Barton, Enrique and the goalkeeping dilemma
Posted on April 27th, 2011 | 13 Comments |
The summer will be interesting in many respects for Newcastle United, not least to see who leaves the club and who comes in. However, if the recent comments of a ‘source close to Joey’ are anything to go by, Joey Barton won’t be one of the leavers.
“Joey wants to stay at Newcastle because he is happy here.
“He may be opinionated at times, but he hasn’t forgotten what Newcastle did for him during his time at the club, and he’s got a lot of respect for all of the staff there, from the manager down.
“There has been talk that he was ready to quit the club, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.
“His main priority is to stay here – and always has been.
“Joey has got a great rapport with the Newcastle fans who obviously appreciate his efforts on the pitch, and he wants that relationship to continue.”
Of course a ‘source close to Joey’ could be his cat for all we know but I do tend to think that he wants to stay at Newcastle. No doubt Ashley will want to reduce his wages but if it isn’t to an insulting level then, personally, I’d expect him to be lining up in black and white next season despite alleged interest in the player from Hamburg and despite the fact the club failed to get him on a new contract in January.
Jose Enrique is another matter. He claimed that he would not talk about his Newcastle future until the club’s Premier League status was assured. I think we’re pretty safe now, so I presume Jose is indeed talking with Pardew, Ashley and Llambias about his future at the club. Although personally I’m not hopeful.
Pardew has been said to be trying his best to keep both players as Newcastle.
The goalkeeping situation is another matter. Thump recently posted an interesting article about our goalkeepers and a recent article in the Northern Echo suggests that Pardew would like to keep all our current keepers.
Harper is 36 and seems to be our number one choice at the moment, but with Krul and Forster there are two decent keepers who could serve as number one and number two when Harper’s footballing days are over. The Echo speculates that Pardew is likely to loan one of them out again next season and this time it may be Krul. He wants to play for Holland but has missed consideration for the international squad after manager Bert van Marwijk said he didn’t have enough first team football.
Forser recently said:
“I will worry about Newcastle when I get back there at the end of the season.
“That has to be my approach. I’m at Celtic until the end of the season, and what happens after that will be up to the managers.
“I suppose Newcastle are a bit special in that we’ve got so many great keepers on the books. But that competition is brilliant because it brings out the best in us.”
And Krul recently said:
“I’m here to be number one.
“I’ve been here now for six years working hard. Harps has been really important because he’s told me how difficult it is to be patient. He said, ‘I’m 36, your chance will come’.
“At the moment, I’m not looking at the summer. I’m looking at the near future and nights like Manchester United are really important because they show I’m there.”
Let’s hope we can find a way to hang on to all three keepers.
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.
I agree with your thoughts on Barton, as for Enrique, think he’ll pen a new deal on better wages, probably inline with Tiote & Barton, then we just need to get the rest of the good players signed up & get shot of the dross..
Didn’t Ashley say not long ago that he’s already included an extra 10% rise in the wage budget due to new players & extra wages, lets hope that will keep our best players here… if not, then they obviously want something the Toon can’t give them at the moment & that European football…
As for the goalies… that is a dilemma.. 3 very good keepers & only 1 net.. mmmmm I think the way Krul is playing, he maybe the one to go out on loan for some 1st team action as Forster has already had 2 seasons as a No1 & needs to do bench duty imo….
Tho Pards has already said, all 3 will fight it out for the No1 shirt in the summer,,, should be interesting :)