In short the away Newcastle (make that Mike Ashley) want to do their transfer business is to pay the least amount possible for their targets, and that has seen us get into too many transfer sags for our targets over the last few years, and on the other side of things we want top dollar for any player we sell.
Mike Ashley – needs to loosen up on the cash
So the fact that Newcastle nearly always find it difficult in these transfer windows, shouldn’t really come as too much of a surprise to Newcastle fans, and we know they can become tedious and sometimes (very) painful.
A case in point on the selling side, are some of the French players we want to unload this summer, and Newcastle are asking £3M for Sylvain Marveaux, and we want to get as much of the £8M back on Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa as possible.
We brought in Sylvain three years ago as a free agent, when we somehow snatched him from under the noses of Liverpool, after he had had a medical at the Anfield club, but Kenny Dalglish was dithering as to whether to sign him or not.
If we get £3M for him that would be almost a £3M profit on him over the three years he’s been on Tyneside, where he’s played 57 games with two goals and 10 assists – surely we don’t need to get £3M for Sylvain?
It will be difficult to unload Marveaux this summer for that amount, and a number of clubs were quickly interested in Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa, whose stock is still high in France, after he captained Montpellier to their first ever French League title two years ago.
Bordeaux were interested in Mapou, but they quickly pulled out of any bid to sign him, and that was based both on the fee, and the high wages the Frenchman will be on at Newcastle.
So it could be difficult to unload some of our French players this summer, unless some big clubs – probably not French – come in for them this summer.
On the buying side of things we now have a Managing Director who may be able to get things done, but we are continuing our thrifty approach to transfers, which more often than not, will see us fail in our efforts to get some good players through the door this summer.
If only owner Mike Ashley would ease up a bit on the strict financial controls he’s put in at Newcastle, we could actually get things moving in the transfer market.
But that would mean paying a little bit over the odds for some of our targets, and not asking so much for the players we want to sell this summer.
But Ashley acts as the chief cashier at Bank Newcastle United, and while it’s great for our financial condition – which is extremely good these days – it’s not so good for the team on the field – which is the most important thing to Newcastle’s massive fan base.
In fact it’s not very good at all for the team on the field, which is mediocre at best these days. 🙁
If Mike would loosen up just a little – it could make a huge difference to our success in this summer’s transfer market.
Comments welcome.
10 comments so far
croftus5678
May 31, 2014 at 9:05 AM
Comment #1the reason our transfers are so hard is that we offer peanuts ! 1/4 of what there asking price is..and then come up with blks excuses that we couldnt get a player over the line >.<
dont get me wrong the 1 out of 20 deals they do pull off like these are great deals but how much stronger would we have been with jst an extra mil here or there ?
scout
May 31, 2014 at 9:06 AM
Comment #2What a shambles, you get what you pay for in this game. MA of all people should know that its similar to SD really.
Good read that Ed, well said Sir..
Hope youre well
scout
May 31, 2014 at 9:09 AM
Comment #3I reckon I could pick 5 or 6 players from the botttom 6 clubs that would walk in our side at the minute. Theres something not right in the dressing room and its easy to see on the pitch
bobby mango
May 31, 2014 at 9:17 AM
Comment #4It’s such a short sighted policy I’m very surprised Ashley is a successful in business as he is.
Anyone can see is not healthy – we miss out on top targets, frustrate other clubs and take too long to secure must deals.
The bank sheet may look good for a while but eventually it will catch up with us. Looks like this could be the season when it does.
We HAVE to at least 2 senior strikers and a creative midfielder, or we will be relegated. Fact. And we have plenty of worries beyond that!
So if these dealings carry on and we can’t get sufficient players the few million we saved on transfers will be eclipsed by the tens of millions we’ll lose as a result of relegation. Don’t understand how Ashley cannot grasp that.
Slank
May 31, 2014 at 9:23 AM
Comment #5The main problem with the transfer policy is the scouting, specifically of foreign players.
Foreign players will earn more and pay less tax playing for Newcastle United than almost anywhere in Europe. If players don’t make the grade at the club it is then quite difficult to offload them especially back to Europe as more often than not they will be seriously out of pocket.
Buying world class foreign players (like Cabaye, Debuchy, Sissoko and Tiote) is not an issue as they don’t lose their transfer value because of their ability and international exposure. But fringe players like Marveaux, Oberton and to a certain extent MYM will never be paid as much in Europe as they do at the club.
The scouting policy has to be more selective and concentrate on quality and not quantity and go for higher value targets. Fewer imports should be compensated by a greater number of British players coming through the ranks.
Wandering Geordie
May 31, 2014 at 9:23 AM
Comment #6No Clement on Tyne
Its like and an edition of bargain hunt ..Penny pinching to get the deal but when the time gets near they buy S…t..Albeit on a larger scale money wise
Lee Dodd
May 31, 2014 at 10:40 AM
Comment #7Same old Crap as the last 3 years or so… I am annoyed with myself for not cancelling my season ticket .. I thought The 3 Numtys would we that last season did them 500 % harm BUT they are GOING to just mess about and we will get a few kids in and that’s it … Cabbellla wont be coming he wants champions league football… I can see us bringing the kids through … NO FA or league cups No Euro Football just trying to stay in the Premier league until Ashley is off …
ToonUnder
May 31, 2014 at 10:41 AM
Comment #8Ashley sees footballers as commodities: A basic good used in commerce that is interchangeable with other commodities of the same type. Commodities are most often used as inputs in the production of other goods or services. The quality of a given commodity may differ slightly, but it is essentially uniform across producers.
Taking this mindset into negotiations means he’ll never pay over the odds or be held to ransom. So we’ll end up with commodity like players.
Davies
May 31, 2014 at 11:34 AM
Comment #9Very good point, Slank. In an ideal world, that would probably be successful. Shame we have such poor track record of bringing English players through the ranks and keeping hold of the key imports.
toonluvva
May 31, 2014 at 1:22 PM
Comment #10Not long after Mr Ashley took over the reins at SJP, I commented on this blog that his ownership of the club would be blighted if he tried to run it on the same model as Sports Direct.
A retail business thrives on buy it cheap and sell it at an inflated price. Hire staff on zero hour contracts and only pay the full timers a decent wage if they hit their targets. We all know that football does not work that way. Sadly Mr Ashley has still not learned his lesson.
Whilst the owner might pride himself in not paying over the odds for players, I suspect the other owners are quite happy to snatch players away from us if it will strengthen their squads, and also move NUFC further back in the league.
It is quite simply a short term approach, and will eventually lead the club to fall out of the PL at some point in the (very near) future.