It seems if manager Joe Kinnear is still at Newcastle in January, he will try to bring in Stephen Warnock from Blackburn Rovers, and move 22 year-old Jose Enrique back to Spain.
Jose Enrique – trouble nailing down first team spot at Newcastle
Kevin Keegan had identified the Blackburn left-back as one of his summer targets but Newcastle failed with a series of increasing bids that went up to £5M.
But in getting ready for the January transfer window, as we reported yesterday, Newcastle scouts have watched Warnock again, but whether we can get our money back on Enrique is a big question. Joe has already said there are some players he will try to move out in January, to fund the incoming players, and it looks likely that Jose is one of them.
We reportedly paid over £6M for Enrique, when he was brought to the club by Sam Allardyce in the summer of 2007, and Jose has never quite nailed down the left back spot, although he played well for Keegan at the end of last season. Another player that could be moved out is Xisco, another Spaniard, who cost us almost £6M last summer, and has also not shown us too much this season.
If Kinnear is given the nod this weekend to manage Newcastle through the end of the season, he will need to move quickly to shore up the Newcastle squad, which is much too small for the rigors of a Premier League campaign. We’ve all known that for about a year now.
Director of Football Dennis Wise should be able to work with Kinnear in trying to get Joe’s targets in, and it’s interesting there doesn’t seem to have been much disagreement between the two on who is calling the shots on the transfer front.
We assume it’s Joe, since he’s the one who’s drawn up a list of those players who should come in and those who should go come January. And of course, we still don’t know exactly what the huge breakup between Keegan and the Board really was in early September – it would be nice to find that out sometime, but we’re not now 100% certain it was as has been widely reported.
Anyway, if Joe is staying at the club, what we need is for Dennis and Joe to do a good job in the January transfer window, for the good of the club, which must start taking some priority (for a change) in this mess we’re in.
We also have to ensure if we do move players out, we get at least 3-4 additional players in, so our squad is that much bigger for the rest of the season.
Comments welcome.
105 comments so far
neeraj
Nov 19, 2008 at 11:17 AM
Comment #1http://www.goal.com/en/news/592/bayern-munich/2008/11/12/961471/hoeness-tells-kroos-to-step-up-his-game
it says bayern may be willing to send kroos on loan
i know he is 18
but he belongs to krkic, vela league and both of them are good at 18 only
so try to get him, good answer to our lack of att midfielder…
The Alchemist
Nov 19, 2008 at 11:23 AM
Comment #2This is a joke…What happens when warnock gets injured…back to square one again! Keep Jose and get warnock for competition. We need to build up the squad…noone should be sold in jan until we get at least three players in..
Ryan Peacock
Nov 19, 2008 at 11:23 AM
Comment #3at last enrique going. yipee!
and warnock is class!
ok it is rumours, but good ones! yes!
David_Barber
Nov 19, 2008 at 11:25 AM
Comment #4Warnock in Ashley out!!!
Tom_Toon
Nov 19, 2008 at 11:31 AM
Comment #5Just keep him as back0up and get someone like Hakan Balta, Rat or Obradovic in.
Partizan vs Newcastle
Nov 19, 2008 at 11:34 AM
Comment #6Toni Kroos is ok for loan….similar to Arteta style of playing but more stronger in body balance than him.
I’dd rather pay 3 mill and get Tamas Hajnal from Dortmund…for those who still miss Emre’s style of play,well,Hajnal is almost a copycat of Emre only difference is that Hajnal is right footer and less less injured.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lFU6sCLBTY&feature=related
Whumpie
Nov 19, 2008 at 11:44 AM
Comment #7I disagree with one point, Ed. Wise is absolutely in charge, and the only reason he’s ok working with JFK is that JFK knows he’s temporary.
Also, if JFK is talking about shipping out players, I’m concerned that it reflects what Ashley and Wise have told him, which amounts to keeping the squad small and minimising net spend – exactly what we don’t need.
It would be good to see Warnock in, but as others have said – we need two good players competing for that spot.
I’m not sure it’s time to give up on Enrique yet either – it’s a position for a mature head and he’s only young; better to keep him and develop him than sell on at a loss when we’re so thin on the ground.
Ausgeordie
Nov 19, 2008 at 11:44 AM
Comment #8Now that everyone is mentioning the rat I do remember hearing his name in a mostly positive fashion recently.
I think we should keep enrique as he shows good skills as a defender but has much to learn as an attacking fullback and this is where his weakness lies but bring in someone better than warnock to take his place.
From the current squad I would be happy to see xisco, Smith, Cacapa, geremi and viduka all leave.
We have Carroll and Ranger and both should start getting some serious bench time and first team minutes when possible and are cheaper on the books. I would be happy to keep shola floating around and let him leave for free one day though we could get a few mill for him if he keeps getting the odd goal.
Ryan Peacock
Nov 19, 2008 at 11:44 AM
Comment #9tom toon
razvan rat would be nice
keith
Nov 19, 2008 at 11:46 AM
Comment #10If ashley is still in charge joe will more than likey have to sell before he can buy so i can see why enrqiue and xisco might be sold, if we could get maybe 10 mil ( i would imagine that is a hopeful figure ) it gives joe a chance to get maybe 1 or 2 new signings and maybe another 1 or 2 in on loan
Incognito
Nov 19, 2008 at 11:47 AM
Comment #11Typical backward-mentality. Enrique has one or two bad games and we’re looking to sell him. Why not sell Taylor while we’re at it? He’s a total liability, while I can’t think of anything Enrique has done that’s lead to conceding a goal (recently anyway!).
Yes sign new players, but why continue reducing the size of an already tiny squad?
Ryan Peacock
Nov 19, 2008 at 11:47 AM
Comment #12so who do we all want rid off in january?
for me: viduka,enrique,cacapa,butt,geremi and gonzalez
bring in: brandao,warnock,dunne,bullard,koren and elano
then i woke up lol
african-kenyan-ronniezog
Nov 19, 2008 at 11:50 AM
Comment #13this guy doesnt seem to improve send him back to spain en get our left back position saviour WARNOCK
Partizan vs Newcastle
Nov 19, 2008 at 11:51 AM
Comment #14Does anyone feel that Wise has been our manager for the past 8 months…and KK and JFK were only the coaches.
Bosck
Nov 19, 2008 at 11:52 AM
Comment #15Just cos we are trying to sign warnock does not mean we will get rid of enrique.
we need 2 players in each position so just means jk may have decided that defence is going to be as follows:
LB: Warnock, Enrique
CB: Collocini, Bassong, Taylor, Cacapa (tho may be shipped on)
RB: Beye, Geremi
Seems sensible approach to sign another lb if he has decided to count bassong as solely a cb.
Tom_Toon
Nov 19, 2008 at 11:54 AM
Comment #16In a in an ideal world:
Out: Cacapa, Edgar, Carroll, Smith and possibly Owen (if he doesn’t come out and state his intensions.
In: Hakan Balta, Rat or Obradovic (LB), Yebda or Topal (DM) and a ST (preferably big) – Almeida or Cardozo.
Whumpie
Nov 19, 2008 at 11:55 AM
Comment #17Rat?? Don’t we have enough vermin in the board room..?
samthecat
Nov 19, 2008 at 11:57 AM
Comment #18No point shipping one in and shipping one out, that gets us nowhere. I can see a loan signing to replace Gonzalez.
Wise has all the power-Kinnear none-a full time Manager never had any say in transfers so why a part time one thinks he will i have no idea.
Partizan vs Newcastle
Nov 19, 2008 at 11:58 AM
Comment #19Bosck….You can never ever be a big club if you don’t have 2 players in each position and i completely agree with you that Enrique should stay and get Warnock aswell.
BUT…..its Ashley we’re dealing with 🙁
Whumpie
Nov 19, 2008 at 11:58 AM
Comment #20Let’s play “spot the Football Manager players on the discussion forum!” I hate that game, as it fills this board with huge lists of obscure foreigners recommended because some meaningless statistical computer game says they’re good. Anyone think Ferguson or Wenger use it? Thought not.
We don’t need to sell too many players – just get a few in to improve key areas (left back and attacking midfield) and build squad depth. The likes of Enrique are young and need far longer to prove their worth with some stability around them.
Ryan Peacock
Nov 19, 2008 at 11:59 AM
Comment #21Whumpie
yeah we got alot of dirty rats in the boardroom but trust me razvan rat is a good left back
JP...from The Rock
Nov 19, 2008 at 12:00 PM
Comment #22Move players OUT to get players IN…WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!?? How in the hell can we even think such a stupid thing. We have probaably the smallest squad in the EPL and we have to make it smaller to get money to replace what we have!!? That is the most stupid thing we can do. We will only be going round in circles. Come January we will be again complaining at the lack of bodies / players to fill the voids left by injuries and suspensions etc. I can’t believe that Joe Kinnear has said that we need to sell to buy AGAIN!! We’re shooting ourselves in the foot again! UNBELIEVABLE!! I really hope that JK hasn’t said that and that Ashley or whoever the Owner is come January spends to ADD NOT TO REPLACE!! I just can’t believe anyone has even thought of doing that again. WILL WE EVER LEARN???
Our squad goes from small to smaller – it’s pathetic. What we need is players for competition for places then surely you will see improvements in all our players because they just can’t afford to be lazy as they will know their place is up for grabs by another player. Concentrate on the positions we need cover in, LB / DM / RW / RB and we will be OK but noooooo what do we do we go and REPLACE our under-performing players and stay with the same ridiculously small squad AGAIN! Fuc**ing Unbelievable!
Whumpie
Nov 19, 2008 at 12:02 PM
Comment #23Ryan – I remember the references to him in the last transfer window. He’s clearly a bit handy.
But I still think KK was right – we should be after premiership players – even ones who aren’t as good on paper as the foreign ones. We can’t keep spending on these Spanish flops. English players are expensive for a reason!
Whumpie
Nov 19, 2008 at 12:02 PM
Comment #24..and yes, I know Rat isn’t Spanish!
Partizan vs Newcastle is something i don't want to see
Nov 19, 2008 at 12:02 PM
Comment #25We need at least 3 players out and 5 players inn in January.
Whumpie
Nov 19, 2008 at 12:04 PM
Comment #26I agree with JP!! But I’ve had less caffiene!!
beyethegreat
Nov 19, 2008 at 12:09 PM
Comment #27whumpie
fm is a brill game and not meaningless thats why david moyes has struck a deal with fm to do some scouting
JP...from The Rock
Nov 19, 2008 at 12:11 PM
Comment #28Whumpie – It’s not the caffiene it’s just that we keep doing that STUPID misktake every season and it pisses me off soooo much b’cuz that is another season down the drain. Time and time again we sell to get players in. If we do that it’s obvious we’re either going down or staying with the same problem next September. We need more players desperately can’t anyone see that and solve the problem of lack of players?? IS IT THAT HARD ? I bet it aint!
Ryan Peacock
Nov 19, 2008 at 12:13 PM
Comment #29razvan rat is a romanian international, where as when we got enrique noone had heard off him
Ryan Peacock
Nov 19, 2008 at 12:15 PM
Comment #30scotland v argentina:
do you think jonas and fabricio will start?
keith
Nov 19, 2008 at 12:17 PM
Comment #31i agree jp but with ashley not spending money , or so he says , do we have a choice unless new owners come in? we do need compition for places but if no money is been supplied by the board the manager will have to wheel and deal
Stardust
Nov 19, 2008 at 12:18 PM
Comment #32Quote Ed “And of course, we still don’t know exactly what the huge breakup between Keegan and the Board really was in early September – it would be nice to find that out sometime, but we’re not now 100% certain it was as has been widely reported.”
Yet Ed and the MOB chose to swallow up newspaper garb as fact and destabilised the club – many of kept reiterating that no one knew the facts from day one and that KK had done the biggest wrong – bravo – hang your head in shame.
As the more level headed here have stated on countless occasions – the Fans responsibility is towards SUPPORTING THE TEAM – nothing else. The sooner people jump of the Anti this Anti that bandwaggon we might actually get our football club back.
sirjasontoon
Nov 19, 2008 at 12:23 PM
Comment #33Warnock will go to man city…bit obvious that one so forget about him.
We will be looking at the scraps that nobody wants and unproven foreign Tat.
Kevin Nichol
Nov 19, 2008 at 12:30 PM
Comment #34Tom toon…This isnt football manager m8! Unfortunately bringing in hoards of foreign players who have never played in the EPL before does not work e.g in the toon’s case recently (enrique, xisco, cacapa, luque, boumsong, emre…to name a few but i could have gone on all day; lets all list the flops we have had) You may get one or two who settle in quickly and adapt; but those are few and far between and they usually come at a premium! We are not exactly flush at Newcastle right now.
I’m not saying that signing English players is the answer (i.e. Smith) but we do need players who can come in and do a job straight away with the situation we find ourselves in at the botom of the table! Warnock would be ideal; but in all likelehood not available! Even if he was why would he choose to come and play for us right now? No ties to the club, would probably earn more at Man city!!!
My hit list would be to sign in January;
Elano (Not getting a game at man city and if they buy big then he might be available)
Warnock (I cannot see this happening)
Kevin Doyle (scoring freely in the championship; has scored goals in the PL; however it is common knowledge Villa are after him)
Kightly (i really like the look of this kid @ wolves; no PL experience but the tough tackling Championship gives a good grounding to step up for those who have the quality and i believe he has)
Let me know what you think
(…not having a go at you tom toon; i just think its unrealistic to sign 4 foreigh players who have never played in english football at this time)
Nick 69
Nov 19, 2008 at 12:32 PM
Comment #35sirjasontoon- thats not at all obvious, with the money city have i highly doubt they will be purchasing players of warnocks calibre, they will have their sights set a bit higher than that and go and splash silly money on someone else!!
Alex
Nov 19, 2008 at 12:42 PM
Comment #36JP i could not agree more mate , it would be totally senseless to get rid of Enrique and replace him . we need another fullback to challenge him . Its been the biggest problem for a long time now , not enough quality numbers in so we can bring the likes of Enrique , Xisco in slowly but surly . These lads are all young and need to be introduced to the first team in the same way as Walcott was at the Arse . Trouble is , we always seem to have a big injury list and have to throw the young lads to the lions . When they don’t have an immediate impact they are labelled as being crap without having had a decent run i.e Xisco . The consequences being their confidence is destroyed and a promising player is yet again lost . What we need at the moment is an experienced EPL left back, two central defenders a defensive midfielder & an attacking creative midfielder added to the squad . Smith and Cacapa could be got rid of but the rest kept until the end of the season .
THE BEAT.
Nov 19, 2008 at 12:42 PM
Comment #37the trouble is at newcastle ,they are good at showing players the door,but the current regime have shown themselves to be too slow at getting players in.
i would be against shipping players out,as we only have a month to operate in,it took wise and co nearly all that time to sign collocini.
if we ship players out i bet we,d end up left high and dry.
JP...from The Rock
Nov 19, 2008 at 12:43 PM
Comment #38keith – We could get players in on loan. That way we have cover and we also get a look at players we may be interested in without spending the cash. Then if the player is worth it it wouldn’t be a gamble and we know we are signing a good player when we have the money.
ELFER
Nov 19, 2008 at 12:47 PM
Comment #39mates, our problem isn’t the left back spot…we can try to get a better one there, yes, but our real problem is BUTT or so call the holding midfield rule! We desperately need one to cover up our defense also!
I think with a good holding midfielder our game will change and the defense will also start to look better!
THE BEAT.
Nov 19, 2008 at 12:48 PM
Comment #40jp,that is probably our only option if the uncertainty still exists come jan,everyone knows not many players move during this time.
who will sign for us anyway with all the upheaval?
loans may be our only course of action,and even then they will probably be the journeymen types from the championship.