Get your wallet out MikeJoey Barton has been urging Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley to break the ‘stop-start’ nature of the club.
Thanks to the work of Chris Hughton and Alan Pardew, Joey Barton appears to be in the form of his life at the moment. He’s not one to mince words though and he’s been sending a clear message to Mike Ashley as to what he thinks he should do. Joey said:
“You don’t take four points from Ewood and St Andrew’s if you don’t have that character.
“This squad wants to keep pushing on but we need a squad to compete on all fronts. It’s up to the men upstairs to make sure we amass one and get the bodies in to challenge for Europe.”
“You need to spend money. If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys. So hopefully they spend it and spend it wisely.”
I think, Joey, there are plenty people who would argue – fairly or otherwise – that the monkeys are already here, wearing suits and running the club. (more…)
How is he doing?Alan Pardew has now managed Newcastle United for 10 games, but is he doing a good job?
Chris Hughton divided opinion as a manager with some rating him highly, others insisting he was ‘clueless’ and a plethora of opinions in between the two extremes.
His sacking, though, was a shock. It might have a pleasant shock to those who never rated him but it was a shock nonetheless. There were rumblings in the press before it happened, but I think most fans thought he’d at least to get to see out the season. I think most people appreciated that the constant changes of manager were one of the main reasons for our demise and relegation, and were hoping the club would ease up on the revolving door approach.
Hughton says he still doesn’t know why he was sacked. Ashley said he wanted someone “with more experience” and, beyond a lot of speculation and rumour, that’s just about all we actually know about things.
So in comes Alan Pardew. He didn’t really arrive to a fanfare – more of a squeak – and I think most fans were either unhappy about his appointment or, at best, nonplussed.
We’re now 10 games into Pardew’s tenure as manager and he’s clocked up 3 wins, 3 draws and 4 losses, so what do we think about him? (more…)
Do I care what Shearer says?Derek Llambias engages in a war of words with Alan Shearer.
Alan Shearer has been critical of Newcastle United’s sale of Andy Carroll to Liverpool, particularly following assurances that he wouldn’t be sold and given that no replacement was made in the transfer window. Shearer said:
“I’m staggered just like the rest of Newcastle fans. I am surprised at how quickly it came along and it’s an astonishing amount for a young guy with huge potential.
“It’s all right selling your best player, but not getting anyone in to replace him is staggering.
“People are saying that Liverpool have sold Torres, but they have got two guys in for over £50million to replace him. I just hope Newcastle invest some of the £35million in new players at the end of the season.
“I am disappointed as he is Newcastle’s best player and their best hope of being successful this season and getting a Europe League place.
“They would have just been happy to avoid relegation at the start of the season but, mainly because of him, they had a chance of a Europa spot.” (more…)
Pardew told Ashley to reinvestAllegedly, Alan Pardew will get all the money made from the Andy Carroll sale to spend on rebuilding the team in the summer
I’ve had enough of the whole Andy Carroll debacle now to be honest. If truth be told, I have no idea whether he was pushed or not, whether Ashley had always planned to sell him or not, or – when Pardew insisted that Carroll was not for sale – whether he was lying or not.
Either way, he’s gone to Liverpool and we simply have to get on with things.
The good news is that, according to Pardew, Ashley isn’t planning a £35m casino blow out but will reinvest the lot of it in the team during the summer. Pardew said:
“One thing I said to Mike (Ashley) on Monday is that if this boy (Carroll) is going to go, this money has to be reinvested – all of it.
“He assured me of that, and so for the Newcastle fans that is the most important message I can give to them. All that money will be used.
“Could it have been used on Monday? We made a couple of bids late in the night but were getting extortionate figures thrown at us – it was ridiculous.(more…)
What's he thinking?The previously delayed press conference with Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew has now been cancelled.
So why has the press conference been cancelled? Here are four of my guesses:
Reason 1: Pardew may have wanted to reiterate his desire to hold onto Andy Carroll but, with offers for the player nudging up in value, Ashley may have had a change of heart about selling him, so it was felt prudent to cancel the press conference and see what the club gets offered for Carroll next.
Reason 2: Ashley may have no intention of selling Carroll but wanted to spare Alan Pardew the questions which would inevitably be thrown his way about it at the press conference.
Reason 3: the press conference was to announce that Stephen Ireland has been brought in from Aston Villa but either there’s some problem or delay with that or it is felt that all the Andy Carroll stuff would overshadow it.
Reason 4: something else altogether, possibly to do with penguins. (more…)
