Olympique Lyonnais Chairman Jean-Michel Aulas has been speaking to the French press again, and now he definitely wants to sell his striker Bafe Gomis in January, just like he wanted to sell him last summer.
Bafe Gomis – to be sold this month
And the reason for that is that Bafe has again turned down a new deal, to extend his five-year stay at the French club past June, when his contract will run out and he will become a free agent – and Lyon will get nothing for him.
This is what Aulas said today:
“I offered him a new contract, and unfortunately it will not happen. My aim is to sell him this January.”
Bafe is back playing regularly again for Lyon, after being moved down to train with the Reserves during the summer, and he’s got a decent record this season, having scored 12 goals in 20 games for the French club.
In his four and half years at Lyon he’s played a total 214 times with 84 goals and 20 assists, which is not a bad record.
But if Newcastle had Bafe at the top of the list this month, we would have expected some move to already have been made by Joe Kinnear, after we apparently just failed to sign the 12 times capped French International in August.
That’s what happened a year ago, when we signed Mathieu Debuchy early in January, after failing to sign him the previous summer.
The news yesterday was that Gomis’ agents were asking £1M for the privilege of having Newcastle sign their client from Lyon, and we assume Newcastle are again balking at those demands.
Gomis is reported to be keen to join the Tyneside club.
Comments welcome.
Follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook and +1 on us on Google+
181 comments so far
Rotonda heights
Jan 8, 2014 at 9:52 AM
Comment #1ZZZZZZZZZZ
TS
You say pardew’s boring style gets him results, well not with 3 straight defeats it doesn’t and I would say look at his CV and it tells a very different story
2 record losing streaks in the history of 2 different clubs, nearly relegating 3 different clubs, conceding the most goals in a season and having the worst domestic cup record ever for a NUFC manager. That takes some doing!
I think Cabella got tipped off and maybe didn’t want to become ”pardewed” like another Cisse, ben Arfa, marveaux, MYM or Anita!!
Pardew fluked 5th with a combination of factors we will probably never see the like of again, even allardyce came 6th one year, as did Roeder!
SharpEnough23
Jan 8, 2014 at 9:52 AM
Comment #2This blog seems to be getting abit……rushed?
Rotonda heights
Jan 8, 2014 at 9:53 AM
Comment #312 goals in 209 games
It’s not shola we’re talking about!!
Rotonda heights
Jan 8, 2014 at 9:55 AM
Comment #4just edited, fair play ed !!
cjtoon
Jan 8, 2014 at 9:55 AM
Comment #5ts:
I do feel thats part of the problem, football is a results game and if Pardew can win by being negative containing and hitting on the counter without ‘risking’ too much then i suppose its natural to want to do that. As you say though somehow He needs to rectify it, Especially if the players are doing it without his tactical green light.
For me his worst ‘contain’ moment was the second loeg against benfica last year, i think he lost the plot totally for a few months at the end of last season! We werent playing that bad and had been pretty unlucky going into that game and we played to ‘contain’ (waste) the first 60-70 minutes of that match and then brought on attacking subs to “have a go” in the last twenty. It infuriated me at the time and still does now. If we went out to win that game from the start I honestly think we could have!
Rotonda:
Im only 24 so havent suffered nearly as long as some fans but we all want the same. Im not too fussed about glory or success because for me consistently challenging for top 4 is (would be) to a certain degree quite an achievement. I can’t imagine us winning a trophy any time soon but we do have a squad capable of doing it. I mean even bradford got to a cup final last year!
I dont worry about silverware in reality all i want is to sit and watch 90 minutes of exciting ‘entertaining’ committed endeavouring football from the team i love. Yes football is a results game but isn’t it all about entertainment and passion too?
Rotonda heights
Jan 8, 2014 at 9:56 AM
Comment #6why doesn’t go-miss just sack his agents?
Transfer Sage
Jan 8, 2014 at 9:56 AM
Comment #7rotonda
I think it gets him good enough results playing that way, i think the squad is capable of more, not sure how much exactly but definitely more I’d say, so he does enough to get by.
I don’t think 5th was a fluke in the sense of our points system. We defended well and relied on individual play, it’s not lucky, it’s just not great to watch and requires in every game either cisse, ba, hba or cabaye to score a solo goal…most were solo goals that year.
What happened since is a couple injuries to hba and cabaye, ba leaving and cisse not scoring goals from any angle of the pitch.
We are improving on the pitch slightly, but still dont think we have a set style of play. We need to indentify a style and go for it, even if it’s not one we like.
Transfer Sage
Jan 8, 2014 at 9:59 AM
Comment #8cj
same as me, a trophy is nice but what does it get us as fans other than a day out in wembley and some bragging rights….seeing good football, and progress every week is much more entertaining to me.
ideally both, but can’t have everything…even arsenal haven’t won for 8 years.
cjtoon
Jan 8, 2014 at 10:03 AM
Comment #9I think something that dramatically impedes our ‘style’ is the lack of natural & natural footed wingers/defenders (barring debuchy). Why play a formation with wingers with our squad. We could play 4-4-2 diamond narrow. 4-1-3-2, 4-3-1-2, 4-3-3 i love gouff and sissoko but neither are wingers.
wing play and crossing is a fundemental part of the game at any level in any playing style. If we cant do it then we should play narrow and use debuchy and santon for width on the overlap hence stretching the opposition accross the field and making room for the rest of the team playing centrally.
cjtoon
Jan 8, 2014 at 10:05 AM
Comment #10TS: Arsenal fans have it so tough dont they! Such dross they have to endure watching and not even any silverware to make up for it :-p
Rotonda heights
Jan 8, 2014 at 10:06 AM
Comment #11CJ
It’s hard when you vicariously see Wenger, Pellegrini, Martinez, Rodgers etc being successful while playing fantastic to watch football.
Everton should be a role model to us if we can’t spend a lot of money. Fantastic ”footballing” manager with a good eye for shrewd loan signings
If we were top 4 playing dire football you could accept it far more easily. But if 8th is our zenith it hardly gets the pulses racing.
Laurent Robert 32
Jan 8, 2014 at 10:06 AM
Comment #12Cj, yes, if we don’t win a trophy, like all the othe other teams bar 1, then what are we left with? Cowards football and watching the team have 10 men behind the ball. No use to anyone apart from not being relegated, even then, Bosingwa and Swansea got us out of that one.
Football is definitely about entertainment, whether you’re watching or playing it with teammates.
This is my biggest gripe with silver tongue as well as the smarmy lies and excuses.
Our toon, good posts as usual during the night. Rotonda, same for you.
croftus5678
Jan 8, 2014 at 10:09 AM
Comment #13wonder what the transfer market has for us today ^^
something concrete would be nice like a bid.
luuk and gomis would tie me over nicely then we can look at a winger and maybe a cb or youth.
geordielad880
Jan 8, 2014 at 10:10 AM
Comment #14Rotonda pardew is doing a decent job, i applaud ashley for bringing continuity to the club, i dont like alot of what he has done i.e kinnear, but stability will bring success long term, we are in a good financial position, have a good squad, and also alot of people say we are a selling club, the only players we have sold are players that wanted to go, we have held on to our best players, carroll had to be sold, how can you turn down 35m, what has he done since? enrique wanted to go, ba had a clause in his contract, nolan wanted a long contract, the last thing you want is someone on a 4-5 yr deal when their best years are behind them, and barton sealed his own future, we have turned down big offers for cabaye, krul and santon from what i have heard, we have a young improving squad, that will only get better, m’biwa will go on to be one of the best cb’s in europe, i have followed his career, he is taking time to adapt to the english game, arsene wenger had followed his career for several years, and wanted him, but we had tied up the deal before he had a chance to react, and he knows the french market well, grimandi does his scouting for him in france, but our contacts over there are second to none
geordielad880
Jan 8, 2014 at 10:11 AM
Comment #15we are looking to sign players, but we need to move players on first, not for financial reasons, but for squad numbers, you can only have 25 players registered, so we are trying to move on shola, dan gosling, obertan and marvo, which will free up number
geordielad880
Jan 8, 2014 at 10:11 AM
Comment #16From what I have heard newcastle are trying to get cabella now, and loan him back to montpellier for the rest of the season, but apparently their is a stumbling block as montpellier want a sell on clause in the deal. I have also heard that we are talking to chelsea about trying to sign victor moses who is on loan at liverpool, would be a good signing
Toon1978
Jan 8, 2014 at 10:14 AM
Comment #17NUFC to hold a meeting about meeting again next week. And in the meeting next week, they will discuss about meeting the following week to talk about what they were gonna talk about in the first meeting. News on Sunday was positive. Talking about 4 signings. De Jong, an imminant bid for Cabella as well as the possibility of another striker and a young lad coming in. Now that the dust has settled with being kicked out of the FA Cup, the club resort back to the same old crap they spout. From 4 signings sanctioned by M. Ashley to maybe nobody coming in. I blame SSN for raising our hopes haha.
Transfer Sage
Jan 8, 2014 at 10:15 AM
Comment #18880
stability does not bring success, if we had kept kinnear on as manager for 10 years we would be in league 2 by now
you need stability in goals, managers/players can change during that time, swansea are the example, decided on a style of play and have hired managers/players ti suit and develop it
Rotonda heights
Jan 8, 2014 at 10:17 AM
Comment #19Sage
Arsenal have had CL 14 years running and some Arsenal numpties still wanted him sacked !!
They should try not winning anything serious since 1955!!
cjtoon
Jan 8, 2014 at 10:18 AM
Comment #20Rotonda:
I must admit i wasn’t 100% sure about martinez at everton with their squad. I wasnt sure they had enough technical quality to mount a top 4 challenge whilst in transition but they are doing brilliantly. I think the good thing is that the work ethic Moyes installed has been continued whilst adapting to a martinez style of play. Its nice to watch and he does seem to get the best out of players.
Id rather we didn’t dip into the loan market realistically but if thats the best you can do e.g. remy, lukaku delofeu then why not. There have been countless good teams built on a budget in the PL era Arsenal have always pretty good at regenerating fairly modestly under Wenger.
I must admit as much as i really dont like liverpool i am loving their style under BR. Some of the players he has playing delightful football arent great technically either. I said the other day for me jordan henderson has been blinding for them this season. Come on leaps and bounds. Can ping the ball around for fun, keeps it tidy and simple when needed to. Keeps the ball moving, vision and creativity in abundance. A masterclass in coaching! he was awful under KD.
Laurent Robert 32
Jan 8, 2014 at 10:19 AM
Comment #21Geordielad, stability can bring success, IF you have the right manager in place along with ambition from the owner.
Sadly, we have a manager that hasn’t won things, plays defensive football and has been sacked a lot for record poor runs. Only here does he get kept on.
With a less capable scout than Carr, Pardew wouldn’t have as agood a set of plyers to work with and Ashley would still be giving out next to no money.
For me Graham Carr is the root key to the points and players. Pardew uses them in a way not suited to their natural ability.
I’ve heard Pardew thinks sharks are better suited on land and koala bears in the sea. Or so it would seem, by playing naturally attacking players ultra defensively.
Rotonda heights
Jan 8, 2014 at 10:21 AM
Comment #22880
You get stability with the right people in situ in the first place.
Success bring stability, not the other way round. Stability for stability ‘s sake brings mediocrity and complacency which is where we are right now.
pardew isn’t doing a good job. He’s crushing any flair and is sucking the life out of going to watch a game now.
sweendog
Jan 8, 2014 at 10:22 AM
Comment #23Based on Cabellas comments theres still a big chance if we paid the money he’ll come .. he’s just letting the club decide what to do, which is what any player with integrity would do .. still can’t see us spending 12mill I reckon it would need to get him ..
Rotonda heights
Jan 8, 2014 at 10:24 AM
Comment #24Laurent
the sad thing is carr has probably spotted loads that pardew probably wasn’t keen on. these technical players need a modern manager not a dinosaur
cjtoon
Jan 8, 2014 at 10:24 AM
Comment #25880:
Without starting the whole MA/AP debate i think you’re right. We are stable financially & managerially the playing squad is solid and has great potential within it. The facilities and fanbase are great.
I dont want to start the ambition debate either but im willing to see where we go over the next couple of years. We have such a great opportunity to push on in the next few years. It wouldnt take a great deal of investment.
Progression needs to happen on the pitch in reality, then it will follow off the pitch!
Sinner
Jan 8, 2014 at 10:26 AM
Comment #26L’equipe reporting we’re interested in Gueida Fofana.
http://www.lequipe.fr/Football/Actualites/Gueida-fofana-courtise/430217
geordielad880
Jan 8, 2014 at 10:26 AM
Comment #27cjtoon
Totally agree about henderson, he was decent at sunderland, but has thrived under rodgers, he is getting better and better, his range of passing his excellent, great vision, good tackler, decent pace, great energy, like a young gerrard, just needs to add more goals.
Transfer sage
I will rephrase it then, you have no chance of success without stability, I will say we would probably do better with a manager who’s style suits our squad better like laudrup, martinez, rodgers, pardew doesnt decide on targets, pardew would sign players like long, jarvis, tompkins, downing etc, who are good players, and suit the way pardew likes to play.
Anita, ben arfa, m’biwa, cabaye would be more suited to a manager that likes to play a more continental game
sweendog
Jan 8, 2014 at 10:26 AM
Comment #28rotunda .. I agree Pardew isn’t right for the club ..some of the games have been abysmal .. still he does look to be changing his style for the better, I think we can agree we are passing it along the ground loads more than last year .. I just hope he finds out how to play players like Arfa before its too late .
Since we’re out of the cups we can just watch and see if he can take us forward .. so far the jurys out.
Laurent Robert 32
Jan 8, 2014 at 10:28 AM
Comment #29Rotonda, there’s no surprise that lots of people have a very similar opinion on his dour defensive mentality is it?
Also, I’ve noticed on here that people who have been involved with coaching have this viewpoint. Yet for this view ‘our kind’ 😀 are branded ‘neggars’. Yet we are in fact seeking the positive and progressive football, which makes the game such a joy.
Quite amusing really.
sweendog
Jan 8, 2014 at 10:30 AM
Comment #30Fofana is a DM .. would be surprised if we were interested as what would happen Anita..
catchy in norway
Jan 8, 2014 at 10:31 AM
Comment #31TS
I think you just proved that it was a lucky season when we got 5th
reliying on individual bits of skill, is not a game plan, that requires a huge amount of luck
also add the fact that both Chelsea and Liverpool were having shocking season, that’s a huge slice of luck,
none of these things a manager can control,
the amount of goals ba got from long punts up the field was unreal,
HBA had to sit and wait while obertan got week after week to fall backwards,
second half of the season, Cisse came, Ba was a passenger on the left side, did not score or assist, just wasted out there
cisses goals wernt tap ins , and judging by his form since, that seems like there a lot of fluky shots,
now don’t get me wrong, I believe we could have still got the position, and I think both 3rd and 4th were up for grabs that season
last season 16th,
the injuries wernt as bad as he would have you believe, it was more of poor team/squad management, than bad luck,
same with this season, , he wont rotate his squad like he should, Jonas is not the player he was, but he is still 10 times better than obertan, so is marv, as is Sammy, where is biggi ? , good players disappear around pardew,
grrrr the guy makes me sick, as do all his loyal fans
Laurent Robert 32
Jan 8, 2014 at 10:35 AM
Comment #32Rotonda, yes I agree.
Now, give Carr a transfer kitty as well, and see the quality we could have. Carr is masking more of Pardew’s cracks and limitations by seeking out quality players for next to nothing.
I like Marveaux and think he could be used in a valuable way which has product, but as he doesn’t suit defensive style football it affects him. In a Swansea, Liverpool or Everton, I’m sure you would see some bright and creative play.
Here, he is small, like Anita, so barely gets a look in.
cjtoon
Jan 8, 2014 at 10:35 AM
Comment #33Laurent – 29
Somewhat ironic we would be called ‘neggars’ isnt that the middle name of AP?
sweendog
We have improved a little, i just dont understand why we cant even get international players doing the basic fundementals properly. Movement off the ball being my biggest gripe, we are so static sometimes. Im not hatem’s biggest fan but at least he moves and forwards too! there seems to be a reluctance to move forwards up the pitch as a unit, creating space for others through movement as well as providing ‘positive’ passing options for those on the ball.
geordielad880
Jan 8, 2014 at 10:37 AM
Comment #34fofana is a very good player, and we have been scouting him, but there is no way we would sign him unless we were maybe selling tiote, fofana can also play CB, and we do like signing players that can play in several positions, maybe man utd are interested in tiote again.
And on pardew, I would prefer a manager who suits our squad more, like rudi garcia, but aslong as pardew is manager, i will get behind the team, pardew has the backing of his players, so he must be doing something right
shanghai fan
Jan 8, 2014 at 10:37 AM
Comment #35I think the agent fee should be prorated with the transfer fee, that’s only fair. So if the transfer was 9 and is 2, and the agent fee was originally 2, then it should be 400k now. Surely with us having walked out last time round, the bargaining power is on our side with agents fees
ilovetoon8788
Jan 8, 2014 at 10:37 AM
Comment #36@catchy in norway // Jan 8, 2014 at 10:31 AM
I sorta agree with you.
Though we are having a very decent season so far, i just don’t trust Pardew’s management skills. He’s not rotating nor giving any of young players any chance at all whatsoever even in busy weeks. And then he goes out and say our squad is tired.
Let’s hope he knows what he’s doing and can bring us back our glory days.
catchy in norway
Jan 8, 2014 at 10:37 AM
Comment #37Laurent Robert 32
29
spot on,,
how can you be a nagger by only want us to be a bit more positive ?
negertivety is standing still, or going backwards,
Transfer Sage
Jan 8, 2014 at 10:38 AM
Comment #38880
i also don’t think that’s true either…success can come from all ways. Not many clubs keep managers beyond 2/3 years now and they still win things.
chelsea continue to win and change manager, so do madrid, barca change a lot too, so it’s really not down to stability in the manger, more so the stability in the clubs policy to push for trophies
sweendog
Jan 8, 2014 at 10:39 AM
Comment #39cjtoon agreed .. there is improvement but yes our attacking is lacking team attack cohesion .. it is defense first mentality .. still thanks to Carr we’ve a top 10 squad that any numpty could manage
Rotonda heights
Jan 8, 2014 at 10:39 AM
Comment #40CJ
Spot on. I’d love to see 1-2’s, triangles, overlapping and someone going beyond the person with the ball. As you say we are criminally static.
henderson is a good example of what good coaching can do. can’t think of one player whose improved under pardew.
We have the squad, just need a modern manager and a competent D.O.F