All Newcastle fans are aware that we have four players – Geremi, Obafemi Martins, Habib Beye and Abdoulaye Faye – setting off for the African Cup of Nations in early January.Sam Allardyce is keen to bring in new players in January, but he admits he is in agreement with the Chairman, that the players have to be of sufficient quality, and of course that’s much more difficult to gauge when the player does not have Premiership experience.
 Chris and Sam – seem in complete agreement on transfer policy
Also, exactly how much money Sam has to spend is unknown, and that’s the way it should be, but we don’t think there’s any rift in the thinking between the board and Sam, if the right players become available.
Sam told the Newcastle Journal this morning:
“I’ve got no problem working with the chairman. We have to make sure who we get has the right quality. The difficulty is when we’re talking about a player without Premier League experience.â€
“If he comes from a different part of the world it’s hugely difficult to put him straight into the team. If you bring in a new player everyone expects him to go straight into the team and be an outstanding success. When you’re signing players in January it’s a minor miracle if that happens.â€
“ I echo the chairman’s view that January might not be the best time to buy players, but there’s no other time to go into the market. I don’t feel I need to educate the board just because they’re new to football, we have enough experience between us.â€
“I have no problems at all working with the new owners, we had a short window together before the start of the season and made the most of that. Discussions are on-going with Chris (Mort) and when we’ve sorted things out we’ll move forward as a club. There are no splits or conflicts.â€
From these comments it seems clear that Sam has his eye on one or two players outside England, and there is probably some good constructive discussion going on about the players between Big Sam and the board. We think that’s very healthy for the club, and certainly Chris has shown himself to be an experienced businessman and he’s certainly a very smart man, that’s for sure.
We think there’s good discussions going on between the two of them right now to ensure we get the right players coming in during the January transfer window, and that has got to be very good for the club, and for the quality of players we eventually bring in. Don’t be surprised if the first one through the door is announced very early in January.
What do you think about this?
Comments very welcome.
21 comments so far
adam
Dec 22, 2007 at 11:05 AM
Comment #1why the hell does a player NEED to have premiership experience??!!! there are so many examples of players coming in and making an impact AND slowly get better along the way.
i could go on all day.
anderson – man utd
alex – chelsea
oba – newcastle
berbatov – tottenham
kranjkar – portsmouth
common sam
Ed Harrison
Dec 22, 2007 at 11:17 AM
Comment #2adam – but that seems to have impacted the defenders we have brought in. Think the difference with England is the game is a lot faster and more physical. Some players adapt better than others. Beye and Cacapa (except for Pompey game) have done well from the start.
I have a gut feeling we are bringing in the Russian captain and midfielder Arshavin, and that discussion is going on right now about him.
scott 9
Dec 22, 2007 at 12:12 PM
Comment #3u say oba but it took him at least 1 1/2 to 2 months to find his ebst form also kranjkar this is his at least his second season with pompey so it took him a bit of time to get used to the epl. but i agree we if we go for foreighners just go for top qualit ones like arshevin and even if it takes them a bit of time theyl be worth it in the end.
scott 9
Dec 22, 2007 at 12:14 PM
Comment #4o and ED i really i really hope your gut feeling about arshevin is right i cant wait till january window to see what happens with him hopefully he will be sticking on a black and white shirt and penning a 5 year deal
uche agwu (diehard newcastle fan)
Dec 22, 2007 at 12:53 PM
Comment #5Big Sam is correct, not all players adapt straight away in the EPL. Players like Berbatov, Oba etc who had agood first season were’nt instant hits in their first 5 months.
foreign players may find the pace of the premiership alarming and u know, we only ‘ve 5 months to the end of the season.
The summer is definitely the best time to sign players, as they would ‘ve time to get their foot down with pre- season games and stuffs.
Big sam, i would say should just gamble into the market this coming january, who knows we could just get lucky. But at all times we should emphasise on quality players.
uche agwu (newcastle fan)
Dec 22, 2007 at 12:57 PM
Comment #6we should go for the best come january.
Howie
Dec 22, 2007 at 2:06 PM
Comment #7only really special players usually adapt immediately. torres,anderson both 15m+.fabregas an exception but i would love arshavin . drogba,adebayor,berbatov,martins,ronaldo all took a while to settle
Leo
Dec 22, 2007 at 3:38 PM
Comment #8lets all hope andrei arshavin adapts quickly. because that is one they are obviously talking about…
Shaun
Dec 23, 2007 at 10:55 AM
Comment #9I just hope that Newcastle are willing to spend big money when it comes down to buying the quality players, and that we don’t settle for second best just because teams like spurs and man city bid more. I mean Ashley is a billionaire and up until now, we haven’t spent money like a club that is owned by a billionaire. COME ON ASHLEY!
robertsA
Dec 24, 2007 at 5:21 PM
Comment #10for god sakes this defense problem for the toon has been going on since in the days of marcelinho why won’t big sam realise that we dont need old has beens or teenage defenders, get a premiership expierenced defender in his prime EG sami hyppia and anton ferdinand!!
robertsA
Dec 24, 2007 at 5:27 PM
Comment #11totally agree with you shaun in the summer we were linked with people like ben haim and belletii who both went to chelsea. We should have burst the bank for those two. Hopefully when january comes ig sam doesnt go for edmilson he will just be another OLD failure. Maybe someone like Hutton from rangers HOWAY THE TOON.
robertsA
Dec 24, 2007 at 6:33 PM
Comment #12leo and howie- dont you think newcastle need a player who is garenteed to play a good performance because stability is the key and the toon don’t have. we drew against arsenal then drew sgainst derby. This ARSHAVIN may be exiteable but it is a risk and risks dont seem to pay off for us. still you are right i would buy him and GET RID OFF SHOLA AMEOBI!!!
Shaun
Jan 2, 2008 at 9:03 AM
Comment #13If our past managers spent half as much as we spent on strikers and mids on defenders, then I honestly don’t think our defense would be a problem. Please note I said our past managers, Souness was not a managers ASSHOLE, Thanks again Sounie, Doomsong still fills my nighnmares to this day.
Give Big sam 10 mil to spend on a defender and I would say with some certainty that we would sign a quality defender. COME ON ASHLEY!!!
robertsA
Jan 21, 2008 at 8:54 PM
Comment #14I have been doing research on toon transfer targets and theese are my results Carlos Cuellar/Sol campbell/[MICHEAL CARRICK]/ [DANIEL VAN BUYTEN]/[BARRY ROBSON]/Micah Richards/Nicky Shorey/Barry Fergusen/[ANDREI ARSHAVIN]
THE ONES IN CAPS ARE EXTREMELY LIKELY TO GO THROUGH THIS JANUARY. THE REST ARE FROM NEWSPAPERS IVE READ!!!!
andrew spacka hand
Jan 22, 2008 at 5:10 PM
Comment #15I am a retard who can do funny things with my hands. I love alan smith and dream of him. I heard newcastle have signed kaka.
jonna c
Jan 24, 2008 at 5:58 PM
Comment #16I think the toon need to sort out the defence ,midfield and forwards the only good player is shay given as he saves the toon all the time from dropping valubal points. a say kevin needs to sort the whole team out and get them playing good footbal not mid league footbal.spacka hands you are a freak.
andrew spacka hand
Jan 24, 2008 at 6:31 PM
Comment #17that is not nice, I bet your a retard jonna c
anyway newcastle are well gonna sign barry fergusen from rangers for 6 million
robertsA
Jan 24, 2008 at 6:34 PM
Comment #18who the f**k is this spaka hands f**kin hell you dont deserve to be a geordie
anyway I was reading the evening chronicle and it informed me that woodgate could come to tynside GET IN. HOPE HE DOES!!
jonna c
Jan 25, 2008 at 5:45 PM
Comment #19A totaly agree roberts a who is spacka hands and i also hope woodgate comes back to the toon.
andrew spacka hand
Jan 31, 2008 at 6:33 PM
Comment #20Toon sign fabio zamberlang. or sumik like that i dena wat his name is. robertsa and jonnac you’s 2 can nibble on me fingers
robertsA
Feb 1, 2008 at 9:40 PM
Comment #21MY TRANSFER ROUND UP!!
what a crap load of dealing that was in the window bloody hell mike ashley said there will be an endless pit of money for keegan and who the hell did we get. Tozer Kadar Zamblera Baheng. none of the 4 signings are going to make it into the starting 11 so what was the point of getting them. However it wasnt all to bad we did get rid off some off the shit that Sam Allardyce dumped on us as Rozenhal left on a loan deal to Lazio. We missed out on Alves that deal fell through. Giles Barnes’s offer was rejected. Woodgate went to Spurs. Brede Hangleland went to Fulham. Wes Brown stayed at Man U. Pascal Chimbonda didn’t want to come to Tynside. Mohammed Sissoko chose to wear the black and white of Juventus. Barry Robson stayed in his country with Celtic. And Stuart Downing stayed on Teeside. luckilly we managed to keep N’zogbia from Spurs.
For me our best signing was Denis Wise.