We’ve seen it in the comments with our readers, and it’s also true that this will be the biggest change in Newcastle’s squad for many many years – good.
Michael Owen – the worst deal for a club in Premier League history
That’s because we are forced to unload some of our high wage earners, but there is also a chance that by reducing the wage bill Mike Ashley has to pay from around £74M to say £40M, the squad is also improved.
Doesn’t that go against the conservation of energy?
But indeed, that’s the opportunity Shearer (if he is manager), Llambias and Mike Ashley have in the summer. While we wouldn’t have had to be so drastic if had survived last Sunday, the way a lot of our readers are looking at it – is since we have to do it now – let’s do it thoroughly.
Gone are the days with a squad of Owen, Viduka, Coloccini, Cacapa (remember him), Gonxzalez (who is he?), Smith and Barton – players who are paid massive amounts of money and are either always injured or when they do play – they are mediocre, at best.
The only player we would excuse a little is Mark Viduka – who was great in our last several games- but that’s all he played all season. That disallowed goal against Fulham would have saved us. 🙁
So here are the players we’d like to see removed – with some supporting reasons – and then of course it would be great to get your views on this.
Maybe Alan will be reading this for some idea, once he signs his contract today or tomorrow (hopefully). 😀
Here we go:
- Michael Owen – if I was Michael Owen I would be embarrassed at taking £22M in wages over the last 4 years. Yes he’s been injured but ever goal has cost the club £1.3M – and he was nowhere to be seen in the last several vital games- injured again. It was like going into battle and wondering what happened to your top general – who disappeared. Good generals don’t disappaer in the heat of battle. Sorry Michael – and it isn’t personal because we know he’s sent notes back to some of our readers – via the www.contacttheplayers.com web-site. This is purely a professional criticism, and when you earn the doe Michael does, you have to expect criticism. I get enough of it on here for my $1/day. 😀
- Nacho Gonzalez – this is not in order but Nacho’s loan spell this season epitomized the ineptitude of the club. He’s appeared in two fleeting appearances in early September and has never been seen since. We suppose we still paid his wages and a loan fee maybe of £400K – that’s a stupid use of the club’s money. Dennis Wise did this deal and shows how inept he was – and it’s good news he’s left.
Talking about Dennis – he did this seal the deal on the last day of the transfer market last summer, which takes us to our next player.
- Xisco – Another Dennis Wise wonder signing – £5.7M for this 22 year-old who is now behind Owen, Martins, Viduka, Carroll, Ameobi, Lovenkrands and Ranger in the striker pecking order – do I have to say any more? He is 8th striker and we paid almost £6M for him – excuse me while I go and vomit in the toilet. Nobody can make a good case for him to stay at Newcastle – well maybe his mother could.
- Claudio Cacapa – signed by Sam on a free transfer after captaining Lyon to success in the French League – looked to us to be on a par with Beye when signed. But, unlike the great Habib, he just was never good enough , and while we thought (hoped is more accurate) his horror show against Portsmouth early in the 2007-2008 season was a bad day – it wasn’t. Newcastle will not renew his contract in the summer.
- Mark Viduka – still a great player when fit but in his 2 seasons at he club he appeared 48 times (34 starts) and scored 7 goals. For £65K a week that’s not a good enough production. Pim Verbeek, the Aussie coach will announce his world Cup squad for games in World Cup qualifiers against Qatar, Bahrain and Japan next month, and if Mark isn’t in – that would be a good indication he will retire, or go back to play in the A league. But credit to Mark for giving everything he had for the club, but only when Shearer arrived – he’s a good man.
- Joey Barton – the era of players who don’t give a hoot about the club is over, and also the ra of thugs on Tyneside is over and will not be allowed under Shearer – we’ll keep it short and sweet – and the lad’s on £65K/week – we paid him that to disgrace our club? And he’s done it more than once – but you don’t tangle with Shearer in the dressing room – and win.
- Fabricio Coloccini – £10M for a player who tunred out to be half as good as player we paid only £500K for – Seb Bassong. Really not good enough for the Premier league. And Mark Douglas of the Journal yesterd hit the nail on the head when he said we could have bought Gary Cahill from Bolton for about 3M, and the former Aston Villa youngster is a much better player and only 22 – good words from Mark – and for £10M let’s get real – he’s not good enough and another player on over £60K a week But news today that Bolotn boss Gary Megson would want £20M for the player – now that Arsenal may be interested. Is Gary being cheeky or is Gary being cheeky?
- Geremi – not a player for Alan Shearer and if Alan has talked to Bobby Robson, no doubt Bobby will have told him the story two years ago, that the word on Geremi was thta he had lost his legs, and couldn’t hack it anymore. But we are Newcastle, and we still went in and got him as a free agent. At the time it seemed a good deal, but another player not worth the £60K/week we pay him.
- Alan Smith – injured too much and far too expensive at £60K/week, Never scored a goal yet for Newcastle but was signed as striker , but has been used in midfield by Shearer. He may be kept by the boss because of his fighting spirit but not good enough for £60K/week. He could stay if takes a 50% cut in wages – fighting spitit alone is not worth the money.
- Jonas Gutierrez – we’re a little unsure of Jonas but he probably wants to leave in the summer, and if that’s the case don’t stand in his way. He reminds us too much of Temuri Ketsbaia – and seems to run around like a headless chicken. And he certainly cannot score goals for toffee, and has missed some sitters, especially against Hull away – and that could have saved us. We’ve shelled out £5M for him as well – but not a stayer – there are better players out there.
Those are the main ones to unload for the reasons stated.
A rough estimate of those 10 players wages is about £570K/week, which is about £30M/year, so if Mike unloads this lot, the club will be in so much better shape with the wages, and we’ll not even see headlines of Newcastle players in jail.
Notice Oba Martins is not there, and he’s one player we’d like to see kept – or loaned out for a season. And we should pay Bassong what we were paying Coloccini and the lad may even stay – although we really doubt it, but if he does – that would be fantastic!.
Not it’s your turn – comments always welcome.
91 comments so far
Ross
May 27, 2009 at 10:12 AM
Comment #41Jasontoon-Keith Harris is the lad given the job of trying to sell us, he isnt the one trying to buy us!
Typical like, gets us relegated and then apparently tries to bugger off!
Geordie-Gerrard7
May 27, 2009 at 10:13 AM
Comment #42why isnt there anything on ssn about takeover, just on the website
hitman
May 27, 2009 at 10:14 AM
Comment #43ross ashley will do whats best for him not NUFC m8.
hitman
May 27, 2009 at 10:15 AM
Comment #44its coming on ssn GG7
Natureboy95
May 27, 2009 at 10:15 AM
Comment #45if it FFS, i’ll be gutted don’t want him involved again.
hitman
May 27, 2009 at 10:17 AM
Comment #46just says that harris traveled up here for talks with a consortium,so a take it the people who wont to buy the club are from here.big FFS back.lol
TheToonKing
May 27, 2009 at 10:17 AM
Comment #47To be honest i wouldn’t mind Ashley selling if it brings in owners with more money and brain than he has.
I just hope it won’t mean Shearer leaving.
hitman
May 27, 2009 at 10:18 AM
Comment #48want
Geordie-Gerrard7
May 27, 2009 at 10:18 AM
Comment #49im not bothred if sheppard is involved, aslong as he isnt soley the owner i just hope shearer stays, if not the new consortium to bring in sven??
batty
May 27, 2009 at 10:20 AM
Comment #50HITMAN i think ur right m8 on fat fred
batty
May 27, 2009 at 10:21 AM
Comment #51hitman do u want fat fred back m8
azim
May 27, 2009 at 10:21 AM
Comment #52Ed i strong disagree about Jonas and Colo….Jonas is a wonderful winger who can attack and defend at same time. When was the last time we had a mid who can defend?..yes he runs like chicken but remember he was mallorca key player last season which lead them to finish top half. He assisted nearly 10 goals last season in Spain and was one of the highest in the league.
It is something to do with the club not HIM.Maybe our game didnt suit him. He would played better if there were good midfielders around him and not like Butt,Nolan, etc
Colo had good game early in the season but suddenly he lost his form. There are 2 reasons for this. First, whole team lost form in the 2nd half of the season and NOT ONLY him.Second, it is manager’s duty to revive a player’s form. He player quite well under Kinnear and do u remember the chelsea’ 0-0 game. Steve Bruce did it with Bramble- player of the season for them this season. Ed dont accuse blindly. IT IS ABOUT THE WHOLE TEAM. How can argentina pick players who dont perform well????
Toonkistan
May 27, 2009 at 10:22 AM
Comment #53and the drame continues 😛 when o when can we have stability 🙁 just as i was looking forward for a clearout and summer shopping …here we go again 🙂
hitman
May 27, 2009 at 10:23 AM
Comment #54i reckon it might be FFS like,im not sticking up for FFS but he has taking all the flak,when the halls were the major villans.coz they were the major shareholders so what ever FFS did had the halls backing
hitman
May 27, 2009 at 10:24 AM
Comment #55im not against it batty m8
Toonkistan
May 27, 2009 at 10:25 AM
Comment #56Is it just me that team used to play more organized and motivated under kinnear… i m all for criticsm …came to my mind becasue Jonas/Duff were very attractive then ….simple 4-4-2 and everybody knew his role…
nufc1818
May 27, 2009 at 10:25 AM
Comment #57shearer is getting what he wants
he wanted this structure to go and for ashley to go
the new owners would not get rid of shearer if they want a good start…
batty
May 27, 2009 at 10:26 AM
Comment #58HITMAN but do u want fred back
batty
May 27, 2009 at 10:28 AM
Comment #59Toonkistan when kinnear was here he had given and zogs if we had of kept 1 of them we would have stayed up
hitman
May 27, 2009 at 10:28 AM
Comment #60i dont know batty,it all depends on who this consortium are,if its FFS on his own then noway.
Micky Toon
May 27, 2009 at 10:30 AM
Comment #61Ashley could have become a hero if he’d stayed on. Well perhaps not a hero, but he could have gone a very long way to re-build his bridges by staying in the trenches with the rest of us.
roscoe
May 27, 2009 at 10:30 AM
Comment #62http://www.sport.co.uk/cartoon/50/Mission_accomplished_for_Agent_Ashley.aspx
nufc1818
May 27, 2009 at 10:31 AM
Comment #63it cant be just him on his own
maybe its freddy and that north east consortium who tried last time the club was up for salee
davis_toons
May 27, 2009 at 10:32 AM
Comment #64For me, i would think that Mark Viduka or Martins would be able to stay if they are willing to get their pay cut (to suit newcastle budget) with clus to increase when we are promoted.
Especially those with experience. Like Mark Viduka. His contract will really have to work it out. In order to get him playing or even score goals / assist.
Toon_Factor
May 27, 2009 at 10:34 AM
Comment #65azim
And the thing about Jonas and Coloccini is that it is their first season in English football, Enrique was pap last season and now people are singing his praises, Malouda was awful at Chelsea look how good he is now, Hangeland wasnt too good last season now one of the best defenders in the league, Vidic was very poor for Man United in his first season etc a lot of the time our problem is not giving foreign players the chance to settle, even Arsen Wenger says it takes 1 season to adapt. We just expect expect and demand and football doesnt work like that
jasonbourne
May 27, 2009 at 10:37 AM
Comment #66Im agree with Shearer that the players we must keep is Harper, S.Taylor, Butt. If Beye and Duff wants to stay that would be great to. I have no doubt that Duff will be a better player under Shearer, then the previous managers. Carroll is a exciting man to have on the top, because I think he is better than any other options at the moment. Lovenkrands its also a player who would be great to keep, a fast player.
komfort
May 27, 2009 at 10:40 AM
Comment #67what a pleasant suprise, i hope it’s true and the consotium are proper football people with a good few quid behind them.. and of course shearer to be appointed as manager..
rod , you were provoked the other neet mate..
batty
May 27, 2009 at 10:45 AM
Comment #68komfort agree m8 and what happend to rod then
harry861
May 27, 2009 at 10:47 AM
Comment #69I would like to see the total cost of each player in the list Ed
That you have & I agree with almost the one’s that you have picked to go. I can’t understand why some of our supporters want Duff to go. To me he’s been one of our better players by far & adapted to playing out of position.
Ameobi to me useless never goes to the ball waits for ball to come to him, more effort in dose of Andrews Liver Salts than him, he would find it hard to get into Darlington’s team if they would have him !
Smith again living on past reputations, Now not good enough how many goals ? nil .
Butt he’s on extra years contract, was great player for Manchester & England, would be good for coaching of the Youngster to follow & in no way can you fault him for commitment & effort would leave most of players in that department miles behind.
To keep out of the present players I would want to keep:
Harper
Krul
Enrique
Bassong ( I hope we keep him)
Taylor Steve
Beye
Guthrie
Butt – for reasons I’ve stated.
Duff for reasons I’ve stated
Carroll.
regarding Edgar – Just not quite good enough & I know he had bad game on Sunday & then again he was up against class player in Young
Gutierrez if he had end product would be great; I am afraid poor crossing & shooting sadly lets him down
We have some promising young players which is our foundations for the future & augers well.
To say if we had played 75 % of them would we still be in the Premiership ? makes you think.
Davies
May 27, 2009 at 10:47 AM
Comment #70I agree that foreign players need a season to bed in to the Premier League. Beye didn’t, but many do. The unfortunately thing for Jonas and Colo is that they won’t be playing in the premier league if they stick around. Colo looks like he’s back off to Spain and I think we should cut our losses with Jonas. Pacey winger, no end product.
All this speculation about selling the club should be ignored until something more solid comes out. If it does happen, now is probably the best time. No offically appointed manager, the whole close season to get organised etc…
Tommyy
May 27, 2009 at 10:48 AM
Comment #71Anyone think this is bad news? For one that completly chucks stability out of the window, and as Shearer has already pointed out, we need to act extremely quickly if we are going to be ready in time for the transfer market and pre – season, and a take – over will slow everything up, it could take as long as a few weeks! By which time we will be way way behind the rest of the championship in terms or preperation. For me this is bad news at this moment in time.
azim
May 27, 2009 at 10:49 AM
Comment #72Toon_Factor
“We just expect expect and demand and football doesnt work like that”
Spot on…we did that in the past eg tomasson, saha, viana(good football indeed, we ruined his career),etc…the list goes on and on
The point is we are still continuing like that untill now and never learn from past mistakes
the holy grail
May 27, 2009 at 10:54 AM
Comment #73why do people want martins to stay he is AWFULL, people slate spiderman for running around with no end product well what end product does martins have certinately not a goal,
his biggest asset is his pace yet when was the last time he used it to score a goal e.g nock it round the defender or beat the offside, his shooting is crap all power no finess, he has no assists or even help his ream mates, very selfish, workrate isnt allways there so why o why wouldnt we cash in on him 10mil and i will drive his to the emirates personall.
davis_toons
May 27, 2009 at 10:54 AM
Comment #74Again if Gutierrez can score against France, i dnt see him being a bad player.
If he was willing to get a pay cut with clus to increase, it will be a good cause in another year i believe he will turn out to be a good buy.
Sav
May 27, 2009 at 10:54 AM
Comment #75Harris story has to be crap. Don’t swally it.
Ed is only saying Owen, nacho, Viduka were all bad deals for the club who got rotten value for their transfer budget. Every one of these represents a good player (like Gary Cahill) we COULD have had (a bit like Bullseye!).
Don’t understand why you omitted Ameobi though. That chapter of the season, where one minute we can’t sell Ameobi to a poor Championship side and the next we are offering him a lucrative 3-year contract extension deserves to be looked at again when Shearer and Ashley have shaken hands. Fraud Squad should be called in over that.
I’d also include Nolan for whom we may get a few quid but is really not going to take us forward. He is unfit and short on quality.
Finally, I can’t agree with your sanguine appraisal of Viduka – ‘Good man’? He sat on his big backside for 2 seasons, excused himself exactly as Boro fans warned he would when the evenings drew in, and for 65k per week, it shouldn’t take Shearer’s arm round his shoulders to get the big waster up off his cushioned posterior to earn it. FFS!
Stayloyal
May 27, 2009 at 11:04 AM
Comment #76The fact Shearer can’t trust jonas in the big games say’s alot about his future at the club. The guy has all the legs in the world but he can’t hurt teams were it matters and thats been our downfall all season. I agree he could be a good player in the championship but we could get decent money for him and the same with Martins in my opinion. We need a bigger squad for next season and if that means sacrificing the likes of martins, colo and jonas that would free up around 20m for decent scrappers to get us out of the championship. Sometimes you have to go down to go up and i’m affraid this is the case here!!! 20m could get us 5 or six players who can take going to cardiff or plymouth away next year. The players above are all guilty of picking the games they want to play in. Were going to play alot of teams next year at sjp who will see playing there as a cup final and newcastle as abig scalp. We need players who can play as well as mix it up. anyone agree?
ArtyH
May 27, 2009 at 11:10 AM
Comment #77The only way I would even think about keeping Owen would be if he repaid some of the debt by playing for nothing next year. He owes NUFC that much at least! Then and only then would I have some respect for him, and maybe some others would too. Maybe.
workyticket
May 27, 2009 at 11:17 AM
Comment #78Toonkistan // May 27, 2009 at 10:25 AM
“Is it just me that team used to play more organized and motivated under kinnear… i m all for criticsm …came to my mind becasue Jonas/Duff were very attractive then ….simple 4-4-2 and everybody knew his role…”
No, it’s not just you Toonkistan. There were so many changes of manager, so many changes in formations and tactics that the players just didn’t know what they were doing any more.
Isaac Hunt
May 27, 2009 at 11:17 AM
Comment #79Keith Harris. Isn’t his sidekick ‘Orville the duck’?
It is. It isn’t. It is. It isn’t!
Cuse
May 27, 2009 at 11:39 AM
Comment #80Apart from the 5 below – they could all go away as far as I’m concerned.
However – if I had to – this would be my list. To stay:
– Harper
– Beye
– S Taylor
– Lovenkrands. This one upsets people. Trust me: his pace would destroy most Championship defenders. Louise Taylor (bless her) has been right all season. We have had a criminal lack of pace.
-R Taylor. We need someone who can hit a free-kick. Might just cope at Championship level. He was a Wigan reserve after all!
I wish would stay but will probably go:
– Bassong. We need some money from somewhere! The lot below will not fetch a penny between them. Maybe £5m at most.
I wish would go but will probably stay:
– Duff. Useless, useless, useless.
– Nolan. He has one hope. Alan signs someone upfront who can copy the Kevin Davies role at Bolton.
– Guthrie. KK was just wrong. He’s pointless.
– Butt. Can’t run anymore.
– Ameobi. ha ha ha.
– Smith. Another one I was disgusted about when he signed.
– Xisco. Sorry. No-one’s going to pay for him or his wages.
To go no matter what:
– Martins. Don’t get why he’s so liked. Only turns up when he can be arsed.
– Viduka. Fat and injured. I could do that.
– Colocinni. Just rubbish
– Enrique. The bull? Bulls**t.
– Owen. I was alone in being gutted when he joined. Never looked interested.
– Capaca. I mean, look at him. Allardyce should be ashamed.
– Guiterrez. Embarrassing.
– Gonzalez. Who?
– Geremi. BR was right. He was useless at Boro and past it everywhere else.