Cabaye, Gameiro, Gervinho etc. – just what’s the situation?

Posted on June 6th, 2011 | 154 Comments |

Newcastle United transfer targets.
Who are we after?
A summary of the current transfer targets at Newcastle United, not a single one of which has actually been confirmed by the club!

As another week gets underway, we can no doubt expect a load more transfer speculation relating to our club because it is after all silly season.

So I thought I’d kick off by doing a brief summary of where we supposedly stand with some of the transfer targets rumoured to date.

First of all, let’s be clear about one thing: the club have not confirmed a single transfer in and have only confirmed the exit of Sol Campbell and Shefki Kuqi, so that is our official transfer status at the moment.

Mehdi Abeid

By all accounts this is actually a done deal and the player himself has confirmed that he has agreed a deal with Newcastle after being welcomed and encouraged by Tiote and Ben Arfa. The 18 year old attacking midfielder has played most of his football for the Lens B team, so I’m guessing he’s down as one for the future.

Yohan Cabaye

This is also looking likely – although not 100% certain – to be a done deal. Cabaye told his manager that he was off to Newcastle and his manager announced that at a press conference after Lille’s last game of the season. We have allegedly acquired the 25 year-old box-to-box midfielder for about €6 (£5.2m) via the release clause in his contract and it is said that we have signed him for 4 years.

Kevin Gameiro

Apparently Lille accepted our €11m (£9.8m) offer for the 24 year-old striker-cum-winger but the player has voiced a preference to play either in Spain or for one of the big French clubs. He is apparently coming to St James’ Park this week and Pardew, Llambias and co will have a chance to persuade him to sign, but it seems increasingly likely that he’ll be going elsewhere.

Gervinho

Sky Sports recently announced that our €16m (£14.25m) bit for the 24 year-old striker means that his arrival on Tyneside is ‘imminent’, although that may be somewhat optimistic. I can’t help but feel a player of Gervinho’s calibre would be demanding European football and with Arsenal allegedly ready to bid €17m for him, I’m more inclined to think that’s the sort of place he’d go.

Neil Taylor

It seems that Newcastle surreptitiously found a £1m buy-out clause in the 22 year-old Swansea left-back’s contract and intend to use that to bring him to St James’ Park. All the press reports have been about ‘intent’ rather than ‘actually signing’ but – personally – I think this is the sort of signing we’d pull off.

Charles N’Zogbia

The 25 year-old winger has been connected to us since January when we allegedly made a last minute bid for him in the winter transfer window. Allegedly Wigan have refused the first two bids we’ve made – for £5m and then £6m – and Dave Whelan is playing hardball over the player’s transfer to us. The Zog has expressed an interest in coming back to Newcastle via Twitty or similar.

Junior Hoilett

The 21 year-old Blackburn right winger is allegedly interested in a move to Newcastle and is apparently on Pardew’s wish-list, albeit as a second choice, but all we have is press speculation about our alleged interest in the player.

Shane Long

Reading’s 24 year-old striker is apparently of great interest to Alan Pardew and the Reading chairman has all bit accepted he’ll lose the player this summer. Celtic, however, looked to be in poll position to get the player according to the latest rumours.

The Rest

There have of course been plenty other rumours of Toon interest – Ba, Cole, Erding, Boudebouz and even Berbatov, for example – but they have so far failed to generate much momentum.

Outgoing

In terms of outgoing players, we know that Campbell and Kuqi have gone and yesterday there was speculation that Ranger will be shown the exit this summer. Enrique has of course been the subject of much speculation, mainly involving Liverpool, but apparently the club is still trying to pin him down to a new contract.

Nolan and Barton are allegedly not being offered new contracts at the moment. Barton has said he wants to run down his contract at Newcastle and there were rumours that Nolan is ‘considering his future’ but time will tell in that respect.

Now that the French season has finished and the internationals are out of the way, we should begin to see a bit more progress on the transfer front.

Have a good week everyone!

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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Comment on this post

154 Responses

  1. i WAS feeling confident of some of those players…..but now you’ve planted the seed of doubt.

    I am still hoping Gervinho will sign. Would love Gameiro (but only if he WANTS to come, otherwise, he’ll be here for a year, have a good season, and take the first train out of Central Station as soon as he gets the chance…sound familiar to anyone (Bassong!).

    Still, you gotta love/hate this time of year!

  2. we might get Taylor and Long as they will be cheap as chips… and we will sell jose and anyone else of any top quality we possibly can.

  3. U never know if gameiro and gervinho,he said he would like to play in europe hopefully he could get us there and he wouldnt want to leave. Personally hope we get all tranfers aimed at if so things could look up for us fingers crossed that is.

  4. Jesus Christ…barely two weeks since the season ended & already it’s doom & gloom. Give it time…

  5. Maybe its just me but i think well be fine no point in worrying every-body said well go down when well sold carroll and we did’nt so no point worrying. We will progress from last season.

  6. Correct me if I’m wrong but isn’t it the other way round, I mean isn’t Gamerio the striker & Gervinho is the winger/forward ??

    As for any of them coming to us, if you believe wot is written on Twitter, then we’ve signed them all.. lol

  7. Some one please pardew there are other leagues apart from Championship and Ligue 1, and there good players there too.

    and what is that ranger story, is it true anyone?

    My advice to everyone please do not get excited till it is in Black and white (Pardon the fun).

    Coz if you go by press you are in for a lot of vissitudes

  8. 4…. we have givein it time…how mnay years under ashley now? how mnay windows start like this.. full of talk and big names and end as a damp squib, getting in some cheap dross at the last minute while we sell high profile top draw players? Time is something we have given plenty of already i would say. still, as i take the realists view over he window, i wont be getting shocked or anything when it unfolds exactly the same as every other window has under cashley and dekka.

  9. oh.. and i enjoy the banter of seeing big names linked with our club too. cracks me up.

  10. Theres always speculation on whoe’s coming and going, the transfer window would’nt be the same otherwise. Still think us toon army will be ok.

  11. i would be happy just keeping what we have inc jose and joey and getting in a real top draw striker. That would do me like.

  13. Craig you clearly have set your expectations & I hope you are wrong but we’ll see come the end of the transfer window whether we’ve a better squad…even then that’s going to be based on ones opinion.

    With regards the talk of big names…I’m not sure what youre supposed to do about paper & twitter gossip. It’s those channels that are talking big & people set there expectations accordingly.

    The club will buy, sell & ultimately reap what they sow…but until signings are confirmed it’s speculation.

  14. Yes – if you want a Monday morning pick me up then just read Craig Chisholm’s take on the Toon situation ….. always so optimistic.

    ” …..full of talk and big names and end as a damp squib, getting in some cheap dross at the last minute while we sell high profile top draw players?”

    Just 2 things to say to that – 1.Ben Arfa 2.Cheik Tiote

    Of course Craig might be one of those who predict doom and gloom so that they won’t be disappointed although I suspect the truth is that he hopes that everything goes wrong so that he can gleefully exclaim “I told you so”. Don’t you love people like that?

  15. We have already sealed abeid,and supposed to be done deal for cabaye so wait and see. I never believe anything till i see it happen hopefully it will.

    Pardew knows what his team and goals are for next season finish above 12th so why all negativity we will achieve the goals set. Always got faith and that’s all you need.

  16. wow if all of those players come that have been agreed (apparently) I’ll eat Ashleys hat :)

    but.. I think we’ll only get Taylor.

    Sadly Ashley doesnt fill me with optimism.

  17. I agree Tony Toon why is everybody panicking, ben arfa is a very good player and so is tiote. I think we have a good side it just needs that little bit more, and we will have it come new season.

  18. 14….no point in pointing to tiote mate as he was bought in as cheap and great prospect…if he has another great season he will be gone. Ben Arfa.. lets just see, people with breaks like his are never the same again – aka smith etc.
    I am not doom and gloom at all…… i am a realist under ashley, thats all. All you have to do is look at the trend from all previous windows and its not hard to see why it would be sensibel to expect nothing. Every single one of ashley and Deckka’s moves is designed at the required end result which is of course making money. i dont even blame them for that…thats why they are in it after all, its not for the love of nufc thats for sure. my eyes are wide open and that does not make me negative.

  19. Mark my words top half finish this year then Europe next!! It’s looking up for the toon

  20. Just a thought if there’s anyone can add to it:

    The club’s financial year ends June 30 and I wonder if there’s anything to suggest that signings’ll not be announced until 1 July at the earliest – thus taking the costs into the 2011-12 accounts?

    Doing so’d mean that those up-front costs’ll not be included in the 2010-11 numbers.

    Comments appreciated from any financial wizards in our fraternity.

  21. Lesh – That wouldn’t make sense mate. It would make sense for them to pay it all out now whilst they have the Carroll the cash and so on, otherwise they’ll show a huge great profit this time around and then a whacking great loss next time around.

    On Gervinho, Gameiro Cabaye etc….. I can see only one for definite at the minute and that is Cabaye, but given how the club change their mind like a cheap whore changes knickers I’m still gonna wait until it’s confirmed :lol:

  22. Who’s to say tiote will leave after another good season.All players that means for any club want bigger and better things so if this is the case, then lets give our players big and better. I personally dont care who comes in as long as they have potentiall then thats fine. Only in championship 2 seasons ago no back in big time lets stay there.

  23. i have no idea lesh. but i bet whichever way the money deals are done it will be done in a way that either makes them more money or percives that we loose a fortune none stop and that ashley is actually a saint, who was sent down to newcastle to rescue us from financial oblivion adn that he truly does have a halo over his fat head.

  24. We got enough funds from the sale of our no9 carroll to buy 4-5 good signings,from no matter what team as long as they are good enough who cares. Like i said before i think at the min all we need is a goal-scorer,so we can challenge top half of the table. Still dont think with the team we have at the moment is any worse/better than
    Bolton,Stoke,Everton,Fulham,Mackems.

  25. There’s no point in knocking Craig Chisholm for his very valid views and opinions. Which are all based on our past experiences under the present owner.
    Why should Cashley be any different this t/f window than any other?
    Its all quite simple, he will buy players with a POTENTIAL resale value that can do a job in the short term for us, ie keep us in the mid prem positions, and if the oportunity arrises to sell them on at a profit, he will do so.
    I think this is the way he will TRY and lure the big names we have been linked with to the club.
    We can use the players for one season and if all goes well, they can use us as a stepping stone to better teams in the prem. If at the same time NUFC makes a profit even better.
    Well thats my opinion anyhoo.

  26. 22..agree totally… what you are saying though are the very reasons why jose wants to leave.. he thinks we have no ambition and are a selling club. we need to prove we are not in order to ever get stable in the prem or move up to the next level – a top ten club.

  27. I’m the eternal optimist, and hope all the players we have apparently ‘agreed’ to sign come.

    All these ‘Ashley is a t**t’ chirping fans should realise that he has a plan, it’s been put into motion and, most importantly, it’s working.

    We finished 12th last season, higher than expected (especially since most people (including some NUFC fans) we resigned to us being relegated after selling AC – how many goals has he scored for the bindippers BTW?) we owned the Championship the season before.

    Ranger being transfer listed could mean that Newcastle believe they have secured the services of a striker (hopefully Gervinho).

    Nolan and Barton have served the club well, but with Barton’s comments about the club’s owner and Nolan’s increasing waistline and lack of pace, their days at Newcastle are numbered.

    That’s my opinion anyway, all those negs who spiel the doom and gloom and label MA worse than Hitler, feel free to pull on a red and white shirt and support mr potato head’s team.

  28. So Craig, Tiote will be gone in a year and Ben Arfa (in your opinion) is unlikely to recover from his leg break …… and you’re not doom and gloom at all. ha ha

    You say your eyes are wide open. I would say that you see only what you would like to see – a very blinkered view of Ashley. You are not prepared to look at the possibility that Ashley’s dealings have managed to get the club back on a firm financial footing from where we might be able to kick on. Note I said “possibility” meaning that although I am not sure yet about Ashley’s motives I am prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt. The next few weeks will show what his intentions are. My gut feeling is that he is wanting to do whatever it takes, within reason, to be successful and that means NUFC being successful. We supporters want the best but it makes no business sense for the club to herald each move that they are about to make, no matter how frustrating for the fans.

  29. Steady on lads. Don’t argue back to Craig or disagree. You’ll get accused of not allowing an opinion FFS :lol:

  31. BB – You don;t want to go admitting that round here man. You’ll be accused of being a Stepford Wife, or be called a dick for not having your own opinion :lol:

  32. But I do have my own opinions, I posted them @ 25 :roll:

    I’m also able to agree with other peoples points of view, WHEN THEY MAKE SENSE

    I dont think Cashley is our financial saviour/saint, tho I do think that ginger headed fat Kunt from byker had taken us to the edge of oblivion whilst lining his own pockets, and he got away with it :evil:

  33. u have to remember one thing about ashley. in the past he has invested all of his own cash into transfers and quite a but on wages (colo, xisco, jonas etc) this time round we actually have money that has been generated by the club from in my opinion a brillian bit of business so i see no reason why it wont be re-invested. yeah ashley runs the club kinda like a business with a tight fist but he said we have a 5 year plan to get the club back where it belongs and that doesnt happen in one season hence the “5 year plan”

  34. so just out of curiosity, what evidence do you have to suggest we are only a selling club since Ashley came? we refused numerous bids for tiote last year if you believe what he and his agent said and jose as much as i love the lad is the one stalling on the contract. the only player we have let go who could possibly give us that label is Carroll and he was sold for 20 mil over his valuation! barton has caused the club no end of grief even though he is quality and that is why he wont get his contract, and as good as nolan is is he really as good as tiote, arfa, cabaye or even gosling? at the end of the day we have financial stability, we are not buying players and paying for them 10 years later, and you have to remember, the only way ashley makes money is if we do well, so it makes sense for him to invest.

  35. Jim @27 I’m not sure Ranger being transfer listed means we have lined up another striker.Remember we let Routlege go out on loan without a replacement,sorry to dampen your optimisim.

  36. Mick G – you’d have to be prety thick tho to imagine we would start a season without any strikers. soryy to dampen your pessimism. :lol:

  37. toonsy says:

    “Steady on lads. Don’t argue back to Craig or disagree. You’ll get accused of not allowing an opinion FFS :lol:”

    Toonsy you are tiresome. Arguing is what makes for a decent discussion. Whereas deleting posts because you dont like them does not.

  38. @ Mick No replacement for Routledge? How about Hatem Ben Arfa and/or Dan Gosling?

    Saying that, Steven Taylor is a better right winger than Routledge.

  39. BB I’m not saying we won’t get a striker I’m just saying that during the Ashley era thing haven’t always been done logically,and it wouldn’t be a big surprise if someone wasn’t lind up.Sorry for sounding a bit thick. Two t’s in pretty by the way,and to r’s in sorry.

  40. Love how the digital window advert below the comments box has the 2011/12 Barton and Nolan printed shirts for sale.

    IRONY

  41. chris says:

    “so just out of curiosity, what evidence do you have to suggest we are only a selling club since Ashley came?”

    So where do you want to start Chris ?

    Milner £12m
    Given £8m
    N’Zogbia £6m
    Martins £9m
    Bassong £8m
    Carroll £35m

  42. Adding to the irony pile, along with all those outbound transfers, we’ve still managed to somehow keep hold of Xisco on £50k a week :)

    You couldnt make it up !!! How many times have we written these immortal words since the Fatman arrived ?

  43. toonsy…. good to see you back on here having a pop… lets hope that if i ever pop on your board again you dotn delete my comments then put them back on again after i bring it up. with regard to ashley, yes he has stabalized the finances i expect but in doing so has de-stabliszed the actual football team and fans. And yes we had large debt 100 million – 10 billion which ever you want to believe.. .but at least we had sellable assets that covered the debt. Now we have no debt and no assets anymore – or less. Which is best… i really dont know. it would be nice to see the big fella pumping some cash into the ACTUAL FOOTBALL TEAM instead of the business side now that he has us stable and has that AC money in his pocket. i dont think that would be too much to ask.

  44. AndyMac What about the players we purchased since he got here?

    Enrique
    Colocini
    Gutierrez
    Barton
    Nolan
    Williamson
    Tiote
    Ben Arfa
    Cabaye

    No we just sell players

  45. AndyMac….to be fair though its not as if we could have kept martins or bassong after dropping into the championship. high wages and massive forgien egos dont usually work in that leage. fair play to the guys that stayed. and who would turn down £35m for carroll. you would have to be mental!

    as with milner well he was just a greedy pr!ck and he couldnt cross a road for us so that was good money at the time. remember football is a revolving door. things need freshening up. apart from man u as they have had some of their players since they were in their mothers wombs

  47. AndyMac says:
    June 6, 2011 at 9:53 am

    “Toonsy you are tiresome. Arguing is what makes for a decent discussion. Whereas deleting posts because you dont like them does not.”

    I’ve not deleted anything my child loving friend. Clear conscience :)

  48. Wonder what the negs would be saying if we refused the £35M and kept AC, he played the 9 or so games since january, only scored 2 goals and we finished 16th and had no money for the summer?

    They’d probably say ‘should have sold him’.

    I love telling the bindippers how Steven Taylor has a better strike record than Judas this season.

  49. Craig – saleable assets? you mean like owen?
    £40M that kunt cost us, so remind me how much we got for him again when he left.
    Hopefully we never see those kind of value for money deals again, and if thats what you are calling for then you are barking up the wrong tree.

  51. toonsy says:

    “Craig – Check your e mail. Or carry on spreading lies. Up to you”

    Toonsy I wouldnt put it past you to take stuff out that you didnt like. Thats just how you are :)

  52. Is the club in profit?
    No?
    Then there’s no money being made from selling players then.
    QED.

    We buy & sell & loan in-loan out, we get rid of deadwood, buy donkey’s, get shot of donkey’s, get in freebees always have, always will. As do all clubs, especially at this time of the year, i.e. transfer/off season. There’ll be untold silly speculation & some that’s bang on the money, there’ll be shocks & surprises & loads of really boring bits. But when it comes round to August again, we’ll still a Newcastle United F.C. & competing in the Premier league.
    There!
    Have i forgotten owt?

    :)

  54. AndyMac says:
    June 6, 2011 at 10:22 am

    “Toonsy I wouldnt put it past you to take stuff out that you didnt like. Thats just how you are :) ”

    Tis your opinion Mandy, based on no evidence whatsoever mind but crack on fella :razz:

    I notice it’s changed though from me deleting them to me reinstating them. Feck me I’ll be writing them next :lol:

  56. Toonsy says:

    “Tis your opinion Mandy, based on no evidence whatsoever mind but crack on fella :razz:”

    Based on the evidence of one craig chisolm I think you’ll find. Who, after writing stuff you didnt like, found his comments deleted only for you to reinstate them after he’d made it known on here !!

    Thats why I said it’s just like you to do that :)

    PS If you know fellas called Mandy, I’d suggest this probably isnt the site for you ?

  57. Chaps, can we stop the inter-blog arguments please?

    Which is not to say that people shouldn’t have an opinion, but if it’s an opinion about this blog it should be aired here and if it’s an opinion about Toonsy’s blog it should be aired there.

    It’s just that we’ve attempted to establish a certain peace with Toonsy’s blog and it just looks like ‘our blog’ is attacking ‘their blog’ (which it isn’t) and we’d rather avoid that.

  58. re possible signings of Cabaye, Gevinho, Gameiro or any other foreign player currently playing outside the FA. I believe that these players can not sign for a club in FA until 9 june 2011. Not long to wait till speculation ends and we know where these players are going.

  59. Andy Mac – Again they weren’t deleted, but if you want to carry on having a pop crack on fella. If it makes you happy having a go at my site then knock yourself out :)

    Hugh – Very true, and kindly appreciated, and also very in-keeping with the peace that we, as owners and admins of repsective sites, had been working on. Thank-you very much to you and Worky :)

  61. Great point, well made ‘sidekick’.

    BTW, who’s ‘sidekick’ are you?

  62. @post 44…..JIm…. if you check up on the league tables for transfers since ashley has arrived you will see that he does sell assets. We are near on 60 million in the Black on how much he has sold over what he has spent. Now.. if we had a great team that was assembled dirt cheap i would say well done, the man is pure brilliance… if however that is not the case and we struggle to even get any investment at all then you have to admit that pethaps he aint a master tactician but is merely a money driven business man who will balance up us scraping by in the prem every season with as minimal investment as possible.
    Personally i find him and dekka funny as hell and as owner and chairman they give our blogs days of endless banter.
    Hey.. i even applauded dekka for coming out and shutting own up last week.. he was class for once!!

  63. Hugh says:

    “It’s just that we’ve attempted to establish a certain peace with Toonsy’s blog”

    Separate topic maybe Hugh however I’d be interested to know why a peace had to be declared as all the aggro seems to emanate from elsewhere.

    Sidekick says:

    “I believe that these players can not sign for a club in FA until 9 june 2011”

    I was once told by a bloke from the F.A. that the transfer window started as soon as the Premier League finished. Admittedly he could have been talking about English players only ?

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transfer_window

  64. Craig,
    we sold players that wanted out when we went down mate, fair enuff i reckon.
    As for milner, given, zog, again, they wanted out, there’s only zog i’d consider back, as he was pissed about JFK, although he is a whining get generally, but hey, he might have grown up after reaching the heady heights of wigan in the rele zone.
    The clubs still in the red, so there’s no money being made mate, once there is, then fair point.

  65. AndyMac, the peace was declared because it dawned on a few people that a couple of hobby blogs really shouldn’t be wasting their time dissing each other.

    All I’m asking is that if you have a complaint about Toonsy’s blog, air it over there as I’m not in a position to resolve such things here.

  66. Andy,
    the french league ended after the prem, & i think they have different rules mate(?).

  68. Why’s every1 giving craig chisholm a hard time for being honest.

    Can any1 believe that we wouldn’t sell Tiote if a 15mill bid came in?

    Ashley has proved that he’s a tight-assed businessman and can’t be trusted.

    I suppose a cease-fire of words is in order and after the transfer window ends we’ll see who was correct.

    I’m defo in the craig chisholm way of thinking tho, and so are most of my mates who have season tickets. I hope I’m wrong because I’m not a doom monger, I would love the Toon to be a successful club, why wouldnt I. To suggest otherwise is just retarded.

  69. Andy,
    thought so, bit of a wait then,
    tsk!
    Why all of europe can’t play the same game is beyond me like.
    Obviously, where there’s loads of snow fall etc. are let off, but the rest?
    what do fifa/uefa actually do, other than make money & mess with the game?

  70. AndyMac says:
    June 6, 2011 at 10:55 am

    “Separate topic maybe Hugh however I’d be interested to know why a peace had to be declared as all the aggro seems to emanate from elsewhere.”

    This is why I approached the subject with Worky – to put an end to it all and why I asked the chaps and chapesses from my site to calm it down over a week ago.

    As Hugh said, we do it for a hobby more than anything else. I’ve saved a fortune in PS3 games since I started blogging both on here and on my own :lol:

    As it’s a hobby it’s supposed to be a bit of a laugh, and constantly bickering is just something that is not really needed and is why I stopped doing it until I read the comments last night and this morning.

    Look, to square up, I have no problems with anyone, never have. Why should I? I mean it’s only a name in the net isn’t it and is in no way reflective of a person and how they may be in real life etc etc.

    So yes, basically it’s an extending of peace between both blogs and both sets of bloggers. It’s gone on too long.

    People seem to think I want this place to fail – I don’t. Beneath all the bravado and aggro I actually want this place to grow, and my place to grow (together we’ll topple ED :twisted: :lol: Just kidding). But you know what I mean? Weapons down and all that. I work too long and I’m getting too old for aggro :lol:

  71. @64 he was pissed at JK, another disaster signing from Ashley. It was his mistakes that cost us NZog.

    Most players have questioned their futures here because they know how ashley operates.

  72. Andy – I think this season is different in France and they rolled it over to the Monday 6th instead of the Wednesday 1st as usual.

    Dunno how true it is or whether I’m just making it up but I’m sure I read it somewhere which is why nobody in France has moved as yet.

  73. Lol everyone hating on Ashley is very amusing but totally uncalled for… He may not be a sheik or a Russian billionairre but I believe that he has done a great job for NUFC. . . We are 1 of the very few who actually don’t rely on millions from wealthy owners in order to get where we wanna go!!! Personally if I was the owner of a big FC then I would also expect the club to practically run itself financially, MA has a huge investment here and he has full right to run it how he feels, and so far the last 2 seasons, im impressed!!! As for the transfers, Carroll wouldnt have made such a huge impact, whilst Bestie was playin he did really top notch performances, maybe a bit scruffy but he got the job done. It made perfect sense for a ”5 year plan” to get 20mil MORE than valuation for an injured striker. I dont see us speding more than 15 – 20 mil this transfer period but thats perfect so that we have cash to throw around next season still just incase there are bigger debts then. . . Let me know if anyone disagrees. . .

  74. think we will get gervinho in plus the zog,cabaye,n.taylor and hopefully a striker who can pop it in the onion bag

    hope we keep jose,which im starting to think we will.

    need to get another rb tho for sure

    i hate ashley but im starting to think that he may be about to surprise us with the amount we spend this summer.

    if we lose nolan and barton id be sad but if we replaced them with more pace and flair then on the pitch we wud look better but its the effect on the team spirit that id be most worried about losing nolan for

    fingers crosse we come out of the window looking far better than we went in

    just worried do we have a manager who can make the players play well?

    im not so sure

  75. mark,
    i reckon Tiote’s worth a hell of a lot more than a lousy £15m mate.
    No one’s arguing that though, it’s ALL the other stuff mate.
    Though it’s archetypical that people choose to highlight points that they agree with, we all do that.
    :)

  76. Don’t mind banter but the “my blog’s bigger than your blog”, “did not! did too!” stuff is getting wearisome.
    I’m just trying to work out which of the “happy” bloggers is secretly my mate – he makes Eeyore and Marvin the Paranoid Android look like Annie on speed! He predicted we would break the Makems’ all-time -low points score of 12 before last season started! Can’t wait to hear this season’s predictions!

  77. mark @71,
    JFK was the only person that would manage us at that point.
    But it was as stupid an appointment as getting kk back, as it proved.
    None of that was ever gonna pan out well, was it?

  78. How would it be Ashley’s fault if manure came in with a £20M+ bid for Tiote.
    What is he supposed to do?
    At what point does it make more sense to keep a player rather than sell for stupid money. or vice versa?

  79. AndyMac – In fact someone just posted this on mine…
    _______________________________________________________

    From the FA website

    The FA have confirmed that the International Transfer Window will open on 9 June for all clubs in the Premier League, Football League and Conference National.

    Domestic transfers remain unaffected and deals can be done as soon as a club’s season is over following the completion of a club’s last competitive game.

    The transfer window will close at 6pm BST on 31 August (7pm European time). The FA have been working closely with the Premier and Football Leagues who, in turn, have been liaising with other senior European Leagues to try to agree common deadlines.

  81. @77

    Lol it says something if JK is the only person interested in managing the Mighty Toon.

    Yes, the KK appointment was never going to work.

  82. mark,
    it does mate, but because the kk appointment was such a disaster that almost made the job untenable.
    Equal blame for me.
    ma for getting kk in again, kk for whining, twisting, then leaving us in the shit, JFK for not being good enough & pissing the zog off.

    Phew!

    :)

  83. to be honest I do see Ashley building back the bridges him and owl-heel demolished.

    I just find it hard to imagine Ashley not selling us when the time is right. In which case he’ll not put too much money back into the club.

    But yes, I could defo be worse.

  85. I shall now happily sit on the Toon fence until the window closes and hope the Toon can have a sucessful season.

  86. Me too mark,
    i think they have more clue what they’re doing than they did.
    Still got shit loads to learn like.
    But soon their money balancing will pay off, not just for the club immediately, but because of the new fifa rules that are immanent.

  87. mark says:
    June 6, 2011 at 11:22 am

    “to be honest I do see Ashley building back the bridges him and owl-heel demolished.”

    I disagree with that. Ashley maybe, but defo not Llambias. It’s him who is responsible for the day to day running of the club, contracts and stuff like that. It’s him who streaked across the SJP pitch and it’s he who causes most of the problems in my opinion.

    The biggest bridge Ashley could build with the fans is removing that oaf. He doesn’t have a clue about PR or anything like that so getting an MD on who does know a bit about football would be a huge help IMO.

  88. mark says:

    “I suppose a cease-fire of words is in order and after the transfer window ends we’ll see who was correct.

    I’m defo in the craig chisholm way of thinking tho, and so are most of my mates who have season tickets. I hope I’m wrong because I’m not a doom monger, I would love the Toon to be a successful club, why wouldnt I. To suggest otherwise is just retarded”

    Wise words indeed and I’m sure none of us are retarded oh unless you count…………..

  89. Nolan has 2 years left on a contract – why give him a new one? he wont be able to justify his place if we are meant to be going upwards.

    It shows more ambition not to give him one.

    Id rather MA was doing this than chucking money at players who wont be able to earn the corn after 1 more season – could this be long-term planning at last at St James? rather than the reactive ‘trophy signings of previous regimes’
    Yes MA has got a lot wrong but maybe hes learning..

    ‘the optimist’

  92. Can you feel the love? :D

    Alway said the sniping between the two blogs was a bit daft.

    Anyway, I’m just going to wait and see what happens in the transfer window before making any comments on the clubs transfer policy, apart from we will get the old “it’s like signing two new players” line trotted out when HBA and Goslin are back in the team.

  94. @87 that would be the most enjoyable activity this summer if MA sacked owlheed.

    I get the feeling they are very similar and Liambias is just the shit-shifter for Ashley.

  95. 93 David Allison says:
    June 6, 2011 at 12:04 pm

    “It looks like Valencia are on the verge of signing Miroslav Klose; could this mean that their interest in Gameiro is cooling? Klose’s wages won’t be low, so there’ll be a large chunk of the wage budget gone if this goes through…”

    good point, but at 33 u’d have to think he’s not in the LONG TERM intertests of Valenica – unless they hope to net Gamerio as well, and play the experienced big man Klose alongside the nippy 5″5 Gam…?

    Not sure if Valenica could afford both players tho? or whether they need 2 new strikers??

    Gamerio has also talked about joining other French clubs. personally, I’d be very surprised if we sign him.

  96. Yeah, with PSG’s new found fortunes, they look like a good bet. He was born just outside Paris and has spoken of his love for the city.

  99. good stuff something productive to talk about on the blog rather than all the b!atching about how sh!t MA is

  101. Valencia are still deep in debt so taking Klose, who costs them nothing but a sign on fee, is not a bad deal for them. They are in between a rock and a hard place because they need to keep players like Soldado and improve upon that to sustain CL interest beyond Christmas but at the same time £10m up front for KG would be out of their league.

    http://vcfcentral.com/latest-news/llorente-without-the-sales-we-would-be-bankrupt/

    Wheras PSG do have new money but do not have CL this season only Europa League.

  102. I havn’t read all of the comments on this thread but I would assume that there is a lot of the speculation and hyperbole rife at this time of year.

    Bolton or Barcelona is my big question for the management and we fans aspirations. As I see it if we are going for Shane Long (no matter how good he may turn out to be) then we are looking at a mid table/survival position. Gervhino and the eyes are looking up the table to a Euro (or dare I say it) even a league winning place.

    Nobody seems to want to say it but I want us to win the EPL, not in some mythical distant carefully planned future but next season or at worst in the next 2/3 years.

    The big signing I would really like us to make is not a player but Martinez from Wigan. If he could do what he did at Swansea and Wigan on the resources available to him then I reckon with even the limited amount MA would let him have (more than he has at either previous clubs I assume) then top four quickly should be a doddle for him. I realise we are stuck with AP, for better or worse for a couple of season and he seems to be talking the talk so he needs to be given a run at it, so we will have to wait and see!!

  103. Good point Andy.
    Valencia are much like us before ffs sold to ma, over spending to get in the champs league, now they’re in financial do-do.

  104. Grumpy,
    martinez looks a canny manager, likes to play canny football & has done relatively well at those clubs, with not much cash.

  106. Not sure bout martinez, hodgson would be a great manager if ever pardew left. Think it was desgraceful how the liverpool players treated him and how well he has done recentley at fulham and west brom. He has coached all over the world and also works on tiny budgets and I think tactically is very very good. I would have him as england manager over redknapp every single day.

  107. Andy,
    but, you have admit that a steady building of a good team that can start to push on is better than the ‘boom & bust’ we used to apply.
    It’s gonna take some time like, but i prefer that approach & it will become increasingly tenable as the new rules ‘kick in’.
    Yea?

  108. jimbob,
    another decent shout mate, though he is ‘knocking on’, england for him, hey?
    :)

  109. Sounds like we could have quite a few OUT and quite a few IN! I’d preferred not to have too many OUTS, but the good thing is that Ben Arfa and Gosling will seem like new signings, as in a way do Lua Lua and Vuckic…even players like Tavernier and Airey once they get a bit of first team football because they’re maturing. We need to hold onto at least some of our experienced players though, who are also are part of the character of the club. Uhm, need more coffee!

  110. Can’t see ‘new long contracts’ happening for ‘older’ players like.
    Which is par for the course these days.

  111. Id have him hear clint, think he would manage hear too, aslong as our owners show some ambition this summer. Id certainly have him as england manager over redknapp. Harry is a wheeler and dealer, and will persist on playing the same players like lampard,ferdinand,terry,cole etc, who are all over 30. England need young, fresh, hungery players but the problem is we dont have young talent like france, germany etc. But anyway, Id have hodgson hear if the chance ever came.

  112. Jimbob,
    i think y’right about the england job. Pathetic ‘lazy assed’ performance on sat, hey?
    I’d put ‘Holloway’ in there, for a laugh & a big kick up the ass.
    :)
    Aye, redknapper won’t be able to wheel & deal for england, but he’ll get the nod, cos that’s the fa’s mentality, get a popular(among southerners) cockney england manager.
    :)
    They’ll never learn.

  113. Watching Hodgson on the sidelines when we beat Liverpool last season was comical, his body language at times does not convey the right message to players, although I would agree he is a good manager tactically. Martinez always manages to gee his teams up from the sidelines and gets them playing good football. Don’t know if it is because he is younger and has yet to suffer the vicissitudes of managerial life. Perhaps the axiom is to get your managers, as with players, young. :)

  115. Grumpy old toon, I agree with his face at the game :-)

    But to be fair, I think most managers would of had a face like that, the way the liverpool team were playing!

  118. Nothing changes at Newcastle with respect to transfer speculation but there is I think optimism in their new approach. Target young players that are talented and mould them into a team seems to be the policy and not like previous years where huge money gambles like Owen proved disastrous. With regards to Nolan, his work rate is simply not good enough and should be replaced. Enrique should be kept, improving all the time. Barton is probably not as good as he thinks. I think Newcastle know what they want and what is surplus.

  119. I think the days of over paying for ‘big names’ is gone, as is long deals for aging players with no sell on price.
    Paying decent money for younger players with deals that allow for ‘silly money’ sell ons is ‘order of the day’.
    So we may unearth some good players who make a name for themselves then we sell them on for ‘silly money’.
    The thing is: if a player HAS made his name & wants to go & we get top dollar, then there’s not a lot we can do about that other than take the ‘silly money’.
    But in todays mad football prices that’s better than getting nowt for players that have ‘amortized’ over the length of their contract.

  120. I see Toonsy and his sycophant`s are back on this blog, creating the same discord as before, when he was a part of this blog.
    Though i don`t often agree with much that Craig Chisholm says, he really got it right this time, mentioning the fact Toonsy`s ego does`nt allow for disagreement and he will either ban you or prevent you from commenting.
    But what really made me chuckle was the Stepford Wives comment, funny !!!
    And i`m curious Toonsy, why are you back here instead of on the Stepford Wives chat room, to cause problems or are the Stepford`s just too boring ?

  121. ALLLLLREEEEET Hey guys been reading your comments some good pionts been made about ashley . well i think maybe its time he tried to put us in good stead and has a good chance now to make a few things right ,yes hes cleared debt , and used his own money,but now he has the best chance of showing us his intentions and make us see he has the club in his best intrests, if gervinho comes it will make a few people happy to see a promising talent like that arrive hes well mint

  123. Now ! back to football !
    I hate to keep repeating myself, but most of you are not paying attention to whats really happening at the club.

    Seems some time ago Ashley had an epiphany, realizing buying youngsters just does`nt work.

    And having rode his luck with the help of Hughton back into the PL.
    Began a new policy, called scouting, he sent his scouts far and wide, well we know they went as far as France.
    The idea now became, buy not so young, but quality that could be sold on in a few years and all under twenty six.

    Having survived the first season back (with a sqeeky bum at times)and ripping off Liverpool for a nice wedge, he has decided with tat plus a few quid from revenue he had a hefty war chest to revamp the side.
    Younger , cheaper and better, not my words, Joey had it figured out!

    So the Big Cull is on, anyone twenty eight or over, or on wages of over fifty grand is outta here.

    Dont believe it ask Joey or Nolan!

    Why do you think the activity in the market started so soon ?
    Cause there`s a lot of business to take care of and i believe they have done their homework this time.
    So expect an almost new side to be wearing black and white next season.

    Yes the club will sign a big name or two, but for the most part expect people like, Junior Hoilett and Niel Taylor, plus perhaps Izaguirre if Enrique goes, then perhaps the midfielder Boudeouz or someone similar.

    It`s true, we live in interesting times and things should be very interesting come the start of the new season.
    You heard it here first folks !

  124. well as long as we buy quality good cheap young stars that might only stray for a few years but we can sell for a huge profit as long as we keep pulling them in i cant see a problem like a say though we would have to pull them in like first and keep them coming but if we do sighn people like gervinho (if) well i will look forward to the start of a new season

  125. GAV
    Course what i stated above did`nt come from the horses mouth, simply by looking at whats currently taking place and adding one and one, has led me to believe that my statement concerning the current business plan is pretty close.
    Though i have been known to be wrong before (cant remember when exactly, but i must have)so lets see how close i am when the new season starts.

  126. I have nothing against the idea of a profitable club provided the money is ploughed back into the club and not into Fatman’s back pocket. Eventually, if he’s successful, he’ll be able to make a return on his investment by selling the club and recouping his ex’s.

    Unfortunately a football club is not like many other businesses. It needs input from so many sources including fans, players, the media, banks and financial institutions and above all the owners.

    Fat Freddy and SJH got it so badly wrong in the end because they couldnt see the need for all the above to work together. Let’s just hope the Fatman’s learning curve is not too steep because ultimately he will need the support of players if he wants the club to develop.

    Churning players and picking out the aged (and therefore less valuable) and replacing with new untried and untested is not a recipe for success. Clubs need players from all walks of life, all viewpoints and all ages.

    The Joey Barton you see before you nowadays is not the JB I would have recommended sitting on the players welcoming committee all those years ago – but people and players (apart from that Welsh git at the Mancs :) mature and Joey’s maturity could be vital for a young team devloping over the next few years.

    If it was up to me I’d keep certain key senior players like Shola, Nolan and JB if not for their ability to assist and motivate the younger element on the pitch then at least by helping to pass on their experiences, hopefully preventing younger players committing the same mistakes they did in their early footballing lives.

    Whether Pardwho thinks that is another question entirely.

  127. That’s well reasoned Andy, with some good points mate.
    But there is a point where players & club have to be singing from the same song sheet.
    Sometimes agents get in the way & cause rifts, some of those rifts become gaping holes that can not be fixed.
    Obviously, we only see the tip of the iceberg.

  129. Slightly over priced if you ask me, but that’s english players for ya’.

  131. Cabaye & Gervinho play for Lille, Gameiro L’orient.
    I think that’s where the confusion has come from.
    ;)

  132. Im not surprised lille accepted our 11million bid for gameiro :-)

    If they can get away with that one, we should accept the 14million offer for henderson, no?

  133. I would have thought we have youngsters as good as Hoilet and Taylor already on our books.

  135. Gervinho looks like a canny player…11 million gets you nowt these days…

  137. nee player with any nonce would put himself aboot at this stage of the year,get injured and stuff your move up imo

  138. Clint, I said lille, as it says in the thread, thats why im not surprised lille accepted the offer, as he plays for loirent :-)

    But yeah ive seen him, nippy player would love to have him here and gervinho but we are punching above our weight so fingers crossed. Cant see us spending 30million though! Think, as is rumoured it will be one or the other.

  140. jimbob,
    i wasn’t paying close attention there, was i?
    :)

    Great player mind.

    Hey icedog,
    wha’che’or marra?
    Hope it’s all good for you mate.
    ;)

  141. MM,
    bit of a foreign legion or what?

    Howay ya’ bazza’s!
    Let’s have ya’s!

    :)

  142. CLINT,ime canny mate,busy packing laddie house up for his move to malta end of june,see wenger is at that french game,whos he watching,mmmmmmmmmm ;)

  143. Sturridge at 12m is not bad considering his form and goals for Bolton in the 2nd half of the season, buying huge potential just like Carroll.

    Gamiero looks the real deal to me!

    Whats this about a press conference on Thursday is that confirmed anywhere or just a rumour?

  144. Nice mate,
    free holidays in the sun!
    :)

    Who are france playing?
    Are any of the lads playing?
    What’s the score?

  146. from what I have seen Gameiro, reminds me a little of Shearer, seems to know where the net is and scores a variety of goals inside and outside the box…

    I think Newcastle are in pole position for a lot of these highly rated players for their willingness to pay all the transfer fee up front in cash and not on the never never!

    also don’t see why everyone is getting their knickers in a twist over Nolan, he already has a 2 year contract, if he keeps producing the goods next year then he may well deserve an extension. If he does’nt then we have not shot ourselves in the foot were an under performing player can not be gotten rid off because of the high wages he is on aka Smith!!

  147. CLINT aye m8 ones playing,zog was on bench havent seen it all,but that gameiro scored a smoker like

  148. Sturridge for 12mill would be a bargoin, ;-) definitely in the english market

    As for gervinho and gameiro, granted their league is not as strong but you put gervinho or gameiro in the english market and how much are they worth then? If andy carroll was french, playing in france how much is he worth? If you can get those two for around 20million, its a no brainer, they are quality and your going to make alot of profit also ;-)

  150. ice,
    thanx for the update mate.
    HBA scored a cracker just before we got him too, iirc.

    jimbob.
    y’probably right mate, it’s just weird how english players demand such high prices, when they are potential.

    £20m for the french lads, i’d chip in like.
    :)