What are Ashley’s summer spending plans?
Posted on March 3rd, 2011 | 60 Comments |
Kevin Keegan recently came out and said that Alan Pardew would see nowt of the £35m the club got for Andy Carroll and he may yet be right.
But other Newcastle ‘legends’, such as Bobby Moncur, have come down on the other side of the argument, guessing that Ashley might get his wallet out for more than a swift ‘all on red’ bet at the casino.
Just a tangent for a second (although one relevant to Newcastle for a change), but I walked into a bar earlier in the week. Hang on, that sounds like a joke: did I say ‘ouch’, meet a talking dog or a man with a large green head? No, actually, what I meant to say was I went to the pub on Monday for a meeting with my local village cricket club (rebels all, terrorists to a man) and met a new chap wanting to join the club who claimed to be a batsman and a Blackburn supporter.
Do you know what he said to me when we started talking football? He said that Newcastle will never win anything in terms of trophies in any time that could reasonably be called soon. Had I remembered to bring my Smith and Wesson I’d have shot him where he stood of course, but all I found where my shoulder holster should be was a packet of pork scratchings – and it’s hard to kill someone with a packet of them – so I simply asked him why. You know, he couldn’t say exactly why – he just said it won’t happen “because it’s Newcastle.”
This got me a bit uppity at first but then I thought he has a point and I became very sad for my club. Nothing much since 1969 and, to be honest, I’ll take any trophy we can get now, just to prove we can get one. Still, I made a mental note to bowl him some hideous bouncers when the cricket season gets under way. Not that I hold a grudge of course.
Anyway, I digress. Going back to the Keegan thing and the other side of the argument, Bobby Moncur, for example, said:
“I really couldn’t see the logic in Keegan coming out and saying that Alan Pardew will not see any of the £35m Andy Carroll sale money when the time comes to bolster his squad.
“In my opinion Kevin was ill-advised because, with the season going into the crucial final straight, it didn’t really help anybody.
“Pardew has one of the toughest jobs in football to start with, and when an influential figure like Kevin comes out and says that people will sit up and take notice.
“In truth, I don’t think anybody knows how much Newcastle will spend this summer.
“But I know that as manager – like anybody at any club – Alan will have to batter Mike Ashley’s door down in order to get the funds he needs.
“That’s been the same as long as I can remember and it’s one of the skills a manager must have in order to convince Mr Owner to get him to fund his transfer plans.
“Alan isn’t stupid and he’ll know that, but I think he’s trying to do the right things since taking over as boss and nobody can blame him for wanting such a great job in management.
“Three years ago I bumped into Mike Ashley at St James’ Park and his plan was pretty clear, although I don’t know how much things have changed since because his public statements have been few and far between.
“Back then he told me that Newcastle wouldn’t be spending big money on any player over the age of 25.
“I agree with that. It’s sensible and it avoids overpayment for over-rated players – and we all know that there have been a few of them in the past few years.”
Well, yes and no in my opinion; that is, in terms of spending money on over 25’s. I agree that it’s a good principle to get in young players, preferably those spotted through good scouting that other clubs have missed, at a decent price and on a reasonable wage.
Nevertheless, I think they have to learn from someone and there also needs to be experienced (25 year old+) players at the club to lead the youngsters. If we have those already then that’s fine; if not, I have no objection to limited spend on an older player providing his benefits can be seen on the pitch as well as on the training ground.
It’s that balance thing again. No more £100k/week for a groin strain etc. I can strain my own groin for free.
As to whether or not Mike Ashley will spend any (or all) of the £35m he got for Carroll, I’ll do my usual thing and sit on the fence until after the summer because I simply can’t call it right now. I genuinely have no idea, but I do think that come August next year we’ll all have a better idea where our club’s going.
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.
Well that’s the 35million pound question isn’t it. I think there will be reasonable spending in the region of 15-20 million. I doubt it’s going to be more than that. I also think it’s going to be a frstrating summer where all the deals are done late. Selling clubs habitually do that these days to hike up the price and get the best deal. Which leaves us fans bitting our fingernails hoping we’re not going to be screwed over.