Routledge gone (almost) but Barton still dominates Toon headlines

Posted on August 2nd, 2011 | 47 Comments |

Wayne Routledge agrees personal terms with Swansea City.
Done and dusted, just about
Newcastle United’s Wayne Routledge only needs a medical to complete a move to Swansea. Meanwhile, Joey Barton’s situation continues to dominate the NUFC headlines.

Unfortunately, besides the Barton furore there’s little else happening at the club just now.

It seems that Wayne Routledge has agreed personal terms and has all but signed for Swansea City now, assuming he passes the medical. A club statement from Swansea City read:

“Swansea City is pleased to confirm that personal terms with Newcastle winger Wayne Routledge have been agreed.

“It follows on from an agreement with Newcastle over an undisclosed transfer fee and the 26-year-old is expected to arrive in Swansea for a medical before signing a three-year contract.

“The former England Under-21 international will be joined by Middlesbrough striker, Leroy Lita, who is also due to have a medical before completing his transfer.”

Apparently Routledge is due in Swansea today for the medical and Swansea boss Brendan Rodgers hopes it will all be wrapped up in time for their game against Celtic tomorrow. Routledge is signing on a 3 year deal and whilst the fee is officially ‘undisclosed’ it’s thought to be worth about £2m, which I’m sure will be reinvested in the club*.

As to the Joey Barton thing, it’ll probably run on for a while but – contrary to a lot of press reports that seem to think he’ll end up in the Championship – I reckon a few Premier League clubs will be quite prepared to risk his ‘reputation’ on a free transfer. He was our player of the season last season and he is on a fine run of form. At just 28 years old he still has plenty to offer and, I believe, he will easily make the starting XI of many a Premier League team.

Barton surely must have known that his comments on the moronic Twitty would eventually lead to his exclusion from Newcastle and maybe his release on a free is exactly what he wanted. It’s not as if he just made the one comment, took a fine for it and stopped like Enrique. Ashley was never going to stand for it regardless of his footballing ability.

That’s merely an observation – it’s a matter of opinion as to whether he was forced into such action by the mismanagement of Ashley and Llambias.

Barton’s agent, Willie McKay, thinks it’s ‘suicidal’ of Newcastle to release him on a free transfer. McKay said:

“I was totally surprised when they never offered him a contract

“I think it’s a wee bit suicidal by Newcastle because how would you let your player of the year leave on a free transfer, approaching his prime.

“He had a great season last year and he was, for me, pivotal for the club getting £36million for Andy Carroll because he passed every ball to Andy Carroll, for every goal.

“He’s a very good player and approaching his prime. I just can’t understand what Newcastle are doing.

“Derek Llambias and Mike Ashley stood by Joey when he was under real pressure so I’m not going to come out and slag off Newcastle’s board but I think they have made a mistake. He was going to take a drop in wages to sign a new contract.

“There will be a lot of takers. Joey would hope to go to a top club and in actual fact a couple of top clubs have been in contact already.

“There won’t be a problem finding Joey a home. He’s a very good player and approaching his prime. I just can’t understand what Newcastle are doing.

“I think he is capable of playing Champions League. He’s a very good player.”

Quite what Alan Pardew thinks of things is unknown. Although it seems as unlikely as a penguin playing a banjo, Pardew has remained silent on the Barton situation. So far, anyway. Maybe the sheer friction on his tongue from his regular tirades has caused his head to catch fire.

I can’t imagine he’ll be too happy about not getting any money for Barton. He has lost last season’s best player for nowt and thusly has no money from any deal to allocate to new players.

Still, there’s just under a month left in the transfer window and we’re told to expect one or two new players, depending upon which Pardew statement you choose to believe. I think we will get a striker in the £5-£8m range but beyond that I don’t know.

Pardew certainly needs to get the squad settled after the recent controversy as the Arsenal game is looming ever closer.

* Humour

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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Posted on by Hugh de Payen in category: Alan Pardew and Hugh de Payen and Joey Barton and Mike Ashley and NUFC gossip and speculation and Player indiscipline and Thoughts and reflections and Transfers and Wayne Routledge , with tags: , , , ,
Comment on this post

47 Responses

  1. So now Barton is a Martyr!!!!!!!! Poor, poor him!!!!!!! Should have kept his stupid scouse mouth shut and just got on with it and left running the the club to the management. IMO.

  2. Funny in life their is always two sides to a story. I have learnt that to my cost on a number of occasions over many years. I have no time for Ashley and I genuinely feel that it would be beneficial if he sold up and took his lapdogs with him. However, the other side of the story seems to be painting Barton as a disruptive influence in the dressing room who wanted all of his own way. It also seems he has been at the centre of arguments with fellow players. The question is what the hell do the new players think they have bought into too? Do potential new players want to come to a club which is in turmoil? So therefore I think losing Barton may not end up been a bad thing, but ridding ourselves of Ashley is the priority.

  3. Be interesting to see what Partridge says on this.
    Maybe he will come out and say it was his decision to make himself look less of an idiot (if that is possible) and a bit of a no nonsense tuff guy.

    I just can’t see Partridge having any fun doing this job….but he is the prefect foil for Ashley because if it wasn’t for mates in high places he would still be signing on….he wouldn’t get a job in football management and I don’t think Match of the Day will be calling for his rape punditry any day soon.

    So where does Partridge go from here?
    My guess is he will stay on a low gas in Mike’s Oven so come Xmas he will be good enough to Kill then Eat for Xmas Dinner.

    JK is waiting in the Wings (sorry I got birds on the brain today).
    :lol:

  4. All the best to Joey. he had a graet season the last season. But he had it coming . he shot himself in the foot.

  5. I dont think Ashley is the best thing to happen to the club but he aint the worst. It’s only the players wanting a new improved contract or who think they should be playing at a bigger club that are making noise and twittering about so it has to be taken with a pinch of salt. We have a great midfield even without Barton.

  7. Freddie – It isn’t just losing Barton is it?
    The whole spine of the team has vanished in a few months.

    Why haven’t players like Shola,Smith,Lovvenkrands,Perch etc been moved on?
    I think the simple reason being they would need replacing and that would cost money.
    We have a huge amount of players that are not premiership quality…most of the talent is heading out the door.

  8. My concern is that our team has gradually been weakened over the past year with players leaving. Yeh we have replaced them but who knows what with yet. Plenty of potential, but that means nothing when results are not following on the pitch. We had a stronger team after coming up from the Championship than we do now. Also who of any footballing credibility will want to join a club like ours at the moment that is eating away its own in sides! I bet the new signings are already thinking I was warned about this great confidence boost for them.

  9. sirjasontoon Who would buy Shola or Smith in their right mind and why would they go when it would mean a massive reduction in their wages? I think we are stuck with both for another season until their contracts run out. Loven and Perch and not that desirable..and I dont think we’ll see them the back of them until their contracts also run out.

    Maybe we should stop wayne going to swansea as we clearly dont have a right winger

  10. Charlie-Maybe we should stop wayne going to swansea as we clearly dont have a right winger.

    They probably haven’t even noticed.
    :lol:

  12. i’m going down the realms of the “conspiracy theory” here,but haven’t we seen this before by the board.
    there have been other transfer windows during ashley’s tenure,where situations arise,normally of ashley’s making,that throw the club into turmoil.
    i might be a mile wrong,but these events seem to be manufactured by the club,to steer the fans,media etc away from them not spending money on players again.
    this situation involving joey barton will have everyone up in arms,then it gives ashley an excuse not to invest in the team again.
    i just find it funny that it happens time and time again,during transfer windows.he either puts the club up for sale,then uses that as a reason not to spend,or some other reason.i think mike ashley is a lot smarter than people give him credit for.i think we are all being played by him,even the media get sucked into it.
    all they will now do is play the victim card,and go back behind the parapets,and wait it out.
    they’ve been pulling the same stunt for the last three years,and they are still here.

  13. Yup Trojan we are like a mini 9/11 sculpted from within and the planes are always set to Attack once they can fly by remote through the Open Window….Blam Blam !!

    It has been one hell of a painful ride with These Chumps pulling the strings.

  14. sirjasontoon,it does look like joey barton has unwittingly played into their hands.the question of the 35 million will just not go away,it’s rumbled on throughout the summer.just like the lass that worked for steven byers,who said after the 9 11 attacks,”it’s a good day to bury bad news”.

  15. It has all imploded again what with the Barton debacle and the club acting like they can walk on water and disregard the feelings of the players and the supporters.

    We have seen this before when the Keegan thing happened in the 2008/2009 season, all of the bad publicity and ill feeling at the club leads to players under performing and a poor team spirit, couple this with the core of last years team being ripped out and sold on and it is a recipe for disaster. The complete lack of ambition of the current management is apparent for every one to see, including the players and it will lead to heads dropping and a could not care less attitude in the team and a loss of support from the fans.We will end up with protests, boycotts etc as when Keegan resigned and it will all fall apart from there on in.

    Although NUFC never give press statements (another fault with the management), according to a club insider on talk sport last night, Barton and the club agreed a new contract for him in January and they shook hands on it, then by all accounts he came back in June and asked for something different from what had been agreed. When the club refused to meet his demands he started stirring things and has apparently become a “corrosive influence” in the dressing room since then. The twitter thing has been the last straw and the club feels that they have no option but to get rid of him to avoid further problems this season.

    There are also claims by the same club insider that before the window closes on 31st Aug we will sign another striker, a left back to replace Enrique (who will definitely leave) and another mid fielder. Personally, I will be amazed if we do and if so I am certain they will be more freebies and or crocks as the club does not want to spend any money if they can help it. So far we have gotten in £35m for Carroll, $4.5m for Nolan, £2.5m for Routledge and will probably get in the region of £5-6m for Enrique. That is a total of £48m since January this year assuming we sell no one else before 31st Aug (by no means certain).

    Spend to date has been £4.5m on Cabey so we should still have about £42.5m available to spend, question every one associated with NUFC is asking is where has that money gone and why is it not available to strengthen the squad as we were promised when Carroll was sold? We are told that signing on fees and wages have to be taken into account out of that money why? surely operating revenue (TV money, gate receipts, season ticket sales etc) pays players wages like in every other football club in the world so this argument does not wash.

    I am at the stage now where I am so sick of this clown (Ashley) and his crap chairman (Llambias) that I feel like stopping watching football altogether and switching to cricket or rugby or something. I just can’t stand the humiliation and embarrassment of being an NUFC supporter any more and can’t bear to see another relegation season and watch the smug Makems laughing at us as we go down again.

  16. Davichc

    There are limits. I would rather be spit roasted (not in the cooking sense) by Mike and Derek (I think we’d be on first name terms by this point) than watch cricket. I am counting the minutes til the new season.

  17. just looking at what the back page of the “chronic” will be tonight,and shock horror “parnocchio” is conspicuous by his absence.this has got to be a first,the geezer has always got some guff to spout.it looks like the puppet master has cut his strings for today.
    i thought they would have wheeled him out to give it a “red adair” trying to put the fire out.
    i dont know whether this is a good thing,or a bad thing.

  18. hungertoon,never used to like cricket,but at least we can be proud of them lads.right about now,the “scotch and soda brigade” seem like an attractive proposition.

  20. Hunger

    Yeah I can’t stand cricket or rugby for that matter but neither can I bare to watch NUFC self destruct again like in 2008/09.

    Maybe I am being overly pessimistic but I am in dispair that this is happening yet again just when things had started to look up a bit for us.

  21. sh**e article that tries to paint the club as some kind of saint,for standing by him.a bit misleading to say the least,ashley wanted barton out the door as soon as he got sent down.it was the intervention of keegan,who changed ashley’s mind.the rest of it just focuses on his off field troubles,ffs sake we all know what he did and went through.what is it with this country,when a man admits he was wrong,can he not be forgiven?.
    the bloke had a drink problem,seems like ashley wanted to put the boot into him,when he was down.
    he dhas done a lot of work to put himself back on the straight and narrow,and shouldn’t be pilloried by certain quarters.yes he is a firey character,and he had his injury problems,and he was always honest about how he owed the fans.he was man enough to come out and say,he hadn’t played much during the championship season.
    he was even willing to take a pay cut to stay,now that sort of loyalty in this day and age should be rewarded,and not cast aside.
    i’m glad he had the stones to tell it like it is,and expose these con men who are running the club.
    he has so much more to give this club,and it’s shame he’s not being given the opportunity to do this.

  22. It’s not that I am even that bothered about Joey leaving, its been on the cards for the last couple of months. It is that we won’t replace him and that the teams moral will be shot to hell due to the bad feeling in the dressing room caused by this and other similar events.

  23. davichc,they think they’re nipping a situation in the bud,but in reality they could be opening pandora’s box.

  24. there’s no doubt they’ll do f all to replace anyone one that leaves,i think we spent less money than norwich city ffs.

  25. Kamar

    Just read that article, what a load of bollix. So wrong and twisted from the truth. I respect Joey for turning his life around and giving his all for the cause, unlike most of the other mercenaries that have come and gone since.

  26. Trojan

    I don’t think they even think that far ahead, I think it is a knee jerk reaction because he has dared to speak out.

    On Eds blog there is a story that he kicked off Sunday at the Leeds game and at first refused to play coz he was not made captain for the day and told that he would not be taking the set pieces and free kicks etc. He then apparently kicked off again after the game and had a go at Pardwho in front of the rest of the team in the dressing room.

    Don’t know what to believe but I feel the result will still be the same, poor team spirit and poor performances with an unhappy dressing room.

  27. davichc,that prick lee ryder is spouting the same story in the “chronic”.suffice to say the regular posters on there dont believe it.lee ryder is fast becoming another hate figure,lee you’ll end up like salman rushdie at this rate lol.

  28. Is it Barton? Is it Ashley and Llambias? Who knows?
    I’m actually past caring. It’s a sad state to be in, but I really don’t enjoy reading about, talking about or watching anything NUFC related at the moment.
    The last time I really enjoyed all things NUFC was when we were in the Championship. It seemed like we had finally got a good feeling in the club and we were all happy again. There was none of the pressure of the PL and it also helped we were winning games again.
    Now, in our second season it’s all doom and gloom again. Bloggers don’t help as they think now we are in the PL we should be spending large like Man City, etc.. so it puts a damper on who we actually have bought.
    Personally I couldn’t care less if Ashley makes a profit out of transfer windows, as long as the players we get in are good enough. I can never figure out the mentality of some, where we have to be making a loss, in order to have a successful transfer window.

    If it wasn’t for the fact that this was NUFC, my home city, I would have stopped watching a long time ago.

  29. Just read Lee Ryder’s piece. That bloke has no spine at all. Why is he afraid of having an opinion? The club conduct their business through the telegraph and sky sports anyway, so it’s going to make any difference.

    Sad the north-east doesn’t have a journo with a pair of bollocks. Chronicle is a load of shite anyhow.

  30. @ micky toon 28.

    NUFC isnt my local town, so I should be able to walk away. I cant. Once upon a time I would be asked..

    ‘what team do you support?’ I’d reply
    ‘Newcastle’
    ‘Wow, Great club, they are my 2nd fav to ‘X’. But how come you support them down here?’

    Now its..
    ‘what team do you support?’ I’d reply
    ‘Newcastle’
    ‘oh dear…’

  31. “Barton surely must have known that his comments on the moronic Twitty would eventually lead to his exclusion from Newcastle and maybe his release on a free is exactly what he wanted.”

    I was thinking the same thing Hugh.

  32. @30, I know what you mean.

    Even though I have said that my son who was born in Warwickshire will still be a NUFC fan if I have anything to do with it. I just couldn’t have him supporting any of the midlands teams.
    I don’t think I really would stop supporting, after all I supported us through the 80’s and that was far worse than the situation we are in now.

  33. As a Newcastle fan just do what I have stop going to games and paying fat ashley hit him where it hurts.

  34. Mr Ashley – please take heed of what is happening here. Joey Barton wants to stay ! yes he has been stupid with this twitter thing but he wants to sit around and make a deal – player of the season last year and still only 28 get 3 more years out of him and then let him go with good grace and not under a cloud !!! As a season ticket holder who is getting increasing dis-illosioned please act now – be the bigger person !

  36. radio newcastle are saying they are hearing a bid from a mystery club have had a bid accepted for jose enrique.

  38. who’s the american fan who was on here yesterday,talking about the textile industry?,is that you on radio newcastle now?.

  39. TROJAN 69 says:
    August 2, 2011 at 6:58 pm

    “who’s the american fan who was on here yesterday,talking about the textile industry?,”

    ‘BeeGuy’ Trojan. Divven’t knaa anything about Radio Newcastle, but I was listening to Fat Freddy on TalkShite earlier speaking about whether he would be interested in taking back the club. Hell is being a Geordie.

  40. aye worky he’s just been on radio newcastle,talking about the textile industry treating it’s employees like serfs.

  41. TROJAN 69 says:
    August 2, 2011 at 7:17 pm

    “aye worky he’s just been on radio newcastle,talking about the textile industry treating it’s employees like serfs.”

    He’s right Trojan, and most of the people who make germents in godforsken hovels around the world actually ARE ‘Serfs’ too.

  43. Barton’s tweets are becoming, if they hadn’t already become, tiresome. He’s like a little kid.

    “Been made to train on my own today. How predictable.” Bwaa, Bwaaa

    “Ha ha the inevitable two weeks wages fine has arrived. Needless to say it will be appealed forthwith” Bwaa, Bwaa

    I added the baby crying for effect, but it’s probably accurate.

  44. barton is now saying the stories about bust ups at leeds are more or fabrications,according to him.says he does not want to get into a tit for tat with THEM.ho ho it’s all getting a bit like princess di’s battle with them.

  46. TROJAN 69 says:
    August 2, 2011 at 8:11 pm

    “barton is now saying the stories about bust ups at leeds are more or fabrications,according to him.says he does not want to get into a tit for tat with THEM.ho ho it’s all getting a bit like princess di’s battle with them.”

    Princess Di had a bust up with Pardew at Leeds too?

  47. Your article says that puppet boy won’t be happy nit getting a transfer fee? Surely a free transfer is worth 35 million in today’s weird Market!!
    I can’t believe some of you are still backing Ashley… Shame on you, you little mackem Lee Ryder’s