wanted to go to Spain & did – not much we could do there. We were linked with that many players I don’t know which were true or not. But those that seemed realistic, either didn’t move at all, or went for big money.
    Which players are we saying we went for and due to us messing about caused them to move elsewhere?.

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  34. Sharpy, Tammy was set to come, he met with Rafa on Rafa’s wedding anniversary. Had the deal been done promptly then Swans couldn’t of jumped in. That’s what he meant by mistakes being made early in the window.

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  35. Sharpy , to be clear, are you saying he hasn’t been messed about and even, shall we say mislead over things ?

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  36. KIMTOON:
    Sharpy, Tammy was set to come, he met with Rafa on Rafa’s wedding anniversary. Had the deal been done promptly then Swans couldn’t of jumped in. That’s what he meant by mistakes being made early in the window.

    Kim – this is what I’m trying to understand. I keep hearing Abrahams and he is the poster boy of our failed transfer window. I’m wondering who else?.

    I can’t believe that Abrahams was so pivotal. The loaning of a 19yr old kid with no PL experience. If Rafa held him in such high esteem, let’s not forget the same kid was on loan at Bristol while we were in the championship?. How is he so vital in the PL – but we showed no interest in him getting us out of the Championship?.

    Abrahams aside – who else did we show interest in that ended up at a different club coz of us pissing about?.

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  37. KIMTOON:
    Sharpy , to be clear, are you saying he hasn’t been messed about and even, shall we say mislead over things ?

    Kim – to be clear I think what Rafa hoped would happen in the window and what actually happened in window are different things.
    I’m sure that Rafa knew he wouldn’t actually be getting the £70m suggested by media & fans – I’m sure he knew that money would be tight.

    I suspect he thought it would be easier to bring players in than it turned out, and players he thought might be made available by the clubs in the end weren’t – Kenedy, Whilshire, Reina for example – players who ended up going nowhere.

    This window has been freaky in the fees paid, but also – Chelsea were champions last season and AOC and Barkley both turn down moves there – when does that happen.

    Players like Costa & Courtinho going on strike coz they don’t get their moves. Usually these players get their massive money moves & that triggers a domino effect of player movement – that hasn’t really happened this window.

    Do I think Ashley should have cashed £50m of his shares in to buy the players needed – absolutely I do.
    Do I think our lack of recruitment is solely or predominantly down to not acting quickly – no, I think there’s far more to it than that.

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  38. I see Southgate has brushed Ali’s middle finger gesture under the carpet claiming it was him & Walker messing about – what a load of tosh!!!.
    That was directed at the ref and both Ali & the ref know it. He should be fined by the FA but they don’t have the balls to do that – they would all rather be part of this big nonsense tale that it was between him & Walker.

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  39. Just an aside, but I’m in Zanzibar this week as it’s my wedding anniversary today. I’m sitting having a pint on the beach and I see an African kid running around wearing a Toon top! Had to smile and get a photo of the kid. I see many Arsenal, Man United and Chelsea but only that 1 from the Toon. Nice to see. The kid seemed happy that I shouted to him too.

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  40. Dubai Toon:
    Just an aside, but I’m in Zanzibar this week as it’s my wedding anniversary today. I’m sitting having a pint on the beach and I see an African kid running around wearing a Toon top! Had to smile and get a photo of the kid. I see many Arsenal, Man United and Chelsea but only that 1 from the Toon. Nice to see. The kid seemed happy that I shouted to him too.

    Dubai – get the kids number mate, he might get a chance in the January window ??.

    Congrats to you & the missus on the anniversary buddy ?

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  41. Kim – Tammy always said he wanted to talk to several clubs. It wasn’t a matter of us messing up. He went to Swansea because of Clements.

    Despite all of the discontent and rumours I think Rafa will have us finish midtable. Just sit back and enjoy the season.

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  42. Sharpy, you are right there were many factors involved in our dreadful window but the overriding problem every window is the time we take to close deals which often leads us to missing out. Either Lee is out of his depth or it’s deliberate .

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  43. Dubai Toon:
    Just an aside, but I’m in Zanzibar this week as it’s my wedding anniversary today. I’m sitting having a pint on the beach and I see an African kid running around wearing a Toon top! Had to smile and get a photo of the kid. I see many Arsenal, Man United and Chelsea but only that 1 from the Toon. Nice to see. The kid seemed happy that I shouted to him too.

    congrats mate.

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  44. Sharpy17: Dubai – get the kids number mate, he might get a chance in the January window .

    Congrats to you & the missus on the anniversary buddy

    Thanks a lot Sharpie! Lol, yes he would at least be cheap… probably a tad young though… mind you, I think he could be an improvement on Rivière… ?

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  45. KIMTOON:
    Sharpy, you are right there were many factors involved in our dreadful window but the overriding problem every window is the time we take to close deals which often leads us to missing out. Either Lee is out of his depth or it’s deliberate .

    Kim – I’m still interested on who else we missed out on other than Abrahams.
    I know it’s not my money but I’m also pleased we missed out on a £7m loan deal and instead spent £5m on Joselu who is now ours.

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  46. Barca, City, Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool – all of these mega rich clubs struggled to get and failed on transfer targets. It was a mental window.

    Another irony that might go against the grain is that most of the players we were supposedly linked with this window – a lot on here thought weren’t good enough, or certainly weren’t keen on. Then we don’t sign them and there’s hell on.

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  47. KIMTOON:
    Sharpy, Tammy was set to come, he met with Rafa on Rafa’s wedding anniversary. Had the deal been done promptly then Swans couldn’t of jumped in. That’s what he meant by mistakes being made early in the window.

    Not quite. From what I remember, Chelsea signed him to a mega new contract of 50k a week before they were ready to loan him out. That would have meant spending time with his Agent who promptly turned around and want a million pound bonus for himself and Abrahams’ family. I think it got a lot more complicated than when it started out especially since Chelsea wanted guarantees that he would play.

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  48. On that podcast. It is an entertainment show. I hope it is not true that it is common knowledge that Rafa wants out. But they said it so matter of factly that they thought it was obvious. I still don’t know why he would go to Palace or West Ham when there will be a Manager merry-go-round at he end of the season and he will have his pick of a few jobs, even if NUFC are in a relegation scrap.

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  49. ERIC, I’m pretty sure he met with Rafa before the new deal with Chelsea like.

    Sharpy, I don’t think we can really go by who we were linked with since the ones that came in weren’t really on the radar anyway mate. It’s the ones Rafa had an understanding with that we didn’t get that we don’t know about that gets me wondering .

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  50. KIMTOON:
    Dubai, my knackered body is an improvement on Riviere .

    Lol, mine too Kim… and I’m 53 and never had one sporting bone in my body… ??

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  51. Dubai, I ‘m 56 but feel more like 76 most the time. Payback for years of Ice skating , dancing , swimming and walking. Hate getting old, it isn’t the looks, it’s the body letting you down that hurts . 🙁

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  52. KIMTOON:
    ERIC, I’m pretty sure he met with Rafa before the new deal with Chelsea like.

    Sharpy, I don’t think we can really go by who we were linked with since the ones that came in weren’t really on the radar anyway mate. It’s the ones Rafa had an understanding with that we didn’t get that we don’t know about that gets me wondering .

    He did mate, but Chelsea were always going to do a new contract after they lost Solanke to Liverpool. I just think that gave the Agent a chance to stick his neb in and add one more layer of complexity.

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  53. Eric Sykes:
    On that podcast. It is an entertainment show. I hope it is not true that it is common knowledge that Rafa wants out. But they said it so matter of factly that they thought it was obvious. I still don’t know why he would go to Palace or West Ham when there will be a Manager merry-go-round at he end of the season and he will have his pick of a few jobs, even if NUFC are in a relegation scrap.

    Eric – if it’s not true then Rafa could sue them. If WH can someone who said they DIDNT make a bid for a player, then I’m sure Rafa would have grounds ?

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  54. KIMTOON:
    ERIC, I’m pretty sure he met with Rafa before the new deal with Chelsea like.

    Sharpy, I don’t think we can really go by who we were linked with since the ones that came in weren’t really on the radar anyway mate. It’s the ones Rafa had an understanding with that we didn’t get that we don’t know about that gets me wondering .

    Kim – I still don’t know who those players are, if any (other than Abrahams) ??‍♂️

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  55. If Rafa wasn’t complaining so much and there wasn’t the threat of him leaving then I think I would be OK with this transfer window. Not because I had heard of any of the players but because I have seen them play a few minutes and they are saying all of the right things about NUFC.

    Seeing some of the ages on here then I bet quite a few grew up watching us in the ’70s-80s. There wasn’t even a transfer window back then but during the year you would probably only see a turnover of about 2 players, usually from Scotland like Mark McGee and usually after our best player was sold to Liverpool or Spurs.

    There just seems to be this feeding frenzy now, generated by the transfer window and compounded by Sky, and if you don’t get everything that you want it is a failure. Maybe it is also a reflection of society where every 8 year old has to have an I-pad and Nike trainers i.e. everything that they want!

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  56. Just read on NUFC.com that there is a Q&A tonight featuring 7 journalists. An inquest into the transfer window they call it. Some of those involved are George Caulkin, Simon Bird, Louise Taylor and Luke Edwards. There should be quite a lot of **** stirring I would imagine.

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  57. Eric Sykes:
    If Rafa wasn’t complaining so much and there wasn’t the threat of him leaving then I think I would be OK with this transfer window. Not because I had heard of any of the players but because I have seen them play a few minutes and they are saying all of the right things about NUFC.

    Seeing some of the ages on here then I bet quite a few grew up watching us in the ’70s-80s. There wasn’t even a transfer window back then but during the year you would probably only see a turnover of about 2 players, usually from Scotland like Mark McGee and usually after our best player was sold to Liverpool or Spurs.

    There just seems to be this feeding frenzy now, generated by the transfer window and compounded by Sky, and if you don’t get everything that you want it is a failure. Maybe it is also a reflection of society where every 8 year old has to have an I-pad and Nike trainers i.e. everything that they want!

    that maybe true of some fans Eric, but it’s been 10 years of misery under the fat man and I for one am sick of him. I never thought we should be breaking the bank and some of our buys look ok tbh. My gripe is that Ashley has quite obviously pissed off the best manager since Sir Bobby and we will never get a coach of that quality again while he’s owner should he walk .

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  58. Eric Sykes:
    Just read on NUFC.com that there is a Q&A tonight featuring 7 journalists. An inquest into the transfer window they call it. Some of those involved are George Caulkin, Simon Bird, Louise Taylor and Luke Edwards. There should be quite a lot of **** stirring I would imagine.

    not from George mate, he’s a pretty straight up fella and by far one of the more trust worthy journos out there.

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