Would you buy a used car from these men?I remember thinking that Newcastle United’s Managing Director, Derek Llambias, chose his words quite carefully in the wake of Andy Carroll’s £35 million transfer to Liverpool FC, though perhaps not so carefully in the attack on Alan Shearer that came with it. When defending the decision to sell Carroll and pack him off in Ashley’s helicopter he said:
“Yes, he went in our helicopter. But the sooner the deal was done the sooner we could make our own moves in the transfer market. It was already very late.”
Then adding:
“We will spend in the summer. Every penny of the £35m will stay in the club.”
He also told the Sun:
“Mike Ashley has only ever put money into this football club. He has never taken a single penny out. And he won’t take a single penny of this £35m either – all the money will go to the club and we are already working on identifying transfer targets for the summer.”(more…)
Tough acts to followOn arrival at Newcastle United Demba Ba was handed the number 19 shirt, leaving the number 9 shirt vacant. Does this indicate that there are plans to recruit another striker to fill it or is the shirt going to be retired for a while?
The Newcastle United number 9 shirt is of course sacred. Leaving it unfilled for a while – after Obafemi Martins moved to Wolfsburg – was a deliberate ploy by former manager Chris Hughton who said:
“It’s something I’ve done deliberately. We have a lot of strikers here and I’m quite sure that every single one of them would have wanted to wear the No 9 shirt. As soon as I came to this club I knew what it meant and it’s both my decision and a combination of a few things.
“It can be a heavy number to carry, a burden, and wearing it is an achievement which I want somebody to grow into. I want somebody to earn the right to be Newcastle’s No 9. I don’t want to suggest that the strikers here aren’t worthy of it because each of them has a real strong value.
“I don’t anticipate years going by without one, but I know what the number nine is and I don’t want it to be an issue. The only issue I want is the normal stuff of the team performing well or not performing well, winning games or not winning games, and that’s very much team based.” (more…)
Pardew: Can't compete with the big boys on wages.Speaking to North East weekly, the Sunday Stun, Newcastle United manager, Alan Pardew has claimed that the club cannot compete with big clubs such as Tottenham or Liverpool on in terms of transfers or wages.
This is something which seemed obvious to many fans when promising stroker, Andy Carroll, was spirited away to the latter club for a transfer fee of up to £35 million, and a contract which dwarfed anything which Newcastle were willing to offer him. However, the Magpies’ supremo has assured us that despite the imbalance in finances, we can compete with the likes of Tottenham and Liverpool on the pitch.
Pardew said of the imbalance:
“I don’t think we’re anywhere near Spurs in terms of the wage bill. Theirs is double ours, so you can forget about Spurs.(more…)
Although not in love with Ashley!Kevin Keegan expresses some views about Newcastle United, Andy Carroll, the Liverpool game and Mike Ashley.
Ex-Toon manager and twice Messiah Kevin Keegan has been giving Alan Pardew and Mike Ashley some grief over the weekend.
First of all, KK was critical about the ‘over-friendliness’ shown to Andy Carroll by his former team-mates on the pitch before the match, when what we should have done is slapped him with a wet haddock and poked his eye out with a sharp stick.
Pardew didn’t agree that it was a problem and intimated that any perceived over-friendliness vapourised at kick-off. Pardew said:
“I don’t see why he’s got a beef with that.
“I think there was one point where Andy carried the ball and there was four of them trying to kick him!
“If anyone thinks that is any part of the game, I’m surprised at that.” (more…)
Every player has a price.If we were to listen to the naysayers and those in desperate need of a long course of anti-depressants, the starting XI will be gone come the summer transfer window.
We have always been a selling club, will always be a selling club and unless Ashley leaves, we will remain a selling club. After all, the proof is in the pudding and so far Ashley is just looking to line his pocket with gold. A nugget of truth that somehow ties into todays gutless performance – everybody is for sale. Or something.
The fact is, we aren’t. I know, it’s incredible to think that, but we aren’t a selling club. This season we have sold Andy Carroll.
No, that isn’t a pause for dramatic effect; that’s actually the only sale we’ve had this season. Yes, players have been sent on loan. Yes, players are ‘rumoured’ to be leaving, but if paper talk was 100% true then we’d have Messi and Ronaldo roaming the midfield with Podolski knocking in 80 goals a season and a bench made up of Gervhinho, Hulk, Robben and Shola Ameobi. (more…)
