No way Jose! Enrique procrastinates while Liverpool ponders

Posted on February 14th, 2011 | 64 Comments |

Jose Enrique, Newcastle United
No contract until we're safe
Newcastle United left back Enrique procrastinates on contract while Liverpool allegedly think about a summer bid.

A couple of things are annoying me at the moment. The first is a rat that’s moved in under the decking at the bottom of my garden, which has horrified my wife. It has apparently done this because my wife puts bird food out and nobody told the rat that there’s no such thing as a free lunch. I thought about giving the blunderbuss to my personal concierge and asking him to rid me of the rodent, but then I realised I don’t have a blunderbuss. Or a personal concierge.

We stopped with the bird food but that doesn’t seem to have encouraged the rat to move out. Presumably he’s found something else to eat.

So, I called the council and they will indeed remove said rat for a fee but this in itself is a problem. When they say ‘remove’, I think they really mean ‘kill’ because I can’t imagine the council runs a sideline in re-homing errant rats. Now I’ll admit I don’t like the way this rat sits on the decking in broad daylight and gives me an arrogant look, but I’m soft and one thing I can’t abide is cruelty to animals, so I don’t want it killed.

So there’s a stand off. My wife’s telling me to get rid of that rat, I’m reluctant to have it killed, the rat’s giving me funny looks and I’m being sorely tried by the whole situation.

None of that is, however, relevant to this post, which is about the second thing that annoys me at the moment: transfer speculation. I can cope with speculation about who we might buy, but I’m not keen on speculation about players leaving the club. Which brings me to Jose Enrique.

Jose will apparently not commit to a new contract until Newcastle are safe from relegation, about which Alan Pardew said:

“Jose’s situation is simple. He’s made it clear that he won’t talk to us until we’re safe. What are we now, 32 points? Well we’re not safe, are we?

“So that makes the situation clear and, to be honest, it makes a lot of sense for both him and us. He is an outstanding player and we know that. He is an important player for this team because a lot of our play goes through him.

“He is involved in a lot of the good stuff that we do and I thought he was superb against Blackburn. In terms of technique and impact, I thought he was the best player on the pitch by some distance.”

This is then coupled with rumours about Liverpool’s interest in Enrique. Apparently Damien Comolli, Liverpool’s Director of Football Strategy, was watching him play this weekend. This is on top of the previous rumours that Manchester United might also be interested in Enrique.

Speculation has bids in the region of £15m for Enrique who, if you remember, we signed for £6.3m from Villarreal. I wonder if more than double the money for the talented left back is too much for Ashley to resist.

Anyway, that’s the second thing that annoys me. It could all just be idle speculation but I don’t like it. I personally think it would be a bigger loss to lose Enrique than it was to lose Carroll.

NUFCBlog Author: Hugh de Payen I'm a baby-boomer of the punk rock persuasion, currently exiled in Somerset for crimes committed in a previous life where locals keep trying to poison me with something called 'scrumpy'. Hates sprouts, coat-hangers, Cilla Black, ornaments, Steven Seagull movies and 50 Cent (he's not worth 10). Hugh de Payen has written 634 articles on this blog.

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64 Responses

  1. Cheers for the verb correction Huge… to prevaricate (as I would have it in my previous post) is not to procrastinate. There’s no need to dole out the 1000 lines Hugh, I’ve started on ’em!

  2. Must say, I can see an near parallel behaviours between Hugh’s new ‘pet’ rat (Hugh, why don’t you get it a nice cage and take in side where it’s warm?) and players who take and wait and see what’s on offer elswhere.

    Personnaly and if he is intent on moving(Jose that is, not the rat as that’s clearly staying), I could live with him going abroad but this sniffing by the arrogant so-called elite gets up my nose (no pun intended!!).

    Doesn’t it seem just five minutes ago that the mighty Liverpool were relegation candidates?

    Message for Pardew and the rest of the lads, finish the season in a higher position than Liverpool then we’ll hear them cring foul, being badly done to, unfairly treated… you know the usual malarky that flows from those oh so well balanced fans – they’ve a chip on each shoulder!

  4. i would not blame him if he left. We have been made a laughing stock. at least Mr Ashley gets Money for being a laughing stock, so that helps him. Players get wages which they would get elsewhere. supporters get nightmares and crap from other supportes.

    wish him all the best if he did eventually leaves. would not do his international future harm either.

  6. I wasn’t sure whether Jose is actually just waiting to see if we ensure we avoid relegation or whether he’s waiting to see what’s on offer from other clubs.

    I suspect the latter but I don’t know.

  7. Indian Magpie says:
    February 14, 2011 at 11:20 am (Edit)

    Is that injury update list correct? Hugh?

    ===

    As far as I know (it’s a feed from elsewhere), although Ameobi’s face mask stuff might mean he’s back ahead of 5 weeks.

  9. Would hate to lose him to Liverpool. He is better than that. I could understand if he went to a team hat actually wins more than one or two trophies per decade e.g. United, Madrid etc, bu it would leave a very sour taste in my mouth if those bin dipping mugs were to get him. They are a Europa League team for flip sake!

  11. To use a woefully underused cliche, at the end of the day, if my company looked like it was run by a clown in a fat suit, was potentially going down the toilet, and there was scant investment in the future then I would be looking for pastures new. JESD is just doing what you or I would do in the same circumstances. MA has to either stand up and invest in the Team – I’m not saying he hasn’t invested in the Club – or ‘suffer’ the boo boys wrath. I’m sure he won’t be swayed by the opinion of others and £15m is a decent return – what we’d do without JESD is anybody’s guess though.

  12. He will be sold and I expect a few others will be off in the summer to be replaced by old freebies,division 1 junk and any other basement trash that is available.

  13. These articles linking the bull to a move away dosent suprprise me. However what does is that its Liverpool again. 6 months ago they were in the bottom 3, so how can it be they can now keep dipping into our team attempting to take our best players?? I tell you why, NUFC have no ambition! 10 years a go we did now we are a selling club with a greedy owner taking the profits and short sighted. Our own prestiege has suffered. The next problem is that how can we attract decent players to our club with the kind of Disneyland antics that continually happen. I mean if I said we would lose our manager and sell our star striker in our first season back, who would believe me??

    If Jose wants to go let him, He’s a good player, but no loyalty he got paid a fortune in the championship he’s another player who is not bigger than the club and is replacable. WHat you will see now however is him playing for the shop window and not for us!

  14. Lets just give all our best plyers to liverpool, in fact give theem Tiote aswell for nowt. :(

    That cannot be right, Sayor, Raylor and Gosling, who just had an op back in 1 day. Ireland back in 2 weeks, didn’t they say that 2 weeks ago.

  15. and the worst thing is we dont even need the money ffs…. so why sell off one of the best LB’s in PREM?? greedy fat to@@er.

  16. You’re right DJG, that injury list doesn’t look right. As I said, it’s an external link. NUFCBlog.org denies all responsibility. For anything.

  17. What makes me laugh about the transfer rumour is that Jose seems to forget, No one was interested in him 2 years ago a bit of a joke actually as was side show bob, so he pledged his loyalty to us and took home a huge wage. Now He gets a bit of interest and from a club and is considering leaving us. With the excuse he wants to see if we can survive this season first. Gosh how big of you Jose as you sure we are wothy of your services anyway, now your such as star!! F**K off!!

  18. It’s amazing really, how a craploid rags procrastination (!) on a quiet day can be twisted into fevered hatred by our support.
    Howay lads,
    you don’t have believe ‘everything’ you read & is it necessary to blame the club/owner every single time
    a story made up by bored & hackneyed hacks of a monday morn
    makes it to print?
    Who’s laughing?
    & why is there so much stock put in it?
    Ah! Maybe it’s a gravy train joke?
    ;)

  21. tooneye

    It doesn’t work like that though, he has worked hard to prove himself as one of the best LB’s in england over the last couple of seasons and now is in the form where he can pretty much go where he wants. I will feel sick as a pig if the club makes no effort to keep players like Enrique and Tiote because then we are just going backwards and a selling club. He will probably go because Ashley will offer him lower wages and Liverpool will offer him another £20K a week. I would prefer Ashley spent some of the £35M to secure contracts for these players. Why shouold he though the club are gonna make a profit this season and has the money to spend on new contracts now we’re back in the prem.

  22. Perhaps the Carroll sale was just a one off because of the Abramovich money and the players head was turned but I don’t feel very confident at all. What they shouldn’t have done was continually promise the fans that Carroll wouldn’t be sold and then do it.

  23. tooneye bit harsh their mate..if we went down ..he would be going anyway..so any1 woud wait be4 we are safe..the english players always wont to get off..so it says a lot about enrique jonas and colly..jonas could have gone he didnt..why has ben arfa signed says a lot about him..

  24. jose will go,along with jonas for sure.

    HUGH want rid of rat?find a local raceing pigeon club,they should loan you a walk-in trap you could use then you can release it where and when you wish,got to be at least one of the members that have one,good luck m8

  25. If Jose and Tiote go in the summer and dross is brought in I won’t be giving the club any of my money next season i’ll just go to the dodgy pubs and watch it there. Before anybody calls me a turncoat, whats the point of ‘supporting’ the club if it just goes to lining Ashley’s pockets.

  26. Carroll wanted to go, otherwise he woulda stayed.
    He wanted more money before the end of the season & they offered it, so he went with them.
    I know it’s hard for us all to get our heads round a Geordie wanting to leave for more cash, but that’s it.
    Cash before loyalty is the order of the day.

  27. Sir Jason toon what makes u think that u tit. It’s so called supporters like u that piss me off. Support sum1 else if u don’t like u mug. If he goes he goes we’ll have to deal with it at least he isn’t like the other spineless prick sayin how he wants to stay forever and then fooks off. If they don’t want to play for the club move them on simple as. Support the team not the owner

  28. It’s been reported in the very same press that everyone is choosing to believe here, that ashley has not taken one red cent out of the club thus far.

    Of course we all believe what we want to believe with regards to what goes on ‘inside’ the club.
    But it’s getting really old to just blame ashley/lambias/Pardew for everything.
    It’s become a easy port of call & smacks of tired old agenda.
    I’m all for people’s views being aired, but it’s a bit ‘route one’.
    I expect more from my fellow supporters, whom i choose to believe, have more intelligence & football nous.

  29. I’d be as happy as a swine flu pig in a South American sh1t pile, if Jonas left. Yeh, he’s good, but he’s lost his confidence to realllly take players on, and his delivery is poor, and his shooting is unnatural. I think he must have played a game of “it” with Routledge before he left, and never got a chance to tag the disease back.

    Enrique is quailty, and unreplaceable for 15 million (perhaps 2 players for 15m might make more sense in terms of cover…)

    Tiote – absolutely no way i want him to leave! i love him, and if i was AP i’d buy him a valentines card.

  30. CLINT your right m8,way of the footy world ime afraid,even the great A.S. had agreement to be the best payed player at club,plus a “wee” bonus at the end of each season so the tale goes,loyalty and pride works through the pocket ime afraid :(

  32. ice,
    aye mate,
    & it could’ve helped hold us back too.
    We’ll never know really though, will we?

    I love Shearer cos he came to his home team, but he was pretty well sorted financially to be here too.

    ac has lost that potential hero status, into the ether it floats.

  33. I think it’s a balancing act.

    The club has financial considerations and football considerations, but both inextricably linked.

    If we strive to satisfy financial considerations at the expense of football considerations we can end up hurting the financial considerations too, and vice versa.

    So lets assume that £35m for Carroll was too good to miss and that selling him was right (I’m not saying it actually was, let’s just assume it was for a moment).

    Okay, fine: how about Enrique? Tiote? Coloccini?

    Some players may need to be sold for the benefit of the financial situation but if we sell all our good players then the football will suffer, and hence ultimately the finance!

    So, as I said, it’s about balance.

  34. Or,

    We could look at it the other way round, in as far as:
    ac was prepared to leave for big money, that big money has helped the clubs finances to the point that we shouldn’t ‘need’ to sell anymore of our top players by using some of it as wages for new/better contracts for our best players.
    Has balanced been achieved?

  36. Nice to see the lads get a clean sheet on satda.

    & Willo get a good ‘hailing’ from the boss.

    ;)

  37. As much as it would annoy you Geordies to see Newcastle lose Jose to Liverpool could you really blame the player IF he went there?

    A Europa league team they may be THIS season but they have qualified for European competitions consistently and with the additions they have made and owners prepared to spend big they are better equipped than you guys to be challengers on all fronts in the near future.

    Ashley seems to put profit before ambition these days and if a good offer comes in for Jose, he would snatch at it quicker than you could blink.

    With the money you have made from Carroll (and the probable sale of Jose Enrique) I bet no more than 20% of it will go to finding replacements.

    I’m a Crewe fan married to a Newcastle girl so I have a soft spot for your team but being realistic, IF Enrique had the choice of either going to Liverpool(where there is a Spanish speaking community of players & coaches) or stay at Newcastle could you really blame if he left?

    Like it or not, there is a considerable difference in prestige between Newcastle and the Liverpool/Man U types and THAT alone could see the player have his head turned.

    Don’t blame the player or the buying clubs, blame your unambitious owner.

  38. Ian Van der Howe

    Do you live in a cave? We blame our owner every single day. Liverpool have had a good run but I don’t think they are that prestigous just yet. A couple of good strikers and I think we would be competing with them for Europe next season, there’s not much difference between our midfield and defense anymore. Unless our owner continues to sell them our best players that is!

  39. Dont buy this line that Ashley has invested millions in the club, he has shored up his investment and thats it, he has kept it alive with the bare minimum and will always get it back one day and will not spend a penny more than nescessary.
    Carroll did want to go but can you blame him, Liverpool are paying good money, we are not, and thats why Jose will go as well, Dlboy and Ashey will be rubbing their little greedy paws with glee at the interest in the players and also the fact that some of the fans are buying the hard luck story that they spew out.

  40. If a Geordie leaves (Even though with him the lights on but nobody’s home) How can we expect others to stay?
    Its not a summer I’m looking forward to.Money Rules!!

  41. CLiNT FLiCK says:

    “Or,

    We could look at it the other way round, in as far as
    big money has helped the clubs finances to the point that we shouldn’t ‘need’ to sell anymore of our top players by using some of it as wages for new/better contracts for our best players”

    Or, You could try taking those black and whte tinted spectacles off CF:)

  42. bigbadbob says:

    “Dont buy this line that Ashley has invested millions in the club, he has shored up his investment and thats it, he has kept it alive with the bare minimum and will always get it back one day”

    Knowing the Fatman BBR he’ll get more than just his stake money back when he eventually sells but you’re right about his “investment”.

    He’s used the bare minimum of cash to straighten the clubs finances but, just as the other Fat Parasite before him, he’s not spending his own money in this venture. He’s just taken out a loan on behalf of NUFC which has to be repaid on his terms. The original loan was £80m and has now risen to £110m, god knows how much it will be when the Fat Basted finally decides to leave ?

  43. love him or hate him arry has wheeled and dealed well for spurs,clubs finances seem ok,well on paper like

  45. Andy,
    i will if you take your shit-stained ones off?

    Although, as a supporter of NUFC i think that entitles me to don B & W tinted specs, or is it a prerequisite?
    Shrugs?

  46. CLiNT FLiCK says:

    “we shouldn’t ‘need’ to sell anymore of our top players”

    CF do you genuinely believe that ?

  47. Andy,
    the clue is in the word ‘shouldn’t’ mate.
    So it’s not a case of whether i ‘believe’ it or not, surely?

    BTW,
    do you really believe everything you type?
    We’re all welcome to our own version of events, but i’ll hold off ’til i see evidence.
    I know you feel, let’s say, displeased with all things at the club right now & that’s your prerogative mate, but worrying to the point of ulceration seems pretty pointless.
    I’m no ‘believer’ in ashley et al, but i do have a ‘soft spot’ (HA!) for NUFC. There’s a long way to go this season & we won’t know about what gets spent in the close season transfer market ’til it gets here.
    Will AP get the money (£35m) to spend on the team?
    Who knows?
    Try & enjoy the rest of the season mate.
    The point being, other clubs wanting to buy our top players will know we won’t give ’em up for peanuts, that’s good.
    Then it’s just down to the players agenda, something we can’t do a thing about, but support them.
    But it’s not ALL down to MA, that’s just starting to sound paranoid &/or easy meat.

  48. So you do think we shouldnt need to sell any players because we have £35m in the bank from AC’s move ?

  51. Andy,
    well it would suggest were not short of a few ‘readies’ & therefore don’t ‘need’ to sell players.
    As you say, money in the bank.
    Plus, we got way over the odds for ac.
    Doesn’t that prove a bit of hardball by the club, for not buckling for a quick £20/25m profit?
    Who thought carroll would wanna leave, who thought someone would pay £35m+ add ons?
    Owt’s possible & this is the precent.
    So shouldn’t is just that, shouldn’t.

  53. I’ve never seen so many people talk themselves into a suicidal frenzy over nowt (yet)! Jose said that he would not begin talks about a new contract until we were sure of PL football next season. Don’t blame him – he wouldn’t want another relegation and nor would some others – so what’s the point of getting into discussions now?
    The club will know its financial position better in due course – and they will have a PLAN A (safe) and a PLAN B (relegation) – if they have any nous that is.
    Immediately some blogs are turning it round that Jose is stalling now he knows that Liverpool might be interested! Not true – he came out with his position at least 2-3 weeks ago.
    And as for MA planning to sell our best players and replace them with “division 1 junk” and “freebies” – I’ve never heard that said nor have I seen evidence of it being done. Unless of course you regard the signing of Ben Arfa, Tiote, the negotiation of new contracts for Steven Taylor(oh wait a minut. He was nailed on NOT to sign and leave for nothing, wasn’t he?) – clear evidence of a different policy to me.
    The January window is always a crock of s**t for us ( although we did sign HBA, remember!). The one thing that happened was we sold a potential star for a RIDICULOUS amount of money! Not 15 million, not 20, 25, 30 but £35million+! Still disappointing but lads, get a grip and stop being so bloody paranoid about every bit of rumour and sigh!

  54. Another thought – the only time the rag-tops and the Daily Hate-Mail would leave us alone would be if we only had crap players! Otherwise they will want (desperately) to fawn over Manure, Chelski and Citeh and make up stories. At least it shows we have some decent players!

  55. The three amigos have been good signings for us. They stuck to the task after relegation and none of them have been missing much through injury while they have been with us. They are no doubt getting well paid but as far as I am concerned they have given of their best. You can’t say that about some of the overseas signings in Newcastle’s recent history.

    In the case of Jose Enrique he has done so well in the last two years that his agent probably thinks a better contract should be available. Ashley’s choice is to give him a better contract and keep him or sell this year for quite a bit more than he cost. Mmm. Wonder which way it will go? Answers on a postcard.

  60. ice,
    aye,
    i figured that mate.
    It was another weird one like, not quite as weird as this like.
    But it’s been coming, hasn’t it?

  61. As much as Id like to see him stay if were relegated I wouldnt hold it against him or anyone else if they decided to leave if we went down again. They stuck with us last time when our owner screwed us, why should they miss out on playing at better run clubs and receiving better money if the FCB makes the same mistakes again (which he seems to be doing).

  62. We’ve only had 2 managers this season.
    Surely, by mistakes you mean amount of managers?
    kk walked, CH wasn’t ready, JFK was the only one who would take the job, it gave him heart failure, Shearer was experienced enough.

  64. Re CLinNT flIck

    Only 2 managers. Thats great isnt it?

    And I didnt just mean the managers. I meant lying to the fans and players, selling our best player and not having the balls to explain any decisions.