Maybe Newcastle fans shouldn’t hope too much that we have a good first half of the season as we did last season, because then we will likely sell our best player in January, and because we are presumably safe – it really doesn’t matter if we have a bad run – or even a terrible run in the second half of the season – last season we lost seven of the last eight league games – including six in a row – but who cared – we were safe.
Lee Charnley and Mike Ashley
And as every Newcastle fan knows only too well, that’s the one thing that motivates owner Mike Ashley – to keep Newcastle in the Premier League and in the big money.
And what about building a great side – give me a break – please.
This season we made a poor start to the season with only 4 points in the first seven games and no wins, and then we recovered to win five league games in a row, and for the second time this season we have gone on a run of seven games where we have picked up only 4 points.
We have 27 points from our first 22 games played and at 8 points above the relegation zone we are (probably) fairly safe – although we’re still worried about getting in a relegation scrap this season.
But that’s the way Newcastle operate, and if we had been in the bottom five say a year ago, there’s just no way we would have allowed Yohan Cabaye to leave the club.
And of course two years ago, we were in the bottom five after we had been beaten by Reading on 23rd January, for the first time ever – and at home too.
When that happened Mike Ashley got personally involved in the transfer deals and brought four Frenchman in the following week – and that made it five Frenchman brought in during that January transfer window.
In Lee Charnley’s words of last week:
“We were forced to bring players in a couple of years ago in January, because of where we were in the league, and some of those transactions we brought forward from the following summer at significant cost.”
So sorry Newcastle had to spend extra money.
As for this January transfer window, there’s still a chance we could sell Papiss Cisse this month – and maybe that’s why we have recently been linked with his Senegal team-mate Dame N’Doye.
Lee Charnley said he didn’t expect to sell any Newcastle players, when asked if any players would be sold this month:
“I would never, ever rule out selling anyone because the worst thing I could do is over-promise and under-deliver. You will never, ever get me saying never but I would say we’re very difficult sellers.”
“We make it very difficult for people to get our players. We put them on long-term contracts. We are not easy sellers, despite that perception. As we sit here today I can’t envisage any player we want to retain leaving.”
Let’s hope that Papiss Cisse is a player we want to retain this January.
The only way Newcastle will get relegated is when we are caught by surprise – and that will be after January – when it’s too late to bring in new players.
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9 comments so far
Jail for Ashley
Jan 24, 2015 at 2:36 PM
Comment #1Ed,
We did sell arguably our best player that January, Demba Ba.
bills
Maybe the truth hurts too much for you, it surely does show the extent of our ambition when competing with Leicester and Hull for a position we’re desperate in and the fact that our previous manager can get more money at a far less prestigious club.
Essex Geordie Bill
Jan 24, 2015 at 2:40 PM
Comment #2Safe!! I don’t think so. Keep up our present form and it’s championship football for next season.
Mind you I think this new thread by you Ed is a tongue in cheek effort to provoke a reaction such as mine.
I see that Donaldson was chosen as MOM against MU another that slipped through the net?
LGFUAD21
Jan 24, 2015 at 2:48 PM
Comment #3Jfa
Chelsea triggered Ba’s clause. You can hardly blame the club for having to legally let Ba leave.
I guess your response is that they should’ve agreed a new contract with Ba but it would never have happened. Ba is a mercenary who’s had weird clauses in all of his contracts at every club that has allowed his agent (also his brother) to make a shed load each time.
Essex Geordie Bill
Jan 24, 2015 at 2:51 PM
Comment #4I’m no financial expert but the talk of NUFC owing money to Ashley is a load of tosh. He is NUFC with all of its assets and (if there was any) debts.
The fact that the club has made massive profits means that he has. As it has already been pointed out a million times without exaggeration, he has used the club as a massive sandwich board to enhance his many companies vast wealth.
NUFC being in debt to him is a load of b*llocks.
LoonyToon
Jan 24, 2015 at 3:10 PM
Comment #5“You will never, ever get me saying never…”
Always makes me chuckle when I read that.
I’m sorry but I have no respect for Goebbels, oops I mean Charnley.
He also said the new head coach will not speak to the media and he (lc) doesn’t like the media spotlight either. So we will still have carefully worded crap from the relations department. Utter contempt for us.
God I hate the lot of them. Where else can you treat customers like they do?
What’s the point eh? I have a knot in my stomach saying that. It feels like I’ve fell out with a close family member.
I feel so sad thinking about my beloved club. I feel so close to giving up. Its getting close.
lesh
Jan 24, 2015 at 3:50 PM
Comment #6If Ashley’s working on the basis of running with ‘nothing to play for’ second halves of seasons, then it’s only fair that he half the cost of season tickets and let pay-on-the day fans in free!
lesh
Jan 24, 2015 at 3:57 PM
Comment #7There’s an was way to make it impossible for predatory clubs, and that is to issue an unequivocal ‘Not For Sale At Any Price’ response to enguiries!
Or might that be something our great leader might not be keen to go along with?
Sav
Jan 24, 2015 at 10:00 PM
Comment #8Here’s an excellent article I recommend you read as it puts into words how most of us felt reading Chinless Charnley’s exposition of company policy.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/lee-charnley-ripping-heart-out-5035737?
Sav
Jan 24, 2015 at 10:09 PM
Comment #9If Chinless says he may wait until summer to get the right man as head coach, presumably that means you can write off Garde and Tuschel now as they are both available now if we pushed hard enough to land them. If we think de Boer is going to come in to have his best players sold when ‘the value we have on them is met’ I think we are much mistaken. Who is the ‘we’ here and what is the value placed upon selling all the hope out of a season? And if any coach is prepared to accept all this corporate shite, is he good enough to manage our club and would we want him?