News today that in order to move the sale of Newcastle United forward, Mike Ashley is making a push to clear out some of the highly paid players at the club.
Michael Owen – signs for Red Devils on a pay for play deal
Well it’s been 6 weeks now since the end of last season, so it’s appropriate that he’s finally getting around to selling the players the club just cannot afford.
But Mike and Derek Llambias have again let the club sink into another terrible mess, and with new owners and a new manager presumably coming in, why would players want to move on.
They are getting ridiculously high wages at the club, and will want to keep on them for as long as possible, because it could well be that other teams will not be able to match those wages, if they are transferred.
And it looks like Obafemi Martins is one of those players who just doesn’t want to leave Tyneside.
The Sunday Sun yesterday reported that Martins has refused a potential move to Germany, where he had been coveted by Wolfsburg, and could now be priced out of a move to Spain.
Sevilla have expressed interest in Martins but could pay him only £40K a week – barely half what he is on at St James’ Park, so once again our policy of paying our players ridiculously high wages makes it difficult to move them out, when we have to.
And there was news yesterday that Lyon in France could be interested in taking Oba.
There’s been not one bit of progress made with selling players, because Michael Owen to Manchester United and David Edgar to Burnley, were both free agents who were out of contract at the Tyneside club, so they were already off the wage bill when they signed on at the other clubs.
And Michael seemed to have some parting words presumably for some Newcastle fans, after his disastrous four years on Tyneside as he said:
“I have probably taken more stick in the last couple of years than I have in my career and there are lot of people out there that can be quite bitter or nasty,”
“Sometimes you feel like you are almost a criminal the amount of stick you get, but as a footballer you always get the last chance to go out there and prove what you can do.”
What Owen should realize is when you are on huge wages like he was at Newcastle for 4 full seasons, that comes with a responsibility. A responsibility to produce when the chips were down, and he just didn’t do that.
Michael has to be ready to take that criticism, which was deserved, and since he’s willing to take the wages, he has to be willing to, or at least expect, to take the other side of it too.
He’s getting more than a lot of CEOs who run big global corporations, and we can assure you those people take a lot of stick – every day – when things are not going well.
Remember the higher you get up there, in any job, the more criticism you have to be ready to take. And if you don’t like it – then get out of the kitchen is probably the best advice. That’s not meant to be nasty, it’s simply a fact of life.
It’s hard to think how worse things could possibly be after over 6 weeks into the close season at Newcastle, and now less than 5 weeks to go until our first game on August 8th in the Championship. Things are not looking too good right now.
But we should hold onto our seat belts because things may be getting just a little bit worse, before they finally get better.
If it is indeed another 4 weeks before a sale can be completed, that really is some bad news for Newcastle fans.
Comments welcome.
Written from Paris, France.
14 responses so far ↓
1 belfast toon // Jul 6, 2009 at 6:57 AM
Todays the day boys
2 Nick D // Jul 6, 2009 at 7:02 AM
This si Shepherd’s legacy – no wage caps or ceiling in place.
Shepherd wanted to go ” Hollywood” and it’s killing us.
Having to pay half of someone’s wages for them to play for someone else. It makes you sick to the stomach what Shepherd has done to this club.
Adebayor is on 35K !!!!
3 belfast toon // Jul 6, 2009 at 7:16 AM
The artical in the times has a real go at us today talk about kicking a man when he’s down….. Just another rag I won’t be reading again
4 magforlife // Jul 6, 2009 at 8:17 AM
Belfast toon – just read it, another poncy pseudo intellectual thinking he has the take on the situation from Landon mate, thought the Times had better journos than that.
5 spiderpig // Jul 6, 2009 at 8:22 AM
problem is boys.most of what the times says rings true.its just hard to accept it
6 magforlife // Jul 6, 2009 at 8:32 AM
Spiderpig – some of it may be but Allardyce or Warnock to manage the club, load of balls mate. He is one of the many who dont understand why Shearer joined Newcastle instead of ManU or why 50,000 turn up to watch rubbish, they never will so they hammer us for not being passive. Look at the way they have swung right behind ManU again, article upon article on how poor Michael Owen was treat up here and how he will soon be back in the England squad whilst most of their fans are still in shock at the crap replacement for Ronaldo and Tevez.
7 spiderpig // Jul 6, 2009 at 8:38 AM
shearer joined newcastle because they were his boyhood heroes.and although owen doesnt really know what loyalty ,passion and commitment are all about.he is what he is.a poacher who thrives on service,always has been and always will.we didnt provide him with that service.he scored more than oba last year and yet oba is a hero .as much as i hate to say it ,owen will score goals at man u.
8 waddler // Jul 6, 2009 at 8:55 AM
So we will be paying half or more of the wage bill to players like Martins , Colliccini, Guitirez and the rest even after the have left.
That must be at least £10 million a year and who is going to buy them when they can loan them? We will be stuck with a wage bill of around £60 million and then we need to bring in reinforcements, no wonder its taking so long to find a new owner.
9 frogeordie // Jul 6, 2009 at 9:59 AM
Been reading lots an saying nowt. Love reading fans comments but newspapers rehashed crap. Are there no reporters out there? All seem to be surfers repeaating roumour and opinion. All say FA desperite to sell – and loose millions? Overpaid players? Declare club bankrupt – it is. Take 10pt deduction reemploy players you want. All solved.
10 Solaidback // Jul 6, 2009 at 10:07 AM
If what is being written in the crap-loids is right, we won’t be getting new ownewrs & we’ll be stuck with Ashley until he decides he doesn’t want to play anymore & puts us into administration, which inturn will get us a 15 point penalty & because we can’t get rid of the greedy bastards who’re sucking us dry like Colocini, Jonas, Barton, Smith, Duff, Butt, etc, we’ll be relegated into League 1…. Then someone will come along like FFS & buy us for£20m & say he’s our saving grace & we should all be lucky to have him……
Persoanlly I would rather be paying these greedy bastards half a wage than a full wage as long as we’re able to get the wage bill down enough that some one, I don’t care who as long as it’s not FFS, comes along & buys the club from Ashley, at least then we can start to steady the sinking ship & hopefully the greedy bastards will decide to stay with the clubs we loan them too & then we get them off our books for good!!
If on the other hand, the crap-loids are talking testicles again! & someone is in the process of buying the club, even if it’s on for £80m – £95m, then I think we should just get rid of all those greedy bastards right now, no matter how much value we loose on them, just as long as they’re no longer our problem!!!
11 davis_toons // Jul 6, 2009 at 10:59 AM
Solaidback // Jul 6, 2009 at 10:07 AM
What you have say is true. And i hope the management think like wise. Its important.
12 Sav // Jul 6, 2009 at 11:04 AM
Its not just the tabloids, its Rod Liddle in the Times as well. He’s no George Caulkin though, and just regurgitates the ‘delusional Geordie’ mantra with little understanding of the facts. He’s just another knock-kneed cockney lazy journo, who never writes with enthusiasm or positivity about sport, but always takes the easy ‘I’m hard-bitten and cynical, me’ tack.
13 Sav // Jul 6, 2009 at 11:15 AM
But as for Shepherd, its clear how poor were his powers of persuasion to make players want to join a well-run club. Instead he just threw fistfulls of club money, enough to make their eyes pop, and appealed to their worst motives of a big fat lazy payday for joining.
10% more money wasn’t enough and so we end up with under-motivated, unambitious players with no feeling for the club (in fact they must be laughing, frankly), who we now can’t get rid of.
Freddie gets to look like a wheeler and dealer when in fact he is making us the laughing-stock of Europe. Like a bunch of nouveau-riche rednecks. And this fool wants to buy back in? I hope he doesn’t get near the place.
14 toontony // Jul 6, 2009 at 12:22 PM
Alan Shearer’s No 1 target – Frazier Campbell – has put Hull City on hold saying he will not be rushed into sealing his £6million move, but how long will he hang around waiting for an offer from Newcastle?
Frazier Campbell wants to sign for Shearer … but Newcastle are STILL in limbo.
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