Graham Carr – “We need half a dozen players in Summer”.
Posted on March 13th, 2011 | 50 Comments |
In the interview, he says that he will be looking for around half a dozen players, with the emphasis being on a new striker for the club in the wake of Andy Carroll’s departure to Liverpool.
Carr began by looking back at his career as a scout, including an almost two year stint at Tottenham and the huge amounts of travel involved:
“When I was at Tottenham I worked under David Pleat and he was full of good football knowledge and little sayings. I remember him saying to me ‘Never waste a flight,’ and that has stuck with me.
“So I go to a country and I’ll watch two or three games if I can. Last weekend I was in Lille, this weekend I’m going over to Germany to watch two games. You have to put that leg work in and get out to games – being passed a DVD of someone just isn’t the same, and 90% of the players that agents pitch to you just aren’t up to it.
“So my passport is pretty well thumbed, but I love my job. My dad played for Newcastle United and I’ve always wanted to be here – now I am I’m desperate to help bring some success back to the club because it deserves it.”
With his background established, he then moved on to the PR side of things, where he outlined how he and the club will leave no stone unturned in his quest for “a lot of players”.
“We are looking at a lot of players. We have teams of players that we’re looking at lined up in 4-4-2 formations because we want to have someone in every position,” he explained.
“I think we need half a dozen players in summer, to be honest. That is a personal opinion, mind, but that is what I’m working towards – having options to put before the manager when the season is over.
“And we won’t just watch a player once. With someone like Cheick, it was the result of four years watching him. I’d first seen him playing for Roda against Arsenal in 2006 – they were hammered 4-0 I think, but you could tell he was going to be a good player. He never stopped running.
“So you keep an eye on him and track his progress, which is where we are with plenty of other players.
In a previous interview with the Chronicle’s John Gibson, he said that he had first seen Tiote when he was was playing for FC Twente, not Roda which was Tiote’s previous club, though the opponents (Arsenal), and the scoreline (4-0) were the same. Anyway, Carr then moved on to Arseme Wenger and his Arsenal side, and competition from other teams in the scouting arena in general. He also remarked on how Newcastle United are still a large, well known club who can still attract quality players from overseas, continuing:
“People will all look at Arsene Wenger and say he’s got the French market covered, but we’ve got a good handle on it, believe me. The same is true of other countries too.
“You know you’re not on your own – you know there is competition out there from other English clubs and you have to be realistic – you can’t keep everything you’re doing off the radar.
“A player that I was watching last weekend we’ve been watching for months, yet suddenly there were six scouts there from English clubs, all probably watching the same player.
“The key is to react quickly – that is what will get us our targets. That and the fact that Newcastle United is a big, big draw overseas.”
Carr then moved on to the qualities he will be looking for in his targets, before reminding us once again that Newcastle United really are a huge club, and how overseas players will have noticed how well Newcastle United have treated current player, Hatem Ben Arfa, while he recovers from a double leg break sustained in a horrific “scissor” tackle by Manchester City hatchet man, Nigel de Jong:
“The players that come in will have good pedigree. We will expect them to improve the squad.
“But there are a few other considerations – we want players with a bit of pace who can get about the park. And they have to be the right age and they have to come within the wage structure as well.
“That is quite a few things to look at admittedly, but I really think we have a good chance of getting the players that are on our list.
“Supporters would certainly be surprised at the pulling power of Newcastle United in France and Holland in particular. I would say that outside of the traditional big four we’re probably the biggest draw in those countries.
“That was something that I was always struck by, even when I was working for Spurs and at other clubs. Don’t under-estimate the name value of Newcastle United.
“Playing in front of 52,000 in the Premier League is a real incentive to many. I mean I have been to certain French clubs this season – clubs at the top of the league over there – and they are probably going to be playing in the Champions League next year, yet I could name three or four players who would join Newcastle tomorrow.
“They’ll all know about the way we’ve treated Hatem Ben Arfa. L’Equipe has been covering his recovery in detail and we’ve come across very positively.”
Carr was then questioned on how Newcastle United’s “infamous wage structure” would affect the ability of the club to attract talented new recruits, to which Carr replied:
“Not really. The wages we can offer are better than they would be in many other European leagues.
“In places like Belgium, Holland and France the money isn’t probably quite as good.
“Germany is tougher because they do pay well – and the crowds are big over there as well.
“Of course, agents get involved and that complicates the situation, but if you hand-pick the players and do your research, you generally know the players in our bracket.
“We can’t compete with the resources of a Manchester City, but those clubs aren’t going to necessarily be looking at the same players that we are.
“In the next bracket of clubs, we’re at the top I believe.”
Moving on to how a new striker for the club is top of his list of priorities, and how current Newcastle United manager, Alan Pardew, will be the final arbiter of who the club actually signs in the summer, he continued:
“It is down to the manager and I will just put forward the options to him.
“But I think we’re looking at someone with pace, who can play off the shoulder. Maybe someone who is more of an out-and-out striker.
“We have plenty of options. I like to think we could have brought in somebody in January to replace Andy Carroll with a little bit more time, but it all happened quickly and in the end we couldn’t do it.
“I don’t like January anyway, to be honest. It is the desperation window in my opinion.”
Emphasising his Geordie roots (Carr was born in Corbridge and his father once played for the club), and stressing how he thinks it takes a Geordie to recognise the special qualities required to be a Newcastle United player, he said:
“Being a Geordie and having supported Newcastle gives me a bit of an advantage I think,”
“You look at some players who are talented, but you just have to say ‘They’re not a Newcastle United player’.
“I know the crowd can be quick to get on your back at times. You have to have mental strength, you have to play a certain way. I always knew a guy like Tiote would be a big favourite.”
When it was put to him that a £35 million transfer kitty must add to the excitement and pressure of his role as Newcastle United’s chief scout, Carr responded:
“Yes they are exciting times ahead for the football club.”
“There is added pressure because people know we have money to spend, but we have done our homework and tried to hand-pick players who will suit this club.
“You can’t promise a 100% success rate, but we know what we’re trying to do and the blueprint that we’ve got can bring success to Newcastle.”
Carr then began to wax lyrical about “committed and passionate” Newcastle United owner, Mike Ashley. He also subtly refuted claims by previous manager, Kevin Keegan, that Mike Ashley knows nothing about football, and also that Managing Director, Derek Llambias knows even less, stating that they were indeed “knowledgable”, and that it was “amazing” just how interested they are in his job, saying:
“The owner and the senior staff are very much interested.”
“I work very closely with Derek Llambias, Lee Charnley as well as the manager and Mike Ashley.
“I have regular meetings with the owner – I have met him on loads of occasions. It is good for me that there is interest in bringing players in.
“I know what the perception is outside of the club but he strikes me as a passionate man who is very committed to Newcastle United.
“They are knowledgeable. It’s amazing how interested they are really.”
Let’s just see what happens in the summer, and how much of the 30-35 million proceeds which haven’t been spent on renewing existing contracts is spent…
NUFCBlog Author: workyticket
workyticket has written 1096 articles on this blog.
Interesting words and most certainly scripted with an eye on the season ticket offer. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens though. Interesting times ahead and I do believe there’ll be a fair bit of activity – incoming and out.