The Mail is reporting today that Newcastle United are interested in signing 25 year-old Cameroon International defender Nicholas N’Koulou, who has been at Marseilles since the summer of 2011.
Nicolas N’Koulou – 25 year-old Cameroon International
The 25-year-old has 51 caps for his country and was at Monaco for three years from 2008 before signing on at Marseilles, where he has played 164 games with 5 goals and while at Monaco he played 86 times.
He is an excellent defender, and his contract at the French club will have just one year to run in the summer, so maybe Newcastle could get a decent deal on him – we certainly need some good center-backs brought in this summer.
But he will cost in the range of £10M – but Newcastle have big money available in the summer – they just have to get the will together to spend it.
However, Everton are also interested in the player as a possible replacement for 37 year-old Sylvain Distin, the former Newcastle center-back, so we’ll have some competition for him.
With Newcastle going after some good players in the summer, and N’Koulou is one of them, it will be interesting to see how we fare against more ambitious clubs like Everton.
Unless Newcastle publicly state their intentions in the summer is to go after a top six place in the Premier League and attempt to get into Europe each year, good players could well shun the Tyneside club because of our (complete) lack of ambition.
But we are probably dreaming again, as that statement is unlikely to come from a club run so frugally by owner Mike Ashley and supported (100%) by Managing Director Lee Charnley.
Mike Ashley’s frugal ways have got the Tyneside club into big trouble this year, and we could still be relegated on May 24th, make no mistake about that.
We may be a rich club at the moment, but not enough money is being invested in the playing squad.
Comments welcome.
92 comments so far
Toonfan8
May 13, 2015 at 2:06 PM
Comment #81dok – if you look at it, its cheaper than go down 🙂
dok - the horrid colonial
May 13, 2015 at 2:08 PM
Comment #82fan8,
perhaps, just perhaps, and this is a shot in the dark… ashley doesn’t feel that way…
I mean, his track record speaks for itself…
Lindisfarne
May 13, 2015 at 2:09 PM
Comment #83As a coach, Frank Rijkaard’s essential philosophy is to guide his team towards playing attack-minded football as a cohesive unit. In doing this, he believes a team can achieve the dual objectives of winning games and ensuring the audience’s enjoyment of the spectacle. This follows in the best coaching traditions of Rijkaard’s countrymen and forebears Rinus Michels and Johan Cruijff. In this light, it is notable that Michels coached both Cruijff and Rijkaard during their respective participations with the Dutch national team, and that Cruijff himself went on to coach Rijkaard. Nonetheless, Rijkaard believes in working within a contemporary football context and is not out to imitate the styles and tactics of past masters. In his own words:
“ you gain many impressions from the past. You still have it in your mind when you become a coach, and if something happens you can recall how it was dealt with. But I strongly believe that you cannot copy anyone. The decisions that a great coach made years ago will not necessarily work today. ”
Rijkaard has evidently learned to curb the quick temper of his playing days and is often a portrait of calm and stability in training and along the touchline. He rarely courts controversy in the media and is more apt now to promote a positive environment and let his team’s play speak for itself when faced with intense rivalry or criticism. The tactics used during his tenure as manager of Barcelona best exemplify Rijkaard’s commitment to playing stylish attacking football. During the team’s 2004–05 and 2005–06 campaigns, the coach frequently fielded a 4–3–3 formation, a system which encouraged the creativity of the players in the front third of the field and created optimal interplay between the midfielders and forwards during attacks. Within this system the four defenders also tended to play in a relatively high position on the pitch to support the midfield which frequently advanced to participate in the attack. The team generally focuses on maintaining possession in the opponents’ half of the field, applying pressure in order to force the opposition to make errors in defense and offensive counter-attacking.
With regards to man-management and motivation, Rijkaard rejects the notion of a “star system” and promotes the idea that every one of his players is a valuable member of the team. He rarely praises one individual over another in the squad, although he has been known to acknowledge the outstanding contributions of a player within the context of a team performance.
Fostino
May 13, 2015 at 2:23 PM
Comment #84anita janmaat colo dummett
arrons abeid colback sissoko perez
cisse
de jong…sammy….cabella to come on or armstrong
expatmag
May 13, 2015 at 2:29 PM
Comment #85PAWL
That line up is ridiculous.
You know they wont bring in so many or let go so many.
As for 2m for Colo and 9m Cisse. You are having a laugh
mecannylad
May 13, 2015 at 2:29 PM
Comment #86I suppose I have been as ‘bolshy’ as the next fan …. and still am to a degree in wanting to kick our present regime into touch.
But in our black and white world rarely are things actually that black and white !
As others have said before. It’s always well nigh impossible to agree common objectives and strategies with a crowd. There are, not surprisingly, different expectations & agendas; and more often than not, too little understanding of what could really happen after.
Many revolutions – with the best of intentions of course – end up in tatters, with the situation actually worse than the previous unacceptable state of affairs. Time and time again objectors who have said, ‘ I’ll take anything but this’ … and … ‘it can’t get any worse than it already is’ soon begin to realise that it could all too easily indeed get worse.
The AshleyOut campaigners (and other detractors for that matter) are in an unenviable position. They need to grow their popular support during the close season (how?)
Mike Ashley no doubt recognises this. He will also realise ironically how he has in fact got lucky with his timings and circumstances over recent weeks. He calls all the real shots still. But how long can he stay lucky ? How long does he want to rely on luck ?
It’s got the makings of a long, long, conflict I’m afraid …. with no real winners.
Can you be arsed ? …. Can he be arsed ? Thats the real dilemma …. after all its only a game.
pawl250
May 13, 2015 at 2:38 PM
Comment #87Expat
Why not? Lets look at this shall we….
Santon – contract expires – not here this season
Sammy – contract expires – ok squad player
Jonas – contract expires – squad player?
Alnwick – contract expires – should never played
RTaylor – contract expires – been injured the last few seasons
Marveuax – contract expires – on loan no dif
Vuckic – contract expires – on loan no dif
Campbell – contract expires – doesnt get in team
Streete – contract expires – dosent get in team
Ferguson – contract expires – doesnt get in team
STaylor – 1m – injured all season anyway
Williamson – 500k – arguably are 1st choice cb with colo
Riviere – 1m – squad player
Coloccini – 2m – first choice cb
Cisse 9m – first choice st, who has a phenomenal goal ratio to games this season.
Obertan 800k – squad player
Gouffran – 1m – squad player
So out of the above we have 5 squad players leaving and 3 first choice players? So 8 players….
Lascelles will return from loan, so we need 7 players to replace.
I said
1.2.3. x3 Centre backs
4.Wjnaldlum
5.Fer
6.Austin
7.Ings
Pantilimon if Sunderland go down and sell/let go Elliot – this would be one for one if it did happen so wont count.
8.Young right back, similar mold to Haidara
So 8 out, 8 in and the rest leaving dead weight.
Graeme
May 13, 2015 at 2:39 PM
Comment #88A good article by Martin Samuel today –
“Paul Clement may be about to coach a team to its second successive Champions League Final. Yet, back home, he is only ever connected with basket-case clubs QPR, Newcastle United, Sunderland..
Seriously, haven’t they heard of Real Madrid? If Clement cannot do better than this, surely it makes more sense to remain abroad.”
Yep, sums it up nicely lol.
Ibizatoon
May 13, 2015 at 2:39 PM
Comment #89mecannylad…Football is just a game. NUFC means a lot more to people than that, as I’m sure you know.
I touched on this earlier, there will always be reasons to not act. I would argue that some are by design, but it’s irrelevant.
Any action by fans will require an element of faith. Just like with fans who choose to continue to back Ashley.
My only point on the matter is that we know what we get with Ashley. We’re not happy with it, so shouldn’t we be trying to do something?
Groups like AO can only do so much. They’ve given people a vehicle in which to join and try and do something. As always, it’s up to the individual whether they do their bit or not.
It’s not going to be easy, so the idea of it being hard should not be the deterent.
Graeme
May 13, 2015 at 3:18 PM
Comment #90NUFC – going nowhere – in a rush!!!
http://www.themag.co.uk/2015/05/comment-mike-ashley-plays-catch-22-with-newcastle-fans/
Blofal
May 13, 2015 at 3:20 PM
Comment #91I’m convinced we can’t rebuild. We don’t have enough money. If we want to compete with the likes of Soton, Swansea and Spurs we need an astronomical amount of investment given our current player list.
Jonas, Raylor and Ferreyra will not have their contracts renewed. Sammy might not either.
Obertan, Tiote, Cisse, Gouffran, Elliot and Williamson I expect could be sold. Thats 10 players just from the first team that could leave and apart from Cisse we would get a pittance for them. They are all practically worthless.
Some will probably be kept only because we won’t have enough players left if we let them all go.
Then players that may need replacing from the reserves you have Ferguson, Campbell and Bigirimana who are likely to be sold. Vukic has talked up staying at rangers. That is 14 players. Darlow and Lacacelles are not ready for the premier league yet so they will just sit on the bench and in the reserves but will be named in the first team squad. It doesn’t look good.
Ashley can try and replace the squad with mostly $3million players and free transfers but we will get relegated if that happens. We need a proven striker and thats $12 million at least right there for somebody like Austin. Thats probably going to be a third of our transfer budget!
Our squad is so inadequate that I think relegation might be on the cards again next season unless Carr pulls out some gems. But I’m increasingly convinced Carr isn’t the genius everyone once thought he was.
lochinvar
May 13, 2015 at 7:37 PM
Comment #92Recruitment of new players must hinge on the clubs ability to sell them the ambition and vision of NUFC.
On that front we have neither unless the biggest U turn in world events takes place.
That has to be done by respected , author active and professional leaders.
Would you be impressed by Ashley, Chanley and Carver being on your interview panel ?
Mmm let me think.