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…)
Matuidi and Erdinç - realistic targets?Newcastle United allegedly maintain a strong interest in Saint-Etienne’s Blaise Matuidi and Paris Saint-Germain’s Mevlüt Erdinç.
According to ‘France Football’ (as well as our very own Chronicle) the French revolution is far from over at Newcastle.
Apparently we are still pursuing a legendary ‘double swoop’ for Blaise Matuidi and Mevlüt Erdinç. I have reported our supposed interest in both these players a few times on this ‘blog and the rumours seem to be gaining momentum rather than going away.
Matuidi won’t come cheap though. Saint-Etienne President Roland Romeyer has previously said:
“We will not discuss anything below €15m for Blaise Matuidi.”
That’s £13.4m that Ashley will have to fork out if he wants to bag the 24 year-old.
As a defensive midfielder, presumably the plan would be to play him alongside Tiote, maybe in a standard 4-4-2 or possibly in a 4-2-3-1 formation. (more…)
Concentrate!On the pitch, what needs fixing? Most would point out the glaring lack of fire-power within the ranks, for the ‘number 9′ Shirt is lies dormant at St James’ Park.
This of course has been true since January, when a certain someone departed to join Kenny Dalglish’s revolution, and our inability to act for a replacement due to the timing of the transfer. Now summer has arrived, we do have the time, and already names are being linked for the vacancy, some realistic, some not so, but the obvious fact is, the owners and management are in the process of finding the man to shoulder the responsibility of the number 9 shirt.
Goals…
Newcastle, performed admirably in front of goal in the Premier League last season, with our captain, Kevin Nolan, managing 12, Carroll 11, Ameobi, Lovenkrands and Best each netting 6, Joey Barton hitting 4 and Jonas along with Steven Taylor netting 3. There were also a couple from Coloccini, and solitary strikes from Ben Arfa and Cheick Tiote, along with an own goal from West Broms Olsson, taking Newcastle’s Total to 56. Not Bad, in fact it was the joint 6th highest in the division. The 41 goals scored at St James’ was the most we have managed in the last decade (not counting our Championship season). (more…)
Must avoid another card this seasonNewcastle United midfielder Cheik Tiote goes into the record books, although it only gives Alan Pardew a headache.
It seems that Cheik Tiote’s yellow card for tripping Matt Derbyshire on Saturday has gained him a Premier League record. He joins Robbie Savage and Mark Hughes on 14 bookings for the season, which is apparently the record.
Were the McWhirter brothers still alive they’d no doubt be handing him some sort of trophy and John Noakes would pin a Blue Peter badge on him whilst slipping in elephant poo and shouting “get down Shep”.
As records go though, it’s probably one he could do without, particularly as it means another booking before the end of the season would mean he’d miss the first three games of next season.
This has all got Alan Pardew reaching for the aspirin because he now doesn’t know whether or not to risk the player against Chelsea next weekend:
“I will have to consider it. He would miss three games at the beginning of next season and he is very important to the team,” said Pardew. (more…)
Prospered under Nolan's guidanceNewcastle United midfielder Cheik Tiote reflects on his progress this season and looks to improve next season.
Cheik Tiote has had a good season in black and white and seems like the bargain of the century given that we paid FC Twente a mere £3.5m for him.
Tiote would certainly be a contender for my player of the season, although I’d find that a tough call to make this season with Enrique, Colocinni, Barton and Gutierrez also in contention.
To be fair, bearing in mind we have Ben Arfa and Dan Gosling to come back from injury, I don’t think we have too bad a team. There is an obvious weakness up front at the moment, which needs to be addressed urgently in the summer, and we certainly need more depth and cover – particularly if we continue with our dreadful record of training injuries – but I think the basis of decent team is there.
Anyway, Tiote has been reflecting on this season and is looking forward to next season but first he had a special thank you to make to Kevin Nolan:
“Kevin Nolan’s my man in midfield! He’s helped me, and done everything for me.
“I want to say thanks to him for that.”
Clearly Nolan’s influence stretches beyond his 12 goals for the club this season and it’s important that a team has those sorts of leaders. (more…)
