There are several reports in today’s Sunday papers that Newcastle are keen on 21 year-old Valenciennes 6’2″ center back Nicolas Isimat Mirin, who we initially reported on a few days ago.
Nicolas Isimat Mirin – Newcastle interested in young center-back
Apparently for financial reasons his French club are looking to sell next month, although it seems that Liverpool have stolen a march on Newcastle for this player, but after yesterday’s capitation at Arsenal in the last 20 minutes of the game, in which we conceded a staggering four goals, we definitely need some new defenders brought into the squad next month.
We knew we were short of a central defender throughout last season, after Steven Taylor injured his Achilles in early December – but for some strange reason Newcastle didn’t bring in another center-back during the summer transfer window.
That’s nothing less than bad planning and leaking 11 goals in our last two games may just alert owner Mike Ashley and Managing Director Derek LLambias to the fact we need some new defenders brought in.
If we fail to get any new players in during January, then we have only ourselves to blame if we are enmeshed in another relegation battle through May.
This lad looks a good player and at an upper limit of £4M, his price seems reasonable, and at least he could become the fourth center-back at the club, and in front of James Perch, who is being used as an emergency center-back this season.
James does well in several different positions for Newcastle, and of course he always gives 100%, but against top teams like Arsenal he is sometimes caught out in the skills department.
We’d like to see three players brought in during the January transfer window, and with Yohan Cabaye and Steven Taylor back in he middle of next month – hopefully things will start to look up at Newcastle very soon.
Howay The Lads!!
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677 comments so far
toonbrother
Dec 30, 2012 at 11:13 AM
Comment #1the sooner we consign Sideshow bob to the bench the better
Kyo
Dec 30, 2012 at 11:17 AM
Comment #2Just saw on Twitter that Lille are ready to sell Debuchy on Jan 1st.
toonbrother
Dec 30, 2012 at 11:20 AM
Comment #3I guarantee this line up would not have conceded 11 goals in two game
………..Krul
Simpson…ABC*…ABC*…Santon…
……………Tiote…..Bigi
……………..Marvs
Cisse……Ba……………..Obertan
*ABC: anyone but Colocinni
Beattie25
Dec 30, 2012 at 11:22 AM
Comment #4Marty toon
It depends on the player, the situation and the team.
If Van Persie had to play 3 games in 7 days he would, as he has fantastic conditioning but he doesn’t have to due to the squad depth at Man Utd.
Look at all the teams from Leuage 2 upwards, look at the European leauges, look at how many games that Barca have played this year and how many times the big p;layers have been rested.
Look at the job the armed forces have to do. Running miles, hardly any sleep and fighting every day.
Tiredness is the biggest cop out ever. If this is what we are like now, imagine what we’ll be like come Mach, April and May.
It was a mental issue last night, not a physical one.
Anyone who says any different is stupid.
There has been many similar games in the past where one team has had more time off than an other and gone on to win.
Pardew treats them like boys not men. Real men say they were poor not tired.
They’re just not good enough, too relaxed knowing they have no competition and put simply just don’t care.
Santon has been the player of the season so far so we can forgive him one game.
Everyone else, Simmo, Colo, Willo, Saylor and Krul have been poor all season. So what? They were tired when we got beat by West Ham, Swansea, Fulham etc..
It s another excuse from Pardew.
gaz 44
Dec 30, 2012 at 11:24 AM
Comment #5too brother ya talk shit .. he’s the best defender at our club by a country mile.. he has to cover santon when he goes off on his runs then has to cover Williamson more often than not.. don’t wanna slate perch because he did decent but he did throw himself in at wilshere when he crossed and was supposed to b making giroud when he scored his head
Beattie25
Dec 30, 2012 at 11:25 AM
Comment #6Got to admit that if Williamson and Perch were playing we’d not have been beaten by 7.
Colo lost the plot yesterday and when we need a leader his is never there.
That’s why we had lots of humpings last season.
RE this article:
Exactly what we need in the midst of of relegation battle, an unproven 21 year old.
Great stuff.
toonbrother
Dec 30, 2012 at 11:27 AM
Comment #7@ gaz 44. No offence but you come across as a deranged illiterate. Was Williamson on the pitch last night? Use your common sense for a change
toonarmydownsouth
Dec 30, 2012 at 11:27 AM
Comment #8Beattie
If your applying that logic then surely its a cop out from the players and not pardew?
How do you get a squad of players who can no longer be ars3d to play good football, if that is the case of course
He cant his hands would be tied until the window opens
gaz 44
Dec 30, 2012 at 11:31 AM
Comment #9no but he was against man utd and that’s the reason i mentioned perch.. tool
toonarmydownsouth
Dec 30, 2012 at 11:32 AM
Comment #10Toonbrother
Do you really think its a case of rating fergie higher than marveux?
You do know that marv has missed nearly 2 full seasons of football over the last 3 seasons and has just come back from a huge injury and surgery?
Has occured to you that his match fitness/sharpness was not there hence playing a few europa games and cameos before starting some PL games?
He’s a player who is proven to be very injury prone when bought back too fast i highly doubt its as simple as “pardumb” doesn’t like him its a football club lad not a play ground
Spuggy
Dec 30, 2012 at 11:33 AM
Comment #11This is what I think needs to happen in Jan/Feb:
– Sign a quality pacey CB
– Cabaye, Anita, HBA and Jonas return to midfield
– Jonas and Marveaux rotated
– Cisse played centrally and Ba moves to 2nd striker or left. Otherwise drop or rotate one of them.
Then in Summer:
– Sign a technical creative 2nd striker/winger
– Sell Gosling and Simpson
– Sign Debuchy ( I doubt we will get him in Jan but if so great)
tequilamag
Dec 30, 2012 at 11:34 AM
Comment #12SCAPEGOAT LIST
1 Alan Pardew, always the most popular choice for the majority of posters who CBA to look further than one thing.
2 Simpson. Blamed by one poster last night for being responsible for at least 5 goals. Pretty good going considering he was only on the pitch for the first 4 when we were at least still in the game.
3 BA scoring another two goals clearly not enough. If only we could rid of our top scorer all our problems would go.
4 Colo. well it was bound to happen sooner or later
5 Santon. You know you hate to do it but you just can`t help yourself.
Beattie25
Dec 30, 2012 at 11:34 AM
Comment #13TADS
They all need a kick up the arse but can Pardew motivate them?
Marty-Toon
Dec 30, 2012 at 11:35 AM
Comment #14Who cares who we’re linked with,we need players in and that’s what will count hen we actually get them in and not the idiot planning of last year.
gaz 44
Dec 30, 2012 at 11:35 AM
Comment #15and for the record i do think with the ef the mackem game collo has been poor, i also think krul Simpson Williamson cabaye (majority of games he’s played ) tiote cisse and many more have been poor
SupaToonKid
Dec 30, 2012 at 11:37 AM
Comment #16Toonbrother
Be quiet you mug. Colo has to babysit all the other defenders hence he can’t even do his own job. Danny Simpson is sh*t, I never used to mind Simmo but he can’t even defend now & he offers nothing attacking wise. Willo makes so many mistakes & Perch is a DM not a CB. Santon as well is superb attacking wise but defensively it’s a problem, Jonas’s is job is to cover him & now he’s injured Obertan is not gonna do that.
This Mirin lad looks good & tankish so get him in for £4M & bring in a replacement for Simpson (preferably Debuchy but don’t mind as long as they’re better than shoddy Simmo).
Remy would be icing on the cake but no matter if we do not sign him as our attack looks good now with Obertan & Marveaux providing good chances for Demba & Papiss.
Get pre-contracts agreed for Sissoko & Douglas then we should be sorted. Of course if Ash wants to splash some small fees for them then hey ho get them in now but come on that won’t happen.
2 NEW DEFENDERS is a MUST this Jan. Anything else is a bonus!
Kyo
Dec 30, 2012 at 11:40 AM
Comment #17The only scapegoat should be Ashley. He is responsible for the club. After not backing Pardew in the summer we are where I said we would be.
I remember being called a Mackem and negative by Dannyo and a few others. Where are they now?
It’s not Pardew’s fault. Sure he hasn’t been perfect but without financial backing I will not be calling for his head. We passed the ball so well last night. With some solid defence we can beat anybody.
Charlie in the Gallowgate
Dec 30, 2012 at 11:40 AM
Comment #18A bit more sense in the correspondance this morning.
Yes 7-3 was not nice but the first 70 minutes and and 80 mins against Man-ure was some of the best football we have played for many a season.
Fitness: Remember how many of the players playing have played a full 90 minutes of Premiership Football. They reckon you need at least 3 games to get up to speed. That was Marvo’s 2nd 90 minutes and Bigis in a row. Anita had just had 2 full games before being injured.
toonbrother
Dec 30, 2012 at 11:41 AM
Comment #19@tads, i dont recall saying pardew doesnt “like” him. If his earlier treatment was down to him being injury prone or unfit, he could have been eased back in -coming in as a sub or being subbed off after an hour like ben arfa was when he first joined. Pardumb has gone from one extreme to the other -from shutting him out entirely in favour of ferguson and jonas to overrelying on him – playing him twice in the space of three days. That strikes me as not appreciating the player’s qualities until things got desperate. I have no doubt marveaux would have made a huge difference in the matches against lesser teams when Pardumb froze him out opting to play 4 defensive midfelders + Jonas instead
toonarmydownsouth
Dec 30, 2012 at 11:42 AM
Comment #20Beattie
If a players ego has taken over and they think there place in the line up is dead cert, which looking at our squad depth it pretty much is, then what can any coach do? Nout he’s powerless
Of course thats all hypothetical like
SupaToonKid
Dec 30, 2012 at 11:43 AM
Comment #21Look remember we were all hounding Pards last season cos he started Raylor over HBA but then Hatem got match fitness & we reaped the awards. Same with Jonas over Marv this season but now look Sylvain is back & we would be reaping the rewards of his creativity if our defenders could defend. NEW CB + RB PLEASE!
breno95
Dec 30, 2012 at 11:43 AM
Comment #22Toonbrother
If you read gaz’s post in it’s proper context I think you will understand that gaz was not suggesting Willo played last night but what Colo has had to do alot this season when he has been partnered by Willo.
To resolve the defensive frailties we can only hope this window has been prepared for thoroughly and discussions have been ongoing for a while rather than bustling in on the 1st Jan.
Personally I would accept any offers for Tiote (if they are still there) and can only hope that we can bring in Debuchy, Sakho, Pieters, Sissoko and Remy. We dont need any young potential in this window.
As for the summer, hopefully, we are still in EPL and then we can offload Simpson, Willo. We will know the situation with Ba so focus can be given to new CF’s to replace both Ba and Shola (retires with a bit of luck).
Kyo
Dec 30, 2012 at 11:44 AM
Comment #23Oh and where are the clowns that called me an idiot after saying Simpson is embarrassing after the Man United game? I can’t believe he is a professional football player.
Marty-Toon
Dec 30, 2012 at 11:46 AM
Comment #24Beattie
I agree that Van Persie and many others are physically in better shape than our boys and mentally too.
Think how it must be for some of our top players,when ya have Cisse at RW and Simmo behind him,then you have Willo who actually played well last year but who the ball looks hot when it comes to him.
I have played football for years in the league but not at the same level of course but when you know that one or two of your team mates are serious lightweight and you have to cover them continually it gets fec-in tiresome and very downheartining.
As AP stated we’ve got young lads on the bench that shouldn’t be anywhere near 1st team that says it all and certainly won’t help their futures
jesperfuglsang - captain of the lemon crew
Dec 30, 2012 at 11:46 AM
Comment #25Maybe I am the only one, but I still don’t think buying a new CB is going to save that defense – there is somwthing completly wrong with our positioning and highline zonal marking.
…it is the way we set up our defense that is the problem (sure buying a new CB and RB won’t hurt, but it won’t really change much).
We need an anchorman safeguarding the defense – I thought it was Tiote’s job, but I have absolutely no idea of that he is doing!
The defensive part of our gave needs to be adressed I think (4 goals in 20 min. I am still baffled)
catchy in norway
Dec 30, 2012 at 11:46 AM
Comment #26toonarmydownsouth
its both,, not just pardew, he sets the tone, the players follow
i remember a league game a few month ago, pardew came out with we had a lot of tired legs out there towards the end, meaning the team had played in the EL, what he forgot was he made 9 changes to the team,,
how did we have so many tired legs
yesterday, ars, not playing would have had an impact, for sure im not doubting that,
but pardew made changes that back fired, last week v QPR he started with the wrong team, made subs that changed it, and got praise for it from you lot
yesterday, i have no clue by what he ment by no more goals,
no more goals defensivly??
or attacking
surely if he ment deefensivly they where already trying to stop them
and if it was for us to try and hold onto 3-3, why bring on shola and ferg
shola is lazy and slow, ferg is a winger where would those help defensivly?
you have to accept that we are where we are because of poor team managment for all 20 games,, not just the last 2
this season his record has been worse than JFK, no one defended him for his record
injuries can only be used in the last few games, not the whole season so far
SupaToonKid
Dec 30, 2012 at 11:47 AM
Comment #27Yep Kyo I’m backing you my friend. Board’s & Simmo’s (+Willo’s) fault for our plight this season!
tequilamag
Dec 30, 2012 at 11:47 AM
Comment #28It would be harsh to say the players don`t care. For the majority of the game we more than held our own. Once the 5th goal went in it was like the team collectively hit a brick wall, whether that was physical tiredness which I can understand or they mentally switched off knowing there was no way back I don`t know, probably a combination of both.
obatoyou
Dec 30, 2012 at 11:48 AM
Comment #29Beattie25 // Dec 30, 2012 at 11:25 AM
Which article are you referring Sir Beattie
Got to admit that if Williamson and Perch were playing we’d not have been beaten by 7.
Colo lost the plot yesterday and when we need a leader his is never there.
That’s why we had lots of humpings last season.
RE this article:
Exactly what we need in the midst of of relegation battle, an unproven 21 year old.
Great stuff.
toonarmydownsouth
Dec 30, 2012 at 11:52 AM
Comment #30Toonbrother
I disagree that hes been frozen out he’s had europa games and league cameos building fitness and confidence
Ideally doubt he would of played 2 games in 3 days or certainly not for as long as he did but injuries have forced pardews hand
Personally think we missed jonas yeaterday to cover the back four, tiote was shocking
tequilamag
Dec 30, 2012 at 11:53 AM
Comment #31Catchy with the amount of players out Pardew had very few options. He brought Fergie on for a Simpson which I would have thought you approved of as you have been singing his praises all season. Result 3 goals in 9 minutes.
Shola came on for Bigi , hardly a defensive substitution and Tav for Marv but the game was gone by then.
proudtobageordie
Dec 30, 2012 at 11:54 AM
Comment #32the crap that most people write on here is ridiculous and uncalled for. If people want to try and demoralise our club i suggest you stay away from this blog. We all know Pardew is playing his best hand at the moment and he is down to the bare bones to the fact we havn’t got a bench at the mo due to injuries. How could he look at the bench to change things in the last two games which are arguably our two hardest away games of the season. Fair enough our defence just isn’t good enuf against world class forward’s/midfielders, but how many teams score 3 at them two grounds. we are playing really well also defending really poor but lets face it i was proud to be a toon fan over the last two games regardless of the score. how many fans get to cheer goals at them two grounds. we did 6 times. get behind our team,manager and club and we will be ok second half of season when our key players return and any additions we aquire
Conaldo (The Wizard...Also Bestest Friends With Paul Scharner)
Dec 30, 2012 at 11:54 AM
Comment #33WIZARD NEWS
Breaking news.
A lot of reports going round today saying we have signed Debuchy.
He wants to leave, Lille want to cut costs at the club.
Rumoured to have agreed fee of 6million euros, and agreed terms.
If its true expect to see him over the metaphorical line once the metaphorical window opens. Too many metaphorical things.
Hope it’s true, now just a centre back and anyone else we can get our hands on.
Ketsbaia9
Dec 30, 2012 at 11:54 AM
Comment #34We need to splash out on Toby A. I don’t care if we pay £10m for him because we desperately need a decent centre back. Debuchy and Toby A are must buys and we also need to pursue Remy and Sissoko.
colwell
Dec 30, 2012 at 11:55 AM
Comment #35What ever cb we bring in needs to be able to organise the defence. So many of the goals we have conceded is when 1/2 defenders have not stepped up and played the oposition onside. Colo is a gd technical cb but you never see him shouting or organising.
One comment a day
Dec 30, 2012 at 11:55 AM
Comment #36Tiote again had a crap game, that’s every game this season-get shot.
Williamson is shite.
Jonas is finished.
Simpson offer him a new contract for £3,000 a week thats all he’s worth.
Marty-Toon
Dec 30, 2012 at 11:55 AM
Comment #37If we can start to pass the ball around like we’ve done in the last 3/4 games and shore up the mistakes then we will be fine and of course we need strengthening in defence Big time
Conaldo (The Wizard...Also Bestest Friends With Paul Scharner)
Dec 30, 2012 at 11:57 AM
Comment #38If transfer sage is about – you heard anything about this? (Debuchy)
catchy in norway
Dec 30, 2012 at 11:57 AM
Comment #39tequilamag
it must be killing the the players, they have put so much effort in the last 2 games,
right now we need leaders,,
i look around and i dont see any
i see distractions
ba’s contract
colos argument
simpson out on the town
cisse having a go at the board
something is very wrong internally at our club and if it is not sorted out soon, its not looking good
Beattie25
Dec 30, 2012 at 11:57 AM
Comment #40When arrogance takes over it is a poison without any cure.
Even in the face of a 7-3 mauling some of the players will be satisfied. One issue is Pardew’s own arrogance. If he had an ounce of humility or honesty, like Hughton, he could knock the arrogance out thorough being humble about the quality of our team.
Pardew has let them become arrogant and refuses to let kick their arse publicly. The only way to beat arrogance if you are arrogant as a manager is to be better, bigger and more arrogant than your players.
Look at Mourinho. What would he do? He would criticize the players that need it. Ferguson would move them on. Wenger would get them believing in their arrogance. Moyes would let them know who’s boss. Pardew just let’s them get on with it and makes excuse after excuse.
Many wouldn’t want their manager to openly criticize players in the team, but lets see what happens if Simmo was publicly chastised for not giving a shit anymore. If Colo was criticized for not being a leader. If Tiote was criticized for no being with it mentally. If Krul was criticized for not playing well.
There comes a point when injuries, tiredness, Europe, lack of investment etc… becomes too much and you have to look at it for what it is. The players have been shit from day 1.