Lack of investment could cost us survival.

Posted on August 13th, 2010 | 115 Comments |

Cheap cheap!
Cheap cheap!
Newcastle are now just three days away from kicking off their Premier League campaign, but expectations on Tyneside have never been lower.

I think most Newcastle fans will be happy to survive this season, although lack of investment in the playing squad means that will be a massive gamble, and it appears that it is a gamble that the club are prepared to take.

I understand there are still just over two weeks to go in the transfer market, but as things stand currently I just can’t see many more, if any, new faces coming through the door. It pains me to say that as I am generally an opimistic person, but the lack of investment is beginning to get me down. A modest outlay on players to add to our squad for the new season would have comfortably secured safety in my opinion, but if there is no investment then we could be in for a very long season indeed.

Let me clarify that a bit. I think the squad we have can stop up on it’s own, with a bit of luck with injuries and the like. But a modest investment on players, even £10 million for example, would take that reliance on luck out of the equation and make things that bit more comfortable. In fact I think that if it was spent wisely then it would guarantee us safety.

This lack of investment confuses me a little. On one hand I understand that the club is in a position where it is paying for relegation and for it’s profligacy of the past. I also understand that we need to address that problem if we are to become prosperous again in the future. If things are that bad in the books, and they are, I have seen the accounts, then wouldn’t it make a bit of sense for Mike Ashley to outlay some of his cash now to secure safety, and another year of Premier League money?

I don’t think that people are asking for a lot of cash to be spent. Just a sensible amount to add players in positions we are lacking. Ben Arfa would have been an excellent example of that. £5-6 million or whatever for a player who has attributes that we are lacking, like pace, flair and creativity aswell as the versatility of being able to play in a number of positions would have been a sensible move.

I don’t think the squad we have currently needs too much done to it to for it to be able to survive comfortably. Evoultion, not revolution should have been the order of the day. The sum of our transfer window will show that we have signed a player who has spent roughly half of his career in League 1, another player who will be 36 in a couple of weeks, and another player who won’t kick a ball until after I have eaten my Christmas turkey, which doesn’t sound very good when put like that.

As I have said earlier, and as most of you know, I am generally an optimistic person. I still am with regard to my team, the players on the pitch. But regarding my club, the optimism is slowly drifting away.

Relegation will have a dire financial impact on the club, worse than the last time in fact, which is why I can’t understand why we are taking a risk that we may end up going that way again. A couple of new faces can change that, and they may still happen, but if they don’t, and we end up struggling, and going back down, then I want to hear nothing from the club about that dire financial impact.

After all, it could be avoided with a bit of investment from the club.

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

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115 Responses

  2. This is getting depressing innit? Really hope we can have some gd news on the transfer front the next few days. 1 left back, 1 striker and 1 winger will do…come on fat ash! Show us the money!

  4. DJG – Kind of, although I am waiting for some more :)

    I’ll get it up when I have some more time :)

  6. Toonsy we don’t need new players we have team morale in abundance which we all know is going to take the premiership by storm-Mike Ashley knows what is best for NUFC and we shouldn’t question any of his decisions.

    Look at the quality:
    Best
    Shola
    Carroll Number Nine
    Nolan
    Perch
    Campbell

    On paper we will scare most of the opposition this season before a ball has even been kicked.

    :lol:

  7. I’ve heard we’ve approached Everton about signing Victor Anichebe, not sure how much truth is in it.

  8. lack of investment what does that mean.sorry but who has bought well in the lower half of the table.no1. we are not going to buy superstars and nobdy is going to either in the bottom half.we have better squad then most teams in the bottom half ..i wouldnt change are squad for any.we need bodies so do most teams.but they just buy players from each other who are just average players.so what dan gosling is injuried at least he is better then any player any1 is going to sign in the bottom half so if ben arfa comes.. what will the others teams think..would u have them running at u or the run of the mill players the other teams have.no team scares me that includes the joke top sides in this over the top league.

  9. I don’t think Fat Ash has as much money as people think. The so called 2 billion that people talk abou was what he built up in assets years ago. Since then he will have been hit by the recession like everyone else and I think what he has left will still be quite alot but in business assets, buildings, transport, infrastructure ect. 2 billion might just be what all his businesses were thought to be worth before the reccession. I don’t think he will have hundreds of millios sitting around in bank accounts and what he does have he wont want to spend on michael owen type players. He has already pumped a few hundred million into NUFC and will be hoping it can start delivering as a brand. I think its right that we dont just expect a billionare to bankroll us. Wonder how much is coming in from tv this season compared to last. We seem to be on the telly more than not at the start of the season.

  10. We spent more in january than we have thus far and I think some funds are there but Hughton is having to be extra careful as they are so limited.

    Transfers are ridiculous nowadays. Other relegation candidates like Wolves have spent 7mil on Fletcher probably 5mil for Hunt and Mouyokolo as well as bringing in Van Damme and making Guediora permanent.

    Wigan have spent 6mil on their new foreign striker and 3mil on a right back. These are teams we like to think have worse squads and that we will need to stay above to retain premiership status.

    Staring this season our squad looks so fragile. 3 out and only 3 in – Simpson, Taylor, Kadar, Best all injured. Gosling and Campbell signed knowing they can’t start the season. No cover on the wings and only one left back on the books. Basic holes that have to be filled whether it be with frees, loans or minimal investment.

    Like the start to most seasons the biggest worry has now become the transfer window rather than the opening fixtures.

    2 weeks to give us a real fighting chance.

  11. Were being run like Sports Direct, their cheap and cheerful, were just fckin cheap!

    That’s all he’s good at. Shame he thinks the same business plan will work in football too.

  12. We desperately need somebody-ANYBODY-with a bit of creativity,against a very average Rangers we looked clueless up front,I`m a big fan of Carrol`s and think he`ll do the business`IF`he gets some service-get him in the opponents box and KEEP him there not out on the wing or defence in the opponents box-but we have nobody who can put the `killer`ball into the box..Moral has a funny way of going missing when your getting your ass kicked…Gonna be a long season but i think we`ll finish the right side of mid-table IF we get another couple of faces in-Barton`s going to be a big player this season-pay back time lar…..C`mon boy`s do us proud…

  13. my son has said that apparently we have made a bid for Charlie Austin from Swindon. Apparently we did at the end of last season and Swindon told us to F off. No source for this but..

  14. In fact when considering the hundreds of millions Ashley has pumped in the the club in the last few years, forget about the management for a minute, where would we be under FFS now, if we had nose dived and got relegated (perfectly reasonable to assume considering the downward spiral after Bobby) then clubs had turn up for the staggered payments for players, what would FFS have paid them with hobnobs? We could be in administration and League 1 by now with Leeds and boro above us.

  15. The problem is that none of us know how much money has been made availble. There could be a kitty there, but CH is trying to stretch it as far as he can, hence he’s holding out for good deals.

    I mean if you have 1M in your personal bank account, you don’t really need to watch what you spend at the pub, but if you only have loose change, you need to be a bit more careful.

  16. http://www.rmc.fr/editorial/121956/le-clash-entre-ben-arfa-et-lom-se-poursuit/

    Quotes from Ben Arfa’s agent claiming he’s coming here and he won’t be staying, they told him to find another club which he did but now they are dragging it out.

    It says he won’t be playing tomorrow and his relationship with Deschamps has reached the point of no return.

    Also quotes in there from their chairman saying he will look at the situation after this weekend when the pressure cools off.

  17. The problem is that none of us know how much money has been made availble. There could be a kitty there, but CH is trying to stretch it as far as he can, hence he’s holding out for good deals.

    ….

    If he has got £5m to spend then he can’t be seen to go and spend that on a striker while pleading poverty with Marseille to try and get Ben Arfa in on loan with a view to a permanent move next summer.

    He also said that any loan moves would be near the end of the transfer window so not much else we can do apart from wait.

  18. Ive said before the squad that won us promotion would be good enough to keep up and i still belive that.

    Yes the squad could do with improvement ( what squads cant ) and we have seen that with the players we have brought in.

    Its clear the club doesnt have a lot of money ( lets not get into why lets just accpet it ) and i agree with making sure we get value for money and not buying players for the sake of it. What we need is quality not quantaity. So if we cant get the quality we need/want for the money we can afford so be it.

    Spending money we dont have doesnt and cannot gurantee us survival or success both have to be earned. N i think with this squad we can survive and have a platform to build for success

  19. I dont know what to make of Ben Arfa he seems like another N’Zogbia. If he does really want to come here though it is flattering i guess. Would put up with his attitude if he was a real match winner, similar to bellamy.

  20. and the whole sorry tale drags on.

    think its time to put this to bed one way or the other,chairman said he didnt like what ch had said about the deal,how does he think we feel ffu

  21. Dont think its a question of how much money Hughton can spend, more importantly is that he gets a reasonable backing from the board to have a squad capable of giving it a shot this season.
    Up to now, all he has done is released 3 players and replaced them with 3 others, so the squad hasnt been strengthened at all only maintained.
    One the one hand, im a all for Hughton quietly and professionally getting on with the job, but,will he stand and fight for the tools to do the job because if the wheels come off, he will be responsible.
    No one is asking or expecting marque signings, but one or two quality additions wouldnt break the bank and would at least placate those that have put season ticket cash into the club.

  22. This Ben Arfa saga sounds so like berbatov forcing himself to go Man Utd.

    But what makes me wonder is that,like say this particular transfer will take a longer time,why not deal with other transfers first.

    Or is it the board has this policy of One by one first.Geez.

  23. i think those who say we have a better squad/team than the rest of the bottom half of pl are wrong.we dont,and even then these teams are strengthening.ok we are better than blackpool but they beat us last season easily! west brom are far better than us imo and they have strenghtened too.we really are up the creek if we dont strengthen soon,big defeat on monday then same v villa and our confidence will be shot to pieces.i really hope im wrong and il back the team and ch to the hilt during every game,but im soooo worried,thats not being doom and gloom,its being realistic and worried,damn worried.we need improving,not trophy signings,thats ridiculous,but a small outlay such as what the other teams that we will be battling with are spending

  24. easy lads. just like everything else since big mac took over we are all frustrated. most of us are not screaming for 50 mil to blow on superstars. most of us just want 2 decent young lads and ben arfa to make us comfortable about the season. but remember boys, outside the top 6 or 7, we can beat anybody in the league home or away with the squad we got if we play like we did last season with that killer instinct and good ole fashioned guts. i think in the end we will all be happy in two weeks. i think we will get ben arfa on a perm move. ashley has no choice to get this kid. he is a future superstar that is begging to come to the toon and on the big picture end of things 6 mil is a steal. ashley is cheap but he doesnt want to give the money back that the boys and the gaffer saved him last year by winning the soda pop. i think the closer we get to the end of the window the more cards we will see. everything is tight to the chest cuz chris doesnt want any clubs taking our head off in transfer fees like they have in the past because we are such a big club. just hang on boys, with what we got i think we could finish 12th. with ben arfa and 2 other solid signings we could get in the top half. all the way from the usa, howay the lads!!!!!

  25. The club or Ashley won’t be held to ransom.
    Why do you he is a billionaire.
    2 will come in defo poss 3.
    Remember how we got beye?
    Didn’t want to move the best friends got injured and had to retire! Beye had 2nd thoughts wanted to move then marseille blocked it. Etc etc etc
    I’ll tell you again working on striker

  26. BBB – didn’t strengthen? disagree with ya there. we’ve released butt and pancrate (who was the 3rd) we’ve taken in perch, gosling, and campbell. granted two are hurt, but we lost an aging CM, and an inconsistant winger – picked up a young CM with loads of potential and the ability to play in the middle, on the wing, and at the back, once he recovers from injury. we have an experienced CB and a defender who can play across the line to cover us.
    how is that not strengthening the squad?

  27. AngelofDeath brings up a great point.

    Most of us would consider Red nose an astute merchant of the transfer market, yet the Berbatov saga was protracted to say the least.

    It’s how business is done! Everyone gets up in arms and compares this saga to the Modric or Arda Turan deals; Modric didn’t want to come here because of how unstable the club was and there was never confirmation that the Turan deal was serious.

    Stop freaking out, and this blog is not helping! Patience FFS, the window is open yet!

  29. saltysellars11, I agree that some people have misplaced confidence in our squad’s ability to compete with the likes of Wigan, Wolves, Bolton etc – but I don’t think you can really say West Brom are far better than us. Last season we showed we were much better than them in the league table. They have no strikers, no defence and Dorrans won’t be half as effective in the Premiership.

    Blackpool and West Brom are in worse positions than us but the question is whether we can finish higher than anyone else.

  30. Sh!t sorry for crap text. On train in Florence.
    As long as nobody comes in and gazumps us Ben arfa wants to come to toon after monsieur Robert had a few words. Hate to say it as my head is done in wait till 1st September.

  31. Saltysellars11

    West Brom have brough in a reserve goalkeeper, a left back and a couple of centre backs for nowt one who was abysmal in the fizzy and Steven Reid who will sepnd 90% of the season injured.

    its hardly Man City is it and if they are so superior the wouldnt have finished a dozen points back from a inferior side who spent most of the season is dissaray off the field.

    As you said Blackpool beat us easily, Not as easy as the return match where roles were reversed, They also have 4 out of their first 5 matches away from home so they wont get a foothold and will be down by christmas.

  32. saltysellar11,

    please tell me you are just being a nervous nancy and dont truly believe that the yoyos wba are better then us and that blackpool frighten us. look we ran through the championship that both those teams were in last year. we only have to beat out 1 team cuz wba and blackpool will relegate themselves. with wigan, west ham, birmingham(2nd season jinx) blackburn, scumderland (mackems are getting weaker each season), bolton, wolves, stoke city even, i could go on. all these teams could very easily be relegated. throw in wba and blackpool thats ten teams i think could go down and outta those ten we are better then all outright and could be looking for 3 points home or away with the squad we have. the difference between this squad and the one that got us relegated is prob 50 mil or more in wages and this squad has the guts to fight. like i said we will finish 12th with the squad we have and really wont be involved with a relly scrap. couple key signings we could be top half

  33. icedog,

    thanks mate, wasnt trying to disrespect anyone just having my say. we all want the same thing on here, a succesful nufc. if i offended anyone it wasnt my intent. hwtl

  35. There are 8 teams clearly stronger than us but the other 11 are apart from Blackpool pretty even. Everything will depend on staying clear of injuries,good managership, good morale within the team and ensuring you dont implode as a club off the field.
    We could finish 9th, we could finish 19th. I can quite understand trying to get a good passing central midfielder but it would give us 6 central midfielders with only 2 wide players.
    If Carroll is our main weapon to score goals you need to play to his strengths and that is good crosses.

  37. I fear you are right, problem being for me the legacy of smith, barton, nolan etc all on big contracts is a burden we are trying to carry, I read somewhere that Barton is on £675,000.00 a year for his image rights !, while I agree with you that we should perhaps support Ashley to get through it, he clearly sanctioned this deal ! so it’s a catch 22, I also guess we still have a anual wage bill well inside the top ten teams in the Premier leauge.

    Geez long season ahead

  38. @Free Scoring Smudge:

    Yup,exactly. It is exactly same as berbatov situation that time.

    He was even being bench for weeks,if i remember correctly. Since that time the Spurs manager,didn’t want him to go.

    But what ish killing me now is that,why can’t we bring others in first,instead of waiting this to be done deal.

  39. eastcoastmag@26 – Fitz Hall was the third player released so its three out and three in by my reckoning, squad is till the same size

  40. TOONSY i found you streaking and raveing ill have to see if i can find you wagon driveing

  41. Once Van Der Sar’s picked the ball out of the net a few times from a Carroll header and a Ben Arfa screamer people will settle down. :)

  42. AOD- I think all deals are on hold until the Arfa thing is sorted. Winger should be priority number 1 and a loan deal fr him seems to be CH’s preference. If it falls through, we may need the remaining cash to address the position. Plus, as somene else pointed ut, it would be tough to negiatiate ard with OM if we are out splashing the cash on another player.

  45. We will be allreet man. We couldn’t keep spending the money we did. I mean players like Nicky Butt and Alan Smith were/are on huge wages for what they are, second rate.

  46. RICHIETOON thats a smoker m8,dave will love it too,that was quick (as norm) took me couple of hours to find mine :)

  53. Rich

    Aye i know what you mean, We could be making small talk with a bunch of kiddy fiddlers… ;)

  55. CC……probably a right mixed bag on here…..I think I’m the only normal one like ;-)

  58. CC got to trust a toon fan,we all see each other every day in mental dept st nicks hospital newcastle.com ;)

  59. i hope you lads are right like,maybe i am just being a nervous nancy,its what the last 28 years of supporting nufc has done to me. im really worried about injuries and what they will do to an already thin squad.we have heard youth being preached but the youth didnt get a chance in fizzy pop so how can they be expected to cut it in epl? if we dont improve the squad i think its going to be really hard,if not impossible,to survive if we get even 2/3 injuries

  60. let’s not get carried away, there is obviously some money for hughton to spend albeit not a mega amount
    selling clubs are hanging on until the last minute in case they can get a better deal and that includes loanees – personally I wouldn’t bother with loanees as we end up shelling out anything up to a million for a season whilst guaranteeing them a certain number of games

    reckon any incoming players will be signed in the last week of transfer window

    still looking forward to Monday even tho I have little hope of a result I still have hope

    come on the toon

  61. ice.. If you want a committed fan, look in a mental hospital ;-)

    Toonsy………I wouldnt know what redtube was ;-)

  62. Can’t beat this mind. Now I have knowledge that I will be out on the road again I’m preparing a CD.

    This has made the cut. Pure quality like

  63. RICHIETOON think i found him in his studhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJeGjvlLdP8io,and some say WE could be maniacs

  64. DJG – As of March 2010, Ashley is classed as the 655th person in the world, worth £1b ($1.5bn)

    As for this article Toonsy, it strange but after the initial statement the club made about ‘no plans for capital outlay on players’ we started to get use to not buying players & hopiing to see what freebies & loanees’ we could get but then CH made that statement, ‘we have money for player’ & since then we’ve been clammering to see some top notch internationals & throwing every name we can find into the pot…..

    Why did he have to make that statement about having money?? why couldn’t he have just kept stum & got players like he did in Jan, on the quiet then we wouldn’t have any of this trouble!!!!

  65. Items to consider:

    NUFC has not sold (maybe no buyers) any of the roster.

    How confident are free agents about signing on with a manager with so little experience in running a PL club? One could ruin ones career if things go badly wrong with CH at the helm.

    NUFC may be standing by for the fire sale some clubs may have when they need to trim their roster. We can go for the best of the worst- or get some real gems.

    It seems the whole shooting match is relying on Avater rising to the occasion.

  66. look newcastle did what they had to do in the fizzy last season.the prem will be a different proposition,we will not get away with some of our bizzare team selections,formations,and ultimately the wimbledon style we employed.
    we did the sensible thing and kept together the nucleus of the squad that went down,and subsequently had a good campaign.like is said earlier they did what they had to do to get promoted.it was always going to be a case of the existing squad would not be good enough for the prem.
    hard decisions had to be made for me,players like ryan taylor,shola amoebi,possibly sould have been shown the door,or retained as squad players ,with the view to bringing in players who were better than they are.
    the thought of having the future of this football club rest on the shoulders of joey barton,alan smith,kevin nolan,collicini,jonas and a few others,does not exactly fill me with confidence.

  67. Spot on, Toonsy. A Perch, a crock and a codger ain’t going to keep us afloat I’m afraid, and (alas) Big Andy is hardly going to strike terror anywhere outside of the Bigg Market this season.

    “Never mind, Chris, think how much I.. I mean we.. have saved on transfer fees… Don’t worry if it goes tits up I’ll blame you and let someone else spend the money in January, or better still I’ll give JFK a call and keep it all myself, eh? By the way, before you go, fancy a rubbish, emm I mean quality, shirt for the missus as a memento, it’d look great on her.. 10% off staff discount before I sack you?”

  68. for me there are too many question marks against our current squad.i can only be honest,and i’m not going to come on here and candy coat anything.
    personally i’m not convinced by jonas,i think he’s only had about 5 decent games for us over the last two years.
    collicini still worries me,i was watching him against ireland and he’s a shaky as a sheep sh***ing razor blades.
    routledge is another one,puts his head down and just keeps on running until someone takes the ball off him.
    nolan is all heart but far too slow for this level.
    barton is another player that has flattered to deceive,and he’s always injured.
    alan smith 60 grand a week,it’s highway robbery,but he’s ashley’s favourite player,that tells it’s own story.
    shola’s never exactly set the world alight at the top level.
    carroll’s got the potential,enrique has come on a tonne,harper’s passable as a keeper,i think krul has the makings of a good keeper,lovenkrands best option we have in front of goal,leon best i’ll never understand why he was bought,was he a panic signing because we couldn’t get beckford?.most of the players we have were there when we got relegated,i just cannot see who they will have improved from the last time,the old adage springs to mind”you cannot make a bad team play any better”.
    i just wish i could come on here and be confident,but i’m not going to lie.

  71. Alcohol is a depressant, Trojan – which could be the reason you seem to be void of even the faintest hint of optimism ;)

  72. toonsy… i said before the window opened that we would do naff all and we will struggle and everyone said i was doom and gloom…i have waited with patience for the window to close and although we still have a couple of weeks left it is obvious that we are going to spend nothing at all in this window. all this crap about nothing will happen till after the world cup from CH etc. he has been bull shitted from above and it would not suprise me if CH does one cos he is not been given any tools to do a tough job. Make no mistake lads, we go down this time we are finished. hell of a gamble by fatty!!!

  73. i’m all tapped out of optimism,so i think i’ll do the the next best thing see yous aal later am away on the drink.

  75. Here’s a radio interview with Ben Arfa.

    http://www.rtl.fr/fiche/5947911010/football-om-le-bras-de-fer-avec-hatem-ben-arfa-continue.html

    I pulled this from a different site but it translates what he says.

    – As it stands HBA has never said anything against his club or his manager.
    – He was made to understand last season that it was probably best for him to find another club
    – At the start of this season the manager, sporting director and president told him very clearly to find another club
    – Then there was talk of NUFC. But it wasn’t HBA that found NUFC. It was OM through agents that made it happen
    – So we are in a situation that was engineered and wanted by Marseille, not HBA
    – After talks took place we were informed that NUFC had met all the conditions put forward by OM (loan deal with option to buy)
    – Yet OM seem to be messing about
    – Final word to HBA who yesterday said “I won’t be going back to Marseille”.

  76. This is off topic, but I have a friend who was wondering if they could get an autograph from a player by sending something up to the club as they can’t get to Newcastle that often. I was wondering if this was possible?

  77. ToonPigeon………I don’t know whether they do that or not,your best bet is to email the club and ask first before they send anything.

  78. If you write to the club with a S.A.E then you will get an autograph, not sure if they will sign tops etc.

  79. craig – we’ve signed 3 players – a promising youngster, an excellent defender who proved he can still cut it at the highest level with Arsenal last season, and a decent utility player.

    How is exactly is that doing naff all?

  80. I doubt Ashley has owt to do with the quality of the puma shirts, he’s obviously just taken the cash off them and let them get on with it
    Puma gear is shite in general and not worth the money thats paid the the slave kids who make it never mind the huge markup it has when it reaches these shores

  83. We are solid in goal- better most clubs.

    I think our defense is fairly well sorted once Campbell is fit and Simpson, Kadar and eventually STaylor is healthy. Again better than most clubs outside the top 6-8.

    The midfield is solid, but not spectacular. Probably mid-table quality as it stands. The major ommissions are lack of depth on the wings and a creative type up front. This is why Arfa is key as he fullfils both places.

    The forward are the major issue as they can’t seem to create anything on their own.Probably among the bottom feeders in terms of quality. You either need forwards that can create, or a quality play maker to give them service. Addrssing one of those two is to me the major need.

  86. Thanks, Rangerman have you tried getting one before?

    ….

    Yeah, got signed pictures of Shearer and Sir Bobby when I was younger, I sent a few off to other clubs too with the best one being a picture from Robert Pires with him stood in front of the World and European cup.

  88. Evening Lads Ice I seen that one of Toonsy Raving :lol: Richie Yours must have been an old one as he isnt that size now :)
    Toonsy all in all thats not a bad thread mate and I can totally understand where your coming from, I just hope we dont pay for Fat Mans lack of investment in quality Players

  89. Seems to me that there’s alot of clutching at straws going on, don’t think anybody ever expected us to have a chance of signing someone as good as ben afra & in truth if chris hadn’t said he had money to spend we would probably have been pleased (but not happy) with the business he has managed so far.

  90. we will pay if there is no investment.even rb is starting to worry me now! i mean can you imagine raylor or simpson keeping any half decent pl winger in their pocket? and perch has got to be the biggest worry of all at the back,i mean why waste a chunck of our tiny kitty on a player who at the moment in what ive seen so far is looking ten times worse than raylor/simpson? i dont get the perch signing,dont get me wrong i hope he inproves and il back him to the hilt in the shirt but has he truthfully filled any of you with any confidence? i think he was signed on calderwoods word after his highly succesfull spell at forest……

  91. noir9 I cant really understand how anyone could be pleased with what we got tbh. As for CH saying we had money I dont think many believed what he was saying, well to me anyway he was just towing the party line :( and will continue to do so untill The Fat controller tells him otherwise.

  92. saltysellars11 Well said mate and I would add Best to that aswell just because he scored twice in pre season doesnt mean owt, I honestly think a few injuries and we will struggle

  94. Best is a pile of Plop.

    I told you this they day we signed him-he will be clueless against premiership defenders as will all our other strikers.

  95. thats not even to mention nolans pace,or gootrie playing on the wing,or carroll having the ball pumped up to him from the back all 90mins,apart from the carlisle game,mcloven at ibrox and sholas at norwich i can only remember headers as chances in recent games.honestly i can see us going weeks without scoring if we dont improve our attacking options/tactics.im not doom mongering but blind optimism is something ive run out off recently.id love for them to prove me wrong but i cant see it without a bit of investment soon,it would make competition for places better and keep players on there toes.if ch is serious about xisco being our new creative winger then we are deeper in it than i thought

  97. BIG DAVE evening m8,my thoughts on the whole thing is ch is doing the only thing he can do and act like a good puppet and if things go wrong ashley will cut the strings,sad but true imo

  98. There is a guy on ed’s blog that works in the hotel where playing that are signing check into ,he was absolutely spot on with Gosling and Perch ,and he has just said that 4 guys connected with nufc have arrived under the names of bertrand and ouarzan ,doesnt know whether they are agents /advisors ,but they seem to be french ,and he thinks Ben Arfa is in newcastle ,he updating shortly …….

  100. Since there is a new poll. I shall stick to my prediction and go for a 3-2 Newcastle Win. :lol:

    Jonas,Lovekrands(Penalty),Xisco.

    Nani,Carrick.

  101. Icedog

    I think thats harsh on Hughton his hands are tied, What good would a manager be if he refused Ashleys budget and fcuked off before the start of the season, We would be at square one (again)

    I think your right about Ashley getting rid its the only reason he hasnt offered him a new deal becuase he was stung by the KK court case, Sad how he can treat a good honest guy like CH so poorly but its no great surprise…

  103. Cyprus-Toon says:
    August 13, 2010 at 4:37 pm
    DJG – As of March 2010, Ashley is classed as the 655th person in the world, worth £1b ($1.5bn)

    Yes but the owners of Man City have something like £350bn. Just because the assets of Ashleys business empire are worth £1bn doesn’t mean that he has £100 million in his back pocket to spend on new players every 6 months I think your getting confused.

  105. Toonarmy09 Yeah they never normally post unless they want a laugh There is so many WUMs on blogs.
    Ice I think your spot on mate

  111. People need to be realistic. We lived beyond our means for years- and it almost ruined us. This would have had to be the result no matter who the owner was.

  113. Ben Afra Latest for those who cna be bothered
    I have friends in Marseille and apparently HBAs
    agent has been on french radio saying that hatem ben arfa is definetely not coming back and apparantely this deal was being set up as early as last year when Ben Arfa said he wanted to leave. The chairman told him and his agent to go find a club and they found one ( newcastle ) the transfer was “AGREED WITH NEWCASTLE AND OM”only for om to change thier mind and once again screw Ben Afra !
    I dont think he is staying lads no chance

  115. hey lads ive just got this link someone posted on the other side its of ben arfa at newcastle airport,

    http://yfrog.com/hqdr8rrj

    Ive also been reading on another site that his agents/representatives have told marseille that if they dont sanction a move he will buy our the remainder of his contract, but on another site it claims mike ashley has decieded to pay the money marseille are askin for which has led to him coming over here and is ready to discuss personal terms and have medical, not sure how much is true if any of it but thought i shal share what ive read.. but bearing in mind if he signs by tomorrow 5pm latest he will be available for monday night.!!!
    HOWAY THE TOON!