Bring On The Purples: Newcastle United’s Transfer Policy Explained

Posted on February 11th, 2013 | 126 Comments |

Haidara, Gouffran and Yanga-M'Biiwa at NUFC.
The French Revolution – giving Newcastle some Va Va Voom!
It seems a lifetime since signings like Michael Owen and Mark Viduka wore the black and white. Declining, injury prone and nearly always overpriced; these marquee players from the Shepherd era were one of the main reasons we were relegated  at the beginning of Ashley’s reign.

On massive wages and having already achieved something notable in their careers, they didn’t seem like they were hungry enough to care about the current club’s situation enough to save us from the drop. Going down to the championship a few years ago turned out to be the best thing that could have happened to the club in years as we found out who was there for the team and who was just there for the money and prestige.

The new policy of signing hungry players with lower reputations and wage demands started with the signings of players such as Fabricio Coloccini and Jonas Gutierrez, who were the first of many similar players to come through the door with similar ambitions and experience. These were followed in subsequent seasons by the likes of Cheick Tiote, Hatem Ben Arfa and Yohan Cabaye, plus the five recent additions to the squad last month, making this transfer policy clearly the most important reason for our fledgling success in the last three / four seasons.

This policy is different to almost any club in our league, with the exception of Everton, Swansea and maybe Wigan. Top teams with bigger bank balances and reputations go after the players with the massive profiles (and massive price tags) or they poach young English plays from smaller clubs. This is all well and good but it leaves these clubs hugely in debt thanks to ridiculous transfers fees and wage bills, this may have worked in the past but with the new European and Premier League financial fair play rules coming soon, this method will become unstable. The young players they poach end up sitting on the bench to satisfy the home grown players rule and this effects their development, which in turn effects the national side with many current England internationals not getting regular first team football.

The clubs in our league with lower reputations and finances turn to cheap, declining players who have plied their trade in the Premiership for many seasons, sometimes having very successful and lucrative careers with bigger clubs, now stepping down to retain first team places. This is sensible if you are just looking to consolidate and survive in the division, bringing in experienced players who know how to succeed in the Premier League; but if you are looking for a mid table finish or higher these types of players just aren’t going to help you; some recent examples of this are the cases of Sunderland and Q.P.R.

For a decent sized club, Sunderland sure do have a pretty underdeveloped scouting system. They seem to just buy who they can get instead of who will improve their squad, recruiting almost exclusively from larger Premiership teams; and the less said about buying an eighteen year old striker from the Championship for ten million pounds the better. And then you get curious case of Queens Park Rangers, who, in a year and a half, seemed to have dismantled their Championship winning squad and playing style, hired and fired the frankly awful Mark Hughes and built/stolen a team of mercenaries under wheeler dealer Harry ‘The Peoples Choice’ Redknapp. They seem to have taken our title of ‘Laughing Stock of the League’.

Another example of this strategy would be Liverpool with the return of Kenny Dalglish, who seemed to agree with the Merseyside club’s new owners to just buy anyone who looked a bit decent at the time, no matter what the price, and try to make them a team. So they ended up with the likes of Jordan Henderson, Charlie Adam and our own Jose Enrique and Andy Carroll; the latter funding most of our purchases since. And all that spending got the club absolutely nowhere, and probably set Liverpool back a few years, leaving successor Brendan ‘Big Club’ Rogers to clear up the mess.

For me, the cornerstones of our new transfer philosophy are:

1. Low Reputation

Singing players from lesser known leagues (e.g. Ligue 1) or lower domestic leagues, players who haven’t attracted much attention from other clubs but possess the potential to become great.

2. Hunger 

Signing players who haven’t achieved any bigger than we can currently offer them, this way they will want to win something with us and try hard for the club.

3. Age Is No Barrier

Despite reports suggesting we never go for anyone over the age of 25, if the player fits the first two rules then it doesn’t matter how old they are.

4. Become a Selling Club

In order to become a major force in the league and Europe we need to develop these players and up their reputations; if a club offer silly money for them we should take them up on at least a couple. The profit we make on these sales should then be reinvested into buying many more cheap players, allowing us to climb the table and be sustainable with the new fair play regulations coming in soon. I’m not saying sell everyone, but a few here or there would be beneficial in the long run i.e. Carroll, Ba.

5. Squad Evolution

No team can stand still, if we have a group of players who did well (last season) we must build on this base and replace players who have been sold on (rule 4) in the same fashion; especially if we have more games to play. This is something that the club seemed to forget in the summer and we paid for it in the first half of the season. We stood still, teams around us got better, they knew our style of play and most crucially our weaknesses; and with injuries and Europe this was compounded.

The club seem to be realising this now, with MD Derek Llambias now admitting:

“When you look back, and we always do, Mike and I always look at where we are as a business – but did we make a mistake in the summer?

“I think we did.”

If the Newcastle stick to these policies, which we are now doing, their should be no problems on the transfer front in the future and things will only improve. If we sort out our youth system and start bringing in players that way, this could become one of the best advantages to have over most clubs in the league. We are ahead of the game at the moment, but can we stay there?

Poll

NUFCBlog Author: FarmerG I'm a 22 year old unemployed media graduate from Hebburn (yes, that Hebburn), South Tyneside. Long time Newcastle United Fan, some time season ticket holder. Generally skeptical about most things NUFC. All opinions are mine not yours, though most are correct :) Follow me @TheRealFarmerG FarmerG has written 4 articles on this blog.

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126 Responses

  1. Hmmmm, a bit of Ashley / Llambias revisionism on nufcblog.org!

    Alas, I don’t think it’s quite as simple or “black and white” as you seem to think FarmerG.

  2. I think Llambias is a bit too obsessed with all this purple then blue backing them up. Once a purple player has gotten injured this season the blue player has come in, done not much wrong, but we find ourselves in a relegation battle with the manager and MD moaning at injuries to key players being the reason why.

    You cant have it both ways. Why bother with all this purple/blue/indigo/illuminous orange stuff when we can have a squad of 18/19 quality first team players all fighting for the shirt with 4/5 youngsters learning their trade. Thats what we should be aiming for. Have as many top class players as we possibly can.

    Colour coding is unecassary.

  3. “If the Newcastle stick to these policies…”

    It all sounds great as you’ve laid it out, FarmerG, but they’re NOT sticking to these policies because they AREN’T the club’s policies!

    The club’s transfer policy can be distilled into a couple of sentences.

    1, Make do with whatever we’ve got as far as possible and rake in the premiership money.

    2, If the squad absolutely HAS to be strengthened, then buy talented (French) kids with a view to selling them on for a good markup as soon as the opportunity arises.

    Where you’re getting this other stuff about “Age being no barrier”, God knows. As for “Squad Evolution”, that just boils down to Fatso writing a cheque for another couple of these talented kids when we start bouncing around at the bottom of the table again.

    Sorry, but there’s no reason to think the clever, optimistic and honourable plan you’ve outlined is anything like what’s actually happening. And you failed to mention to mention the fact that we have one of the worst managers in the club’s history at the helm for another god-know-how-many years (apparently).

  4. To say that this article is full of holes is a bit like saying the Pope’s getting on a bit.
    Jonas an Colo are 2 of the highest paid players in the club.

    The policy is different to almost any other club in our league, except, except, except.

    Low reputation – love the bit about “singing players”

    Item 3 – it has already been stated many times that we buy young to sell old. No point in bringing in a 30 year old with no resale value. The age limit was said to be 26. How many players have we brought in above that?

    4. Are you serious? BECOME a selling club? So what the hell are we now?

    5. Don’t think we stood still – we were just extremely lucky last year, punching well above our weight.

    I personally think we have a couple of pups in this new batch with Gouffran being one of them, but we have the makings of a good team.

    FarmerG – sorry, this didn’t do anything for me at all

  5. FarmerG, isn’t it rather selective to ignore Ashley signings such as Xisco, Ignacio Gonzalez, Kevin Nolan (an experienced Premiership player) and quite a few others from the list, as well as Shepherd signings who weren’t “declining, injury prone and nearly always overpriced too?” Players like Jose Enrique, James Milner, Nolberto Solano, Laurent Robert, Gary Speed, Jose Enrique and so on…? Incidentally, Fat Freddy is also the man who signed Shearer to the club for John Hall. Which category does he come under? Hence, it’s not quite as black and white as Derek Llambias would have you believe with his revisionist version of the club’s history.

    Ashley, Mort and Llambias were blithering idiots who were relying on Dennis Wise and the other two until Chris Hughton sorted the scouting and brought Graham Carr in. Now however, they’ll have you believe that it was all part of their grand masterplan all along. They still weren’t able to sort the Academy out and get it category one status like Sunderland and Middlesbrough.

    Finally, these players we’re signing now DO have reputatations, quite a few are French internationals just as Coloccini (who was over £10 million and an Argentinian international when we signed him) and Gutierrez did too.

    So, as I wrote above, it’s not quite as black and white as it may seem.

  6. workyticket says:

    “FarmerG, isn’t it rather selective to ignore Ashley signings such as Xisco, Ignacio Gonzalez, Kevin Nolan (an experienced Premiership player) and quite a few others from the list, as well as Shepherd signings who weren’t “declining, injury prone and nearly always overpriced too?” Players like Jose Enrique, James Milner, Nolberto Solano, Laurent Robert, Gary Speed, Jose Enrique and so on…?”

    Theres only two Jose Enrique’s! Theres only two Jose Enrique’s!

    On a serious note they do say you learn by your mistakes. Although its taking this lot ages to learn, maybe they are. Granted the new signings where a panic buy to go after greater riches (staying in Prem)it is better than the past stubbornness.

    Don’t worry I haven’t been brainwashed!! Still want Ashley out. But sometimes I wonder how much he has been misled by his advisers?

  7. Belfast Toon says:
    February 12, 2013 at 10:39 am

    “Theres only two Jose Enrique’s! Theres only two Jose Enrique’s!”

    Oh aye Belfast! I put his name in twice, silly me. Perhaps there are two Enriques anyway. I saw a left sided attacking midfielder / forward callled Jose Enrique playing for Liverpool a while back, and he was quite good too.

    Which reminds of another thing too. We may have signed quite a few players cheaply under the current policy, but we have also lost quite a few for nothing or not much under the same policy too. Demba Ba, the abovementioned Enrique who was a 50% off bargain for Liverpool, Fraser Forster’s value has been rising since we sold him for £2 million. Ashley will get nowt for Danny Simpson now, just as he got nowt for Danny Guthrie and so on…

  8. The one bit of this piece I did like:

    ‘MD Derek Llambias now admitting:

    “When you look back, and we always do, Mike and I always look at where we are as a business – but did we make a mistake in the summer?

    “I think we did.”’

    And in another shock piece of news, the bear has wandered into the woods and is looking for somewhere to take a dump.

  9. “This is all well and good but it leaves these clubs hugely in debt thanks to ridiculous transfers fees and wage bills”

    We’re actually far more in debt now than we were when Ashley bought the club, and far more in debt than two of your main examples, Liverpool and Sunderland too.

    Manchester United and Fulham, were the only two clubs who are in more debt in Newcastle United the last time I checked, and Ashley has been owner for six years now. Hence, the Freddy Shepherd bogeyman propaganda is getting a little stale now. After all, if his policies were so disastrous (which they definitely were towards the end) and the club’s even more in hock now (even though we’re spending less on transfers and wages), what does that say about Ashley’s and Llambias’s administration in other areas?

    We will find out what the most recent state of play is in relation to other clubs in a few months.

  10. workyticket says:
    February 12, 2013 at 1:33 pm

    “We’re actually far more in debt now than we were when Ashley bought the club, and far more in debt than two of your main examples, Liverpool and Sunderland too. ”

    I believe that this is down to people believing the headline figures that are bandied about when the accounts are released. Last years loss figure came in at a smidgen under £4million if I remember correctly.

    What people forget is that this is an annual loss, and doesn’t include the £140 million or so that is sitting in the other side of the ledger with Ashley’s name all over it. So, even taking the sale of Carroll into account for the 2012 period, which helped to reduce the annual loss, we are still massively over leveraged.

  11. ok to be honest i think darthbroon is talking out of his arse. this has been our policy for the last 3-4 years. i hate it when fans slag of everything we do especially when things start to look up a bit. some fans just want to try and pick some holes in the club for some stupid reason and it needs to stop. the policy has worked and last season is evidence of this. yh we had a bad first half of the season but then we bought 5 hungry less known players in january which we needed and now our season looks like its turning around. rather than pick holes just show a bit of faith and confidence

  12. worky – I was going from memory. I could only recall the 4 mill or so. The point still stands, though, that there is a massive leveraged debt sitting on our books in the form of Ashley’s “loan”.

    In this respect, we’re in the same position as a team like Chelsea – if Abramovich was to pull out of there, the club couldn’t afford to repay the debt. This is part of the reason that Ashley can’t sell the club.

  13. pete_toon says:
    February 12, 2013 at 2:51 pm

    “The point still stands, though, that there is a massive leveraged debt sitting on our books in the form of Ashley’s “loan”.”

    I wouldn’t describe Ashley’s loan as “leveraged” debt Pete. A fair chunk of Shepherd’s was indeed leveraged debt on stuff like the old Northern Rock shirt deal, simply because the likes of Fat Freddy, John Hall and weasel faced Dougie weren’t as rich as Ashley.

    Ashley’s loan was to get rid of that expensive leveraged debt primarily, though it was for purely for himself in terms of saving on the interest and it should also be advatageous regarding his tax situation too. It wasn’t some great magnanimous gesture as the likes of Llambias and Pardew would have us believe.

    Nonetheless though, it IS still debt and technically, it is repayable ON DEMAND to Ashley with no notice whatsoever.

  14. luke says:
    February 12, 2013 at 2:39 pm

    “some fans just want to try and pick some holes in the club for some stupid reason and it needs to stop.”

    Luke, fans have a right to express their opinions whatever they may be. With all due respect you can’t tell other fans what they can and cannot say or write just because their opinions differ from your own, just as they can’t tell you because your opinion might differ from theirs.

    “the policy has worked and last season is evidence of this”

    If last season’s performance was “evidence,” why doesn’t this season’s performance so far count as “evidence” also?

  15. luke says:
    February 12, 2013 at 2:39 pm

    “ok to be honest i think darthbroon is talking out of his arse. this has been our policy for the last 3-4 years”

    I think people like you live your life taking it up the arse from whoever decides they’re gonna give it to you – you don’t even care it’s happening as long as it doesn’t hurt TOO much.

    People like you have no ambition whatsoever for the toon. You’ve swallowed a slick corporate mission statement as indisputable fact, even though what’s happened over the last ‘3-4 years’ only coincides with the stated ‘policy’ when it comes to the buying of young players (generally in a panic at the wrong time).

    If Fatso can get enough sheepish idiots like you on side, we’ll be bobbing around from mid-table to bottom (possibly worse) for decades to come.

  16. @ workyticket ”Hmmmm, a bit of Ashley / Llambias revisionism on nufcblog.org!”

    A few (all) of my recent articles have been negative, so i decided to do something less scathing for a change. As this has nothing to do with Pardew so my skepticism remains intact.

    @toonbano Only mentioned ‘purples’ in the title because i knew Llambias used these terms. I agree with what you’re are saying.

    @DarthBroon It may be a bit optimistic but with the right management (i.e not pardew/fat man) this should be the way forward transfer wise, and i think in some ways we are. The ‘age is no barrier’ thing was really something we could do to improve the model. Buying older players with lower reputations (colo) who maybe haven’t achieved a lot in their careers so far; it also gives a nice mix to the squad having a range of ages (not going to say experienced players. I wasn’t going to mention Pardew as i’ve done a lot of articles on him recently and in my opinion he doesn’t have a lot to do with transfers, i’ll leave that for another time.

  17. Worky –

    “Pete, that small loss figure was operating profit / loss.

    Including player trading, the club made a big pony tailed Geordie profit of £32.6 million, which went into the club’s reserves apparently.”

    The club did make a 32.6m profit, but it’s more helpful to look at cash inflows/outflows to see how well Ashley’s model is working. For example, the profit/loss statement does not include net cash outflows on player purchases, and ‘profit’ is reduced by 17m for player amortization from prior purchases. If you look at cash flow, the club actually generated 15m from operations and 5m from player sales (25.56 outgoing, 31m incoming from AC). (https://nufcblog.org/newcastle-united-accounts.pdf pg. 11). Compare that to 2006, when the club generated 7m from operations (12m before interest), and then paid a cash outflow of 25m on player purchases – 35m outgoing, 10m incoming (http://www.nufc.co.uk/staticFiles/ea/3d/0,,10278~81386,00.pdf pg. 39).

    I think it’s a fascinating comparison, because look at the value of money spent. That link I posted boasts about “strengthening” the playing squad by purchasing Luque, Owen, and Nobby Solano in ’05 and Damien Duff and Obafemi Martins in ’06. Are those 5 players collectively better than the 5 purchased during this transfer window? Probably not. However, they cost several times more (it says 15m for Oba, 5m for Duff, was it 25m for Owen?)

    On another note, can you clarify what tax advantages Ashley gains by keeping a 140m tax free loan in the club? Is that merely because the cash does not generate income?

    Also, I’ve heard it disputed whether Sports Direct has paid anything for advertising to the club. The accounts themselves state: “During the current and prior year, advertising and promotional services were provided to companies associated with Mr. M J W Ashley … No consideration was paid or payable for those services.” pg. 27

  18. It all sounds brilliant on paper but aren’t we in 16th place? What’s so brilliant about that? To have to go out and do desperation buying in the January window tells us more about the owner and his policies than any bollocks from Llambias ever will. A greedy man at the top who is only interested in next season’s TV money. He couldn’t care less if we finish this season in 16th place. Not brilliant at all or we wouldn’t be where we are now.

  19. After already writing 500 words, one more quick clarification. What did Ashley do with the 20m 2011 cash flow? He paid off the overdraft and left 9.5m in the bank (pg. 27 of 2011 accounts).

    Could the rest of the leftover cash have bought Davide Santon? Also, I want to see the 2012 accounts to tell whether the club are sill paying cash up front for transfers. I’m not sure about the timing, but wasn’t Virgin Money signed in January ’12, shortly before Cisse’s arrival? Then, we sign Wonga in Fall ’12 and then sign 5 players during January ’13.

    Fat Freddy famously used future cash flows from Northern Rock to finance the Owen purchase – maybe the club are again doing similar. You can use contractual future payments as security in a purchase, but really only if the money is guaranteed. Sponsorships are guaranteed, while Premier League TV money is not, because of the threat of relegation. For those of you who hate the Wonga deal but love Sissoko/Gouffran, perhaps a bit of context. (FWIW I think pay day lenders are scumbags, but clearly there is a market for short term loans and the gov’t could play a role in incentivising banks to provide such loans with reasonable rates, so where to really place the blame…)

  20. No no no! puhleeez!
    See what you started Farmer G ?
    You let the fcuking beancounters out, we are going to be inindated with frustrated accountant-speak.
    Iv’e heard this shit a thousand times and it gets more boring with the telling.

    Worky sez
    Luke, fans have a right to express their opinions whatever they may be…
    With all due respect you can’t tell other fans what they can or can not say or write, just because their opinions differ from your own……

    Perhaps you should keep that in mind in future.
    Instead of insulting me with terms like, ignorant, arrogant, ill informed blowhard, who gives Yanks a bad name.
    That only one of a litany of insults i can expect when you disagree with certain comments i make, rather than dispute my argument.
    In which case, chastising Farmer G. is a bit hypocritical doncha think ?

  21. Well now, Llambias our esteemed GM has recently given credit to the renaming of St. James’ Park, as one of the reasons we were able to spend on our our new recruits.
    Yes folk part of the monies earned was responsible for reinforcements, if you believe that.
    I’m surprised that Pardew has’nt echoed it by now.
    They never miss an opportunity to anger the fans, with misinformation and stuff that even the dumbest would’nt swallow.
    Gives you an idea of what they think of the mentality of the average fan.

  22. Chuck –

    I get what you’re saying, both about Llambias offering undue credit and boring accounting debates. I also find boring the endless moaning about fat ashley, lack of ambition, should have bought players in the summer, we’ll never be more than mid table with this regime, etc.

    You want new signings? Then were does the money come from? How about these options:
    1. Purchase players from profits – as in, don’t buy a defender/striker this past summer
    2. Buy players with debt – less money in future to buy players
    3. Sell advertising to fund players – deal with a renamed St. James’s Park
    4. Ashley writes a check for 25m each summer

  23. It seems we ALL bore each other to death with our “endless moaning”.

    Worky

    Is it possible to split the site into three parts?

    1 A site where people can get together and moan about financials

    2 A site where people can get together and moan about “fat ashley, lack of ambition” etc.

    3 A site where people can moan about people who moan about the current regime.

    Can it be done?

  24. I wonder if it’s worth it ?

    Talking about the youth movements at individual clubs.

    Looking at the clubs who traditionally groomed youngsters,to eventually feed into the senior side.
    Say Man.U., Liverpool, W/Ham. Everton, all big catchment areas.

    And seeing how many make the grade to-day, is it worth-while, as far as the expense is concerned.

    Face it to-day the catchment area stretches from South America, all of Europe and especially Africa, with the occaisional Asian players.

    So local kids are in fact competing on a worldwide basis.
    After all those they may want to replace are from a widespread net, so there’s little hope for most.

    The ralities of modern football and the EPL.

    It seemed in the early days of the Ashley regime, there was an idea of developing young talent, some who were not local, French,Italian, Slovak etc.
    But as it turns out only N’Zogbia actually made the grade.

    We are still attempting to use that system(possibly because Ashley sees it as an eventual saving) but becoming a bit more selective.

    But the main thrust is to buy those on the cusp of becoming stars, those who have played through the 16 to U21 sides of their national team or who have proven themselves as regular team members for a season or more.

    Players willing to escape the heavy tax burden and lower wages, than that payed by the wealthy EPL.

    I cant say i knock such a system and everyone seems in agreement we did good business during the window.

    Whether or not it was an act of desperation on Ashleys part, having gone through a similar season not that long ago and not about to repeat it.

    Yes the lure of Five Billion over a three year period, has certainly focused the attention of every club in the EPL.
    Each club fighting tooth and nail to ensure they get a piece of the action.
    We live in interesting times.

  25. Darthbroon

    great idea – right now, the site is so loaded with #2 that i can hardly piss on about financials, let alone have enough time to sit down for a good #3 session when I’ve had a real belly ache – #3 tends to resemble a good mix of 1 and 2 ;)

  26. Nah !

    It’s more interesting to just let whoever wants to vent do so, regadless of where he/she may be comming from.

    It’s not East Germany in the Seventies.

    Ministry of Fcuging sport fer Chresake, what kinda shit is that, exactly why is there a need for such an institution.
    It’s about time such abortions were disestablished as they serve no other purpose than employing the lame sick and the lazy.
    And costing the taxpayer.

  27. Chuck says:
    February 12, 2013 at 6:38 pm

    “I cant say i knock such a system and everyone seems in agreement we did good business during the window.

    “Whether or not it was an act of desperation on Ashleys part, having gone through a similar season not that long ago and not about to repeat it.”

    Who can tell!?

    We certainly know that Carr knows his stuff, and would have names to hand when the brown stuff hit the fan, just in time for the January transfer window. But, by their own admission, the team should have been strengthened in the summer, notwithstanding an injury crisis, Colo situation etc.

    There’s NOTHING to suggest that the club’s stated operating policy is running on rails, or even being adhered to beyond buying young players with potential.

    And, to all the people who’ve posted financial statistics in favour of (and as evidence of the success of) the current regime, I would ask them to be mindful of the only statistic that counts – our current league position.

  28. @Archie Brand

    ”Jonas an Colo are 2 of the highest paid players in the club.”

    Jonas and Colo were brought in when we were still paying high wages, i would say that policy started at the beginning of last season, its a gradual thing, player’s wage demands won’t go down overnight and the current regime had to make mistakes before they could learn from them, i still think that’s where we are at in some respects now. They are on less than the highest paid players at other premier league clubs.

    ”The policy is different to almost any other club in our league, except, except, except.”

    That’s why almost is in that sentence. It would be naive to think that we are the only club to think about transfers in this way. Both Swansea and Wigan adapt the system to fit there specific challenges and so should we.

    ”it has already been stated many times that we buy young to sell old. No point in bringing in a 30 year old with no resale value.”

    We shouldn’t do that with everyone, only players who’s reputations have outgrown the club and are attracting interest from other clubs offering silly prices. We should buy older players who can still contribute something to the club, they may even go into to coaching with us at the end of their playing careers. The are more ways of describing value other than money.

    ”The age limit was said to be 26. How many players have we brought in above that?”

    I think its shortsighted to set age limits for players we buy. There are useful players who might have not shown their full potential yet, these can be valuable to the squad. I’m not going to set my opinions around blindly following what the club says to the press/fans. We haven’t signed older players yet but this may change in the future, it’s a mistake on their part.

    ”Are you serious? BECOME a selling club? So what the hell are we now?”

    We are, but we must do more to squeeze every penny out of other clubs attempting to buy players we are resigned to losing. In the long term this will be beneficial and as we rake it in we must reinvest in more players and the youth system until we don’t have to sell anymore. It’s the way you grow a club.

    ”Don’t think we stood still – we were just extremely lucky last year, punching well above our weight.”

    I couldn’t disagree with you more. We are in the position we are in now because we did not buy enough players in the summer; injuries compounded the problem yes, but the main reason was not having enough quality players to contend with the extra fixtures. It wasn’t luck last season, we invested in the squad and it paid off, but we need to keep doing that if we are to progress.

  29. Chuck

    We have no such thing.

    We have a Minister for Sport. A government spokesman.

    There is no ministry.

    Anyway, mind your own business, seppo.

  30. Chuck says:
    February 12, 2013 at 7:32 pm

    “Thats what i said when i heard the uk had such a ministry.”

    It the Department of Culture, Media and Sport Chuck, and it’s responsible for many different areas, not just sport. And you wonder why I referred to you as the kind of ignorant, arrogant ill informed blowhard who give Yanks a bad name after your last bigoted tirade about how superior the US is to the UK.

    You know the square root root of f all about the UK, so you only make a fool of yourself with your ill informed drivel.

    Incidentally, in part of your recent piece of anti UK tripe you wrote:

    “The fact is there has been very little recent additions attributed to the English language from it’s birthplace England.”

    Yet you frequently use “fcuk” instead of the f*ck (you just did it above too), although that first came into common usage because it is an acronym for “French Connection UK” an English company which is based in London.

    You really are a “fcuking” idiot sometimes, and that’s being generous.

  31. See what i mean nothing changes, except the type of insult, at least you dont repeat the same insults, but insults nevertheless.

    Darth,
    How come you did’nt know there was a department of culture madia and sport, sounds like kind of a mixed bag.
    By the way i’m unfamiliar with the acronym Seppo.
    And screw you too.

    The spelling is any that comes to mind to avoid using the original, for obvious resons and yes, the US has been responsible for more additions to the english language, simply by scale and the fact, us film and tv are so prevelent.
    It’s got to the point when in conversations with Brits it’s not uncommon to hear idioms like ballpark figure, step up to the plate, well i could go on but i wiil end up with another, you get the picture, im sure.

  32. Chuck

    There’s no one insult that would cover exactly what you are (statistically, I think most of them would probably begin with ‘c’).

    You should consider yourself lucky Worky lets you post hear at all.

    Trolls are generally banned on most sites.

  33. By the way i’m unfamiliar with the acronym Seppo.

    It isn’t an acronym Chuck, it’s Cockney or Australian rhyming slang for someone from the United States – Septic Tank / Seppo = Yank. It could also mean a large container that is usually full of shit. It was originally inspired by people like you.

  34. Darth, why would Worky ban Chuck, he’s one of the mainstays of the blog. Take away his pearls of wisdom and half the blog is gone, whether you agree with him or not!

    I get the impression that Worky quite enjoys the rhetoric, even if does get near the mark at times.
    In my minds eye I see Chuck as a typical New Yorker a bit like Danny Devito in Taxi.

    No real malice in his comments and I have to say I agree with what he says a lot of the time.

  35. Grumpy Old_Toon says:
    February 13, 2013 at 10:43 am

    “In my minds eye I see Chuck as a typical New Yorker a bit like Danny Devito in Taxi.”

    There’s no need to flatter him that much.

  36. Grumpy

    Well thanks Grumpy, obviously a man of taste.
    My gems of wisdom ?, quite complimentary, but yes, true nevertheless.
    It’s why Grum… Ermm, Worky tolorates me, even though i raise his blood pressure to an almost intolerable level at times.
    Of course he will deny it, but…
    I have to admit i get a bit bored at times and tend to press a few buttons, but it has become less fun, too easy.
    I only wish my choice of bait worked so well when fishing, could it be fish are smarter than certain humans, something to ponder.
    Anyway, onwards and upwards.
    Alez Neufchateau.

  37. Dark Broon
    As for you with your charming turn of phrase.
    Lobbying for me to be banned from here, i suggest you go to the page top and read the “about us” section.
    Ass kissing weasel.

  38. Yeah Chuck, you press Jack72s buttons that much that it leads YOU to tell HIM to f off when he questions the almighty Chuck. And who gave you permission to be moderator on here. You seem to think you are.

  39. Anyone recall the actor Akim Timaroff, an Armenian, who played in many British films.
    There was one particular scene in the film, “For Whom The bell Tolls”
    Where he played the leader of a guerrilla band, behind enemy lines, who is being accused of cowardice.
    And when slapped by his woman (Pilar) he utters through bleeding lips.
    I do not provoke!
    Great scene.

  40. Sorry, dissapoint you Samp. but i gotta meeting to attend, but perhaps the entertainment may continue.
    later

  41. And Chuck is talking about someone repeating themselves. And Chuck is talking about someone repeating themselves. And Chuck is talking about someone repeating themselves.

  42. chuck sez “i gotta meeting to attend”

    is that what you nonces call hanging around schools these days…bet your missing your emails off jimmy saville now..then again probs not since gary glitter is still kicking about.

  43. chuck says:
    February 13, 2013 at 3:10 pm

    “I have to admit i get a bit bored at times and tend to press a few buttons, but it has become less fun, too easy.”

    Chuck, of course you get bored. You’re a lonely, embittered old man who no-one can abide in real life. An odious, bigoted bar room braggart whom everyone avoids like the plague. You have nothing better to do.

  44. Chuck is not that bad. He doesn’t talk to me because he feels superior and I can agree with him on that. Go Wigan. We need more little teams from then Northwest in the Premier League.

  45. Upchuck

    Why don’t you get a life, you lonely old troll, instead of spending all day googling for other peoples’ opinions and trivia and posting it as your own (completely and utterly pointless).

    Don’t go fishing though. Judging by your readiness to take the hook here, you’ll have swallowed all of your own bait before you get a line in the water.

    “I do not provoke!”

    Yeah. Right.

  46. Worky: can you ban me from your site? Then I wouldn’t have to read up-Chuck – yes I know, I don’t have to come on if I don’t want to.

  47. GS

    “I can’t tell if he is sad or funny”

    I’m not sure either. He obviously has a strong desire to be loved and respected.

    Why else would he go to all that trouble to google-up all of those factoids about the likes of the great Joe Stokoe, and the ethnic demographics of Tyneside in the 1950’s?

    Quite impressive really.

  48. Darthbroon: it is part of the human condition to be loved and respected. By who/whom? Chuck? f*ck no.

  49. Gentlemen,please,we nufc fans could be chewing at Ashley,lambface,Williamson,or cisse,so with that said,lets not waste letters of the alphabet educating a suspected mackem.

  50. GS says:
    February 13, 2013 at 9:33 pm

    Banks of 4. Not 4-2-3-1

    Aye, 4-4-1-1 with Fatman and Robin upfront. Though it isn’t my particular preference, I have tried to tell people that we haven’t had a problem with 4-4-2 per se, just a shit manager. Managers such as Ferguson and Ancelloti will still use it.

  51. Worky: you don’t know the half of it. I am trying to figure out taking my family on Holiday… many of the places have been ruled out. Some by price. It is coming down to Barcelona, Alacante and maybe Madrid.

    I like interesting cities, they like beaches.

    It was so funny. My Uncle died and left his nephews money. My brothers just spent it all so I am left figuring out how to take me mam and them on holiday with what is left :)

  52. The new girlfriend said “maybe they don’t want to go on holiday anyway, you c@nt”. I said “who do you think you are? Chuck?”.

    So we broke up.

  53. GS says:
    February 13, 2013 at 10:36 pm

    “F@ck Worky: you lived in Valencia. Should I go do Alacante and Valencia?”

    I didn’t “live” in Valencia, I just had a couple of girlfriends over there who I used to stay with. Best Paella in the world though you have to be careful because they can chuck eyes in and all kinds of bits when it gets too “authentic”. You can see one of the great euro follies there, the “Palace of the Arts and Sciences.” It was shite when I went in there but they wasted so much EU money on the f*cker. Never really saw much of Alicante TBH.

    I like the Gaudi architecture in Barcelona though not his Cathedral, which looks like stalagmites of vomit which have set. There’s also very nice old historic cities like Granada and Salamanca too. The oldies might like that sort of thing.

  54. I dunno if jus my phone worky but won’t let me sign in

    I was at game weekend we actually played ok, got wasted after and got nicked the tossers kept me 30 hours for 20quids worth of smoke its a joke

    I see we ain’t lost any our 23 Europe games at home I wrekn we will draw 2moz n get done at there place

    I would rather go out anyway concentrate on league if we win next few games will be back in top half

  55. danny b says:
    February 13, 2013 at 11:14 pm

    “I dunno if jus my phone worky but won’t let me sign in”

    Well if it was a blocked IP I wouldn’t be seeing your comments on here, just in the moderation queue. It’s one of those things that crops up very occaisionally with smartphones. I divven’t knaa what it is but you can still post on here and it should remember all the boring bits you fill in before commenting?

    danny b says:
    February 13, 2013 at 11:14 pm

    “I was at game weekend we actually played ok, got wasted after and got nicked the tossers kept me 30 hours for 20quids worth of smoke its a joke”

    30 hours???? Jeezus that’s a long time. That’s like when you get done out in the middle of nowhere and they think having a bit of puff in your pocket is as bad as having a brick of smack.

  56. A friend of mine was done in Jacksonville when I was there. AWB. Arrested whilst black. It was a nightmare. He was only in there for 24 hours.

  57. @worky on me laptop it’s fine just on me phone (galaxy s3) when click on it, it does nothing aint complaining just thought might be an error i can just write in anyway

    and i know was pathetic, but because i been caught 4 times already i got bailed and got to go back to find out a court date last time got fined 130 quid for the same amount, where i live is nicknamed god’s waiting room ( 80% the people pensioners ) the police have nothing to do so just pull over people through boredom

    crazy thing is one my pals got caught with like 4 kilos and got 3 and a half years, 2 weeks later 2 kids had a fight outside a pub one got punched fell down n smashed his head off the curb and died couple days later and the kid got 18 months! and he out already they have there priorities all wrong

  58. @worky i only been been court once so don’t really know any lawyers lol, i will just get another fine so fook it! what u think gonna happen tomorrow night? im amazed at a stat that we have not lost at home in 23 European games! so sir alan better not mess that up ha, also i see tiote on bail for fraud lol better get derek to slip a few words of advice to him

  59. He sings this though:

    Sitting on the park bench
    Eyeing little girls with bad intent
    Snot running down his nose

    Greasy figures smearing shabby clothes.

    Feeling like a dead chuck….

  60. Well here we are, been a long day.
    Come to find out there’s been a lot of verbal abuse directed to-wards me, while i have been busy.
    Ah well !
    If thats all you folks can come up with, could be the beginning of the end of this particular blog.
    Why ?
    Face it folks, no one one wants to get involved in personal vendettas, what the blog needs are HITS, so we can continue, no?
    Anyhow, i may reconsider my future contributions to the blog, being as GRUMPY sez, my pearls of wisdom are no longer (if they in fact ever were) appreciated.
    And unless i hear a resounding pro chuck statement, i shall no longer crontribute to this blog.

  61. Chuck: you have a resounding Chuck statement from me. If you give up, I will miss your contributions. I get ahead of myself sometimes and support the Toon no matter what and need to be brought back to earth with a big thud. You are that big thud.

  62. Chuck, I’m sorry but you were playing the keyboard hardman earlier, thinking you could take pot shots at others on here and admitting that you try to play childish, cruel psychological games with me as you please, even bragging about how successful you are at aggravating one of my medical conditions (dream on). When we take a few pot shots back though, you start crying like a big girl and threaten to flounce off. You’re a typical bully. If you’re too soft to take it, don’t give it out.

  63. chuck says:
    February 13, 2013 at 3:10 pm

    “Ermm, Worky tolorates me, even though i raise his blood pressure to an almost intolerable level at times.
    Of course he will deny it, but…
    I have to admit i get a bit bored at times and tend to press a few buttons, but it has become less fun, too easy.
    I only wish my choice of bait worked so well when fishing, could it be fish are smarter than certain humans, something to ponder.”

    What a big man you are Chuck. You must be really proud of that.

  64. Back to football though. Or music. Metalist went to Whitley Bay:

    Girl it looks so pretty to me, just like it always did. Like the Spanish city to me, when we were kids.

  65. Metalist have recently flogged one of their best players (Taison) to Shaktar Donetsk. He was going to Chelsea originally, but a new owner who hates Abramovich bought the club and sold him to Shaktar instead. He was my nominated danger man, but they still have quite a few left sadly.

  66. Oh dear has’nt it all become a bit “School Yard”
    Well for what its worth I enjoy Chucks input anything that makes people think and or react can only be good.Its childish name calling that becomes a bit of a bore.I will always stand by the old saying “I may disagree with what you say but I will defend to the death your right to say it”

  67. Chuck my dear fellow,whilst I will admit you make me laugh I cannot place your member in my mouth,I have no desire to,that I find you funny enough should be enough but to echo worky you must be man enough to take the banter,and just give as good as you get,br warned that us mags like to peck a bit….

  68. heres my pro chuck comment…
    jog on pal,your posts will not be missed off me thats for sure.fk man i dont even think your comments n posts will welcome or read on .com..
    a growing bloke wanting other users ov this blog to bow down n suck you off n lick your arse..you r deluded u mackem cnut!!!
    anyway lads predictions for tonights game?
    with wor decent record at home in europe am ganna say 2nil.looking foward to seeing Mbiwa start(hopfully at CB..
    HWTL

  69. We are gonna do em two nil,the metalis mugs.cisse better score or im giving his
    Shirt to my blind daughter,I swear she would play with more effort.

  70. I have to say I am amazed at the level of hate levelled against Chuck on this blog.

    I don’t think I have ever been on the receiving end of criticism from Chuck so don’t have an axe to grind anyway. If he did decide to have a pop at me I would either laugh it off or just ignore it. So I haven’t really took much notice when there might be some heated discussions occuring.

    Much rather talk about our football team and the often strange or philisophical chats that sometimes spontaneously spring up.

    As some gifted savant might have said it takes all sorts of folk to make a world/blog.

    Incidently I upset my vegetarian son the other night when he spotted there was horse-radish in his vegeburger!

    See they are showing our game on ESPN which I don’t get and can’t see where there might be some highlights shown. Streams frighten the bejes*s out of me. so it might be down to your highlights at some point worky.

  71. G.O.T.

    I am surprised that you are surprised about Chuckovski. He p*sses and moans all the time and then complains about other people. If he was an old woman, old women wouldn’t even like him.

  72. GS
    OK I do get it, people react differently to comments.

    I’ll tell you what p!sses me off a bit at times is when I make what I think is a sensible and (imo) pertinent comment and get nowt back. Zilch!!

    So someone coming on and telling me I’m talking out my *rse would be welcome, up to a point anyway.

    So Chuck if you want to call me a tw*t for something you don’t agree with feel free to do so, be water of a ducks back anyway!! :)

  73. jack72 says:
    February 14, 2013 at 5:04 pm

    “Worky are you ganna be putting a wiziwig link up for the match?”

    Aye Jack, I’ll be doing a match banter thing and posting the links on there. All of the link aggregators only put their links up about an hour before kick off so I can’t do them now.

  74. howay lads, chuck’s entitled to have his say, just like everyone else is.
    i wish all you girls would stop flirting with each other lol.
    the scouting system and so called transfer policy, has had some hits and misses, it’s far from being perfect.

    i expect us to gain an advantage in tonights game, but what’s the betting it’s made heavy work of, by parvenu’s meddling.
    a narrow win with a few dodgy moments for the future joe harvey.

  75. The game isnt on here. Spurs and chelsea games are more popular and are being shown. Hope they get knocked out before us so I can see a real game of football instead of these foreign tw@ts. :) eh, we have 14 French speakers? Yes, but they are our tw@ts.

  76. Grumpy Old_Toon says:
    February 14, 2013 at 3:29 pm

    “I have to say I am amazed at the level of hate levelled against Chuck on this blog.”

    Grumpy, well perhaps you should read all of Chuck’s comments and see the level of hate, contempt and sheer arrogance in some of those too. This exceptionalist idea he has that he can go around insulting and needling people willy nilly and yet be immune from any criticism coming back the other way is mistaken.

  77. joe hawkins says:
    February 14, 2013 at 5:22 pm

    “howay lads, chuck’s entitled to have his say, just like everyone else is.”

    Exactly Joe. If Chuck wants to go around having a pop at people and get really personal and nasty, they should be allowed to have their say too.

  78. Grumpy Old_Toon says:
    February 14, 2013 at 5:00 pm

    “I’ll tell you what p!sses me off a bit at times is when I make what I think is a sensible and (imo) pertinent comment and get nowt back. Zilch!!”

    Grumpy, I always read your comments but just about all the little bits of spare time I get (not many) are spent running this blog. I just don’t have the time to make long, considered responses to every single comment on here otherwise I’d never get the time to write any stories or doing any of the other little bits which always need doing. I should be doing a story now acually. I’m ruining ny health and my social life keeping up with all the crap I have on my plate as it is. Sorry.

  79. Worky, what is this thing about ruining your health? I can see that you are ruining your sex life talking to a bunch of guys about a football all day. But health? Unless chucherihno is setting off that blood pressure monitor :) yes I know. He couldn’t even set his own f¥cking pacemaker off.

  80. Chuck has left me alone, strangely enough! I suppose I’m not on enough. Don’t know why! He had a go at Belfast as a city a few weeks ago (some stereotypical s**te). But I was to busy rioting to answer him back!!!

  81. Worky, I wasn’t having a pop at you, sorry if it sounded that way. I actually admire your efforts at keeping the blog going, I remember you nearly gave up on us not so long ago and wouldn’t have blamed you if you had.

    Any way a win tonight might sooth a few battered ego’s. ;)

  82. Well the results are…
    I assume a positive from Nutmag.
    Sampdiago, not really sure what he’s saying, call it a ?
    Jack 72, no doubt as to how he feels, a negative.
    Joe hawkins , I’le take that as a positive
    Belfast, another ?
    Grumpy, a positive.
    I’m not counting Worky until he stops frothing at the mouth.
    So in general a resounding positive vote.

    Grumpy
    I believe i have given you positive feedback, if not constructive criticism.
    Same with anyone who comes up with a an interesting point.
    As for the rabid haters and name callers, yeah! sometimes jerk their chains.
    And yeah i’m not intimidated by anyone and can fight my corner.
    But if you need attention from Worky (see how much ink he gives me, when he should be taking care of the little bits)
    Guarantee you will get at least a couple of paragraphs, by telling him he’s wrong.
    Which we are all aware he’s never been, just ask him.

    Well the game is coming on in half an hour, bout time the pre-game banter and team sheets were posted innit ?

  83. You are so full of yourself and so full of sh*t. Whenever anyone questions you about anything you tell them to f off. You pathetic pile of dogshyte.

  84. I meant upchuck. It is this corrective text stuff.

    And not “ment” like you always say you illiterate idiot.

  85. I savour, result in I found exactly what I
    used to be having a look for. You’ve ended my 4 day long hunt!

    God Bless you man. Have a nice day. Bye