News this morning on a couple of web sites, including Vital Football that seems to suggest that Newcastle may be interested in Fulham left-back Paul Konchesky.
 Paul Konchesky - while at West Ham United
It would not be the first time we’ve been linked with the Barking, London born 27 year-old, since when he was younger, Bobby Robson almost brought him to Tyneside, when he was at his first club, Charlton Athletic.
Konchesky joined Fulham from West Ham United last year and seems to have been one of the London club’s most consistent performers last season, when they amazingly were able to avoid relegation under Roy Hodgson, winning 4 of their last 5 matches, including their last three.
Fulham are a great little club, and we were really pleased they stayed in the Premier league, but they’ll have to buy this summer to ensure their survival next season.
It could well be that to bring in 6-7 players to Newcastle this summer, Keegan will need to pick up one or two bargains, and he’s also been looking for players with Premier League experience.
Paul isn’t at the top level as far as playing is concerned, but he is consistent and a good solid defender, who can do a job at a club, and seems to have an excellent attitude.
The transfer fee being mentioned is £2.5M, which would be a good buy for Newcastle at that figure.
We’re actually fairly well off with Beye and young Jose Enrique at the club as full backs, but with Stephen Carr gone, we will need to sign another left back at least, to give the promising Jose some competition.
We’ve also been linked with Spurs’ full back Pascal Chimbonda, and Reading’s Nicky Shorey.
Konchesky is not the best full back in the PL by a long way, but Paul could still be a solid buy for the Tyneside club.
He played 149 times for Charlton from 1997 until 2005, and scored 5 goals. In 2005, he joined West Ham for £1.5M and played 59 times with one goal for the Hammers, before moving to Fulham last summer for £3.25.
He played 33 times for Fulham last year and has played a couple of times for England, and 15 times for the England Under-21 side.
Paul was also on loan at Tottenham in 2003 for a short time, and played 12 games for them so he has 253 games under his belt in the Premier league.
He was an outstanding player when younger, and made his debut for Charlton when he was just 16 years of age.
Comments welcome.
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38 responses so far ↓
1 faustino // Jun 29, 2008 at 11:24
Would be a sensible, reliable, squad purchase, but my god would it be dull if he was the first through the [senior] door.
Having thought for a second though, is Konchesky what you’d consider a Keegan full back; he’s certainly not a 4-3-3 full back imo.
2 The Entertainers // Jun 29, 2008 at 11:28
The left back spot is a bit of a conundrum
Do we:
Go for a quality LB who can fight it out with Enrique:
Shorey or Bridge
Go for an lesser player than Enrique and in doing so give him a vote of confidence:
Konchesky
Or finally go for noone and make do with Edgar and Kadar, therefore spending our money esle where.
I personally dont know and dont think i’d be too upset with any of the options.
More interested in the other areas of our squad.
3 normski1930z // Jun 29, 2008 at 11:29
no thanks very average…..
4 CRAIGG // Jun 29, 2008 at 11:34
Lets not forget first time round KKs first 3 signings after securing survival were John Beresford, Paul Bracewell and Barry Venison good solid lads who would do a good job defensively and let the more talented do theres.
The Rob Lees, Andy Coles and Peter Beardsleys only shone because of those kind of lads.
The only way the Zogs, Milners, Owens and Obas will shine is if we have Fayes, Taylors, Butt and lads like Konchesky to do the basics and give them the base to work on.
5 Kaler // Jun 29, 2008 at 11:38
Would be a sensible option as a back up if he comes cheap. Plenty of EPL experience, and i’d say use him in your second option Entertainers, as a back up for Enrique, gets his confidence up but the threat of competition is still there.
6 euanpolo // Jun 29, 2008 at 11:40
He’d be a good solid back-up for Enrique. £2.5m is not a bad price.
7 Jim // Jun 29, 2008 at 11:40
Use Enrique as no. 1 LB choice and bring on a reserve. I’d like to see the same at RB.
I think we need a big, strong Premiership experienced central defender as 1st choice to battle it out with Faye and Taylor. Cacapa whould be a sub.
8 Joe // Jun 29, 2008 at 11:46
Do you not think the papers are just constantly making up stories because for the first time in history, there are no ‘leaks’ from the club!! If KK wa unhappy with the transfer funds his role or anything else, he would say because he wears his heart on his sleeve. Just ignore all the rumours and wait and see, I think we’ll be pleasantly surprised!
9 chuck // Jun 29, 2008 at 11:48
Thought of him as a hard working average wing back.
However seemed to have had an outstanding season last year, good both defensively and attacked well down the wing(any player fancied by sir Bobby cant be bad)
Think he may just be the ideal back up for Enrique and if available for around £2m.
price is right!
Yeah I know I would rather have Evra or Bridge
but considering not a bad buy.
10 Punk Skunk // Jun 29, 2008 at 11:52
dead right Craigg!..
11 xfer // Jun 29, 2008 at 11:55
Good point there CRAIGG. Therefore we need better players than him.
12 Bill F SPLASH THE CASH ASH // Jun 29, 2008 at 12:30
The NUFC Football mad site listed EPL clubs who have not made any new signings and they are in the majority. July 1st seems to be the buzz date as to when all of our new signings will be revealed. I for one am not agog with anticipation however. Still some sort of gesture to us from the club would be nice (not a rude one though), Something like 50m spent on 4/5 signings perhaps.
13 Nenad The Serbian Mag // Jun 29, 2008 at 12:37
Kadar and Tozer as backup! Just as Clichy was backup for As$#%% Cole at Arse a few years ago…
Plus we have Eddie Edgar! Time to use those players. I don’t see nothing wrong in letting them play for the first team. They can never quite mature playing for the reserves… Just ask Mickey Chopra…
14 Geordie // Jun 29, 2008 at 12:38
My philosophy on transfers:
EITHER - They have to enhance the present first team
OR - Young enough to eventually press for a place.
Konchesky is past his best and is no better than an improving Enrique.
15 Danish_Magpie // Jun 29, 2008 at 12:44
Bring him in. 2.5 is cheap and then left-back is covered and we can move on to other areas. Just do SOMETHING and relatively quickly.
16 Tom_Toon // Jun 29, 2008 at 12:53
Id take him as cover. But why not buy Torosidis for the quoted £4mil, he can ply all across midfield and all across the back line.
17 scott9 // Jun 29, 2008 at 13:02
i wud rather hav shorey or chimbonda
18 Cloudstrife // Jun 29, 2008 at 13:03
Konchesky would be solid to provide cover at LB. we got noone ther3 but Enrique (Zog’s no LB!) and 2m seems a very good price for him…
19 Gonufc // Jun 29, 2008 at 13:16
Please no! He’s terrible, and not young enough to be a back up.
20 Spot The Zebra // Jun 29, 2008 at 13:17
From what i saw last season, especially at St. James Park, Konchesky just isnt good enough im afraid and neither is Shorey.
If we cant attract Wayne Bridge then we would be better off going for that Left Back from Liverpool reserves.
21 Spot The Zebra // Jun 29, 2008 at 13:19
Left back in the dressing room.
22 WIGAZ // Jun 29, 2008 at 13:22
He’s a solid def 4 sure but not much of an attacking threat, so maybe KK will decide against it! my 1st choice would be bridge! although i dont think we have much of a chance of getting him unless he wants a new challenge & wants to be part of a KK team & force Cashly cole out of england team! 2nd choic would be Shorey! more chance of gettin him, good chance of 1st team football & again could force cashly out of england set up flying in a KK team with Zogs on the left! i think pompy stand a good chance of gettin him tho coz he’s a cockney! i think the wheels will come off popmy next season tho! people will be more aware of them & they wont be as effective & finish mid table! so crouch & shorey NO to Pompy & YES to toon! better choice!
23 figsdad // Jun 29, 2008 at 13:41
load of crap stay away another bling boy from landannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn
24 robertsa // Jun 29, 2008 at 13:52
i agree with kaler. he would definately be a safe purchase. I would use him over enrique in his first season. Again its another alien looking like defender to go with cuellar collochini riise rat that we have been linked with. I must say
I like the sound of:
beye cuellar collochini koncheskey
or
beye cuellar collochini rat
but it means nothing saying we have been linked. its all up to keegan and wise please get it done we could have a problem free defense next season i cant wait.
as for enrique i wonder if that offer from valencia is still on the table because zigic would be brilliant up front as a target man.
25 robertsa // Jun 29, 2008 at 14:00
daniel de ridder wants a move.
not good enough for first team yet but could be the next nzogbia (without his attitude.) plus he will be free what do yaz think.
26 ToonKing // Jun 29, 2008 at 14:05
yeah, De Ridder is good.
27 toonfan1 // Jun 29, 2008 at 14:19
derdiyok in talks with the toon
http://www.newcastleutdfc.blogspot.com
28 Faustino // Jun 29, 2008 at 14:24
aye unfortunately thats the ‘Dubious on Sunday’ running that story. Standard follow up to the Hottiger comments in the Chron.
29 deano // Jun 29, 2008 at 15:21
hes rubbish
30 sas // Jun 29, 2008 at 15:25
He wouldn’t improve the squad, so why pick him up and give him a contract for a few years, potentially blocking the path for Kadar if he’s good enough?
31 mozza // Jun 29, 2008 at 15:33
if this was the first signing i cant see it setting pulses racing somehow, hope we’re all pleasntly surprised by this time next week and the action starts to happen, because we all know how disatrous it was when ffs would leave it untill the last minute and tell us to calm down through his gimp at the comical and we had last minute panic buys to placate the fans, no more of that please, get them in quick so they can bed in properly
32 Leo // Jun 29, 2008 at 19:17
not a bad squad player for 2.5mil would be a good back up for the bull
oh wait actually we have kadar and tozer (although he likes to play more central it dont matter my point still stands) we dont have a back up right back unless you count geremi it is a bit silly not getting a youngster in when both our right backs are in their 30s
metzelder is on bbc why doesnt he just have a shave then he would run faster and wouldnt look such a twerp haha, although i cant say much as i am sporting a big of gruff at the mo, but thats just because i ran out of razors and cant find the plug for the eleckie one
33 steve // Jun 29, 2008 at 19:43
Konchesky is poor - West Ham were glad to see back of him and Fulham fans will also be happy to see him go - if this is the best we can hope for we’re going to struggle next season
34 scottish mag // Jun 29, 2008 at 22:45
when at charlton he was in relegation battles
at west ham he was in a relegation battle
this year he was agian in a relegation battle
enough said……
35 Sav // Jun 30, 2008 at 1:26
Its like going out to buy a hacksaw but returning with a pound of bananas. We need new players in central midfield, both attacking and defensive, we need a centre-half. And we need a powerful, mobile centre-forward to take over from the unreliable Mark Viduka. We are also seeking to buy younger players to counterbalance an aging squad and provide resale value for the future.
If Paul Konchesky were going to be our first choice for either full-back role, then fine. But given the extent of rebuilding necessary and likely expense of top young players who will enhance KK’s first choice 11, 2.5 million for a reserve full-back is a helluva lot to pay. I’m not saying Konchesky is better than Enrique. I’m less impressed with Jose than many on here.
But that is the decision.
If he is not, then we will need to rely on Bosman deals and our best reserve team players like Tozer and Edgar.
36 michael // Jun 30, 2008 at 14:24
Dont like konchesky makes to many mistakes. Why do fulham want to sell there crap on to us? Bottom line is he is shite. Kadar , Tozer or edgar as back up for enrique
37 Joe // Jun 30, 2008 at 15:19
The Entertainers -
Absolutely agree! I’ve been scratching my head at this one ever since the season finished. Enrique needs to know how highly he is thought of at the club but having a 21 year as a sole first team left back worries me, particularly as most decent teams have two players for each position. Having Edgar, Tozer and Kadar as options from the youth team is great and I personally think Edgar is incredibly underrated…but still doesn’t seem right going into the season with one
I reckon use the money elsewhere in this window, see how Enrique gets on with the younger youngsters as back up but monitor the situations of Bridge, Shorey and Konchesky for January.
38 Scoot // Jun 30, 2008 at 17:19
I wouldnt pay much for him but we do need cover across the back. Agree with Joe that young Edgar is underated and a lot of season ticket holders speak very highly of him, as opposed to their view of Taylor who they DONT rate. As far as Taylor goes I think he could be a good RB but will never make a CB, he just doesnt have the vision and constantly gets out of position and all the talk of building the team around him in the Evening Chronicle’s Steven Taylor Appreciation Society, well its simply ridiculous.
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