Toon after £60m worth of players according to rumours – yeah right!

Posted on November 14th, 2011 | 125 Comments |

Newcastle United transfer rumours include Bojan Krkic.
Krkic - latest alleged Toon target
Typically, the weekend’s press contained many rumours linking Newcastle United to various players, some of which I provide a summary of in this article.

Amidst the rants of Llambias and the mutterings of discontent or otherwise about the stadium renaming, there was also a healthy serving of transfer speculation on the weekend.

One such nugget of gossip has us interested in Roma’s Bojan Krkic. He’s 21, can play on the wing or up front and is said to be worth somewhere in the range of £10m-£15m, which sounds at the upper range of what Ashley might pay for a player but perhaps just about feasible.

There is however a potential problem with his contract situation. Roma bought him from Barcelona for €12m in July 2011 and Barcelona have an option to buy him back after 2 years for €13m unless Roma pay another €28m to get out of the buy-back clause. So even assuming there’s any truth to the rumour and that we are indeed interested in the player, it might prove to be a tricky contract to negotiate.

Krkic’s tally is 29 goals in 112 games, although I have no idea where he played for all those games and in how many he was merely used as a substitute. In his time at Barcelona he seemed to be billed as a striker, although he was behind Lionel Messi, Pedro Rodríguez and David Villa in the pecking order and I would imagine that he would have been a substitute for many of his 104 league games for them.

Perhaps one of the more laughable rumours has us ‘ready to swoop’ for Spurs pair Jermain Defoe and Roman Pavlyuchenko, although personally I think this is about as likely as Llambias getting a Christmas card from Kevin Keegan. They’re both 29 and would demand big wages and that’s two criteria that would seemingly go against the current Toon recruitment policy. £20m is the supposed price for the two of them, possibly as a sort of buy-one-get-one-free deal.

I tend to think this ‘rumour’ is merely the work of a bored hack and, anyway, my fingers struggle to manage ‘Pavlyuchenko’ for some reason so I can’t be doing with him on the books.

Apparently, PSV defender Erik Pieters is still one of our targets too. The Sunday Sun thinks our move for him in the summer was scuppered due to excessive demands by the various agents involved and further suggests that such demands might yet scupper our move for him in January. They do however maintain that we’re still interested in the player, who is said to be valued at about £7m.

This seems like a much more realistic rumour than the others, as does our continued interest in Mobido Maiga where some press reports seem to have him as a dead cert to be playing for us in January, although I don’t know how much truth there is in that. Maiga himself was asked about his potential move to Newcastle by FootballAfrica365 and he said:

I do not know, we’ll see. Next what is clear is that all players dream of playing for a club like that and I hope it will happen, either this winter or in the summer. There are no more problems with Sochaux, everything is back to normal.

As usual, treat all the rumours with suspicion and believe nothing until Pardew’s shaking a player’s hand and handing him a black and white shirt. There are about £55m-£60m worth of rumours in this article alone, which just goes to show that most of them must be rubbish.

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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125 Responses

  1. well i would take away the £20 million defoe and pavlova rumors and you have £35-£40 million worth or rumors.

    i doubt we would be as sensible to find a player like pieters turning up at ST. JAMES PARK although i do believe he can play anywhere across the back 4, so maybe its a winner.

    i think the next two transfer windows will probably bring us one striker, i would not like to say any more, and defensive cover 3 possible 4 defenders. two worth paying for and 1 or two to sit around and wait, like abeid in in midfield.

    i wouldn’t see us straying too far from our current policy but if we do find ourselves with £55-£60 million worth of stock id expect to have sold at least £50 million in the process.

    you know there will be a big sale in january and tiote springs to mind. £20 million in cashleys pocket. as guthrie is doing so well in midfield i think it might be the mentality to sell the greater priced.

    although ranger, lovens, smith, harper, forster might bring in £10 million with fees and wages taken into account.

    if peiters comes in then i think raylor will go. he might fetch £10million if rumors are true although i don’t think liverpool will want to do any more business with lamearse for a while if at all.

    so all in all we could quite easily bring in £40 million by selling players who are on the fringe, and this season might be the best time to sell certain players as last season they were first team regulars. so cash in while we can.(except tiote)

  2. What makes you think we’ll sell Tiote?

    Correct me if I’m wrong, but we’ve yet to sell one of our ‘star players’ who didn’t want to move anyway and/or for stupid money that we all would have took!

  3. Spite dave

    pure spite. it seems to run thick in both lamearse and cashley.

    they both want us to know who is boss and at the end of the day that will include selling our best players.

    and our unliking of the sale will bring him much happiness as his profits soar through the roof and Direct Inquiries . com.

    there doesn’t seem to be any interest in fans thoughts or wishes so if they want to sell they will. £20 million will pretty much secure tiotes services i’m sure.

  4. Hm, I reckon you’re grabbing at nothing there mate.

    We’ve yet to sell a player for monetary reasons if you ask me. Carroll wanted out, he went. Enrique wanted out, he went. Nolan was far too old, he went. Barton was a gobsh!te, he went.

    Tiote, Cabaye etc etc are all pulling the line and doing their jobs. Mark my words, unless its an astronomical offer all our “stars” will be here for awhile. Chill Winston.

  5. i just want to now if maiga is a nippy striker or a bigman cos we have enough big men as it is ,i wish that moron gameiro had signed when we had agreed with lorient he would have been purrfect with Demba Ba.

  6. I think Mobido Maiga and Erik Pieters are the most likely as the club has already done its homework on them but you never know it could be a smokescreen and they have actually lined up alternatives instead that are unlikely to be the dud expensive duo from Spurs.

  7. dave
    i think you said if for me.
    “we’ve yet to sell a player for monetary reasons”

    spite wouldn’t be a monetary reason. doing things to market sports direct is something you will need to get used to.

    and andy carroll? the comments made at the weekend prove he didn’t want to leave. but yes £35 million might have been a tad too good to be true either way.

    when it come to whats best for NUFC and whats best for Sports direct the massive conflict of interest only seems to gain profit for Sports direct.

    so what makes sense for a football club when i guy like Cashley is in charge only makes sense for the business plastered on the side of the hallowed turf.

    i personally don’t expect anything to make sense over the next few months. but i do expect more controversy and more fan unrest, causing demonstrations and free publicity for ASDA.

    so watch this space, or should i say the space on the side of ST. JAMES PARK.

  8. Stephen,

    The club’s policy is to buy / grow young players and sell them for a profit and therefore you are right when you say:

    ‘…they both want us to know who is boss and at the end of the day that will include selling our best players…’

    If someone comes along and offers say £20 million plus for Tiote or Cabaye the club I’m sure would seriously consider the offer but I’m not entirely convinced they would sell as these two players have been very influential in getting us to this high position in the league which will result in more revenue for the club through position and TV appearances and possibly further money if we qualify for Europe.

    The club did bring in Keegan and Shearer which I’m sure was to placate the fans but since then they have been doing it their way and you are probably along the right lines when you said:

    ‘…there doesn’t seem to be any interest in fans thoughts or wishes…’

  9. Hugh, he’s not here. It’s canny simple to say “no”. I would have, had I been in his shoes.

    What other decisions would you say were based on spite Steve?

  10. Judging by the noises the rumour mill are making, it would seem Maiga’s signing is a given. i still have doubts about this lad to be honest. not in his abilities but his attitude. As for any of the other rumours, I, like most on here, will believe it when they’re are pictured in the black and white, shaking Pardews hand. As for outgoings, I dread to think what could happen in January when some of the ‘big clubs’ come knocking with chequebook in hand.
    I sincerely hope FCB can see the direction we’re headed with who we have on our books with a couple of additions.

  11. Nigerian Toon Army,

    Maiga is a pacy striker, can play out wide on either side too.. Wing Forward is probably more suitable than Forward I’d say..

  12. thanks kamar

    i’m pleased i’m not the only one who feels this way.

    although my views are probably more cynical that yours.
    but would we make more cash by selling tiote or cabaye for £20 million plus each or reaching a higher place in the league?

    in my view guthrie has staked his claim for a first team position. and is doing just as well in his own right as tiote. tiote is a very talented player but it doesn’t mean guthrie cant do just as good in that position, which he has shown over the last few games.

    but that leads me to suggest that selling tiote, one of our top players of a higher value would be best option for lamearse and cashley as it would generate more cash than selling guthrie.

    even if we sold tiote the way guthrie is playing i couldn’t actually see it making much of a difference to where we finish in the league. and there for we wouldn’t lose out on league standings cash at the end of the season and still pocket £20 million more for our troubles.

    not exactly what i would like but you can see the cogs turning a ST. James Park.

    although i dont think cabaye will go becasue he hasnt generated the publicity Tiote has since he game.

    the goal against arsenal last season has to have put £10 million on his value without doing anything else. as it happens he is a top class player so you can add another £10 for potential and skill.

  13. Daverism says: “It’s canny simple to say “no”. I would have, had I been in his shoes.

    I take your point and he may indeed have chosen to leave. I don’t know. But I do think there are ways and means a club could put pressure on a player to make the decision they want.

  14. Dave……

    what other???? check out the name of the ground mate.

    it makes no sense. goes against all marketing rule book. (read the previous blog post) its seems that the only reason why they have changed to decision is down to spite and arrogance and ignorance.

    does lamearse seem like a nice guy? does he seem like a guy who listens? he doesn’t care mate, he is the boss and he loves the way we bite.

    everything they have done since we got here has been filled with arrogance, ignorance and spite.

    i could write a list but chuck has restricted my posts to 300 words.

  15. having a helicopter ready before you’ve even had a chance to say yes or no might be one of them.

    old school selling. the way it used to be done back in the day. not giving the player a choice.

    back in the day players were often driven to service stations in black cars to meet up with their new manager, unknown they had one. and taken to the nearest hotel to sign the books.

    we bought supermac from luton pretty much the same way and Micky Horseswill left sunderland and went to Man City in even darker circumstances.

    its easy to make any person feel unwelcome knowing there is a good offer coming in, its not just in football.
    Having your captain kevin nolan in your ear doesn’t help much when you are trying to think about whats best.

  16. Roman and Jermaine will be two players that we will not be getting. I just can’t see that happening! Maiga, is somebody who I worry about. Is he good enough? I’ve never heard of him and I can almost guarantee that 75% of Newcastle fans haven’t. Accordingly, he’s number 9 material.. I don’t think so.

    As for Bojan, he’s a quality player and I would like to see him here. He used to play for the best team in the world, Barcelona, and Roma aren’t a bad team. Great player, would love to see him here and truthfully, £10-15million is OUTSTANDING for a player of his quality. ASHLEY, GET HIM!

    When we got Santon I thought the Pieters rumours would be gone but now that I know he can play anywhere across the back four, then he seems a realistic target! We need defensive cover in all areas and the Toon are bound to lose a bit of form at some point in the season, Santon right back and him left back? We can switch it around in many different ways.

    I just wish the club would come out with these rumours, stating whether they are correct or INcorrect.

    However these transfers go, HWTL!

  17. ShauNufc

    i don’t think clubs can come out and say they are interested.

    a club can’t just say they are interested in a player as it may be deemed tapping up.

    the only way us fans will know is when the player is on his way for a medical. anything sooner would be a crime.

    i for one hate it when clubs do the same to us. mentioning an interest publicly before they have the boards permission to speak to that player.

    you can see all kinds of dangers is jumping the gun. a team like Newcastle could end up with devastating consequences if we were banned from transfer activity.

    rumors and leeks are as much as we fans are allowed unfortunately.

  18. but with Sir Les and spurs it wouldn’t surprise me if we could get a decent spurs player if lamearse hadn’t been so critical to two of Sir Les’ friends.

    namely sheerer and keegan.

    so no i doubt any business will happen with spurs.

    lamearse and cashley don’t seem to realize there are other influences other than cash and aggression when it comes to recruitment.

  19. i made it a point to watch pieters when we were linked with him in the last window and i dont think he is quick enuff to play fullback in the epl; cant we get some young french lb to cover raylor and santon and what we really need is a cb to cover our 3 quality cbs, we dont need to buy in jan probably a loan deal will suffice till the summer when we can re-assess things.and personally i would like to get a striker who will be available to play in january when demba ba will be @ the AFCON tourney, de jong at twente wud be my choice.

  20. Stephen C says “back in the day players were often driven to service stations in black cars to meet up with their new manager, unknown they had one. and taken to the nearest hotel to sign the books” – you don’t need to go that far back!
    Andy Cole had no idea Keegan was taking him to see Fergie!

  21. Santon is a decent CB and can replace Collo ! Pieters can play LB RB or CB which is why he is such a good choice. I smell a £7m profit there !

  22. well if the truth was known Andy Carroll thought he was off to see his old house from the sky.

    but instead he got a view of his new one.

  23. supermac santon might be a decent center back but have you told Pardeux?

    did he not play perch at cb when we played Blackburn?

    it was mentioned back then that santon wasn’t there for CB cover perch was CB cover.

    if anything i think pieters would be ideal for CB cover but i doubt he would agree to just being cover.

  24. ‘…but would we make more cash by selling tiote or cabaye for £20 million plus each or reaching a higher place in the league…’

    Stephen,

    Difficult one, but selling a player is a one-off transaction whereas reaching higher league positions and more money with greater TV money and perhaps games in Europe can be every season.

  25. yes I’m aware of that kamar.

    but with a player like guthrie playing so well, doing just as good a job.
    it would make sense.

    especially with this “break even” obsession that our Lords have.

    and to be honest i don’t think cabaye is worth £20 million

    he hasn’t quite made the headlines yet, and the goal Tiote scored last season against Arsenal has. and its all about putting yourself in the shop window, intensionally or not, that makes the big bucks.

    the emphasis of buying cheaper, younger, better so resell would in this case make tiote a dead cert for a sale in January. and as ironic as it may be Arsenal might be one of the clubs who poach him. but you could name but a few, rivals Chelsea would be one.
    either way it would be a top 6 club and a big sum to say the least.

  26. Anyone who thinks Perch is acceptable CB cover is a fool!
    Santon’s role is a puzzle – he’s not classed as injured so I assume they now consider he is not as good as they thought ? and not as good as raylor

  27. to be honest supermac.

    raylor has been a shock to everyone. raylor although right back, seems to be playing out of his skin at left back.

    if he was playing like he has at right back then santon might have had a look in. as it happens raylor has pull a few tricks out the bag no one knew about. this long rocket throw for one, and a top class left back for another.

    and as for perch as CB cover i’m with you on that one. although i did like him at left back. he does ok at left back and sweeper but anywhere else he doesn’t seem to cope.

  28. after £60m worth of players? anyone remember the laughing policeman song from children’s hour? how about reissuing it as the laughing club owner? it goes -hahahahahahahahahahahahahahah oh hahahahahahahahahahahahahahah

  29. Stephen C on raylor – agreed, and he’s so modest & quiet that he’s not getting proper appreciation, a good solid pro!

  30. ok i will rephrase that….. an established top 6 club….a club with cash would be another one….a club that isn’t blackburn or wiggan or sunderland. get my drift.

    on raylor, a good solid pro. well said he hasn’t once winged or moaned at being left on the bench. we need players like him who don’t mind stepping back and then don’t mind stepping up.

    looking at the addition to his family you can tell what he was doing when he wasn’t playing

  31. Hugh,

    it’s ker-kitch mate.
    ic is always itch.

    ac wanted the extra pay raise, therefore he wanted to leave, nowt else to know or muddy the waters with.
    He had a new 5 year deal, he wanted liverpool’s deng, so left.
    End of.

  32. Newcastle are in advanced talks with Alain Traore, and Alan Pardew is confident of signing the Frenchman in January.

    Pardew wanted to land Auxerre star Traore in the summer but negotiations stalled and he eventually ran out of time to do the deal.

    The Newcastle manager has retained an interest in the midfielder, though, and will push through a deal when the window re-opens on January 1.

    Traore, a Burkina Faso international, is desperate to move to the Premier League and Auxerre are willing to grant his wish.

    The 22-year-old is now set to move to St James’ Park, with Newcastle and Auxerre close to agreeing terms.

    http://www.talksport.co.uk/sports-news/football/premier-league/transfer-rumours/1280/41/newcastle-close-auxerre-star

  33. I would prefer it if we went after this guy considering he has a better goalscoring record and doesn’t throw his toys out of the pram when he doesn’t get his own way.

    http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2896/premier-league/2011/11/14/2756199/sunderland-arsenal-tottenham-newcastle-target-papiss-cisse

    Also interesting to see a link on the article saying we made a late bid for him in the last transfer. Obviously it was deemed ‘too low’ and didn’t leave them enough time to find a replacement. Typical Ashley and co.

  34. Daverism – can I just say it annoys me when I read ‘Carroll wanted to go’ still being repeated on these sites. Nothing suggests that to be the case: the text to Wraith, the interview with Carroll himself, the comments by other nufc players, and now a public admission by our sodding chairman. You have obviously decided to believe one thing – and to hell with all the data.

    You say ‘I would have said no’… we don’t know what strong arm tactics they used. We don’t know if they even asked him. He could have been told he’d rot in the reserves.. who knows?

    Anyway – we know that THEY wanted him sold for a fact now.. yes the right decision.. but that undermines your point we won’t sell for the right price come January over Tiote – or Cabaye in the summer.

  35. Hugh de Payen says: Did Carroll want out? I think that’s still unclear. – well I thought it was cut & dried and quite frankly boreing old news – but Lamearse’s gaff has changed that (see my post last night).
    AC was given a long contract, THEN we told Liverpool to offer to pay up front, which they did. THEN AC was told to hand in a transfer request.
    It does now looks like an engineered plan – a plan without a replacement CF lined up, so claiming there was no time left was not honest.
    So yes, the water is muddy, if not grubby.

  36. Supermac says:

    November 14, 2011 at 2:43 pm

    “Hugh de Payen says: Did Carroll want out? I think that’s still unclear. – well I thought it was cut & dried and quite frankly boreing old news – but Lamearse’s gaff has changed that (see my post last night).”

    llambias and Pardew both lied about the whole thing, and made the fans look like stupid pricks for calling him a “Judas”.

  37. can i just say one think on the carroll issue.

    i have a friend who works at the training ground, has done for decades. he is a well respected man. when a player signs for newcastle he picks them up and shows them around.

    i met him through my association with doormen at the platinum club, of which i have season tickets for.

    it was reported on sky sports that liverpool had put a bit in for carroll at around lunch time on the final day of the window.

    i rang my friend/acquaintance at 3pm he had said an offer of £30million had been made, carroll was sold, but they were trying to get more, but either way he was sold. carroll had already left the training ground at 3pm.
    i was told the players knew at lunch time.

    at 8pm apparently andy had asked for a transfer or so say sky sports news’ David Craig. in my opinion David Craig is one of Ashleys yes men. and is obviously getting some kind of benefit for giving flatering views of lambias and cashley.

    i knew at 3pm that carroll had left the building. that would have left 9 hours to find a replacement minimum. but if its true that the players knew at 12pm lunch time that the decision had been made then that leave 12 hours.
    sufficient time to find some kind of cover.

    although hind sight show we didn’t need it, but still a bit of transparency and honesty would have been nice.

    another thing i can tell you. there are more managers at St, James Park than there have been in 40 years. why? because the guy at the top doesn’t know how to run a football club.

    the security has been franchised out(pheonix) and all the stewards are no longer employed by NUFC they have all been handed over to Pheonix. lots of older men who have been stewarding for decades all left or were shown the door.

    behind the scenes there is a lot going on and i usually refrain from mentioning it on here.

    but its funny Beardsley being moved around out of sight for the last month or two. was he trying to blow the whistle?

  38. Was ac happy to take liverpool’s cash?
    Did he?
    Is he gone, long gone?
    Has Pedro lost his whistle?

  39. has pedro lost his whistle or has he had his whistle taken away? and the opportunity to blow taken away with it?

  40. “because the guy at the top doesn’t know how to run a football club.”

    doesn’t know how to run a football club…all the way to third place!!

    boom, shut yer pus

  41. Stephen C says:

    November 14, 2011 at 3:34 pm

    “has pedro lost his whistle or has he had his whistle taken away? and the opportunity to blow taken away with it?”

    Kathy Secka blew his whistle Stephen.

  42. no you aren’t wrong.

    but do you think you would say that at the end of the season?

    and if this is going to be a Q and A and you are the Big D L. of ASDA is Sports Direct as a private company paying for advertising rights for st. james park and if not is it chipping away at the debt owed to him?

  43. i agree clint but it looks like its gone quiet.
    so i doubt we will find the answer.

    i wander if that was a wind up or Derek L is the guy we know so well?

    to think it wouldn’t surprise me him sat watching everything we post.

    almost feel sorry for the guy if it was. must be a lonely life all on his own up top.

    notice i said almost.

  44. steven c, nobody reads everything you post. maybe the first line to get the general idea but not the rest of your journals.

    I think we will be higher than we were last year which is great. I also think that what Ashley has done will mean we can step on from there in the future without wasting money on ridiculous wage bills.

  45. Stephen,

    that, for me, is the contentious point.
    All the ads etc. should be ‘working the debt down’.

  46. Lee Ryder on Twitter: “Good to hear talk of plans of an Alan Shearer statue being in place before the Olympics.”

  47. Derek L

    thank you for the insight into the minds of every one who reads this blog. i shall start with one paragraph only and in future leave people hanging.

    i don’t doubt for one second ashley has done some good things to the club.

    but what he give with one hand he takes with another. it always seems that there is a catch with everything. here in the north east we are genuine people and hard working at that and when we say something we usually do it.

    we have been fed lies for decades and people always except that we believe everything we are told. not all of us are the daft as a brush Gazza types there are a lot of high IQ men and women around the north east who can smell a rat a few miles off.

    what mike has done in my opinion is minimal for Newcastle United and Maximum for Sports Direct. his profits for his sports business have, if reports are correct, seen profits of £114 million. that has to have some part of the revenue created from advertising and fan disputes around St. James Park.

    it seems that mike is using the fans as a marketing tool and profits in Sports direct would suggest it is working.

    Mike isn’t stupid he isn’t where he is by playing by the rules but it would be nice to at least have some clarity and honesty instead of the havoc that seems to ensue around St. James Park.

  48. TBH stephen,
    ashley plays by the rules of business, as in there aren’t that many rules, just about staying the right side of the law.
    He doesn’t do things the ‘normal’ way, getting in early, taking risks others would shy away from.
    He gets on the wrong side of ‘opponents’ by exercising these approaches.
    It winds people up, mostly ‘cos they didn’t think of it first or don’t have the balls to dive in there.

    That’s why he is a billionaire after all.

    He gets ‘failing’ businesses & exploits a market.

    He’ll make a mint in a recession with this approach, as when people have less money you always find the ‘cheap’ stores that ‘stack ’em high, sell ’em cheap’ are what people are looking for & will hand over their cash.
    It’s normal practice.

  49. i agree clint.

    i’ve never said Mike was an idiot. i’ve always said the complete opposite.

    but what i have said is , i think he thinks we were all born yesterday. when quite obviously we weren’t.

    i.m a true believer in national security, i.e. not every one can handle the truth and there for pretty much every one, including those who can handle the truth, have to be fed lies to benefit those who just cant handle wiping their arse.

    mike isn’t where he is by playing fair is more like what i was trying to say. and maybe fair isn’t the word but you get my drift.

    but maybe i’m wrong. but mike hiding away and not having the decency to speak to us and be one of us says a lot about a man.

    if he had have said at the beginning what he was going to do then i’m sure we might have accepted it. it would have been nice to have been able to negotiate as Newcastle fans and deal in which St. james park was renamed for a proportion of the increased profits in sports direct. for e.g. 20% of the increased profit during the time sports direct had its name on our heritage. call it Geordie taxes call it what you like. if the bosses at SD are getting a few million in their pockets surely the should appreciate the people who have been pushed a side in the process.

    im starting to get an idea of what people in Laos might be going through at the expense of Billionaires.

    i have a lot of friend in the Philippines and they barely have a house, they have a greater population than us and in a smaller area than us.

    with no benefits, health care or pensions they have to work until they die. many of them don’t have windows or doors. flooding is rife. aid never gets to them and they suffer year in and year out. people work for pennies and that is why mike can charge so little for his stock. because they have no other choice, the population is so high there is always going to be some mug wanting to work and there for they don’t have the power we do here with unions.

    it would be nice if some of those people in Laos could benefit from Newcastle United. it would be good to at least have a foundation to help those people in that part of the world rebuild instead of lining Mikes Pockets.

  50. It’s kirk-itch, (Southern Slav) and he aint coming, too pricey !

    Pieters, may not show up either, problems with his agent (money) too bad, decent player, versatile.

    Miaga sounds like a done deal, though there are rumors about De Jong, who in turn may also be too pricey.

    We do need help across the back four, Because of inevitable injuries, a group consisting of, Simpson-Saylor-Raylor-Colocinni-Pieters-Santon, are flexible enough to take care of that role, whereas Perch and Williamson are simply not good enough.

    Anyone watch the Engerland vs Spain game ?
    That should be our goal, to be able to stroke that ball around at will like Spain, while Engerland could’nt put three passes to-gether.
    Before anyone reminds me who won, face it, it looked like Spain were putting on a clinic as to how modern football is played, sure Engerland put up a sturdy defense in the second half and were not humiliated.
    But was there any doubt in any ones mind as to who played the best football ?
    With the present technical ability possessed by this Newcastle side, thats the kind of game we should be attempting to play.
    However IMO we require the managerial and coaching skills to introduce it, do we in fact have that ?
    Or are we like Engerland going to remain forever with an antiquated approach, playing fifties style football?

    Stepen C
    I have noticed an improvement, but also noticed you come close to your limit at times.
    Concentrate !

  51. chuck,
    it’s a result lead game, end of mate.

    kk’s team won everyone over but we won nowt.

    england suck as much as they blow, make no mistake.
    But maybe spain fell into england’s (capello’s)trap & danced to his tune.
    Perspective dear boy!

    ;)

  52. stephen,

    what workers are paid in other countries is relative mate.

    £50 p/m sounds crap to us, but it might be canny elsewhere.

    I live in the ‘big bad’ & wages are twice that of the NE.
    But it’s relative.

  53. but more to the point which one of you lads was posing as Derek L or did we actually have the little big man on here?

    who ever he was he seemed too supportive of mike to be anyone else but. what you think clint? have they relocated those pods around Sunderland? have we missed a saucer? i haven’t started on the sauce tonight so it cant be me.

    i notice worky went quite. haven’t heard from him since just before Derek L appeared.

    it can’t have been him could it?

  54. Clint
    Ermm ! England got lucky, that’s undeniable, though i have to say they defended with heart.
    However my point was more about the type of football played by both sides.
    Certainly the technical abilities of the Spaniards, was formidable, plucking high balls out of the air and immediately bring them under control, their passing and positional play was a pleasure to watch.
    Surely it comes as no surprise that the world champion national side and the two top club sides are all from
    Spain.
    The other point i was attempting to make was, having been made aware that there’s more to football, than two fast wingers, wellying the ball into a modern day Nat Lofthouse in the box.
    Then perhaps it might behoove us to emulate what we see as the modern approach to the game.

  55. CLiNT FLiCK says:

    November 14, 2011 at 6:03 pm

    “stephen,

    what workers are paid in other countries is relative mate.

    £50 p/m sounds crap to us, but it might be canny elsewhere.”

    Clint, did you really just write that in response to Stephen’s comment about the Phillipines and Laos?

  56. chuck,

    i certainly agree mate.

    All i’m saying is: Doesn’t matter how well you play sometimes, even pap like england can eke out a win.

    spain play some nice ball, but they also are a bit soft, as it showed the other night.
    They are still suspect.

    Like worky, i was a major fan of the Netherlands 70’s team, fast, flowing, interchangeable, easy on the eye.
    Great defense too.
    It would be great if the best football always won through, but alas!

    As the late B. Clough once aptly said: ” if football was meant to be played up in the air, there’d be grass up there”. or words to that effect.

  57. worky,
    i wrote other stuff too.

    relativity is a theory, don’t think that makes it true though?

  58. Fifty quid pcm canny ?
    Well perhaps in Haiti, Bangladesh or other equally poverty stricken areas, but only in comparison to the rest of the population.
    Capitalism does not discriminate when it comes to the price of a tube of toothpaste, it’s costs is more or less uniform everywhere.

  59. £50/ month is why so many people have to share a room with 5 other people. rent there is around £30-£40 per month.

    that doesn’t leave much to live on.

    no minimum wage, no benefits, no healthcare everything is pay as you go.

    it might be canny if there is 5 of you sharing a box room but it isn’t canny if you are a couple with kids, no free schooling no family allowance and i for one wouldn’t mind losing St. james park if part of the cash wash going to take some of those street kid away from pedos and give them a safe place to live.

    in the philippines the age of consent is 12, there is a lot of child poverty and child homelessness. boys and girls as young as 5 and 6 have no parents and no home.
    people there are petite they don’t grow as rapid as we do in the west. a child of 8 might still be as tall as a child of 16.
    if you are caught having your way with one of the street kids if they cant prove their age you cant be prosecuted.
    so kids as young as 6 and 7 are often raped by men from the west.
    so £50 quid might be canny but it isn’t canny enough for the kids who have to put up with sexual abuse day in day out.

    i wouldn’t mind losing St. James Park if it meant taking 1000 kids away from danger per year. it would be worth every step up to the Sports Direct Arena.

    but some how i don’t think Mike would be that generous.

  60. Aw!

    Get a grip, maybe i should’ve done some proper research rather than try to make a point plucking any number out of the sky. But silly me, i thought you’d get the gist without having to get all pedantic all ower the shop.
    Never mind!

    But the clue is in the term ‘relative’.

    Sigh!

  61. What about the rest of what i wrote about London/NE, i’m sure there’s a slight discrepancy between the wage structures that i suggested i.e. double?

  62. If we get nike, that’ll be cool, cos they make nice shoes & no slave(cheap) labour is used, as i’m sure they manufacture everything in the good ol’ u.s of a.

  63. i agree with you chuck.

    30 pessos for a pack of tabs in the phils and people struggle with that.

    but Clint no one was having a go, your comments are prety universal no one really knows what its like over there.
    until you look you couldn’t imagion what you would find.

    since you are all online do a search google “amputan massacre”

    they have nice hospitable councilors in the philippines. democracy at a cost.
    make sure you have had your dinner first though.

  64. Stephen C – it’s spooky that no one mentions any more the alien pods that took over the whole of the 5under1and population, it’s probably cos they have now colonised part of tyneside!
    You only have to look at a makkem these days to see the docile submissive zombies they have become – look at Bruce & his excuse for players!
    And there are worrying signs that some NUFC staff & supporters may not be all they appear, devoid of reality & spluttering jibberish about some great leader’s vision and his infalable works – beware! Stay on your guard at all times!

    HWTL

  65. Well this international stuff is becoming boring, never thought i would hear myself say that.
    Funny how attitudes change, i remember how one took every home international serious in the day, how much importance was placed on the FA Cup etc.
    Appears the Epl has more cache than either these days.
    I often wondered what kind of league we would have to-day, if we did’nt have the revenues from TV and the luxury of attracting some of the worlds best players.
    Which brings into question, the new EUAFA regulations in regard to the size of squads and the number of foreign players allowed ?
    Will the Oligarchs go along with these rules or attempt
    to get around them, as we have recently seen with Citeh, paying an inordinate amount to the club to rename the stadium ?
    Or will they simply tell EUAFA to go pound salt ?
    Could be in for interesting times , as the Chinese say !

  66. worky have a look at the vid i posted.

    the people in those slums get torn apart for simply speaking up.

    and the fat man invests in people who do this. makes you sick really.

  67. chuck,

    the ‘interesting times’ are here already mate.

    We’d still be watching ‘clogball’ played on battlefields probably.
    It was truly amazing what some of the ‘old days’ players managed on those pitches.

  68. yep ! gotta tough politically correct crowd here.

    Stephen C
    Dont want to seem like i’m continually on your case , but maybe we can all lighten up a bit here.

    Supermac
    A bit more respect for our Great Leader, if you don’t mind !

    Clint
    Hate to burst your balloon, but almost everything is now manufactured in The Workers Paradise, including NIKE.

  69. but nike at least do give a living wage. they do pay well.

    sports direct do not.

    so what did you think of my video?

  70. Clint
    Yeah, but when i look at film of the games in the day, the quality of the football still surprises me.
    Though had to laugh when one guy mentioned, he was surprised by the sides keeping the ball on the ground.
    Pretty tough to get a size five waterlogged leather ball with five pounds of mud attached in to the air.
    And yeah, the game was a bit more physical, but also fairer, unlike to days divers and attempts at academy award acts.
    With both box areas consisting of quagmires, made it difficult for goalies as well as the goal moochers.
    Loved it !

  71. chuck,

    aye mate,
    hats off to those guys back in the day.
    You wouldn’t wanna head that medicine ball though.
    You could push the ‘keeper over the line for a legit goal though.

  72. Well time for a power walk in the Park, to maintain my girlish figure, followed by a few Amstels to keep me power walking, a constant struggle !
    Later.

  73. chuck says:

    “Well time for a power walk in the Park, to maintain my girlish figure”

    You got boobs Chuck ? :)

  74. chuck says: “Which brings into question, the new EUAFA regulations in regard to the size of squads and the number of foreign players allowed ?
    Will the Oligarchs go along with these rules or attempt
    to get around them, as we have recently seen with Citeh, paying an inordinate amount to the club to rename the stadium ?

    I think Option 2, Chuck.

  75. human nature to chop up a rivals wife and daughter for simply wanting to stand up against you in a democratic election?

    not only that but also chop up 50 members of the press?

    pregnant women and children?

    and use government equipment to dig mass graves to try to cover it up?
    believe it or not the guy who did this was good friend with the president of the phils Gloria arroyo. needless to say she didn’t win re-election.
    the son of a former assassinated president is now in power.

    but what is more indicative of human nature? our attempt at ignoring things like this in the world and putting our heritage first. when some people in the world refer to heritage as how long their slums have stood.
    or the fact that our lives our more important and we ignore it and live our lives, even though blood poors.

  76. i agree its all gone since Derek L came along.

    did we find out if it was Derek L as in Lamsbias or was it someone posing as him? he seemed to defend ashley enough for it to be him i must admit.

    i thought it was worky, he went missing for a while came back after Derek L left.

    don’t you just love scooby doo

  77. That’s the human nature i’m talking about stephen, the very one.

    It’s exactly what humans do to each other, every stinking day, forever mate.

    Man’s inhumanity to man, needs to be rephrased, ‘man’s humanity to man’.

    That’s what humans do.

    I do my bit, always have, always will.

  78. so turning “mans Inhumanity to Man” into ” mans humanity to man” makes it acceptable.

    i see what you are trying to say though. it doesn’t make it right but it happens. so get used to it.

    and yet we cling onto St. james park?

    would any one mind if i changed the box i ticked yesterday?
    do i think it is a good idea to re-name St. James Park?

    well there is a lot worse going on in the world so why not?

    for all those kids is Laos and the philippines
    why the f*cking hell not ay.

    who the F*ck are we?

  79. CLiNT FLiCK says:
    November 14, 2011 at 6:55 pm

    “If we get nike, that’ll be cool, cos they make nice shoes & no slave(cheap) labour is used, as i’m sure they manufacture everything in the good ol’ u.s of a.”

    Clint that is quite simply untrue. Where on earth did you get that from?

    Have you got a job working for Nike’s PR department now? :-)

  80. CLiNT FLiCK says:
    November 14, 2011 at 8:20 pm

    “worky,

    i never thought sarcasm would be lost on you mate.”

    I never know with you nowadays Clint! :-)

  81. Stephen C says:
    November 14, 2011 at 7:23 pm

    “but nike at least do give a living wage. they do pay well.

    sports direct do not.”

    Stephen, were you employing sarcasm there too?

  82. Aye,

    i’m a bit of a trickster & i like a little anarchic fun, it keeps people guessing & on their toes.

    Confusion is……

    useful?

    ;)

  83. well as far as i was aware nike passed all the tests.

    or am i wrong? when that undercover report on Sports direct in Laos was on the BBC i thought they mentioned nike was one of the companies who adhered to the rules.

    then again they probably hadn’t 150 years previous to that.

  84. Southern & foreign companies open factories in the NE, wales scotland, NI cos it’s cheaper to pay the wages than down south.
    It happens everywhere, & people say they don’t care cos they have work.
    They are still being exploited mate.

    Yea, even on these shores.

  85. well i think i’ve had enough fun for one day mates i’m off to bed i will catch you all in the morning
    see you all later.

  86. speaking of which David Cameron is giving a great speech about going to war with somalia.

    has he been taking note tonight or what?

    its on BBC news channel now.

    i should have asked him for a shout out ay lads.

  87. Stephen C says:

    “speaking of which David Cameron is giving a great speech about going to war with somalia. has he been taking note tonight or what? its on BBC news channel now”

    Not wishing to poke the proverbial spanner in the works but Cameron has managed to take all the credit for NATO’s intervention in Libya, just as the evil Thatcher did with the Falklands, yet fails to declare that his shitey two faced government are putting forward plans to sack injured soldiers from Afghanistan as they “need” to get rid of 20,000 army jobs.

    Cutting spending as recklessly and as wilfully as they did has now reaped its reward for this second hand bunch of tossers.