Cardiff City beat Crystal Palace tonight in the Carling Cup semi-final when they won 3-1 on penalties.
Wilfried Zaha – top young youngster
That was after the score was 1-0 to Cardiff after 90 minutes and after extra time, and on display for Palace were at least players Newcastle have been interested in – 20 year-old right back Nathaniel Clyne and 19 year-old winger/striker Wilfried Zaha.
21 year-old striker/winger Sean Scannell has also been linked with Newcastle, and he came on as a sub after 75 minutes and looked impressive.
Cardiff City went ahead after just 7 minutes when Anthony Gardner scored an own goal, and Cardiff were well on top and hit the woodwork three times in the game.
And after 78 minutes Palace were reduced to 10 men when McCarthy was handed a second booking.
And we suppose Newcastle fans had been tweeting to Lee Ryder about Zaha during the game on TV.
And Lee Ryder, the chief correspondent for the Newcastle Evening Chronicle, tweeted this just about 20 minutes ago:
“All those asking about Zaha , have been reporting #nufc interest since October, watch this space”
That’s a very interesting tweet.
Is Lee letting the cat out of the bag?
Wilfried is a great little player with lots of skill, and if Newcastle can get this player through the door at St. James’ Park, it will be another coup for Newcastle.
For the record, Zaha has played 75 times with 6 goals and 7 assists for Crystal Palace, and he has also played twice for the England U21 side..
Here’s hoping.
107 comments so far
Tsunki
Jan 25, 2012 at 8:11 AM
Comment #81Urghh. Was kinda hoping to wake up to breaking news. Never mind, there’s always tomorrow. Starts my day off well to recap the posts – henderson and downing ha ha ha
BOOM BOOM THE 1ST
Jan 25, 2012 at 8:15 AM
Comment #82good morning to one and all, btw just been reading daily mirror and it says sean dyche says our offer was way to low for marriappa in fact it says his young lad has more in his piggy bank than what weve offered! does anyone know where he lives ill go through his front door like a bleedin battering ram and take that piggy bank theres about a mill in it ha but seriously if thats true well this is another smoke screen hes not our real target as someone posted the other day we are transfer ninjas so watch this space
BOOM BOOM THE 1ST
Jan 25, 2012 at 8:21 AM
Comment #83also great to see 7 of our next ten fixtures will be live on tv!
cyprus
Jan 25, 2012 at 8:25 AM
Comment #84Iniesta wisdom, kept simple:
http://performance.fourfourtwo.com/pro-tips/andres-iniesta-how-to-boss-the-midfield
BOOM BOOM THE 1ST
Jan 25, 2012 at 8:31 AM
Comment #85twitter 2hrs ago roy chubby brown @RoyChubbsBrown lads fancy a look out next friday night? charity disco in boro in aid of women born without legs..Place will be crawling with f a n n y!#YFB… ha ha ha ha ha ha
BOOM BOOM THE 1ST
Jan 25, 2012 at 8:36 AM
Comment #86awful pitty tevez isnt in that jesmond hotel im bleedin sick of the site of him on ssn wonder how much its gona cost barnetta to check out?
davybtoon
Jan 25, 2012 at 8:39 AM
Comment #87Being linked with some players today Virgil van dijk n faouzi ghoulham
ilovetoon8788
Jan 25, 2012 at 8:43 AM
Comment #88Zaha seems like the type of player that will flourish in our system of play. He has rubbish end product though, but he’s not afraid to take on players and then give the pass. Something which Obertan is abysmal in doing. He’s definitely better than Obertan which is 1 reason why we should sign him.
And he is tricky and he himself doesn’t know what he’s gonna do with the ball at his feet. lol. unpredicatable.
Dannyo
Jan 25, 2012 at 8:46 AM
Comment #89@davy
where’d u get those from?
GeordieoftheSouth
Jan 25, 2012 at 8:48 AM
Comment #90I like the optimism on here lads but I don’t think we will spend much more in this window, a few mill on a Championship defender and that will be us done me thinks!
I’m not moaning though after getting Rodney in this window.
davybtoon
Jan 25, 2012 at 8:50 AM
Comment #91I wudnt say zaha is better than obertan, watched zaha last nyt n he’s shocking he just runs ppl he didn’t look up for passes or were team mates were, got raw potential but he’s no we’re near 10mil palace r looking for he’s not even worth half that
davybtoon
Jan 25, 2012 at 8:52 AM
Comment #92Dannyo twitter that ghoulham Was from a journo he’s a left back 21
ToonDownSouth
Jan 25, 2012 at 8:53 AM
Comment #93Zaha is just one of those players that gets talked up so much, everyone assumes he’s brilliant.
Newcastle have laughed in the face of people like SAF saying “There’s no value in the transfer market”. If we blew £10m on a player who from what I’ve seen is just Obertan, then it would be very poor.
davybtoon
Jan 25, 2012 at 8:59 AM
Comment #94We will sign a cb n that’s it n that will b a good window
Dannyo
Jan 25, 2012 at 9:03 AM
Comment #95@davy
And if we dont, with Ba and Cisse, we’ll atleast be able to outscore the opposition 😛
ToonDownSouth
Jan 25, 2012 at 9:03 AM
Comment #96Or we may NOT sign a CB lol.
Other than the ridiculous, there’s no rumors of players leaving – which is fantastic.
Indian Magpie
Jan 25, 2012 at 9:06 AM
Comment #97so if no one is coming or going, there is nothing to talk 🙁
oh! wait there is shola:)
Indian Magpie
Jan 25, 2012 at 9:06 AM
Comment #98🙂
solano
Jan 25, 2012 at 9:49 AM
Comment #99Watched the Palace game lastnight and I have to say wasn’t particularly impressed with Clyne or Zaha.
Those thinking the young right back would be an improvement on Simpson, at this moment in time, are mistaken.
As for Zaha – he may have just had an off night as someone earlier said, but he seemed to be consistent in failing to deliver a decent centre after an initial trick or turn of pace. We have seen this type of “all make-up and no knickers” player before and the high transfer fee doesn’t seem justifiable. We won’t be pursuing expensive gambles anyway – if he gets a bad injury, we may put a cheap bid in though 😉
We need a CB as a priority. Rhys Williams seems to be the best option and given the club criteria, is worth a decent bid.
pawl250
Jan 25, 2012 at 9:52 AM
Comment #100I would be shocked if we get Zaha.
For all of you that are wondering where the “Andy Carroll money” has gone, here is an interesting fact…
The club lost just over £30million in the year we got relegated to The Championship, the club last year made approx £35million last year, which includes the Andy Carroll money.
The logic in the above statement would state the club pretty much breaks even, and probably will make a profit this year given heavy earners are now off the books. All the summer transfers made were pretty much swaps for similar kinds of money. Nolan out, Cabaye in, Enrique out, Santon in.
Ba, Marveaux were bought on a free transfer and we spent near nothing on Obertan considering Joey Bartons wage cost over the last year will pretty much cover his fee, and most of his wages.
It was rumoured and I cant confirm that Cisse was paid or most of the fee was paid by the new sponsorship for the first year (approx £7million).
I really dont think there is much money in the pot, and it shows when we offer 750k for players like Morrison and Mariappa. If you want to be realistic then my guess would be we will possibly buy Morrison and maybe a cheap defence cover.
Zaha just seems like a rumour started and to lift hopes of fans. If you look at the overall picture we havent spent money because we dont have any, unless Ashley inject some, which would be unlikely.
I really think hes doing a good job though, I cant complain our team is young and is looking strong. We dont have CL wages getting paid out each week. We dont need to sell, because the club is generating enough money to run without having to inject millions of pounds.
Future is bright, but maybe the Cisse transfer has made some of you blind thinking we are willing to spend millions on more players, my guess is we may not even sign another player in this window. UNLESS he is cheap, young raw talent.
solano
Jan 25, 2012 at 10:09 AM
Comment #101paw1250 -your accounting skills are a little naive but you came to the conclusion that most of us have already figured – we won’t be spending much, if any, more.
As for your Ashley endorsement – it may take more than one January signing to convince the majority of sceptics! Building trust, retaining the spine of the team and adding quality to the squad over this window and the next would go a long way towards that.
pawl250
Jan 25, 2012 at 10:28 AM
Comment #102Solano – That goes without saying we MUST, by all means keep our better players. They are as you rightly state the spine of our team. Colo would be my biggest concern, keeping him at the club for another 2 years, I really couldn’t hack James Perch as our main defender or captain for that matter!
As for my accounting skills I was simply making things as simple as possible. The picture and my point was to simply say that the club has NO MONEY to spend, unless money is injected. Andy Carrolls transfer was, and always has been absorbed to counter the loss we made when relegated.
As for Ashley I think he has done well, he managed to remove the overpaid mercenaries, and adopt an efficient scouting system to buy a younger, stronger team. We have more depth in the team now since I can remember with the likes of Gosling, Guthrie fighting for places in the midfield. The defence by far is our main concern, admittedly I point out the obvious but it always has been the case.
Still you cant deny that the club looks more healthy now than it has since Bobby was at the helm. I am still not convinced with Pardew, hes done well sure, but some of his tactics bemuse me. A prime example was Best playing left wing on Saturday. I understand AP countering Fulhams formation BUT use a left winger, like Jonas and play Best up top instead of that numpty Ameobi. Replace Ameobi and Jonas’s more central role to Gosling, a more adept midfielder.
Still he has organised the team very over the season, except the 20 minute blip during the Fulham game.
pawl250
Jan 25, 2012 at 10:33 AM
Comment #103Solano – oh and…..
“you came to the conclusion that most of us have already figured – we won’t be spending much, if any, more.”
Clearly this isn’t the case, given the nature of the topic and many comments above.
You alone may have made the conclusion, but let me point out the extreme obvious others havent, and still assume we have millions to spend!
pawl250
Jan 25, 2012 at 10:38 AM
Comment #104Solano –
“We need a CB as a priority. Rhys Williams seems to be the best option and given the club criteria, is worth a decent bid”
Contradiction to your statement you made in your last post!
solano
Jan 25, 2012 at 10:59 AM
Comment #105paw..not really contradictory -what the club do and what I believe they should do are two entirely different things usually.
However, a £3m bid for Williams -as has been touted – would be justified and not seem to be excessive. It could also be offset by trading someone who is not part of our “spine” or plans for the future. Eg. Fraser Forster?
solano
Jan 25, 2012 at 11:07 AM
Comment #106paw..simplifying accounts is not worth it when you are dealing with a multi-million pound, multi-pronged business. There’s more grey areas to keep the best brains busy for years!
You are correct in some of your observations, but feel you “over egg” the Ashley influence whilst under-valuing Pardew’s contribution. I can’t think of another manager who could have worked under such difficult conditions for over a year and done so well.
I for one, hope he has done enough to convince Ashley to take a more pragmatic approach to team recruitment and realise we need a squad to pad out the skeleton of the team.
cupiddstunt
Jan 25, 2012 at 12:00 PM
Comment #107From a previous post,,,,
I like to think we are going to get a pleasant surprise this coming week, the last few transfer windows have shown the club don’t do much of their dealings in public now so the fact that we have heard very little about a defender means nothing.
Think about how it, many times have the media beaten the club to the punch with player announcements, it is happening less and less so I am not unduly perturbed at the lack of speculation.
Remember the club has already stated that all potential players are psychologically assessed to ensure they will fit into the squad with the least amount of fuss and the best impact.
I think the fact that the players that have come in have gelled almost immediately shows the club is doing it right, so I in my mind if the club does not get a replacement centerback in it’s because they can’t find one to fit the squad.
Too often the toon has splashed cash on knee jerk purchases that have not worked out and it has been money down the drain, it’s good to see we are no longer behaving in such a manner.
Careful consideration and if the player does not fit then don’t buy him.