Another Transfer Window Failure
We have come to expect very little from the transfer window as far as Newcastle United are concerned, but we certainly didn't expect Mike Ashley to make a profit this month.
In fact, the best bit of business the Magpies have done this season is persuade Wigan Athletic Charles N'Zogbia was worth £6m of their money plus Ryan Taylor! Good luck with that sulky, arrogant little so and so Brucie!
However, when you consider the size of that fee and the £6m Manchester City ended up paying for Shay Given, Newcastle raised £12m from player sales and spent just £4.5m of it on Kevin Nolan.
That's a nice little profit of £7.5m quid in his back pocket to go with the estimated £5m left over from James Milner's controversial sale to Aston Villa in the summer.
As for the deadline day bids they failed with, Michael Johnson is injured and Sunderland were about as likely to allow Kevin Richardson to join their local rivals as Ashley is to travel with the fans on the coach to the Hawthorns on Saturday!
Okay, so Mike has wiped out the club's debt and he is helping to bankroll a ridiculously large wage bill, but this was not the way to buy back public support on Tyneside.
The signings of Kevin Nolan and Ryan Taylor are good ones. Good, solid and proven Premier League players who will surely help in their bid to avoid the drop, but there should have been more than just these two and Peter Lovenkrands.
You suspect, if the Magpies are going to stay up this season, they will need to have considerably better luck with injuries between now and the end of the season than they have had over the last two or three years! That is putting your future in the hands of the Gods and they have rarely been kind to the club before have they?!
That survival bid starts in earnest at West Bromwich Albion on Saturday - lose that one and not only will the heat be cranked up on Ashley and his cronies after a disappointing transfer window, the spectre of relegation will move another step closer to becoming a disastrous reality.
It's going to be touch and go for the next four months. Say goodbye to those fingernails...
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Luke Edwards - is Chief Sports Writer of The Journal and uses his blog to give a unique and entertaining insight into events at Newcastle United and Sunderland.
The nails went on Sunday
Another Joke again, Luke. Ashley had a huge chance to appease fans and threw it back in our faces. Why wait until the last day of the window to make failed bids? Why sell Given to Citeh for 6 million (peanuts) when we wanted Johnson? Why would we not have had a swap deal in place? We need a striker and Everton get Man City's Jo on loan. We sell Wigan N'Zogbia and don't even attempt to get Camara on loan. I can't wait to see what Ashley and co. have to say.
Msg held for approval by the Blog owner???
Am I on a blog blacklist now???
The truth is, Ashley was never in this for the long-term. From the research I've done, everyone who knows the story behind the scenes seems to know that to be the case. Rather, he thought he could buy us for a decent price (which it was, if you weren't aware of our debt burden) have a daft laugh without spending any real money for a season or two, and then sell us at a big profit. Don't forget, he was offered £320m to sell very shortly after he bought us - he asked for £450m, and the potential buyers walked away.
We have buffoons running the club (Wise, Lambias, JFK) because Ashley never expected to still be here. They were temporary appointments - like Mort's secondment - aimed at getting us ready for a quick sale at maximum value. Problem is, they're all now having to make it up as they go along.
Salvation will only come when Ashley leaves and takes his pet monkeys with him. Until then, the skies will remain dark. Oh for a couple of agitants like Malcolm Dix and Surgeon Hall ...
True Faith's lead article today is spot on, as usual.
Hi Luke,
Another window delivering further disappointment! Honestly I don't know why anyone is still surprised at the lack of success in bringing in the positions we need and have needed all season and before.
Midfield still remains the biggest problem area. Like him or not (and when fit) Emre was our only creative midfielder - we didnt replace him with the result that our only chance to score is from the wings as we do not get penetrative balls through the defence. Mr Wise must know this, but nothing is done to remedy the situation!
Martins returning will add much needed pace and this will help paper over the widening cracks but until we sort out the midfield we will keep struggling to stay out of the bottom 3.
Bullard was cheap and would have been a great signing. Johnson should have been tied into the Given deal. And the bid for Richardson was plainly ridiculous! But what happened to the 2 foreign players for 6 Million - fantasy or what?
Cheers
Mike
The squad is big enough for the fourteen games remaining, its not worth griping about money or Ashley now, all these rows may sell newspapers but it won't help in the relegation fight.
Look - its been disappointing - but not for the lack of trying. If the stories are to be believed Kinnear went after some reasonable players - but the offers weren't accepted. Ashley is in profit because they got good deals on two players. Watching Harper on Sunday it reminds you he's not much behind Shay who after all WANTED to leave, and as for Charles 'Insomnia' - did anyone want him to stay. Our problem in many games has been lack of strikers not defending - the number of attacks on Sunday would have won 3 games - but only if they are finished.
On ebrigth note - if Kinnear has been doing all this player hunting - what is Wise up to - or has he already gone! Now that would be a successful January.
Lets face it, Ashley never had any interest in buying Johnson, Veloso or Richardson. These were stories leaked to the press to make it 'look' like Newcastle had made some sort of an effort. The reality is we now only look for players the so called smaller clubs are after. Veloso is a class act, Ashley would never fund that sort of splurge. Also why sign the injury prone Ryan Taylor? Yes he's scored some goals (mainly against us) but teams were hardly beating down his door. I honestly believe that if we dont win on Saturday we are going down. Has anyone looked at the next few games? Everton, Man U, Chelski and Arsenal at home, can anyone see a win there? The team on paper probably is too good to go down, but every single one of those players who pull on that shirt better start pulling their finger out.
On another point did anyone see Owen laughing in the stands when it looked like Carrol was injured, he's a disgrace to the club and the sooner he's gone the better!
The transfer window let-down continues. Doesn't seem to matter who's in charge, despite the change of actors, directors and producers, the script always stays the same at the Theatre of Underachievement. For me the current rot really set in when Shepherd failed to provide funds for Sir Bobby prior to the champions League qualifier against Partizan. Despite the obvious need for quality defenders all we got was Lee Bowyer on a free transfer(or was it Community Service). We're now in the situation where Ashley is quietly asset-stripping the club by selling quality in the transfer window in exchange for cheaper, inferior merchandise and a quick profit (the Sports Direct philosophy). Where's my cyanide capsule gone . . .
Anyone now attending St James is no longer a fan ..but a slave ...WAKE UP ! YOUR CLUB IS DYING ! MAYDAY MAYDAY MAYDAY! BOYCOTT BOYCOTT BOYCOTT ! MAYDAY !
Luke - A bloke asks his mate if he fancies a pint in Wigan town center. A new Gentlemen's bar has opened up offering all you can drink, free dances all night and a pie for a quid. His mate thinks for a minute and says I'm not sure what sort of pie??
Charlie - the Paris of the North-West awaits.
Enjoy.
Contrary to a previous post, it's atmospheres like the one at Sunday's match which is keeping some positivity and something good connected with the club. An empty stadium is hardly going to shed any positive light on the club, is it? An empty stadium will only exacerbate any death, not prevent it.
Focus on what's important in the immediate future, which is staying in the Premier League. To do that, the team needs support. If you feel the need to boycott something of the current regime, then boycott the pies and the drinks.
Anyone who calls themselves a Newcastle fan and then boycotts supporting the team is no Newcastle fan in my eyes, whatever the agenda.
(Captcha Out!)
The reason players didn't come in is because the club is in disaray, Nolan has changed 1 relagation battle for another and pocketed a tidy sum, but its emmbarrasing to be continually turned down even by journeymen. Top players will not work with Kinnear, and they must think we are going down. We have gone for several players who have ended up at Sunderland what a laughing stock we have become.
WE WILL BE IN CHAMPIONSHIP NEXT SEASON. CLUB IS NOW RUN BY FANTASISTS WITHOUT ANY ABILITY.
When is the Board Q&A sesh happening Luke?
BTW, I thought your lead article today was cracking; absolutely spot on analysis of the situation. Ashley is being let off too lightly by your sister paper, IMHO. We are being sold down the river by Fat Mike and it needs calling as such at every oppportunity.
Keep up the good work.
Sy, To offer a different view, anyone who throws good money after bad supporting this regime is a poor version of a Newcastle fan. Do you think it makes any difference to the performance of the team if you are standing there ? They would probably play better without the pressure of a crowd at SJP because a great support hasn't done them any good so far.The only difference you make by attending the match is giving more money/creedence to this despicable group trying to ruin our beloved club. If a woman dumped you, like this lot have dumped on us, would you keep going back to see her every week.That idiot Kinnear's comments about Taylor being good at long throws and set pieces tells you where we're headed. Boycotting is the only way to remove these parasites quickly, the team is not going to save themselves
Ashley & Co must go, over 4 transfer windows our net spend is £2.05m. The squad has been reduced by 5 players at the same time. Another club Aston Villa were taken over at a similar time and have spent wisely (net spend £44.25m), however how much money will they make in qualifying for CL football. Most fans need to start and realise that the majority of our squad are here for the money and would not care less if the ground was half empty as long as they got paid every week. I have not put/will not put another penny into MA pockets until the muppets leave our toon. Season ticket will not be renewed, how he had the brass neck to increase season ticket prices to watch this team and joke manager. Enough is Enough.
Will the full recording of the Q and A with Llambias be put online so we can all hear it and the questions he won't answer ?