By Brian Rolfe
One of my old mentors used to say “It’s not whether your glass is half full or half empty that matters, it’s what you do with the contents.” Which is roughly the situation facing Rafa this season.
Last season we were sailing along too close for comfort to the drop with 29 pts from 28 games. Then in January in came Dubravka and Kenedy and suddenly 15 pts from 10 games. The consolidation of that team in itself is a positive step froward from this time last year. Whilst it is unreasonable to expect 1.5 pts per game throughout the season (57pts) the 44pts we totalled should be easily achievable. Or is it?
Looking at our starting 11 We have swapped Gayle for Muto. Whilst similar statistically, Muto’s workrate is significant. Rondon has better stats than Joselu off the bench and they were accumulated playing under Tony Pulis. The only other change is enforced by LeJeune being injured. Schar is similar in style but has to settle in quick or we will be relying on Clark. So the team that finished strongly is much the same quality. Not significantly improved. To label them as our championship team is somewhat disrespectful to the players we have.
The squad has however significantly improved. We have shipped out non players like Colback, Mitrovic & Mbemba, as well as Merino, Sels, Haidara, Gamez, Good, Findley and Armstrong. In have come Muto, Schar and Ki, with the Rondon deal done and PSG left-back Stanley N’Soki seeming likely.
So 10 out – who were not in Rafa’s plans – whilst the five in who should all get minutes. The kid’s, particularly Sean Longstaff, have chipped in too, so overall we have more depth than before. We just have Saivet and Lazaar to get rid of and the club will be in a much better place.
What about everybody else after all they have spent fortunes and have shown ambition, apparently. The three clubs above us have done little. Ben Gibson to Burnley will not transform them. Richarlison and Lucas Digne to Everton will give them a bit more balance; whilst Leicester have swapped Mahrez for James Maddison, not an upgrade. So I would argue that we have done as well as those three.
There were seven clubs below us that stayed up and only two of them have made wholesale changes, which of course holds risks in itself.
West Ham have a new manager and lots of new players, whilst Brighton have club record signing Jahanbakhsh, who was on my shopping list. I doubt that they will be at risk this season.
As to the rest, well Palace have hopefully replaced Cabaye who was a key player for them last season, Bournemouth have stood still, Watford have consolidated and Huddersfield have not strengthened up front. Southampton still have Mark Hughes and they hope to improve on their awful showing last season, but it’s hard to see where there optimism is coming from.
Which leaves the promoted teams. Wolves and Fulham have spent big to guarantee survival, whereas Cardiff haven’t.
So where does that leave us. Last season everybody except the top 6 and Burnley flirted with the relegation zone, and I kind of expect much the same this season.
Time for predictions. The top six will occupy the firsts six places in whatever order, I don’t care. Relegation favourites are Cardiff and Huddersfield, with Southampton, Bournemouth, Watford and Palace trying to avoid the third spot. Above those I see Wolves, Fulham and Leicester doing OK. So my top ten teams are Everton, Brighton, Ourselves and either West Ham or Burnley, in whatever order.
So are we relegation candidates? probably not. Top ten, again? No reason why not.
By Brian Rolfe
(Fancy writing for us? Send any articles/ideas over to us at [email protected] & we’ll get back to you!)
You have to be smoking crack to think our squad has improved.
How does reducing the number of options you have available to you improve the squad?
We have a similar level 1st team to before and a reduced squad strength, in terms of quality and quantity.
FFS man, you’re even counting players that we have not bought yet.
Silly, ridiculous and childishly naive piece at best.
Mr Christopher Rowley(Quote)
How dare you be optimistic, Mr Rolfe.
I’d agree that the starting 11 or 13 or so look to be far better than the same group at this stage last year, but that’s about as far as it goes. There doesn’t appear to be a lot of depth in the squad in general, though, but it is probably in better shape than we had last year. I wouldn’t know. A few meaningless kickabouts is no indication of where we are at. To state the bleeding obvious: We’ll have to wait and see how it all pans out. I can’t say I’m all that confident. No doubt there’ll be ups and downs
Brisvegas(Quote)
Good to see something positive Prem. Dubravka and Kenedy improved us significantly. Murphy should be a bit better after a year in the PL under his belt and Atsu was carrying an injury in the second half of the season as evidenced by the knee surgery he had.
I disagree with Mr. Rowley that the squad is weaker because of the players shipped out because Rafa was not playing them. How can we miss them if they were loaned out or not even on the bench?
And, as usual I am not happy with The Chronic because they have flipped from being happy clappers to doom mongers in the last week. Can we just have some balance and perspective.
Obviously, I am still not happy that Rafa was not given more money and that Ashley lied to him about getting every penny the club generated. But an air of negativity like with the Parliamentary Petition and the call for protests can cause their own problems.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I was thinking back to Pardew’s last year to get a bit of perspective. Remember our centre halfs were Colo on his last legs and Steven Taylor and Mike Williamson. Ugly John, as useless as he was, could hardly put out a team some weeks. I think Janmaat had to play centre half one week. He had never played there before in his life.
Of course a lot of this was due to Ashley’s miserly ways but when you compare our current squad to what Carver had there is some hope.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Prem: we also have until the end of the month to shift Saivet as loans/sales abroad can still me made. Will we miss him? Of course not. He was not adding depth when he was out on loan and Rafa played him once in the 1st half of the season.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Mr CR – that’s a very strong criticism mate. We all have our opinions and this one seems fairly valid to me. The players he listed were not getting played and were unlikely to this season. Ki, Schar and Muto will get game time and there’s an obvious benefit to Kenedy and Dubravka for a full season.
Not wild optimism no but as the author hinted it could be a glass half full.
How’s your glass looking Mr CR?
georgio(Quote)
Thanks Prem, wish I shared your optimism but I just can’t I’m afraid .
We can talk about Kennedy and Rondon all day long but they aren’t ours. When did Newcastle get so weak that our famous number 9 was a loan !
You look at the likes of Wolves and Fulham and the ambition and it’s frankly embarrassing that we are shopping in the reduced aisle again. Given the TV, gate and player money that’s come in, it makes zero sense.
We have a premier league club with a poundland owner mentality as shown by his wanting to scrap the cup bonus to players. When you consider a cup run is our only realistic chance at a trophy to then dismiss it’s importance is the clearest pointer yet at exactly how our owner views the club and wider community. If the bonus issue isn’t sorted we will have a team of demotivated players and even Rafa will be hard pressed to counter that.
The reality is that we are likely in for yet another season of struggle, we have very little depth of cover and as much as I hope Muto and Rondon can do the business it only takes an injury to either or Shelvey or Lascelles and we could be toast.
So another season of not enjoying much until we reach that magic 40 point mark it is then.
kimtoon(Quote)
The only one we will miss is Gayle and that will depend a lot on how good or bad Muto is. Shouldn’t even have been an issue as we should have stumped up the cash for Rondon.
As for Gayle, I was getting a bit sick of the criticism of him on some forums last year. He definitely worried defenses and I thought he was very unlucky with some good saves and near misses. There were also 2 or 3 obvious penalties that he didn’t get. He could have easily got to double figures.
If you look at the PL strikers there are the elite like Salah, Kane and Aguero and then the totals drop to low teens and it is crazy money even for these players – Morata for example. I just think Dwight deserved another year and who knows he might get it as nobody really knows what this swap/loan/contract extension/free agent Rondon deal is.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
KIM ime with you all the way mate,very sad isnt it 🙁 🙁
icedog(Quote)
I wouldn’t go as far as saying smoking crack but I don’t really think we’ve improved that much. The team from this time last year imo has definitely improved by Kenedy and Dubravka – that’s it! I’m still not convinced our goal scoring options are any better.
It will be a long, hard season – anyone who thinks different to that? Then I would question the crack consumption…
Stuart79(Quote)
Ice, it’s totally deflating mate, comes to something when you have 5 new faces and still feel unhopeful .
Olly, what’s happening with the site, are they working on it or what ?
kimtoon(Quote)
no matter what rags say i cannot see us bringing anyone else in (didnt have time to get them over the line)bullshit
last comment ime not going to keep filling in
icedog(Quote)
Ice I have had to rewrite so many post having clicked the comment button forgetting I have to keep filling in details. 👿 Doing my head in now so like you , I’m off. Can’t sit for long anyway as put my back out Saturday and if I sit for more than 10 mins I can’t stand straight for half hour after. 🙄
kimtoon(Quote)
Thanks for the article Prem… a good read and a valid argument. that first comment from CR is harsh in the extreme… I do think we are marginally better off now, however a few injuries and we are right back in the clarts… I’d like to hope that we will see a few more come in but I’m not holding my breath.
Dubai Toon(Quote)
The PSG leftback looks like an option. Uncle Ed says he is out of contract but that PSG would be owed comp. Couldn’t see that being outrageous as he has only played 2 games for them.
This looks like a typical Ashley deal where there is a bargain element to it so it just might happen.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I am still optimistic but there are so many obstacles:
1. Ashley lying to Rafa probably means we have a dead man walking which is never good.
2. The 1st 11 is OK but the squad lacks depth. Lose Shelvey and we are screwed.
3. Where are the goals coming from?
4. Lejeune was a big loss. Hopefully Schar can cover it.
5. The start to the season is a bear. We have drawn the Crystal Palace fixtures from last year and look what happened to them.
6. There is an air of negativity brought on by the impasse/brinkmanship between Ashley and Rafa. If we get protests that will make things worse.
7. What is going on with this bonus ****? If you can’t come to an agreement just do the same as last year FFS.
8. The Parliamentary Petition just adds to the mess. I don’t really understand why they are getting involved as Fatty has owned the club for 11 years. There isn’t such a thing as a fit and proper test for a current owner and anyway that would be the PL or FA and not the bloody Government. Haven’t you fcked up enough without getting involved in football.
9. And we could do without Richard Keys sticking his big fat neb in.
Have I missed anything 🙂
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Sorry, Eric, now I have to start questioning whether you’ve been on the crack that is mentioned above. What on Earth is there to be optimistic about while this horrid man owns the club?
Stuart79(Quote)
Improved or not, depends on who you are compare to.
Compared to ourselves at the 2nd half of last season, I think we improved a little, especially on the attacking.
Compared to other clubs, it is really hard to say. I feel they improved way more than we did. So we may just have gone backward compared to them.
funrafa(Quote)
I wrote down the reasons NOT to be optimistic 🙂 What I am hoping for is a Chris Hughton season where everything seemed bleak but then the season started and it wasn’t as bad after all. Of course, after that season the Fatman sacked him and hired Pardew.
That said, I think we have an OK first team but will struggle because of uncertainty and the 1st 8 games. Probably bottom 3 at Christmas but we will survive.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Yeah nice to hear a positive outlook. Give me a left back and I’ll be reasonably upbeat. Obviously I’d have liked a number 10 another striker, CB and RB and cover all over the squad but years of Ashley window’s and you’ve got to be reasonably pleased despite all the other **** going on.
William Smith(Quote)
https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/chi-onwurah-responds-mike-ashley-15000903
kimtoon(Quote)
I agree with Bris.
I don’t think our biggest problem is players (though it could be better), I think our problem is heading into the start of the season with such negativity surrounding the club.
We have a really difficult start to the season and if we start badly and loose a few games I think there will be a real rot sets in.
There is the uncertainty around Rafas contract (though I feel pretty certain of the outcome of that one).
I just feel like there is a lot of turbulence going into this season, and that is bound to have an impact on Rafa and the players.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Yup .. we’ve seen how poorly things went with uncertainty over the club sale last winter.
Doesn’t bode well for the current situation
Coupled with a squad light on numbers .. judgement reserved on quality .. this could be our undoing
GlosMag(Quote)
I would have liked to have seen the PSG left back come in but he was pretty much a prospect and a backup. Maybe he would have taken us half a step forward. Again it was a contract situation which is all fine and good but if that is the only place we are/were looking we are fishing in a very small pool.
I have no objection to bargains but we have at least a couple of areas of major weakness (LB, CB) and now is the time to let the moths fly out of your wallet Mr. Ashley. We aren’t asking for a 45 million fullback like Kyle Walker but at least get some cover.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Andy is yes. He seems to think he knows the problem so he’s working on a fix.
Olly Hawkins(Quote)
Simon’s article/response to the Ashley letter was interesting. I would add/expand that the if Ashley had done his due diligence then he could have negotiated a better price with the Hall and Shepherd and the debt wouldn’t be as large.
The rest of the debt is almost entirely due to the 2 relegations which were brought on by his incompetence. In both cases we had to sell our best players and start again. That’s usually a recipe for disaster but somehow it worked out. Remember the 1st relegation, it wasn’t like teams were queueing up for Barton and Noble so we were basically stuck with them and somehow it worked out. If he could have got their wages off the books I bet he would have.
Even though we/Simon can pick apart Ashley’s letter I still don’t understand what it has to do with Parliament.
Lastly, I don’t doubt that there were some nasty things written on social media. There are a lot of immature and frankly stupid trolls on twitter and the like. That’s one of the reasons I stay off it. You have to be careful because some idiot will take it too far and smash his shop windows or threaten shop staff or something.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I think Ashley has sunk to an all time low claiming that this petition has resulted in SD staff taking abuse – I simply don’t believe that one bit. The only thing I can think he’s talking about was those banners that went up outside of SD last week and a manager has gone out and asked them to move – and there’s been a bit of chew then – but that was due to the banner, not the petition – and the banner was because of Ashley’s actions and would have happened regardless of the petition.
But this from a man who has used and abused these ‘staff’ for years and has had to answer questions on his treatment of his beloved zero hours staff. The fact is that most toon fans have sympathy for SD staff and do not associate them with Ashley at all – so why would people give them **** as a result of a petition about how much of a tight **** their boss is – they know better than any of us!!!.
Sharpy17(Quote)
https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/newcastle-uniteds-summer-2018-transfer-15001080
kimtoon(Quote)
Gayle hits the post twice for WB but no cigar.
kimtoon(Quote)
Sharpy: you are underestimating the stupidity of some people. Some of these twitter trolls can be very abusive especially when it comes to politics but football brings out the same emotions. I saw one suggestion on Eds that is just stupid where a guy said he was going to go to the Sports Direct shop and take a basket of items and check them out and when the Assistant was done say he had changed his mind. Just to waste the Assistant’s time. My guess is if people can think up and advocate this then there will be even more dumb stuff going on.
I think a couple of years ago a Student was kicked out of University and sent to jail for a drunken racist tweet in the middle of the night. As I say, don’t underestimate peoples stupidity. I mean, when the French won the World Cup there was a near riot. When the Bulls won the NBA people took to the streets and smashed shop windows and turned over cars. I seem to remember a certain horse punching incident.
It would not surprise me to see SD windows smashed or late night drunken tweets.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Seems like he took his luck from NUFC to WBA. I think he will be a success there though.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
https://talksport.com/radio/listen-again/1533643200/1533652200/
brilliant from Luke this mind, starts at around 16 mins in
kimtoon(Quote)
Whonwas the last half decent player we signed in the last two days of the transfer window ?
Window is shut for us.
Stuart79(Quote)
Jamaal Lascelles: “I don’t know what is holding the club back. For me, I’d make him the happiest man here.
“Since he has been here – promotion, finishing tenth, everybody loves him, the players love him.
kimtoon(Quote)
Eric – I can understand people targeting SD as a company owned by Ashley (I don’t condone any kind of criminal activity to make a point), but I can’t believe people are abusing staff who work in the stores. If they are, then that is beyond moronic.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Eric/Sharpy – Jabba has form for lying about abuse his family received once so I think we can assume he’s lying again. The protesters at SD on Saturday are being asked to bring flasks, cakes and sarnies for staff at SD. They’re not the enemy – Jabba is!
Stuart79(Quote)
jabba has been proved a liar in a court of law,say no more,plus it does not bother him one bit
icedog(Quote)
It’s also worth noting that the club are refusing to tell supporters how many replica shirts they sell, how much money they make from each sale and how Sports Direct benefit. When you buy from the club shop the sale goes through as Sports Direct. Ashley and his Sport Dirext brand are suffocating this club.
Also a rumour that a fashion designer business wanted to advertise in the match day programme but was refused. I wonder if this is so Jabba can monopolise the advertising for all his brands.
Stuart79(Quote)
Stu – I’m pretty sure that when those banners went up outside the store last week the manager would have had to challenge them/ring the police or take some kind of action. Regardless of their views, it’s their job at the end of the day and some things are bigger than football/politics. If they didn’t act and that got back to their bosses, their job could have been on the line. So maybe in challenging those banners, those staff may have received abuse – but that was the banners, not the petition as Ashley claims. I don’t believe anyone has abused staff off the back of that petition.
The bloke is a lying ****.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Stu – yeah, we are linked with CBs, a LB and that young CF from Lyon.
I expect no more signings to be made. Maybe a few fringe players to leave, but I see no incomings now.
If that’s the case, I think we have improved in GK. I think our defence is weaker (we are light at LB), I think midfield is the same and I think forwards is arguably weaker – in that Rondon replacing Mitro is an upgrade (based on Rondon will play), but Muto lacks the experience Gayle had. Muto may come good, but there are no guarantees. I don’t think Gayle was good enough in his finishing, so hopefully Muto will be better, but the PL is much tougher league than he’s came from (and his scoring rate wasn’t great there).
It’s all fingers crossed time again.
Sharpy17(Quote)
You’re right, Sharpy. Apparently we’re signing Sikou Niakaté who’s a defender who plays in Lique 2. Just what we need…
Stuart79(Quote)
I see that Usmanov has accepted the offer from Kroenke to buy him out at Arsenal for 550 million pound… I know an excellent club that he could get for 400 million, and have some change left over … 😀 😯
Dubai Toon(Quote)
DT – joking aside, if I were him I’d be thinking that £400m plus £150m to invest on the squad we already have and a manager who knows how win (simple maths I know), could well see us challenge for a top 6 spot and challenge them Europa spots, as well as have a chance of silverware.
The trouble is he’s a businessman not a football man and he wants more than that. I think he wants to invest in Milan.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Accept Ashley would be aware he has £550m burning a hole in his pocket and would up his asking price accordingly 🙄
kimtoon(Quote)
so the toon cannot afford a fee of 2.7mil for a second rate defender,what a state jabba has got this club in ffs
icedog(Quote)
Stuart – Whonwas the last half decent player we signed in the last two days of the transfer window ? Habib Beye.
Ice – I don’t think the club cannot afford him it’s just that Ashley has somebody on the scene counting every **** penny spent. Bishop or Barnes? Who knows.
Sharpy – Muto’s a very determined character. Not the best finisher but a right handful and pest across the front line positions. Gayle was a bit of a faint heart.
georgio(Quote)
So, here is my totally scientific prediction for where NUFC will end up this season. Alphabetically we are 15th, so I am going with 15th. I think I went with 12th last year.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Current relegation odds:
Cardiff 4/6
Hudders 11/10
Watford 2/1
Brighton 5/2
Fulham 2/1
Burnley 4/1
Bmth 9/2
NUFC 5/1
Palace 5/1
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I think the value bet is Burnley even though I don’t think it will happen. An overachiever usually comes back down to earth and European football could play havoc with a thin squad.
The other value bet would be NUFC. People keep talking about finishing 10th but that was very much in doubt until the last day where I think we could have finished as low as 15th. A club in turmoil is not a good thing. Just look at what happened when there was the takeover talk last year and when Lejeune, Dummett and Lascelles were out. Any more major injuries and we will struggle, especially Shelvey.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Apparently MRF aren’t doing the sleeve sponsorship this season and there isn’t a new one. No idea if true but what difference would it actually make anyway? It can’t effect Rafa’s budget as he’s sell to buy anyway…
Stuart79(Quote)
What’s this> A fan writing a balanced sensible article?
I think everyone forgets that we only had Dubravka and Kenedy for half a season and they made a huge impact.
We’ll be in tears by mid-September because we’ve got a difficult start, but that’s the time Rafa can use to get the new players together.
As for the hilarious comment that just because Rafa doesn’t play players, doesn’t make the squad weaker – it’s just brilliant.
Brrrian(Quote)
Marlon from Barca joining on loan allegedly. He’s a centre half who keeps getting loaned out.
Are we setting some sort of record for this era of football? So much money about yet we just loan the hell out of players…
How exciting!
Stuart79(Quote)
Stu, we need Wonga back on the shirt with the loans we’re making.
kimtoon(Quote)
Had to write that twice due to forgetting about site problem AGAIN 👿
KIMTOON(Quote)
Wolves had 5 players on loan last season;
Willy Boly
Benik Afobe
Diego Jota
Leo Bonatino
Ruben Vinagre
They have signed them all on permanent deals in this window.
Also in this window they have signed Jimenez and Jonny Castro Otto on loan.
Maybe try before you buy is the way to go.
Wish we had done that with Joselu.
sidekick(Quote)
I’ve messaged Andy again.
Sorry mate!
Olly Hawkins(Quote)
I’ve got a very strong feeling that our business is done. We will not get a work permit for this Brazilian gadgie, and if he keeps getting loaned it doesn’t sound good…
DT still has to keep putting his details in grrr(Quote)
http://www.sportsredirect.com
This website has been set up and is all over Twitter pointing out other sports wear companies where you can get gear from instead of SD.
Stuart79(Quote)
If you want proof of how underwhelming this transfer window has been consider that the team for Saturday basically picks itself:
Dubravka
Yedlin Laschelles Clark Dummett
Ritchie Shelvey Diame Kenedy
Perez
Rondon
Still, Kenedy and Dubravka were recent acquisitions and Muto hasn’t really trained and I expect him to push for a place the following week.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
One day to go and we are still farting around with loans. The 25 million or so profit we have made makes a mockery of the “every penny” and even “sell to buy” quotes.
Ashley’s cunning plan to have assets in the bank rather than assets on the field might just backfire.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Because most of the Wolves and Fulham players played in The Championship last year are the pundits going to say they are Championship teams in the PL like they did about us?
Eric Sykes(Quote)
I’ll tell you what. Ed’s Blog is getting unreadable with the childish bickering between that Jib guy and the rest of them. Hardly any football talk anymore just stupid insults in the name of “banter”. Whenever I see anybody use the word “banter” I run a mile because I know that what comes next is just a stupid insult. It seems so prevalent in football, on some blogs, dressing rooms and even when the pundits are sitting on the couch discussing games.
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Just to digress a bit … a couple of the Socceroos have picked up some handy transfers. Sainsbury to PSV and Arzani to Man City (with probably a loan out to Celtic).
The world cup was a nice stepping stone for them.
Brisvegas(Quote)
Where has the money gone? Ashley must be doing one of the following:
1) Taking the money to pay off his loan so he can reduce his asking price.l and gambling that Rafa will keep us up.
2) Keeping the money in the bank so that a new manager can have money to spend to pacify the fans when Rafa leaves.
Stuart79(Quote)
I’d be on to Bmth today looking at a swap deal between Hayden and Arter. Hayden has made it crystal clear that he doesn’t want to be here for ‘personal’ reasons. Arter has said he wants away from Bmth so it would make sense if we can come to an agreement.
I’m not saying that Arter is so much better, but I think he’s a good player and a better option than a player who won’t be focused on NUFC this season.
Sharpy17(Quote)
It’s a tad embarassing actually that not only is 95% of all PL clubs transfer record higher than ours but they’re consistently spending more than our record on every time they buy a player. We’re in a position now where most players other clubs buy are more than we have ever paid.
If we are in such a financial mess that means we can’t compete with any club other than Cardiff, what has Ashley been doing for the last 11 years? He can’t even tell everyone he’s improving our finances.!
Stuart79(Quote)
Sharpy – You seem to be forgetting that NUFC don’t want to spend any money. Bournemouth would want a hefty financial package too I am sure. Hayden hardly played for us and Arter is a regular for them.
Stuart79(Quote)
Stu – it might be simple maths here, but wasn’t it about £120m for finishing 10th. We’ve also turned around £25m profit this transfer window – added together and that clears the £144m Ashley said is the amount of the interest free loan ??♂️
Maybe (hopefully) that’s the reason behind this mess and it brings the figures into Staverleys buy out.
It’s way too much money to have gone missing without some reason. We can only hope it’s the back of Ashley rather than Rafa – otherwise a second rate replacement is going to have some war chest!!.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Stu – my thinking is that both are valued around £10m. They would move a player who’s pissed off and we would move a player wanting a move south. It’s highly unlikely it would happen, but I’d be asking Bmth the question all the same.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Bris – I thought your boys did ok in the WC to be fair. If you had a goal scorer or a bit more quality in the final 3rd it would have made all the difference. It’s good that the players are breaking out into better teams – it will improve them, but will also hopefully inspire the next generation to think, if they can play for those top sides, I can!!.
Sharpy17(Quote)
Perez off to West Ham from Arsenal.
Stuart79(Quote)
I don’t understand the £10m valuation. Hayden doesn’t play and Arter does and has been a regular for three years in the PL. I find it difficult to see them both being worth the same.
Stuart79(Quote)
Wolves supposedly buying a 25 million player bringing their total to 100 million. Similar at Fulham. On the face of it I didn’t really care if they got a player I had never heard of. However, if they really are upgrading their team and are going to be that much harder to beat it affects us a lot. We know we will pick up most of our points from the bottom 14 teams and the more teams like Everton, Wolves and Fulham upgrade the harder it will be. Everton were **** last year and still beat us twice so we will probably do better against them any 🙂
Eric Sykes(Quote)
Stu – he must be on around £100k pw coz I think Rafa would have snapped him up at that fee.
Sharpy17(Quote)
This every penny quote from Jabba is a strange one. I think I’ve worked out what’s happened. Sky only pay up £20m when they’ve paid everyone else £100m
Stuart79(Quote)