Olé Moses! Palace’s Victor snapped up by Wigan?

Posted on January 31st, 2010 | 260 Comments |

Going, going...gone.
Going, going...gone.
It would seem Wigan’s Spanish gaffer, Roberto Martinez, could be expecting some added flair to his side, with news that Newcastle target, the talented and highly-rated winger-cum-striker Victor Moses from Crystal Palace, has signed for The Latics.

According to Sky Sports News, the player’s agent Tony Finnegan, has confirmed to them that the player has signed a three-and-a-half-year deal at Wigan, after passing a medical and agreeing personal terms.

Wigan were rumoured to be interested at the beginning of the week and were part of a handful of Premiership clubs with an apparent interest him. We’re alleged to have made a £1.5m bid, alongside Nottingham Forest and West Brom, all of which were turned down and it seems like Wigan were prepared to pay a fee of £2.5million to seal the deal.

The writing was on the wall really, after Palace boss Neil Warnock insisted he’d be going to a Premiership club, because of all the things he is, Warnock’s generally not a bullsh*tter. The move was expected to go through quickly, with the emphasis on the administrators trying to ease Palace’s financial burdens and it’s likely that more assets will leave before the end of the window.

There was a lot made of this young fella amid all the speculation and in truth, I’ve seen very little of him but he certainly seems very highly thought of. It’s quite clear to most fans that we’re missing a cutting edge at the moment and perhaps Moses could have been part of the solution? It looks like it’s a moot point now as we just await official confirmation of it on either the Palace or Wigan websites.

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260 Responses

  4. We only lack a cutting edge if we play a midfield of Butt and Smith with Nolan “supporting” the lone striker.
    We left our “blade(s) on the bench – apart from Routledge. Anyone know why no Jonas? No Peter Love? No Ranger?? No pace, no guile!

  5. I shall await Beckford tomorrow! Although the answer to our striking problem is under Hughtons nose in Lovenkrands! Whats he scored? 4 in 3 games? Yet he was an unused sub yesterday!

    Hughton has to grow some balls and start being adventurous away from home. We have 9 games left at home. If we win them all it will give us a total of at least 83 points, based on losing every away game. 83 points is not enough so we have to try and tak3 some points away from home.

  6. magpie6699 – Jonas is carrying a knock so I guess he was not risked for fear of making it worse. I dont know why they didn’t put Lovenkrands on as we still had 1 sub to use.

  8. TOONSY,that been my thoughts all long,but ssn report he has agreed to join everton in summer

  9. I know that both Lovenkrands and Jonas were carrying knocks but if they were bad enough not to let them play , then why on earth were they on the bench yesterday ? Crazy , makes no sense what so ever . Anyway now that we have lost out on moses and beckford is not coming that leaves vaughan from Everton to get , after yesterdays pathetic performance we need some flair from somewhere before the window slams shut .

  10. Just my opinion, but I don’t think the issue is our strikers. It’s creating the chances for them strikers! If we can solve that then we will be fine. Playing with Butt and Smith and Nolan is NOT going to create a hatful of chances.

    Im optomistic for when Jonas gets back as now we have out and out wingers on both sides that can beat a man. It just leaves Hughton a problem of who to drop in the middle. Smith or Nolan? Or will poor Guthrie, who has arguably been better than the pair of them recently, have to make way as he doesn’t fit into “The Players Union”? Time will tell but I think I already know the answer!

  11. Toonsy how many points do you reckon it will take to get us automatic promotion ? i thought round about 85 to 90 would do it .

  12. how about a central midfield pairing of Barton (when fit) and Guthrie with routledge and jonas on the wings that should be too much to handle for most teams in this division .

  13. AXEL >we need some flair from somewhere
    Axel we have flair its just when you have CH putting Butt Nolan and Smith in the same team says it all really, the flair will wilt away untill they get pissed off with never getting a chance with us. then they will try to get away from here the 1st chance they get of regular football

  14. AXEL – 92 has been the average of the past 5 seasons. I think it may take more this season, just a hunch.

    My point being that we probably won’t win all our home games, which will mean we need points away from home.

  15. AXEL – I’m still not sold on Barton. It will only be a matter of time before he is injured/suspended/in pokey again. I’d defo give Guthrie a go in centre midfield though.

  16. My mate summed it up yesterday after the match. He said if Forest had of won, we would have put that extra in and probably won the match last night. Forest didn’t win so the players think ‘oh well, pressure is off’ rather than going for the jugular and trying to widen the gap.

    As I said in my match report, how many more chances to extend the gap are we going to get?

  17. “oh well the pressure is off” if thats true then its a very horrible thought for 2 reasons

    1 promotion will not be achieved with that mentality

    2 it means we still have a team of players that think they are beter than they are and dont realise that this is thier level . I thought the wasters were sold in the summer and we had a team that wanted to fight for the right to be in the premiership. After yesterday maybe not

  18. Toonsy- I cant see Beckford coming mate. He’s already said he’s going to stay until the end of the season so they seemingly have no real reason to sell. They were willing to cash in on him when the player said he wanted to leave, but now he’s pledged his future to Leeds, on the final day of the window unless they receive a stupid bid for him I can see them quite simply saying no thankyou. Beckford has said he’s staying, Grayson doesn’t want rid of him, decision made.

    Maybe Vaughan from Everton?…Who knows if we’ll even get another striker in. Hughton said we needed one but on the final day of the window do you think we’ll be successful?

  19. Toonsy we have had so many chances that we haven’t been able to take. I honestly think we have players capable of tearing this league apart, but we seem to be more interested in clean sheets at all costs and just pray that 1 hoofed ball will win it for us.
    We should be going out to win and score as many as possible in every game.

  20. I’m just shocked Jonas wasn’t used yesterday. He was on the bench which says to me should he be needed, he can play. When they went down to 10 men had we got rid of Butt, stuck Guthrie in the middle and had Routledge (who looked very good with the ball at his feet) and Jonas on either wings, we could have stretched the play out, dragged defenders out wide leaving space in the box and tired out the 10 man team in the process. Instead we got Pancrate who didnt do much and Butt played the full. Cardiff will not be an easy game to say the least, we really need to pull our socks up for that one like.

  22. Routledge looks an exciting player on the ball.

    Apart from that, the midfield looked hopelessly negative.

    Lovenkrands should have came on for Butt, Gutierrez for Nolan/Guthrie and left one for injuries.

    I couldn’t watch most of the match as it was covered in inevitability – that we’ve got absolutely no spark or ability to counter attack.

  23. Guess Wigan have two young flair players now (that we could have playing for us) Moses and N`Zogbia.
    Not happy with this recent flurry of spending (small bucks)
    on quantity as opposed to quality, just look at some of the recent signings , both loans and full timers, half of which no one had heard of.
    The only one with a possible future is on his 8th club, the Chelsea kid is here for a bit of conditioning.
    Gonna have to do better than this if we are to come close to PL quality, Aaaagggghhhh !
    It`s never been easy to be a club fan, but especially now.

  26. With a possible future, the Chelsea kid?

    He may have a future in football, but I don’t think it’s going to be too prolific, I wasn’t exactly highly impressed by his game yesterday.

  27. chuck @ 24 – Old ground, been covered many times with various differing opinions about how and why. It has happened, it’s happened before to a team “too good to go down” and it will happen again.

  28. Chuck 24, because of instability and changing of managers. That team could easily be doing what Villa/Fulham/ Spurs are doing this season with a really good manager.

  29. Andy – Van Aanholt was one of our better players yesterday after his nervy first 15 mins. If he has no prolific future then what does it say about our current, established players?

    Besides, he is only here for a month until Enrique is fit again. After that we’ll be back to no cover at LB.

  30. Toonsy we just need a good young kid or an experienced 30ish year old left back – anything around Enrique’s age equals competition, possible disillusionment by not playing etc, and I highly rate Enrique.

    Our back 4 can be very good, i’m not 100% sold on Simpson yet but time will tell.

  31. Real shame about Moses,think he would have been a great young edition.
    The lead at the top is not going to last long now,we are just so dull it is painful to watch.

  32. See, I would have liked Moses, but i’m not saying we really needed him. With a player like Routledge on the right, and people crying out for Jonas to be played in games like yesterday then where would he get in… upfront? This season he probably wouldn’t play as much as he’d want to here – injuries depending.

  33. AndyNUFC > Our back 4 can be very good, i’m not 100% sold on Simpson yet but time will tell.

    I think he has done pretty good for a youngish Lad and will only get better with games

  34. Yeah Dave, but I don’t know, it’s maybe a bit extreme but I don’t feel he’s reliable or i’m as assured as when we had somebody like Beye at RB – someone i’d love to see come back.

  35. Andy NUFC
    Why have Beye back – wasn’t he supposed to be one of the disruptive forces in the dressing room?

  36. Beye? That turncoat who dumped us like shot after throwing a hissy so he could warm the bench at Villa?

    No thanks!

  37. toonsy says:
    January 31, 2010 at 4:16 pm
    AXEL – 92 has been the average of the past 5 seasons. I think it may take more this season, just a hunch.
    <<<<< no way is that the average for auto promotion toonsy

  39. Beye, maybe one of the best defenders we’ve had in years, who at 31 didn’t want to play in a lower league at that age when he’s so much better than that. On top of that, WE accepted the bid and his wages were unsustainable for this season. He had the chance to join a top 4 challenging side and arrived before Collins and Dunne I believe.

  42. geordie deb says:
    January 31, 2010 at 5:44 pm

    “Why have Beye back – wasn’t he supposed to be one of the disruptive forces in the dressing room?”

    Deb. Who said that?

  43. I’d take 2nd now!

    That’s another 29 points – play like that for the rest of the season and we ain’t getting there

    I’m of the opinion that when we were playing this formation earlier in the season we were getting results as we were an unkown quantity then and now the teams know how we play and are playing accordingly.

    We must change to a more attacking formation and play with the two wingers – That’s our strengths and it will give other managers something to think about.

    Over to you Chris.

  44. anyone watching ashley,s multi coloured sweat shop the neet?should make for some interesting viewing.

  45. Like last season, start well, we get complacent, “too good to not stay up/go up” and suddenly all of these draws mean teams around us overtake us. We drew too much with Kinnear, and if we don’t start taking 3 points from games again we could well end up making it difficult for ourselves.

  47. Andy – So he din’t want to play in a lower league then but 6 months later and suddenly he does? Howay man!

    Besides, Sunderland are after him.

  48. Worky,

    I don’t think anyone actually said he was disruptive but if youn take his actions into account he isn’t someone I would want in my bunker during war.

    He did newspaper interviews saying he wanted to stay ect and then when the squad was together and they asked who wants to stay and put things right and who wants to leave? His hand went straight up.

    Cowardice.

  49. batty – “91.8 actually”

    So 91 wouldn’t be enough, you can’t get decimal amounts of points, so that would make it 92 then, right? ;)

  50. TROJAN 69 says:
    January 31, 2010 at 6:06 pm
    anyone watching ashley,s multi coloured sweat shop the neet?should make for some interesting viewing.

    Aye I’m sure it’ll be evenly edited too…

  52. mark lawrenson is supposed to liken ashley to king herod,didn,t he try to kill the messiah too?.

  54. BATTY whatch your lass with £210,i know your going to metro,get some new gear from sports/d.com

  56. TROJAN 69 says:
    January 31, 2010 at 6:06 pm

    “anyone watching ashley,s multi coloured sweat shop the neet?should make for some interesting viewing.”

    I’m not defending Ashley, but you could make an identical programme about most clothing manufacturers. Most of them use sweatshops, even relatively small ones. It’s endemic in the clothing industry, full stop.

    My friend once bought a pair of trainers made by a very small company in Soho, thinking that she would avoid the exploitation of sweatshop labour by large companies such as Nike, Gap etc. It turned out that even they were made in a Vietnamese sweatshop too.

  57. icedog says:
    January 31, 2010 at 6:17 pm
    BATTY whatch your lass with £210,i know your going to metro,get some new gear from sports/d.com

    £210 would buy the entire stock list at Sports Direct. The store would be closed for a week so they could re stock.

  58. Despite all the good feeling of last week, its back to planet Ashley, the albatross around my neck, we are being told by Hughton that it was a good point at Lester in the circumstances.
    I wish he would stop talking in clichés and be honest with the fans for a change and also get a bit excited on the touchline, get the players bollocked now and again instead of standing like a tin of milk.
    We are starting to drift again like last season, there seems to be no sense of urgency on or off the field but if we dont get our fingers out its all going to go belly up.

  62. Yesterdays performance and many like that this season reminded me of last season.

    It reminded me of when we played Stoke away – Utterly clueless, lacking in ideas and slow.

  63. gan into sports direct with a tenner in your sky to spend,and you need to hire a skip to take your gear hyem.

  67. just read on a rumuor site that avram grant is leaving pompey and joining a championship club!! I wonder who that could be…

  71. TROJAN 69 says:
    January 31, 2010 at 6:21 pm

    “aye worky they,re aal into it in that industry.”

    A few manufacturers are OK, Trojan. “Camper” shoes being one example.

  73. I see the rumour mill doing the rounds that we are about to appoint Grant in a Wise role,hope not (thought Ashley had learned his lesson there)

  75. Just read this on BBC

    Moses moved to England at the age of 11 after the murder of his parents in Nigeria.

    The Kid hasn’t had the best of starts to his life like

  77. barton12 says:
    January 31, 2010 at 6:41 pm
    I see the rumour mill doing the rounds that we are about to appoint Grant in a Wise role,hope not (thought Ashley had learned his lesson there)
    <<<<< hope so cos hughton hasent got a clue but rather have him as manager

  78. i hope this ashley doc doesn,t harm us the fans again,we,ve been a laughing stock for too long.
    i can see the p*** taking now= ashley is thinking of making a move for a thai midfield maestro,set to be the next big star,stumbling block may be his pound a day wages.

  81. Trojan@78,mate lets be honest to the natinal media us Geordies are a laughing stock,thats halve our problem

  82. Big Dave says:
    January 31, 2010 at 6:41 pm
    Just read this on BBC

    Moses moved to England at the age of 11 after the murder of his parents in Nigeria.

    The Kid hasn’t had the best of starts to his life like

    ———

    Aye, and it’ll get worse once he realises where Wigan is and how many spare seats it has :D

  83. barton12 says:
    January 31, 2010 at 6:47 pm

    “Trojan@78,mate lets be honest to the natinal media us Geordies are a laughing stock,thats halve our problem”

    The media know that many Geordies are full of hatred ATM, and they also know that people who are full of hate can be very gullible. They will believe almost anything about the object of their hatred and are very easy to manipulate. Hatred sells.

  86. workyticket i agree with you @83,but my point is they seem to think any one north of watford gap must be thick inbreads with a IQ of -10

  91. Batty dont bite the hand that feeds you :lol: remember your happy with your life’s supply of his gear man and your happy flogging it ;)

  92. Batty,cheers but to be honest i dont think i’ll watch,i am sick of us fans,our club, been taking the p*ss out of,and now BBC north getting in on the act.

  94. batty says:
    January 31, 2010 at 6:59 pm

    “fckin discrace”

    batty, what kind of clothes do you wear? Do you know whether they were made in a ‘sweatshop’ or not?

  97. barton – Thats what I reckon, It said his legal team would “be watching very closely”.

  100. Lets be honest,companys all over the world get there products from Asia for one reason,there cheap,and labour costs being one of the reasons,there’s nowt special about Ashley doing it,its just another way to have a swipe at our club

  101. workyticket says:
    January 31, 2010 at 7:12 pm
    batty says:
    January 31, 2010 at 6:59 pm

    “fckin discrace”

    batty, what kind of clothes do you wear? Do you know whether they were made in a ’sweatshop’ or not?
    <<<< i make me own oot of old rags i pick up on me travels :lol:

  105. Ironically, the planner says that at 10.25 it’s a programme called “Would I lie to you?” !! – to which the answer to Mike Ashley would be a resounding YES! We know you have from court transcripts!

  106. It’s right, a lot of clothes retailers get them done in Asia like that – it’s a problem much bigger than just Mike Ashley. Doesn’t make it any better, but it shouldn’t be singled out.

  107. magpie6699@105

    we know that,but he did that for our own good-honest(i am being sarcastic by the way)

  108. Guys,In the past when there have been contradictions, I’ve found that the planner has been more accurate as I assume it’s updated frequently.
    I think it’s been pulled – which will only make people more suspicious.

  109. barton12 says:
    January 31, 2010 at 6:41 pm
    I see the rumour mill doing the rounds that we are about to appoint Grant in a Wise role,hope not (thought Ashley had learned his lesson there)
    <<<< if he comes maybe fat ash can show him where all the best brothels are

  112. barton12 – the only times I want to be lied to are about suprise parties, or if I ask if I look OK wearing something I’m too old for – and I don’t think that applies with MA.

  115. Have some people really just realised that most of the clothes they wear are made in sweatshops? Or is all this just faux indignation and hypocrisy because of the name “Mike Ashley”?

  116. If anybody is wondering why it’s not on planner, are you in the North East? Because it’s meant to be a regional thing. I don’t know if it’s been pulled or not but that will be worth considering.

  117. It’s only on in the NE.
    Or alternatively, bbci player.
    Knock yourselves out, you know you wanna.

    Worky’s right as per.
    Don’t pretend you’ve all grown a conscience all of a sudden, eeeesh!

    How many million/billionaires that own football clubs don’t own co.s that exploit cheap labour? Abramovich? Whelan? Glazers? etc. etc.
    This is nothing more than another tawdry attempt to ‘have a go’ at all things Newcastle by the ever-so whiter than white media.

  118. bowburn, with Sky it shouldn’t matter as you can get all regional BBC channel aswell. I cant find it on the Sky planner.

  119. CLiNT FLiCK says:
    January 31, 2010 at 7:39 pm

    “How many million/billionaires that own football clubs don’t own co.s that exploit cheap labour? Abramovich? Whelan? Glazers? etc. etc.”

    Clint, people like Abramovich (and Shiekh Mansour) don’t even belong in the same list. They are in a different league completely.

  120. Aye mate,
    & no mistake.

    None of it’s really ‘News’ is it?

    The clue is in the word new.

  121. workyticket says:
    January 31, 2010 at 7:36 pm
    Have some people really just realised that most of the clothes they wear are made in sweatshops? Or is all this just faux indignation and hypocrisy because of the name “Mike Ashley”?
    <<<<< aye thats me because its ashley

  127. Freddy Shepp & the Halls are as guilty for the mess we are in as much as anyone and have got off far,far to lightly in my view

  128. barton i disagree they wert saints but through asleys stupidity we got relegated ,we were a top 4 club for a good few years plus if ya knock the 60 mill off what we owed on the ground what would that leave in debt ?

  129. Batty mate am not going to get in to an argument with you that you wont let me win (lol)but the fact that Ashley has had to pump in an extra 120mill on top of what he payed for the club tells you how bad they had ran the club in to the ground,the club was a cash cow to the Hall family dont forget that

  130. Moses going for the really big time with mighty wigan then?
    What a mong.
    His agent must a total *********.

  131. CliNT- keep in mind the club are currently in administration. If Wigan offer a decent bit more than other clubs, thats where he’ll go. The lure of PL football helped im sure also. Maybe no other PL clubs put down an offer, he might have said he wants to play in the big league so there’s his decision made.

  132. Only one local manufacturer of sneakers (trainers) in N. America, however still a coupla shoe manufacturers.
    The US & Canadaian corps. like their EU counterparts, exploit low cost labor throughout the world, which provides increased profit and sews the seeds of their own demise.
    Take the US a mostly post industrial (by exporting plant & manufacturing to the so called 3rd world) society that now relies on mostly financial services, or by it`s real names
    Flim Flam or Ponzi Schemes.
    They and the EU control the IMF & the World Bank, by which they impose Fiscal policies on less fortunate countries.
    However that may come to an end, due to both an awareness and resistance from nations throughout what we commonly call the far east.
    By the middle of this century, the world will be a very different place.
    Might have the worlds best and richest football clubs located in China, yeah you may very well laugh, but who working in the Auto. factories, shipyards, steel mills & coal mines of the fifties UK would have believed the Koreans would become the worlds second or third Shipbuilder , design and produce good quality cars , steel and High tech goods.
    Take a look around you, whats left of one of the worlds centers of heavy industry, one manufacturer of military equipment on Scotty Rd.

  133. According to journalist Simon Bird, Ashley has, in total, put £250million into the club – and interest free.

  135. Has Inside Out been pulled? According to the listing it’s Would I Lie to You followed by Aussie Tennis =/

  136. Ross, i take your point about admin.
    But i very much doubt moses had much say like, a bit like ashley’s ‘sweatshop shenanigans’ hey?
    Freedom, n’all that.

  139. Little bit gutted that he did not come here but after yesterdays inept managerial showing I doubt he would have been given a shot. Yesterday two of our better players most recently didnt even get a look in. Ranger who played well early doors in the season when there was only him to rely on, now resigned to a bit part/last hope to gain points.

    For me with all our players fit my XI would be

    —————-Harper—————–
    S,Taylor—-Williamson—Colo—Enrique
    Routledge—Guthrie—Nolan—Gutierrez
    ———–Ranger—–Lovernkrands—–

    Krul-Kadar-Smith-Ameobi-R,Taylor-Simpson-Barton(till he shows he is back up to speed playing wise)

    IF we are promoted I look forward to being torn to pieces by the likes of oh well everyone. Cant wait for that.

  140. News now reporting that the Mail are reporting that we are after Daniel “friging” Cousin from Hull if this is gonna be our FALL Back position after Beckford and Moses I’ll be well and truely pissed off. I have been pretty happy with the work done so far in this window. Moses would have been good and would have made me forgive the fat man that little bit more. But this is rediculas I live in hull they dont like him and neither do my Rangers mates.

  142. To be fair, how many of our last signings have been really reported in the media until we’ve virtually signed them? Media documentation of clubs’ interest is another thing that inflates prices and i’m glad we don’t do it like Mark Hughes or people do it.

  143. So! seems most are unhappy with things in general, a list of positives,
    Top o the league.
    Just signed a handful of reinforcements.
    The players profess to both like and respect the Manager.
    A lower wage bill.
    A professed claim , that the side is tight and together.
    Non of our Internationals calling for a transfer.
    Erm, anything I forgot ?

    What about negatives,
    We did make some signings, but not a very impressive bunch, who makes the choices ?
    We failed to compete for a kid who may very well be a future star, dumb !
    We still have “The Blind Leading The Blind” whos combined knowledge of the game could fit on the back of a postage stamp. Lamebrain an Ash.
    There`s a salary cap imposed, we have been led to believe. A system that has`nt worked yet !
    The club still has a lot of crap players to unload and there`s not a “real star” on the team.
    In which case it`s understandable why some are unhappy,
    We have a LONG WAY to go.

  144. barton we will have to agree too disagree that ashley is a fat ugly stupid lyeing crook m8 :lol:

  146. Haven’t posted for a long time so i thought i’d chip in with a few points.

    I think we should’ve tried harder for Moses, i’ve watched him play for the England U19’s a few times and he’s easily been the most impressive player, he also seems to have a good understanding with Nile Ranger.

    I also think Ranger should have had alot more game time than he has had, the club have banged on about the young players but aren’t giving them a fair chance. Ranger is more than ready to play several games in a row, there’s plenty of players playing week in week out in the league who are the same age.

    I think the team has become stale and have ran out of ideas, the other teams have obviously done their homework now and our 1 upfront away from home has been well and truly sussed, we need to freshen the line up and we are in desperate need of some pace and creativity.

    I’d have a midfield of Routledge and Jonas on the wings and Guthrie and Nolan/Smith in the middle, although i think all three have gone off the boil, with only Guthrie having the excuse of being played out of position. I hate Joey Barton and i know people say he’s our best midfielder but he’s never ever bosssed a game for us or showed anywhere near the form he showed for Man City, however i think the team is so desperate for someone fresh in that position he may get a chance. Upfront i’d play Loven and Ranger, I don’t think either have had a fair amount of games, I don’t rate Carroll as highly as some on here, although he did have a good patch with some impressive finishes, but i think it’s time to rest him. Shola seems to have gone back to his lazy ways since he came back from injury and maybe he let too many of the earlier season accolades go to his head.

    The problem with most of the above is i think Hughton may be too sentimental/loyal to drop some of the players like Nolan and Smith, especially after these players were part of the group that supposedly got everyone else onboard and wanting to play.

    This also concerns me if and when we get promoted, would he drop the players if they weren’t good enough for the PL?

    My view on the players if we go up.

    Harper – Easily good enough for the PL

    Enrique – If he plays like this season he will be fine and could be a good PL player if he continues to improve.

    Colo – Has earned a 2nd crack at the PL, i’d give him 10-15 games to see if he keeps his cocentration etc.

    S.Taylor – Should be fine, has matured since relegation.

    Simpson – Deserves a chance, may be too small/weak though.

    R. Taylor – Squad player at best.

    Jonas – Same as Colo, we will need more of an end product in the PL though as chances for strikers are even fewer in the PL and players who can create are worth their weight in gold.

    Smith – Been great for most of this season and deserves a chance but i just don’t think he can cut it as DM in the PL, bench for him i’m afraid.

    Nolan – Same as Smith, he may get the nod ahead of Smith in a more defensive midfield position (just because of his years of PL experience) if we bought a an attacking/creative centre mid. May be a bench player though.

    Guthrie – Same as Nolan and Smith, although more creative than the pair of them. I suppose if we bought a PL quality DM he may be ok as the more creative centre mid.

    Routledge – If he’s over his injury problems from previous seasons then he should do a job in the PL, great bench player if we had cash to spend and bought a better player.

    Barton – If someone offered decent money i’d get shot of him, unless he grabs his chance and pushes us on to promotion with outstanding performances and keeps out of troulbe all summer.

    Carroll – Not sure if he can cut it at PL level, deserves a chance though and would be a good bench player.

    Shola – Sorry but he’s had enough PL chances, no room for sentiment and should be sold to a CC club even if his goals get us to the PL.

    Loven – Same as Carroll although i’d have more confidence at him playing week in week out in the PL, depends on who his strike partner would be.

    Ranger – If we’d played him more this season then i’d have less worries about him in the PL, i do think he will make a good future regular PL striker though. If we buy an experienced proven PL class striker then he’d be fine to play from the start as his partner.

    Haven’t seen enough of Williamson, Kadar Lua Lua etc.

    Someone mentioned Beye earlier, i always thought he was overated TBH and can remember several times he played his way into trouble! People have to remember after Steven Carr anyone’s going to look good at RB! I do think his attitude stunk after relegation to.

    Someone also mentioned N’Zogbia, i think we should’ve kept him, people say he sulked and had a poor attitude but i bet JFK said his name wrong more than just the once we saw on Sky sports and was probably a nightmare manager for the foreign players. N’Zogbia moaned under SBR but he still got the best out of him.

    Further back, another player who should never have gone was Bernard who was our most consistant improved player over a long peroid, it’s a shame he seems to have lost his way big time.

    Don’t get me started on Bellas and Milner! ;)

    Sorry for the very long post! :)

  150. barton if the halls didnt take over when they did we would have been in a lot worse of a state than we are now

  151. Yeah but Batty they did a lot of things like secretly disrespect our region, culture – our women! They stole what, around £100mill out the club (and the mancs bang on about a measly £10mill from the Glazers..), but because they were filthy rich and built a good team on lavishly spent foundations people loved them. They bought us the Luque’s, Emre’s and Owen’s, the impractical mercenary, injury prone, over priced, salary raping players that ruin football and ultimately added to our financial plight.

    People think what happens on the pitch 90 minutes on a saturday is the absolute be all and end all of a football club – and if it’s going well the owners are great, and if it’s going badly the owners are evil. Ashley has put more into the club than any person IN HISTORY, interest free, and brought our deluded finance heads down from the clouds before it fell and drowned like Portsmouth are doing now.

    Ashley is doing exactly what the Halls/Shepherds would have done had they realised they had to clean up the mess after the party.

  152. andy thats very bias post m8 and they brought us andy cole rob lee beardsley keegan ginola ferdy albert shearer and many more oh and ashley tells us every thing what he,s upto dusent he

  153. champions leauge football fa cup finals and a team what we could be proud off vs xsico kid colocreamy r taylor nolan over priced the lot of them then we have a little thing called relegation thank mike

  154. It’s not biased, I just personally don’t like the Shepherds or Halls as I think they lack moral fibre, but their chequebook is enough for people to get over that quickly enough.

    They brought fantastic players and fantatic times to Newcastle, but why couldn’t they sustain success with some sensible decisions? The money would not have been there by now if they were still here and we WOULD be doing a Portsmouth – there comes a point when sacking managers constantly with an open chequebook doesn’t guide you out of every problem in football.

  155. To be honest, I think the fact Shepherd appointed Allardyce was a way of saying “Here’s a manager who can work with a limited budget – you’ll be needing him”, all the while running away with tens of millions from the club stuffed in his pocket.

  156. andy as for lacking moral fibre ashley has no fibre at all he should get some bran flakes doon his neck and dont make me laugh aboot sacking managers how many has the fat man got through in 2 years 4 or 5 lol

  157. Everyone that’s ever owned this club has sucked it dry for their own gain.
    & that’s taking into account that they’ve actually, probably got slightly better down the decades, owner by owner. That’s a shocking statement isn’t it?
    But there’s more accountability in football now, not enough, but more than there used to be, mostly due to the amount of info available these days.
    Just an observation.

  158. none of us are f/wizzards but lets say this we knew to some of the things going on before ashley yes halls ect did some if!e things but what great football we saw,ashley con us all and KK,AS and more,so for me halls stuck it right up the fat c—

  159. andy fat fred did it legaly unless he would of got done for it by now unlike mickey boy ,are they still investigating him

  161. This season has ball all to do with playing pretty football for me.
    It’s ALL about getting out of this league asap, don’t care how, just get out of it.

    What happens if we do is in the future, i’m living in the now.
    We have to cross that bridge if/when we get to it.

  162. clint i admit nothing m8 through ashleys stupidity we got relegated and we are where we are now i do think fat freds biggest mistake was that he always tryed too plz the fans too much

  163. CLiNT FLiCK says:
    January 31, 2010 at 10:24 pm
    This season has ball all to do with playing pretty football for me.
    It’s ALL about getting out of this league asap, don’t care how, just get out of it.

    What happens if we do is in the future, i’m living in the now.
    We have to cross that bridge if/when we get to it.
    <<<<< thats exactly what i think m8 i sed at the beginning that we would win the leauge and put 400 quid on it too back it up

  164. There you gan mate, wasn’t too hard.
    :)

    All i’m saying bud, is: Whoever y’vote for, the government wins.
    :)

  165. CLiNT- the only problem is if we do go back up, we need players who can play attractive football. If not, we’ll either end up like Stoke, the premier league bore boys playing long ball/throw in football, or we’ll come right back down. Should we get another striker/start using Mcloven effectively (an attacking formation with a target man for him to run off), then i feel we comfortably have a squad capable of winning this league. Would it keep us up the following season? I’m not so sure.

  168. BATTY,nowt wrong in please we are guys that comes in thee gate,least didnt open shops and screw us somemore

  171. See,
    that’s what i’m talking about ross.
    Off y’gan worrying yerself about a time to come.
    What’s the point, it’ll be a different situation if we go up.
    At least if we do, a team like Newcastle can actually draw better players than the wba’s, notts forest’s & cardiff’s of this world, true?
    Meditate on that. Instead of doing your own heed in on doom mate.

  172. Hey batty I accept many of your points so why can’t you accept mine? Both owners had shortcomings but in real, business terms, Ashley has done the most for the club – it’s his understanding of running a football club that’s undoubtedly been his shortcoming.

    If we could have the football and players from Shepherd’s era and some astute, modern day, sensible business running of the club – which I believe Ashley is, then it’d be a success story.

  173. watching this the fat c@nt has brought every thing on himself even a crook as big as haryy rednap wanted nowt too do with him

  174. Gotta agree with you andy.
    Ashley definitely understands business better than the former fools.
    But they probably understood the average fans mentality better.

  176. batty says:
    January 31, 2010 at 10:24 pm
    clint i admit nothing m8 through ashleys stupidity we got relegated and we are where we are now i do think fat freds biggest mistake was that he always tryed too plz the fans too much
    —————————————–

    I’m not trying to convert you to my way of thinking, but it’s clear that Shepherd and Ashley’s difference is their approach to money in football. Shepherd, basically, spent it like there was an abundance, Ashley however (during a recession least not forget) didn’t see the club as healthy as it was run and clamped down on a lot of ‘luxuries’ we used to have.

    Personally, I believe football clubs are only as strong as the foundations it’s built on. If a league 2 club get to the final of the FA cup, what’s the point if they go into administration then cease to exist the season after? I liked Palace’s former chairman’s Sky sports interview where he blamed them for putting the Premier League on such a pedestal that clubs have spent outside their means to retain top flight status – or life Palace, reach it.

    So, Shepherd for the dreamers, and Ashley for the cynists.

  180. CLiNT FLiCK says:
    January 31, 2010 at 10:38 pm
    Gotta agree with you andy.
    Ashley definitely understands business better than the former fools.
    But they probably understood the average fans mentality better.
    <<<<< business yes football business no

  181. batty,
    yes mate, business, not football business.
    Both are required like.

    ffs knew nowt about either, he only knew how the average Toon fan ticks.

  182. A very important thing to consider when knocking Ashley is what he inherited.

    You can’t honestly say that if Ashley bought the club with no debt and a scouting/youth system that was doing the job then Ashley would have NOT spent his cash when he had it and placed Dennis Wise in a DOF role. Ashley tried to make changes to better the club, but the methods were wrong.

    What i’m saying is, instead of knocking the method, why not look at why he had to make the changes in the first place? Best of intentions with the poorest of executions defines Ashley.

  186. andy knock off the morgage which was aboot 60 mill think that would leave aboot 60 mill debt left a divent think that is that bad ashleys stupidity got us relegated not debt

  187. AndyNUFC says:
    January 31, 2010 at 10:55 pm
    Batty, what’s your opinion of Barton?
    <<< well ide love too have a fit barton in the side

  188. Because as long as he plays good football, it’s ok for you? Just to put some perspective on Ashley’s out of football dealings. Not having a go just pointing it out.

    Just like a millionnaire owner, making the club self sustainable can help us – what he does with Sports Direct is up to him.

  189. i think this doc did more damage to the club than ashley,i know thats the way these big clothes companies work but it still dosnt make it reet,do we really want our club being associated with sports direct.

  195. Its ok bats it was the slazenger jock strap causing the itch, I took it off and things are good! Anyway I prefer FOTL gear!

  206. Thats our last 2 owners that are guilty of exploitation! I bet there are a few more football club owners doing it ( I am to scared to mention Roman)ssssh.

  209. icedog says:
    January 31, 2010 at 11:30 pm
    nite nite lads,fingers cross on last day
    <<<< u p:ssed agen lol nite dog

  210. C ya dog -we need to mate- I think we have tried most strikers in the country now. My boots are looking clean.

  212. CLiNT- aye, i suppose you’re right. Like i said, currently with the players we have, I think we’re capable of winning the league. Pretty much all pundits have commented on the likes of Enrique, Jonas and Colo being a class above the rest down here, i just hope the required investment in the squad would come should we return to the top flight.

    I was thinking the other day, is everyone else under the impression that Ashley will be looking for a sale the moment we (hopefully) are promoted? He’s spent in this window, maybe thinking to himself “right, we’ve somehow got to feb and we’re still top of the league, i’ll spend now hopefully giving us enough to get promoted so i can ensure promotion and flog us when we get there” ?..

  213. tom tomb says:
    January 31, 2010 at 11:29 pm

    “Thats our last 2 owners that are guilty of exploitation! I bet there are a few more football club owners doing it ( I am to scared to mention Roman)ssssh.”

    Tom, as I wrote earlier, Sheikh Mansour is easily the worst for that sort of thing. The UAE was built on slavery, and is famous as a centre for slave trafficking.

  221. Worky that is unreal- the thing is most people- myself included don’t know these things. I will not go near that stuff ever. I still will not touch Macdonalds due to alleged IRA donations(true- untrue ?)

  225. tom tomb says:
    January 31, 2010 at 11:49 pm

    “I still will not touch Macdonalds due to alleged IRA donations(true- untrue ?)”

    Tom, that one’s an ‘urban myth’, though they have done many, many awful things, and are helping to wreck the planet ATM.

    It came from a show in the US many years ago that cited McDonalds for it’s generosity in in contributing to employees’ “Individual Retirement Accounts”, or “IRAs” for short! LOL.

  228. toonsy says:
    January 31, 2010 at 4:09 pm

    I totally agreed with your paring But CH will not do that.

    It will be Jonas,Barton Smith, MR.XYZ

    Results during play will be…
    1)Barton trying to pass the ball to Jonas on his left, Jonas might loss the ball sometimes during the match and got a smoke from Barton, So barton decided to pass it to Smithy on the right, but Smithy was not comfortable on the ball and he pass it BACKWARDS making Barton fire up in the match. And he will start his “tackles” on the opposition. – He got send off.

  230. Here’s the article.
    Skysports.com understands Coventry City striker Leon Best will secure a move to Newcastle United before the close of the transfer window.

    Best is out of contract at the Ricoh Arena at the end of the season and Sky Blues boss Chris Coleman does not expect the 23-year-old to sign a new deal.

    Middlesbrough expressed an interest in the Republic of Ireland international earlier in the transfer window, but Best is now set to join North East rivals Newcastle.

    It is understood the forward has agreed a three-and-a-half year contract with the Magpies and is currently undergoing a medical on Tyneside.

    His impending move to Newcastle will bring an end to a two-and-a-half year stay at Coventry during which time he has scored 22 goals in 102 appearances.

    He has notched 10 times for the Sky Blues this season and he will help to end Magpies manager Chris Hughton’s search for attacking reinforcements.

    Hughton failed to tempt Leeds United into selling Jermaine Beckford, while a loan return for Marlon Harewood was scuppered when the Aston Villa front man picked up an injury.

  232. toonsy – may not mean much but I think 10 goals have been this season – maybe he’s as good as Nolan?!
    Anybody rate him?

  233. magpie6699 – I live a couple of miles from Cov mate, and a lot of people i know who are Cov fans don’t rate him.

  235. Sounds fookin awful Toonsy!
    How much do you reckon he cost?
    Bout £250,000?
    Be a 2 goal a season man in the prem.

  236. they dont want to give him the number 9 shirt,i thought we had done well this window but this sighning shows 1 or 2 of you may have been right

  237. “I have been playing very well since I’ve worn the mask, so I won’t be taking it off. I might start wearing it round the house!”

    Sounds like a right Nobber.

  239. barton – we havn’t signed him yet mate, keep the drama for if we do! :)

    David Craig said on SSN that Newcastle are “still open for trading” today. Who is getting sold then?

  240. Sir Les,SHEARER,Martins,eh-Best,bloody hell bring back Billy Whitehurst or Lawrie Cunningham haha

  241. Hardly a signing to get worked up about if it does happen….I let out a big YAWN within seconds of reading the Article.

    Wonder if he will have an Owen/Shearer type parade in front of 25,000 ecstatic Fans?

  242. can only see this sighning pushing Ranger further down the pecking order HAWAY CHRIS SORT IT OUT MAN!

  244. Sounds better than Ranger…who I don’t rate much anyway.
    Surely we could loan a decent prem striker rather than stock up on shite on perm deals.

  245. Yeah MR JJB Whelen that bloke has an Ego as big as Ashley the only one who spoke any sense was David Cassidy our old CEO and as for lawrenson Alan give the bloke a slap will yer

  246. The thing that got me about the Doc was that it was ment to be about Sports Direct yet they spent more time talking about the club

  247. Ranger is a better player Best imo.

    I’m happy with the numbers we have brought in, just not happy that 4 of them are defenders – Any chance of a striker with some movement.

  248. Think stats show Best has has a better ratio than Ranger 1 in 5…Ranger doesn’t even have a ratio yet.

  250. And the reason he has not had many starts is because he is not ready and unproven at senior level.

    If we had to chose between Best or Ranger as main striker for the rest of this season on current ability,experience,goals etc I would go with Best.

  251. the only way the lad will get the experence is to give him games and bringing in Best will only push him further down the pecking order,ita a catch 22

  254. Nile Ranger, given match time, will prove you wrong sjt. I’m confident of that like. Has everything to his game and just needs games. I don’t think it’ll take him long at all to adapt. The goals will come with the opportunities. He gets into positions that Carroll, Ameobi and Harewood didn, hence he looks like he wasted chances, when really he’s created a half-chance himself.

  255. Just not convinced by Ranger as yet…I certainly can’t see him setting the premiership alight….great athlete but along way from the finished article and wouldn’t be my first choice right now.

    Barton I haven’t had an argument to blow,the reserves are there to build players and feed the senior squad of new blood,Ranger is not ready yet…he may come good but at the moment Ranger is still very much a reserve team striker.

  256. SJT -Ranger has had an excellent record at reserve team level over the last 18 months,so when is the time to give him a chance? he is the quickest and most mobile striker on our books lets give the lad a chance

  257. Like I said I don’t think he is ready,great athlete,not very clinical though as yet.

  258. barton12 – I think you mean Tony Cunningham. What a star – he could trap a ball further than most people could shoot it!

  259. magpie6699 your right mate,my mistake were did i get lawrie from? would love to see Ashley in a closed room for 5mins with Billy Whitehurst though,what a Hard B*stard he was

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