How will that £35m be spent?The transfer market is a strange and sometimes scary place, with confusion abound by exactly how much money we apparently have, others have the knowledge only provided by Football Manager and FIFA and you’d be surprised how correct that actually is. The long and short is, we have never had £35m to spend – never.
There’s a lot of confusion around exactly what we have to spend since the sale of local lad and full time thug Andy Carroll to Liverpool for £35m with £30 of that being handed over in cold, hard cash – just how we like it. Alan Pardew himself stated that the money was to be reinvested in the squad and even went as far as to say that he wanted it solely for players but unfortunately, that isn’t how it works.
At the start of the season, the manager and the chairman sits down and discusses season targets, contracts, incoming players, outgoing players and everything else you’d come to associate with a professional football club. (more…)
All is forgiven by LeedsNewcastle United midfielder Alan Smith is a potential target for Leeds United.
Many an argument has ensued in recent weeks about whether or not we should be getting rid of the older, more experienced players but I tend to think the majority of Toon fans feel that Alan Smith has outstayed his usefulness at the club.
He had a decent season with us the one before last when we got promotion back to the Premier League – and is rarely short on effort – but has found himself increasingly sidelined by the likes of Tiote this season.
It hasn’t helped his chances that he has suffered with an ankle injury for a lot of the second half of this season, although I’m not sure his chances would have been all that prolific anyway.
Leeds, however, seem to be interested in Smith now that he has allegedly been transfer-listed by Newcastle. The former Leeds ‘Player of the Year’ became something of an icon at his home town club but left under a bit of a cloud for Man Utd when Leeds got relegated, leading some fans to bear a grudge and brand him a ‘Judas’. (more…)
Shikabala: Toon target?Newcastle United are supposedly interested in an Egyptian midfielder whilst Sam Allardyce wants our captain at West Ham.
Tomorrow might be a better day for transfer gossip as that’s when the French transfer window creaks open and allows a plethora of Gallic talent to enter the market. Given where our scouts seem to have been concentrating their investigations, the opening of the aforementioned window should be of particular interest to Newcastle.
In the meantime, it seems that West Ham are preparing a £3m bid for Kevin Nolan. Nolan apparently refused a two year extension to his Newcastle contract, preferring instead to get a five year extension, and is thus described as ‘unsettled’. Quite whether that means he’s actually looking to transfer is unclear. Alan Pardew is allegedly ‘battling’ to keep the player at Newcastle, although I have no idea how.
Rumour has it that Big Sam might also be interested in taking Alan Smith – who has recently been told he can leave Newcastle – to West Ham. (more…)
Crocked ankle in JanuaryAlan Smith is back in training but may not play for Newcastle again until next season.
The last time Alan Smith played for us was back in January against Brucie’s louts. During that game his ankle was broken by Kieron Richardson and he’s been crocked ever since.
However, Smith fans will be pleased to know that a magic seven league boot he wore during his rehabilitation seemed to work and he was back in training at Benton last week.
Whilst he hasn’t turned out on the pitch for us, Assistant Manager John Carver was keen to point out that he has still been contributing behind the scenes. Carver said:
“During his injury Alan has played a big part off the field for us.
“Just because a player is injured it doesn’t mean they don’t have a part to play, and Alan has been an excellent example of that.” (more…)
Leeds winger in Smith swap?Speculation is a popular January pastime in football and the latest transfer rumours have Newcastle United interested in Leeds winger Max Gradel with a possible move the other way for Alan Smith.
The rumour, courtesy of Sky Sports, does beg some questions though, the first of which being whether Leeds – currently 5th in the Championship – would actually sell someone who could be pivotal to their promotion push.
In fact, when Toon interest was first mentioned at the end of last year, Leeds boss Simon Grayson stated that Gradel is not for sale, but the rumour fails to go away and now Alan Smith has been added into the equation.
From what I can gather, Smith would only be loaned to Leeds for the rest of the season but that could act as a sweetener if Pardew is determined to secure the services of Gradel.
Gradel – a 23 year old from the Ivory Coast – has been in fine form this season, notching up 7 goals in 19 games and providing exemplary service to the strikers from the wing.
Gradel came out of the Leicester City youth academy and made a name for himself on loan to Bournmouth before being first loaned to and then signed up permanently by Leeds on a contract that runs until the summer of 2012. Gradel has admitted he’d welcome a move to the Premiership ‘at some stage’ but – wisely perhaps – has said nothing beyond that. (more…)
