Hughton should make signing a striker a priority.

Posted on May 28th, 2010 | 96 Comments |

Hmm, where to strenghten?
Hmm, where to strenghten?
Whilst I was at work doing various bits and bobs, my mind started wandering. Not on to mucky stuff for once, but about Newcastle and how we should go about strengthening the team.

After all, as football fans we all reckon we know what would be best, and I am no different. The real problem I had with deciding on where to strengthen the team was trying choose whether I should decide with my head, or with my heart, the difference between the two could be millions of pounds! So anyway, after some more musing I decided to use my head. My heart wants us to sign players that will see us finish comfortably mid-table, and perhaps beyond. I would love it if that was the case, but then my brain kicked in and I realised that the players needed to finish so high up the league will be well out the reach of our alleged budget.

Unfortunately, it now looks like Newcastle are trying to be the new financial saints on our return to Premier League action, and as a consequence of that we just don’t have the money to spend. Or perhaps we do, but not enough to take us anywhere as dreamy as the top half of the league in my opinion. The problem is that part of our new financial policy is that we buy players for cash up front and not over a certain amount of years, which is great if you can afford it, but it does again limit our options. A £10 million player will now cost us £10 million up front rather than say £3.3 million split over three years for example. So where should the cash (if applicable) be spent?

I was a striker when I played football, so my natural tendancy has always been to attack first. With that in mind I would like the bulk of any money spent on a striker. This is not to knock Andy Carrol, who by all accounts is becoming quite the promising player. I just feel that there will be too much pressure on him to get the goals to keep us up. The lad is still a young’un, and needs to enjoy his football to help him get better. How on earth can he do that with the pressure that will be put on him next season?

Then we have Peter Lovenkrands, who did fairly well in our relegation season and could probably do a job again this time around. Carroll and Lovenkrands seem to work well together, which is good. But it’s once you get past them two players that things start to look a bit ropey.

We have Shola Ameobi who will probably be injured, in fact I heard a rumour he already has his treatment table booked for late August. Then we have Leon Best, who hasn’t really had much of a chance but doesn’t inspire me with confidence in the Premier League. And finally, Nile Ranger, who will more than likely be going out on loan somewhere, just listen for the hectic lyrics pumping out of the sound system to find out where he is.

So you see, up front doesn’t really fill me with confidence, which is why I believe signing a striker should be a priority.

But who? I couldn’t work out a player in the end as I had to do some work, so this is where you guys come in. Who do you think would be a good, realistic option as a striker?

NUFCBlog Author: toonsy toonsy has written 643 articles on this blog.

Related Posts:

Posted on by toonsy in category: Andy Carroll and Leon Best and Nile Ranger and NUFC gossip and speculation and Peter Lovenkrands and Shola Ameobi and Thoughts and reflections , with tags:
Comment on this post

96 Responses

  1. Misleading headline Toonsy,I thought we were after a BA cabin crew member ;-)

  2. I agree with you. We definitely need to buy a striker and I think CH will buy one. Who? Again not sure.

  4. JAY JAY,I agree m8,to me we do need a striker,but he must have pace,no good buying a carroll type player dare i say a craig/bel type if we can find one like imo

  5. I was going to say the same icedog. ;) If push comes to shove then Best and Ameobi can play Carroll’s role but we have no-one else like Lovenkrands. Bellamy is a player in that mould but he would be out of our league due to wages and transfer fee.

  7. MACK/MILAN,spot on m8,bellamy has to many sick notes now like so wouldnt like to go that road,sure there must be a diamond out there some place,steve coppell seemed to find them cheap at reading

  8. The fact is there are no real genuine striking talents that we can afford, that would be much better than what we have.

    Our best bet here is to dip into the loan market and try go for someone like Vela, Macheda, Sturridge etc.

  10. JJ thought things would start to level out this year,but no things are crazy 7.5mil for flech wolves must be mad,shola must be worth 10mil at that rate,must be headache for c.h.

  11. If your going to get value for money then Hughton will need to get players before they make a name for themselves. I think Simon Church has looked good for Reading and maybe could play in the Premiership but its not really a signing you would bank on to keep you up. I agree loans like Sturridge and Vela would be good but its pointless signing them to make up the numbers. Danny Welbeck is no better than what we have so stay away from him.

  12. we’re so short on money it’s disheartening.would love to see us buy a top class striker.why don’t we try loaning danny welbeck or get an older but proven goalscorer who’s being kicked out like in italy,with the likes of trezeguet.we could try and loan sebastian geovinco.

  13. ESAMIM – Nail hit firmly on head. It’s why an experienced striker costs so much money. They have a good reputation and have proven that they can score goals. The cheap players are cheap for a reason. They might have the talent, but they are a risk.

  14. We actually need a right back, cover at left back, a creative centre midfielder and a striker.

    It absolutely beggers believe that we’ve only had one left back at the club for 3 years!

  16. i think we could give a shot to lucas podolski.he’s out of favour in germany,and i think we might be able to get him on the cheap.why don’t we have scouts in brazil.young talented players seem to pop up regularly over there.we could try and nab one of them before word goes out to other bigger teams and sell him on for big bucks later.

  19. Arka-I’ve personally liked what I’ve seen of him, but in saying that, I haven’t seen much. Anybody see him play regularly?

    For me as far as a striker goes, that’s where we need to spend big. Like around 10 mil or so which I just can’t really see happening. We need a proven striker who can score maybe 15 goals or so next season. The mackems got it right with bent, they’d have been I’m trouble without him this season. We need a similar sort of player

  20. i reckon every team in the league would like a similar sort of player to bent, 20+ goals, proven premier league scorer, 10 million quid. bruce hit the jackpot last season.

  21. err, that last post was in reply to ross btw. just in case anyone thought i was stating the bleedin obvious.

  22. JJ hits the nail on the head. Given our existing strikers are probably valued at more than CH has to spend on a striker, how can you expect to improve your options by buying another one?

    Far better to spend on the obvious gaps in our squad, which, IMHO, are:

    1st-choice RB
    Backup LB
    Backup LW
    Backup RW

    Every other position comes into the same category as the striker: yes, could be better, but not within our budget. If CH can fill the above 4 slots he’s done very well indeed – loans or otherwise.

  23. Rags and Old Iron….expect chat,nomarks,kiddie loans…no decent players on the menu for 5 years,To Old,To Expensive,Wage Demands Where a Problem,We Just missed Out…Blah Blah.

    Stu at 15 :) – We got Leon Best instead so be grateful !! :)

  24. Also I think Everyone is forgetting the team has a great dressing room and that togetherness is all that matters-forget pace,talent…it’s the dressing room that weaves the magic :)

  26. I was wondering today you know with all the age caps,wage caps etc is there a cap on what maximum price we will pay for a player…?
    I have heard it bandered around on here that 6m is too rich etc but I am starting to think that even players valued at £2-3M might be to rich as well?

    I am all for living within our means,watching the pennies and all that entails it is far more sustainable than robbing peter to pay paul….but we are a well supported club,massive local fan base,sweet facilities and I just think a bit of the old speculate/accumulate wouldn’t go amiss to get the football juices and good feelings flowing again.

    On paper we aren’t a really bad side,we have some decent players that are prepared to graft for the shirt (for a change) but to be forced into a 5 year plan where very little money is spent is surely going to take it’s toll sooner rather than later?

    The lads did well as did CH last season and I take my hat off to everyone involved in getting us back up….but I think without a decent injection of Cash from the Board this could turn into a really miserable season for everyone involved.

    Please Mr Ashley…spend some money,back your manager and the club and let’s try and retain the premiership status that we all want,without watching a dire struggle week in week out.

  27. No Not upset at All.
    We have Leon Best instead,Beckford was obviously not good enough for NUFC in the view of CH and MA,so they raised the Bar and brought in Leon.

  28. ok sorry, it’s just you appear upset to me, ranting and raving again whenever another club signs a player.

  29. @Ever seen a makem in milan, aye. Carroll gets a start, with Shola and Best deputizing. Much as I like him, Lovenk is cover for the prem and we need a mobility and technical no. 10 around the box – and based on last season’s cautious 4-5-1 shape we need someone who can drop back into midfield 5.

    aye I’ve said it before – Park Chu Young at monaco is that man – voted best new player in asia,, pick of a young golden generation of S Koreans. rocket fast, big, creative Gerrard type. 5mil bang he comes to the toon!

    Has to be a decent chance of us going for at least one free – beckford or whittingham.

  30. good call boater, although i have absolutely no idea who he is, sounds good to me though..!!

  31. Malchick-as a geordie,lifelong NUFC Fan since my first game in ’74 I am entitled to come on this blog to comment and raise my general concerns as I see fit as long as I am not breaking house rules,causing grief or generally causing trouble.

    I would hardly view my comments above as ranting and raving-I am simply airing my concerns from time to time on a blog dedicated to my club.

  32. Boater-5mil bang he comes to the toon!

    Er you been sprinklin’ the old Columbian Cuckoo Dust on you Weetabix Boater?

    5 Million haha you are having a laugh mate!

    Who is going to sanction this wonderbuy Santa Claus?

    :lol:

  33. Malchick-30 Good Call Boater.

    So a blogger recommends a player almost 3 times more than we are ever going to spend in this window,on a Korean that you have never heard of and that is a good call….now that why I would not take any comments,swipes you make very seriously.

    I think you must just sit behind your keyboard and type willy-nilly whatever pops in your head without mulling things over first and giving balanced opinions that you have actually bothered thinking about.

  34. How about we wait until the massive money clubs make their moves first?

    Then we wait until the second string – teams of a similar mid-table potential as ourselves, but with a significant budget to spend – do their deals.

    Then it’s our turn.

    But, the bright side is that they must be planning a significant cut in ticket prices. NUFC is now a business, as I’m sure some of you have managed to absorb by now.

    The curent owner can’t peddle substandard shyte and expect people to keep paying for the product week after week.

    That business model just doesn’t exist :(

  36. OK i think we need to get some one like robinho on loan he wants to redem him self for the season he had at MC and we need some one like him play maker

    why cant we get him on loan and maybe just maybe we might win some thing this season and then we can buy him or even get some one better.

    Or why cant we do what Bolton did when they first got promoted older players with big talent from round the globe maybe that is the way forward

  37. Why would we get Robinho on loan? Why would he come here without inducement – i.e. money going out of the club (the business) which is absolutely FORBIDDEN as we all know (spare me the ‘ploy to fool the agents’ bullshit if anyone feels themselves tempted).

    And, it is a business nowadays, isn’t it?

    Seeing as it is a business – then they should be making a bettern effort to sell me what I want.

    If they won’t sell me what I want, then they should offer me what they have, but make it cheaper – I may still want it; then again, I may not.

    But, personally, I won’t be turning up week after week next season just to pay off someone else’s debt. It isn’t my debt, is it? The club isn’t a registered charity and I’m not a philanthropist, OR A SHEEP.

  39. Smith, who this week signed a new one-year contract himself, told the Daily Record: “Kris is going. There is no doubt about that now. We have never wanted to admit he would leave but we are doing so now.

    “We’ve made him an offer but he’s getting much higher offers from other clubs and he is going.

    that rules us out then :)

  41. Even if we were top three Robinho wouldn’t come. He’s already said he’s not coming back to the PL and wants to make his move permenant.
    I wouldn’t want him anyway, as has been proven he only came to Man City because he was wanting to get away from his previous club. He saw the wages and lept at the chance.

    OBIC – that business model does exist, it’s called running a football club. Look at it this way. Last season we had bluster from all corners saying they would stay away because of Ashley. Look what happened, we all still turned up, well not me but that’s because I couldn’t rather than wouldn’t due to living oodles of miles away. Anyway, we nearly filled the ground playing so called lesser teams. What do you think will happen this year? Yep full house for at least five or six games and close for the rest. You can see why running a football club, especially one with loyal fans should be easy money. Whatever you do, they will turn up and pay. If I can put out any old tat and it will still sell, why should I give a premium product that will shrink my profits? It’s Ashley all over, look at his other business, the most premium product he sells are a pair of Nike Air Max 95 trainers.
    I don’t know what your Sheep comment is for though.

  42. sirjasontoon – so you not having heard of a player is the barometer for them not being a decent option? This thread makes the point that the prices on the established UK-based players makes it hard to identify realistic options for us this summer – so why not look at rising stars off the beaten path innit?

  43. Boater-I am not disputing that this player might be a great acquisition that was not what I said if you read my post.

    MA will not sanction that kind of money on a player no matter how good he is and certainly not an untested Korean with no experience in the prem so please don’t think
    I was getting at you, the post was not meant to dispute your obvious scouting prowess either.

    :)

  44. according to that beckford article, moyes is letting james vaughn go? bit surprising because from what i’ve seen, he seems like a pretty good up and coming young player.

  45. Far better to spend on the obvious gaps in our squad, which, IMHO, are:

    1st-choice RB
    Backup LB
    Backup LW
    Backup RW
    ——————————–

    Agreed- but sign 2 versatile plyers that can cover on either side and suddenly they’d be covered.

  46. I see what you’re saying, MDS – but I don’t know of any player who is actually good on either side. I suppose R Taylor can do the RW if needed, so perhaps save money by getting a LW who can switch if needed?

    Probably a sensible option if you can find the right player.

    What I don’t get is why everyone is so down on our strikers. If we were going for a top-6 place I’d get it, but while we may not have an obvious 1st-choice striker any more, we do have several players capable of hitting double figures next season, and I’d much rather have that than one very expensive 20-goal striker and the odd contribution from the rest.

    Here’s how I see it: Our existing 1st-choice 11 is more than capable of surviving in the prem. But we all know we won’t have them available all the time – they WILL get crocked. So concentrate on backup players and squad resilience this season, use our younguns where appropriate, then look at moving up the table based on a year’s experience next summer. Use loans if necessary, but save the spending until we can be sure of where best to use it.

    Signing a prem striker is a very high-cost, high-risk thing to do, and just not justified by this year’s objectives.

  47. I think Hughton main priority will be defence , think he will make us hard to break down and build from there ,

    Think centrel midfield is fine , we need cover on the wings,

    Upfront i think we will play 1 up top for most of the season but agree its alot of pressure to put on Carrol to lead the scoring charts so i would like someone to come in up top to provide competition for Carrol n mclovin

  48. We lack and have done since Scott Parker left, a midfield engine room type player.
    It appears young O`Hara is that kind of player, who teamed up with Joey, Routledge and Jonas, would make our midfield pretty decent and pacey.
    We may still be negotiating with Citeh for Onuoha, knowing a bid of 3.5m would be turned down, would still be a bargain at 5m., if not put in a bid for Bougherra @ Rangers a tough talented RB, they need the money !
    As far as strikers give Altintop a call, a versitile player who can cover numerous slots from striker to winger or midfield behind the strikers.
    All would fit well and combined with Wiltshire and Cleverly on loan, would give us a team with pace and enough size to cover for injuries and who knows a top ten finish.
    But then dream on, I forgot players cost money.

    These three

  49. Whumpie @46

    I think that is why soemone like Ohnouha would be good busniess because he is good enough to start on the right but can also cover accross the back 4. You also have Simpson and STaylor can also play on the right. Kadar can play on the left. So maybe kill two birds with one stone as they say?

    In regards to the strikers, i’m not down on any one of them, but other than Loven, our strikers seem a bit too similar for me. I suppose nolan can play in that forward mode he did lat year but I’m not thrilled about the 4-5-1.

    Chuck- I like Altintop for his versatility as well. i think if you have limited funds you need to go for versatile player.

  50. But LW cover is a higher priority than RW where we have R Taylor.

    Anyone know where Vukic is best?

  51. Whumpie says:
    May 28, 2010 at 2:40 pm

    After the last paragraph on this comment I canno longer take you serious, sorry.

  52. well there you have it Whumpie, Stuart; the reigning and undisputed voice of reason on nufcblog.org has spoken. You are no longer taken seriously. You may as well pack your things and leave now.

  53. DevonMag says:
    May 28, 2010 at 4:06 pm

    Why should he pack his things and leave?

    It’s not for me to tell others how to feel and who to take seriously.

    Sure people can make their own minds up – Like me.

    Others though, can be lead pretty easily.

  54. Havnt been on here for months and unsprisingly come back to read stuart is still annoying people!

  55. how about geovanni dos santos from tottenham.i haven’t seen him from his early barca days and he looked real promising then like most barca youngsters do.maybe we could try and get him,but knowing tottenham,they’ll be looking to make money off of us if we do.

  56. Arka as far as i know Dos Santos on loan at galatasary with an option to buy

  57. hey,i remembered joe cole is a free agent!i know it’s fanciful thinking but seeing that they’re free[like altintop] i don’t see the harm in giving it a try and placing some sort of offer.

  58. Looking for 5 million a year wages according to the papers so wouldnt say arka , Sorry i seem just to be shooting everyone your saying down!

  59. oh,guti seems to be set to leave real madrid.guti certainly is capable of filling that midfield playmaker role.

  60. i know a striker we can sign for free i will give you three clues 1 hes played in black and white before 2 hes worked under keegan 3 is a super sub anyone guess who?

  61. it’s ok Johno Toon,i’m just trying to come up with half decent football players who might make an impact.i know lots of big teams have shown interest in brazilian wonderkid neymar,but none have made an offer as yet.we could try and lure him over.

  65. I just dont want to seem like a kill joy r anything arka , n its nice to see some optimism around the place for a change!

  67. oh.i have to be optimistic.being the only geordie in india means you get ridiculed a fair bit by people who only started watching football 4/5 years ago.
    my only hope and it’s a pretty far fetched dream as well is that we win a carling cup or fa cup some time soon.would shut up the damn mackems.

  69. Good man yourself arka! From Ireland myself n thin on the ground over here for Newcastle fans , all my mates either liverpool r Man u , gets very annoying!

  71. in india they’re all gloryhunting manu fans.now there’s chelsea fans as well.get a load of stick from the chelsea fans and it annoys me.just because they have a billionaire owner and we don’t.why doesn’t any rich chap buy newcastle?he’s sure to make money what with us geordies being the best fans.though i wouldn’t want man city type owners.their accounts must be a nightmare.

  72. btw,has anyone seen those god awful puma jerseys that seem to be our kit for next season?

  73. Arka – I wouldn’t mind my bank account being a nightmare like Man City’s ;)

  74. Arka Mike Ashley is an ex-Billionaire,now he is flat broke-I would join the chelsea gang if I where you :lol:

  75. look at what’s happened to liverpool.they’re so deep in debt they have to bend over backwards to buy shirts probably.

  76. Liverpool have a manager that spent a fortune on crap and owners that don’t give a stuff about the club,we have an owner that doesn’t give a crap and will spend stuff all on the club….

  78. sirjasontoon-
    well true,but it would be nice if he opened up his purse once in a while to fund a few reasonably big transfers.not outlandish ones but necessary ones.

  79. I he worth a billion again now? Last time i heard owt in that rich list malarkey he was only worth (only 8O ) £700 million.

  80. Nae idea Toonsy,don’t think he’ll be far off and he’ll have a bit stashed under the floorboards….I wouldn’t get out of bed for £700m it must be a struggle!!

  82. if he has 700mil,you’d think he could let us have at least 15mil for transfers?

  83. ‘BILLIONAIRE Toon owner Mike Ashley has been named as the 655th richest person in the world, according to wealth magazine Forbes.
    The reclusive 50-year-old tycoon is recorded as having a £1bn ($1.5bn) fortune, earned on the back of his sporting goods empire.’
    That’s from the Sunday Sun in March Toonsy,Don’t know how true tho.

  84. He’s only the 655th richest person in the world?

    That’s sh*t, that is.

    Sounds about as clever as being the 14th best domino player in West Auckland.

  85. I shocking Darth he should be ashamed,he’s a failure.I bet I’m even the 644th best at something……maybe!

  91. I am the leader in my field of work, and the stats prove it ;)

    Unfortunately, I’m only second best with the wife. Fecking Farmville comes first.

    If she sends me another potato or offers me another lost lonely cow then I think I may punch her in the face.

  92. i think we need to sign a very quick n explosive striker in order to partner our current strikers which all of them are tall n slow..maybe jus to balance up a little bit i guess..

  93. good strikers??jus to name a few …

    james vaughan,ishmael miller,nathan delfouneso,john fleck,alberto bueno,juan albin,adrian(depor),sercan yildirim,pablo mouche,daniel sturridge,eden hazard,daniel aquino,matias suarez,matias defederico,demba ba,chinedu obasi,….lol but mayb al these players wil jus appear in my dream but they r al risin stars n i hope chris hughtons shoppin list to be da same as mine!!!!

  95. yeah..lukaku….good young player..football manager is pretty accurate though

  96. Hehe, just stumpled upon this rumor, dont take it for anything else than it is, an internet rumor.

    28 May 2010 19:34:18
    The teams queuing up to sign Fabio Aurelio are:
    Atletico Madrid
    Boca Juniors
    Bolton
    Celtic
    Corinthians
    Fluminese
    Fulham
    Gremio
    Juventes
    Lyon
    Newcastle
    Rangers
    River Plate
    Sampordia
    Sao Paulo
    Stoke
    Sunderland
    Valencia
    Werder Bremen
    West Ham

    Aurelio has narrowed this down to his favourite 5:
    Celtic
    Newcastle
    Sampordia
    Sao Paulo
    Valencia

    Apperently Lyon, Juventus and most importantly Sunderland might as well give up once we enter the race for a signature ;)