Oooot For The Summer
So as the summer draws nearer and we starting thinking about sun, sea, sand and egg and chips for some we also start thinking about the revolving door at St.James Park and quite naturally so.
This season has hardly been a shining light has it? Quite rightly the club has been rocky with 2 changes in management, new ownership, new ideas, new players to mention the least. The foundation had been seriously rocked.
At the start it looked rosy but soon the wheels fell off and its taken until now to show signs then we are beginning to get a new set on.
But where do we go from here in terms of players? I’m of the belief that up to 5 will go and 10 will come in. Some will be as squad players with names we’ve never heard of as well. But the names going out the door are easier to fathom.
My 5 are :
1. Carr
Never really set the world alight as it was possibly one of Fat Freds signings behind Sir Bobbys back! Tons of niggling injuries, too short, too pudsy and getting long in the tooth. I believe his contract is up so will we actually get any money.
2. Rozenhal
Started well but soon found week in week out life hard in the Premier League as it got too rough and ready for him. Started moaning shipped out to Lazio for first games as he didnt get a place after moaning about King Kev. Has struggled to nail that place down in Italy for help playing in the European Championships but that still looks doubtful.
3. Ameobi
Been around for ages came through the youth but never really achieved the potential many expected him to. Managed to survive so many managers. Never seemed to learn and round off his game and still man handles players giving ref’s easy decisions. Looks to laze and labour around the field and can never hit a shot cleanly. By staying probably show lack of ambition and block the route of the youth players – hes had his chance.
4. Cacapa
Once again a defender on some days who looks as though he has a brain but unfortunately when the Premier League gets rough he cannot cope with it. The way he was demolished by Bejani and Carew was alarming. Definitely tried and a shame as he looks as though in European football he would be a winner. Some you win some you lose. Likely to go back to France. We got him on a free so any fee generated be great.
5. Emre
I think some fans will be against this but I don’t see why? I myself am a big admiring on his day but its too rare and even more so with the amount of injuries he has. His skills are unquestionable but he can be hot headed as well and get into trouble costing us dearly. Doesn’t score enough niether give all the talent. Clearly likes living in Newcastle but he hasn’t shown it enough on the pitch simple as. We need a midfield playmaker who is on the pitch most weeks. Likely to go abroad to a bit European club for around £4 million.
What do you guys think? I might put together next a list of potential targets though some will be daft and some of the players we end up signing we will never heard of which aint always a bad thing.
March 27th, 2008 at 1:47 pm
i agree with you there, on everyone. The only thing that dissapoints me is getting rid of emre, but we have too. he started so well under souness, and there were flashes of brilliance and then the injuries came, and he has never really got started again. Ameobi is not a striker we need to keep, i’d like to see him go to the championship and see if he gets any better, but to be honest carroll looks far sharper than he ever did, and carroll is much younger. Carr is useless, has only done one good thing since arriving all those years ago, and that was the only goal he ever scored. Roz and Cacapa were stop-gap defenders, that are not, and never will be made for the fast, hard premiership. Now we get rid of all five of those players, plus who are we bringing in?? Van Buyten? dont know much about him, only that he is big and strong, and brings quite a bit of experience, then why did he leave man city? I quite like Distin, dont know why we let him go. Wes Brown is a great shout, he’s versatile, and hasnt signed a contract with man u.. In the midfield i cant think of anyone who we could get, it will probably be someone we’ve never heard of like you said, but that isnt really a bad thing, cause then there is no pressure on the new man. as for strikers, if the players we have now all stay then i think we’re good in that department.
March 27th, 2008 at 2:25 pm
Agree 100% on 1-4. Emre concerns me simply because of the lack of quality and depth we have there and for some reason still quite like him. He hasn’t contributed near enough and it does bother me the question of how he could manage to make himself a regular playmaker there.
What’s his wages like? That and who can be brought in I guess is the cruncher. Certainly hasn’t shown enough to be the future.
Ameobi has driven me mad for years. The hokey cokey is a shite song aswell anyway lol
March 27th, 2008 at 2:37 pm
I love that ‘hokey cokey’ comment haha!
On Emre hes the one i bite my teeth at saying but simply hasnt performed or delivered regularly and your right the wages he will be paid assume about £65k per week. He has everything probably he ever wanted so has no hunger. We could probably bring in a younger player perhaps not quite as much potential or skill level for half the cost maybe less and get far more games. No point having all the skills in the world if its spent on a treatment table. If a suitable offer comes in he’ll be away. Good shout on 2 defenders there… Wes Brown would be useful, Van Buyten would be useful but I still think we need another plus 2 right backs and a left back. So there is 6 players. We need a target man striker possibly Crouch? That leaves 3 players for midfield. I would love to see Bentley – really would.
March 27th, 2008 at 10:11 pm
Totally agree with you guys, those five should go although it’s a huge shame regarding Emre. If he was fit enough to get a good run of games I think he could pull defences to pieces. Still, he hasn’t managed that so assuming we can get someone else that can unlock a defence (and there’s more than one way to skin a cat – running at players, running behind them, putting in a defence-splitting pass, shooting from distance etc) he’ll have to go.
I assume you’ve all seen that Stroller has left for Stoke, possibly never to return. It’ll do him good to drop a level and get regular games, he’s too comfortable here. Martins however apparently is going nowhere and never made comments saying he was considering leaving (so that Sky Sports article wasn’t true? I can’t believe it…).
Do you guys not think anyone else might leave? I’m pretty sure N’Zogbia will be sold, despite us wanting him to stay. Also, if we bring in enough cover I woudn’t be amazed to see the likes of Geremi go, who appears to be getting a game because there’s simply no one else they could play or the right of midfield… Then again, if Ashley is paying for all of these new players I can’t see him being happy to allow one squad midfielder be sold for peanuts with another brought in for a lot more…
In regards to Smith I’m increasingly wondering what role he could play at the club. He’s not a midfielder, we’re all agreed? Besides, we’ll have more midfield cover after the summer. That leaves him to play up front. However we all seem to feel that we need a new strong centre forward, with Viduka probably as back up and a super-sub option. We’ve got big Andy Carroll getting slowly better, so do we need a 27/28 year old 3rd choice strong forward (with the pacey striker berth being fought out between Martins and Owen). I agree he’s not a bad squad player, but how many games would Smith get? A small handful, and with Carroll a year older, would anyone be so upset for him to get those few games? So is his wages really worth paying?
As for who will come in, I wouldn’t be suprised if only 2 or 3 are from the Premiership/are players we’ve heard of. One or two from the clubs going down and maybe Wes Brown, although I maintain reservations about buying second-string older (i.e. not youth players struggling to get past established first teamers) players from the big clubs… Either way I’m hoping we’ve not got a great scouting set-up that will bring home the bacon – we’ve got enough board-level people now who apparently are experts in this field!
March 28th, 2008 at 5:30 am
i think Zogs is going, with spurs the most likely destination, as much as i want him to stay because we’ve done all the work to nuture him, i dont think he wants to be here, and that is going to effect his, and the teams, morale. i’d like to see him replaced with mat taylor from bolton, he was awesome at pompey two seasons ago, and can cover for lb, and lm, but he is not an out and out winger. so if enrique is injured, he can play there, and cover for duff on the wing as well. Bentley would be a great acquisition, but highly unlikely, i can see a liverpool/chelsea or man u buying him, and i’m sure he’d rather be playing for a top 4 team, and at this stage we cannot attract those kind of players. If we get rid of carr we have no back up for beye on the RB, so we’d have to buy someone new, but i think keeping geremi as a squad player is not a bad idea (just stop letting him take corners) he can cover for three positions rb,rm and cm, but only cover, we need permanent players in those positions. we must not get rid of james milner, i feel he is a gem, and still needs alot of work but he is a good player and can make the rm spot his own. as for smith well i’m not sure either. doesnt really score much goals, not a pacey striker, not a target man, he’s really a support centre foward, that likes to bash cb’s. and carrol can do that plus he can be a target man. i’d try sell him to a promoted team in the summer and try recover some of that 6m we paid. although i love his commitment and i was one of the first to say we should get him from man u, in hindsight it wasnt a very good move. Viduka, well the jury is out on this one, i dont know if i want him in or not next season, he’s old, expensive, and has spent this season on the mend. smoggydunc said it in the beginning of the season, and i hate to say he is right, will score goals. but not enough to warrant his wages. Keegan has his work cut out for him this summer, i just hope we dont make any BSA buys, otherwise we’re looking at another long dissapointing season …
March 28th, 2008 at 9:17 am
Well yesterday we were linked with Reyes. Not a bad player but he left Arsenal because he didnt like the weather so that might not happen. For £5 million tho and at 23/24 not a bad bit of business if we get him playing. Can certainly score a goal or 2. Probably the type of player Keegan can put his arm around. TBH if Zog wants to go let him go. Snag is we dont want players who dont want to be here. It doesnt help a managers season when people are blaming the manager for not picking them when in fact they are the problem. Duff I don’t think if good enough. He might score for one more season though. Smith is a decent squad player who would perform better in a better performing team. At the moment we just have to make sure we make the squad bigger. We need at least another 5 players on what we got so if any out a replacement has to come in. We have to remember some players will just be squad players.
March 28th, 2008 at 9:51 am
You have to admit, there have been a lot of times when you’ve looked at the teamsheet/bench and thought is that all we got? I agree with getting rid of dead wood but I don’t want all players who don’t fit the perfect first 11 vision leaving. One thing is for sure though, since KK took over he has certainly had a good look at what we have and how they’ve responded under pressure. Will be interesting to see what he does as he has proven us all wrong before.
March 28th, 2008 at 10:38 am
I think Keegan could be ruthless when it comes to his cul. If hes not happy with you your out. I think that he already knows who but of course for everyone concerned at the moment, ‘this is a great set of players’.
March 28th, 2008 at 10:43 am
Agree on the players listed to ship off to wilderness, and have the same dilema with regards to Emre.
Zoggy is a player I’d love to see stay, but I just dont think it’ll happen. However……….. an interesting player to consider would be Kim Kallstrom at Lyon!! Apparently he has expressed an interest in Premiership football, he’s creative AND consistent. Allegedly Everton have expressed an interest although how much truth is in that is debatable…
Scandanavia is a place worth looking for new talent as there have been some absolute gems discovered there (and of course some not so great – Andreas Andersson???)
Here’s another name for ya… Eldar Hadzimehmedovic. Quite a mouthfull eh? Well I first heard of him when he managed 6 goals in a UEFA Cup game. No idea where he is now or what he’s like but always fancied seeing him have a crack at a big club. Bet he’s a complete no-hoper tho
)
March 28th, 2008 at 11:10 am
He wouldnt sell many shirts… it cost too much to put his name on the back of it never mind try and fit it on!!!
March 28th, 2008 at 11:11 am
Tell you one player id still be interested in looking at linked under Allardyce. Arshavin from St.Pettersberg the Russia chap. Good dribbler, direct and has a cracking shot on him. Scores quite a few goals from midfield and Russia’s captain.
March 28th, 2008 at 2:59 pm
s’ok, we could just call him………….. Dave
That Arshavin looks good, and maybe we’d have more joy tempting him with KK on board than the Sham.
What ever happened on the Riquelme thang?
March 29th, 2008 at 12:30 am
I think Riquelme went back to Argentina football though not entirely sure on that one. Seemed a bit of a trouble maker wherever hes been but no doubt got quality. May struggle in the premier league though. He is a very small player. Possibly get kicked out of it. I think there is probably players out there for us could be a better option. Ive every faith we’ll get what we need during the summer rebuild. KK will be like a kid in a candy store.
March 29th, 2008 at 11:36 am
Yup, I’m pretty sure Riquelme went back to Argentina. Said to have a bad attitude.
I definitely agree about Scandinavian players – they along with the Dutch tend to fit in best with our type of football, probably because they grow up watching it and are used to the weather. Plus they aren’t, as a rule, as into throwing themselves on the floor if someone waves at them as is the case in more latin countries…
Toon’s right about Keegan though – he’s a nice man but will be ruthless when it comes to who he should sell and who he should buy. No manager survives any length of time allowing hangers-on.