There are several reports yesterday and today that Kevin Keegan will be handed £50M in the transfer market this summer.
Kevin Keegan - enough money to spend in the summer transfer marker
There were similar reports in January, shortly after Kevin returned as Newcastle manager, but that £50M amount was spread over both the January and summer transfer windows.
Since we didn’t end up signing any senior players in January, that money would be available in the summer.
But we don’t think it’s actually limited even to £50M, because we understand that Ashley is now willing to commit big money to bring in top class players. He wasn’t willing to do that in January with Big Sam because of a couple of reasons
- The team was not doing well and some of Sam’s buys last summer had been struggling at the club
- Some of Sam’s potential targets didn’t exactly thrill Ashley
We have already published some thoughts on Englishman who would seem to be available in the summer and any one of these would be good acquisitions. But after seeing Michael Carrick’s performance yesterday in Manchester United’s 4-0 demolition of Arsenal, where he was spraying balls out to the wings and looking the great midfielder he is, we cannot see the Red Devils letting him go.
The 5 players we identified were:
Wes Brown
Wayne Bridge
Michael Carrick
Stewart Downing
Dean Ashton
But there are other potentially available players, who have massive Premier League experience, who can help us out include:
John Arne Riise - Liverpool
Steve Finnan – Liverpool
Peter Crouch - Liverpool
Nicky Shorey - Reading
And of course our acquisition of top youngsters will continue, so that the first team squad will be big enough for next season quite easily.
Players that we expect to leave would include Stephen Carr, Shola Ameobi and David Rozehnal.
So we are well set for the summer, but there is a dark cloud on the horizon right now, and that is relegation. We still have a job to do to ensure we can stay in the Premier league, and our next game against Manchester United next Saturday, at St. James’ Park, could not be harder, especially after Manchester’s complete rout of Arsenal yesterday in the FA Cup.
Comments very welcome.
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72 responses so far ↓
1 catchy // Feb 17, 2008 at 11:18
not sure they wil be good enough signings.. ashton is who we need
2 AdamCF // Feb 17, 2008 at 11:28
I’ll believe it when I see it. Please MA, spend your money on smart purchases, not overpriced, overpaid Englishmen.
3 Leo* // Feb 17, 2008 at 11:30
nah ashton isnt that good. £50mil doesnt actually get a huge amount of players. unless you wheel and deal, i hope though that we just go for it be ruthless and count your chips at the end of the game
4 Bill F // Feb 17, 2008 at 11:36
Yeah Leo is right, two and a half really classy players in todays market or five good ones. I’m sure someone can extrapolate a list from that criteria.
5 Mat // Feb 17, 2008 at 11:44
Everyone knows the old adage about the champion team beating a team of champions.
Can some of the numpties that post on this site consider this, as well as the number of rated players that have been brought to the club in the last few years and who have struggled, before they start posting who they want bought in the summer? You could bring Kaka and Ferdinand to NUFC and they would look shithouse in this current side because of the lack of system, succession planning and overall professionalism that exists.
If KK is the has-been, out-of-touch-with-Gen Y manager that many qualified commentators have suggested he is, (not the clowns who post here), then the cycle of shit continues and 500 mill ain’t gonna buy you a successful side.
6 AdamCF // Feb 17, 2008 at 11:48
Spot on Mat.
7 smc894 // Feb 17, 2008 at 11:52
We need to look for more diamonds like N’zogbia, buy the players with promise for next to nothing and build for the future.
8 Chicken // Feb 17, 2008 at 11:55
Please not another excuse for Tom_Toon to copy and paste his list of Chickyhooha & Co.
9 Zx // Feb 17, 2008 at 11:57
I can’t wait for the season to end!!
10 Chicken // Feb 17, 2008 at 12:00
Mat - can you please explain what the fcuk you are talking about?
11 CRAIGG // Feb 17, 2008 at 12:00
Sunderland remaining fixtures:
Pompey A
Derby A
Everton H
Chelsea H
Villa A
West ham H
Fulham A
Man city H
Newcastle A
Boro H
Bolton A
Arsenal H
I’d say six points: 3 off derby , 1 off West ham, 1 off Fulham and 1 off boro and if they dont win at derby… theyre in worse shit than us but have spent the last month looking at our position
what do you lot think?
12 ToonJon (PSN ID: jnufcuk) // Feb 17, 2008 at 12:04
£50m aint gunna buy u alot these days. Need more like £500m then your talking. i think we need 3 defs 3mid and 2 more strikers. selling carr,ameobi,butt,smith and viduka.
P.S. If you play COD 4 of FIFA 08 on PS3 then plz add me. Need more nufc supporters to play with.
13 Ian // Feb 17, 2008 at 12:07
I like Ashton, I wouldnt mind him arriving if for some reason Viduka was leaving and we were also going to buy another striker too, however I think that we must try and get a major injury free for the last year or two striker, who is familiar with the premiership and whos recent goal scoring record ie last two or three years is reasonable and if it had been added to our striker who is likely to team up with him would have improved our situation, we dont want potential, we dont want someone ‘if they return to previous form..’ etc etc, that is why I would try my best to attract Djibril Cisse, his 2006/2007 goals would make a massive difference to our position, he didnt play every match, but if he brought those goals here, with that amount of matches without improving at all that would have an impact here, he is for sale at the end of the season, he is considering coming back to the premiership (Manchester City are looking closely at him and wanted him in January but he refused to change clubs mid season), we need someone who is on good form now or very recently.
Cisse scores at international level, scores at premiership level, he is a player that we would have a realistic chance of landing, as I cannot see us attracting a player such as Drogba at the moment.
14 hanzemre // Feb 17, 2008 at 12:11
on paper we’d be losing that game but on match day hope the players believe they can play, bearin no fears & take the game to them. They’re not invinsible/ untouchable.Just got to be strong & wise enough to always contain & attack them.
15 Nomis_jade // Feb 17, 2008 at 12:31
I think its all very well having all this money to spend but the really classy players are not going to want to come to us. We are not in europe and looking at a bottom 10 finish. I think its going to be tricky. Although as always i will be optimistic when the summer sales comes round.
16 Mat // Feb 17, 2008 at 12:31
Yo, Chicken brain! Right, too many words per sentence for you.
I’ll try and make it simpler…
Five managers in five years (or whatever it is), means five different ways of playing and no consistency. Succession planning, (grooming younger players for certain roles/positions and getting the older guys to teach them) doesn’t work when no one hangs around for more than a season.
It also means that if players don’t like the manager, they don”t have suck it up and adapt, work harder, whatever, they just wait until he gets the sack.
Gen Y - players younger than 30. They typically don’t want just a bucket load of cash. If they’re any good they rightly assume they’ll get big bucks wherever they go, so they set their sights on what’s on offer outside of football - the cool night-clubs, the funky clothing stores the bands and the chick that only London can offer. If you don’t have a manager that can recognise this, talk to them on their level and convince them that NUFC can offer something more substantial, they leave. (Woops, too many words per sentence again). Same goes for convincing good players to come in the first place.
This ain’t brain surgery, Chicken-dick, but obviously a little more complicated than saying, “Let’s buy Ronaldo!”
17 Mat // Feb 17, 2008 at 12:44
Shit, that’s no better an explanation, how about this.
STOP THROWING NUFC’S AMPLE CASH AROUND ON MERCENARY PLAYERS AND MANAGERS THINKING THAT WILL FIX THINGS!
MAKE NEWCASTLE A PLACE WHERE GOOD YOUNGER PLAYERS WANT TO GO , WELL INTENTIONED MANAGERS AND SUPPORT STAFF WANT TO WORK AND GOOD YOUNG PLAYERS WANT TO STAY!
Right, there - I’ve said my peace.
18 Bill F // Feb 17, 2008 at 12:45
Mat are you including everybody who posts on this site. If so then there is some serious self criticism happening here.
Personally I take it as a compliment as the clown is a time honoured profession and I am more than happy to exchange points of view with my fellow clowns.
19 Mat // Feb 17, 2008 at 12:48
Nah, nah… the clowns are the ones peddling the easy fixes - a fair percentage but thankfully not the majority.
And yes, clowning is an honorable profession, I agree.
20 AdamCF // Feb 17, 2008 at 12:56
Mat, you’re not the only one who feels this way. There is the easy road, i.e blame the manager, spend big on players and payouts, or there’s building the team again from the ground up with quality management and managing good players through the system. I know which I prefer. I also know which one will bring long term success. But hey all.. let’s bring in Ronaldo, Lampard, Gerrard, Messi et al. Easy aint it.
21 mikeygd // Feb 17, 2008 at 12:59
lets go after, Fletcher, Lescott, artera or cahill, bentley, kenwynne jones
22 iain // Feb 17, 2008 at 13:05
considering the amount of quality we need in and amount of players most people agree we need to let go along with some quality i would like to see us add some players from lower leagues and give them a chance.
its never hurt us before keegan made a pl team where a lot of his key players came from lower leagues and sir bob bought a few from the lower leagues that maybe never were great but were always steady and only really struggled at the cl level. althought andy griffin etc had there moments at that level.
i would like to see us sign
steven fletcher cf hibernian
joe garner cm carlisle
howard who scored against lpool yest ive seen as bit off and think would be a good pl squad player.
give some guy from a lower league any day than crud lik3 amdy faye (hes not even a tryer, just willie mckay just picked him up off teh street im sure as hes no footballer). its and embarassment imo that clubs keep buying players like amdy faye at pl level when there are players in the lower leagues that couold do much better jobs. even just as squad players.
23 iain // Feb 17, 2008 at 13:10
the one consistent mistake nearly every manager since keegan was here first time has made is to buy players top clubs no longer want.
butt, duff, owen, cacapa, smith.
we need players clubs dont want to sell or players trying to make a name for themselves.
if keegan goes and buys people like riise from liverpool i will be very disapointed as it will be the same old mistake and imo make the new backroom setup tottally pointless if we base or 1st team transfer policy on getting players that were “ok” for top 4 clubs.
24 Sweardoon // Feb 17, 2008 at 13:16
I agree with Mat. Although it is ‘chic’, not ‘chick’. Unless you mean quality/quantity ratio of ladies, which Tyneside does have in abundance (fiesty chicken fillet titted hoo hahs).
Mind ye, judging by what passes through my revolving doors…
It’s only been a month and a bit, give it ‘kin time.
25 Chicken // Feb 17, 2008 at 13:36
Mat - my confusion has nothing to do with the number of words per sentence you’re using - just that the words you used when arranged as you did appeared to be nothing other than a load of incoherent gibberish.
Nice touch responding with an insult though - not only are you a man of utmost intelligence you are obviously quite clearly as hard as nails.
I salute you Mat!
26 iain // Feb 17, 2008 at 13:39
mind you if its 50m net after player sales then we will probably be pushing the top 10 and no more.
27 Mat // Feb 17, 2008 at 13:45
Let’s face it gentlemen, I ain’t know Ed.
Nuff of my poo
28 toon4lyf // Feb 17, 2008 at 13:59
buy:arca,bently,crouch and bridge or barzagli
sell:butt,carr,barton and viduka
given
beye taylor faye bridge
bently emre arca nzogbia
owen crouch
subs.smith,ameobi,zambrella,milner,cacapa
29 Tom_Toon // Feb 17, 2008 at 14:32
50 million is not really much considering that will be net spent, because no1 wants our players.
30 Gooderz // Feb 17, 2008 at 14:37
I hope some of that money goes towards Aiden McGeady and inject some much needed pace and skill into the team straight away.
31 Hadrian // Feb 17, 2008 at 14:44
50 mills areet i suppose , but by then man city will have had another lump sum to spend .
where are we trying to position ourselves ? cos if its among manu ect we need a hell of alot more than 50 million , chroist , manu spent that on kids in the summer .
32 Tom_Toon // Feb 17, 2008 at 14:50
How bout looking in the championship: Carney, Semedo, Olofinjana, Surman to name a few. Midfielders are what we need, hence naming these.
33 Beastie // Feb 17, 2008 at 16:25
MY GOD GET RID OF AMEOBI 1ST!!!!!! Then carr, cacapa, butt, barton, viduka! get shot of that lot!!!
34 Geordie Joe // Feb 17, 2008 at 16:57
I can’t believe people are complaining about 50m. This amount will signifacantly improve our squad. 6 or 7 quality players. Afterall we do not need a whole new squad, we do have some quality in there already.
35 Tom_Toon // Feb 17, 2008 at 17:01
50 mil = 3 or 4 great players in todays market (e dont look at untapped place for quality so we will pay over the odds)and no1 will want to buy our players the ones we sell we wont get much money for.
50 mil is enough in my opinion but not if you’re buying english.
Greek Toon - What do you think about Lagos (footballer)?
36 Geordie Joe // Feb 17, 2008 at 17:08
ye 3 - 4 players in the 15m region but you can get quality for less than that. There is a couple of englishman i would have, Carrick and Bridge. But apart from them i think we do need to look abroad. English players have no technique or composure. Carrick is one of the few englishmen with technique and composure.
37 Tom_Toon // Feb 17, 2008 at 17:12
Yes but hes probably going to buy shitty overrated english players.
38 scott9 // Feb 17, 2008 at 17:50
50m i would look at getting players like
aiden mcgeady of celtic 8m
song bilong swap for zog
toulalon 8m
arshevin 8m
barnetta 8m
ashton 10m
top class cb 10m
shorey 5m
outs
ameobi 3m
smith 4.5m if that
rozy 2m
cacapa 1m
ramage 1m
carr 1m
butt 2m
39 ToonJon (PSN ID: jnufcuk) // Feb 17, 2008 at 18:15
Couldnt agree more scott9. if only we could ge those players then i think our squad would be complete until the next summer transfer window.
Just wondering how many class centre backs there are for £10m that we could get.
40 ToonJon (PSN ID: jnufcuk) // Feb 17, 2008 at 18:18
Add Downing to that list aswell. I know he has just signed a new contract but that is just so him and the scum can get more moeny. Although if he wud cost to much than forget it. Cause he was the scums best player today. delivery in from wide and dead ball is superb and still only young. also adam johnson from then would be great. he was onloan at watfrod last season and he was quality
41 scott9 // Feb 17, 2008 at 18:24
yes toon jon they only reason i dont put him on there was cause he signed a new deal but i we could still get him he would be a qaulity be we need class players though and we need a top class cb i just cant think of any top top class cb we have a chance of getting theres epople like hetinga kompany and barzagli but i just cant see us getting any of those
42 chris_toon // Feb 17, 2008 at 18:32
well why don’t you all sign sum sorta petition or w.e to get KK out and all you lot become managers because u all seem to kno better than everyone else eho we should buy or sell or what we will get for individual players init!!!!!
43 Gooderz // Feb 17, 2008 at 19:15
The thing about Alex Song is that whilst he is typically a midfielder, I really see him as a great CB for us.
All our current defenders are pretty no nonsense, and unable to play on the ball and bring he ball out of defence. Song is the opposite of them and could make a crucial difference by bringing qualities we’ve rarely seen in a defender. This would also benefit the midfield.
Hopfuly some of you saw some of his Carling Cup exploits this year, other than our match against Arsenal, where he would make absurd runs from the back, but he did keep the ball and started some good attacks.
I can’t think of any top CBs we could get, but that’s not the only problem; they also need to speak good english. So perhaps we should push for Richard Dunne if Man City fail to get a top 4 finish. He’s got the experience to make a huge difference and could play for about another 5 years, in which time Taylor or another young defender should be in prime position to take over that role. And if Man City don’t accept an offer then he can pay of his final year if he is interested in joining Newcastle and fellow Irishmen, Given and Duff.
44 Tom_Toon // Feb 17, 2008 at 19:34
We dont really need this guy but he has long been a favourite of mine: Chevanton, not playing a lot at Sevilla, because he has been injured but mostly on the bench but he is the kind of player to start KK’s free flowng attacking revolution.
45 robertsA // Feb 17, 2008 at 20:08
I would like to see the toon sign NASRI, CARRICK, KROOS, ARSHAVIN and tell Barton to f**k off for chinning that kid. From the defence only keep Taylor, Beye and Faye. then buy UPSON, DAWSON, WHEATER AND BRIDGE. Sell Ameobi, Viduka, Barton, Rozenhal, Enrique, Carr. if any of you dont know who Arshavin, Nasri and Kroos are then researh them.!!!!!!!! it is worth your while.
46 toon4lyf // Feb 17, 2008 at 20:16
aye song is just wat we need in defence also buy these
buy:arca 5m
buy:mcgeady 8m
buy:ashton
sell:barton 5m
sell:butt 1m
sell:carr1m
sell:viduka1m
sell:ameobi2m
given
beye song faye/taylor enrique
mcgeady emre arca nzogbia
ashton owen/martins
47 figsdad // Feb 17, 2008 at 20:18
not enough money he was reported to have around 30mil in jan..
plus with the tv money coming in plus season ticket money we should be looking like 80mil to 100mil if we really want to make a strong push for europe…
48 toon4lyf // Feb 17, 2008 at 20:19
dat team wud ensure uefa cup at least
49 SPOT THE ZEBRA // Feb 17, 2008 at 20:28
I cant fathom why this fascination with Dean Ashton on here.The team is seriously lacking in pace so Ashton shouldnt even be considered in my opinion.
Out of that list id only take Bridge and Carrick but KK would find it difficult to prise the two away from Champions League teams.
I hope we look long term and pursue our recent transfer policy of bringing in younger players and developing them ourselves.Stephen Sunday who was mentioned recently would be a fine aquisition for example.
Most of the “£50 million” would be better spent on developing a better scouting system and bringing in top class coaches.
50 toon4lyf // Feb 17, 2008 at 20:38
dean ashton is a top target man we currently hav nun of those
51 Tom_Toon // Feb 17, 2008 at 20:39
Viduka is miles better than Ashton, he has quality and stays fit for about the same time as ashton aswell.
52 Geordie Joe // Feb 17, 2008 at 20:43
Viduka is much much better than ashton. There is few that can hold the ball up like sir duke.
53 CJ // Feb 17, 2008 at 20:48
Has anyone noticed Chris Mort was always in the paper getting interviewed or on the tele but now it has got really bad we have not heard from him sounds a bit like Freddie.
54 CJ // Feb 17, 2008 at 20:50
Def agree Viduka is better than Ashton they both have a few things in common the main one being always injured and a bit out of shape.
55 toon4lyf // Feb 17, 2008 at 20:53
hav uce watched any newcastle matches this year viduka has been terrible at holding the ball up
56 CJ // Feb 17, 2008 at 20:59
Viduka has hardly played but still managed 5 goals and when he has been holding up the ball you need your strikers or midfielders to help him out which he never gets.
57 CJ // Feb 17, 2008 at 21:00
Toon4lyf- Are you serious Mcgeady 8 mil wouldn’t pay 5mil
58 ToonJon (PSN ID: jnufcuk) // Feb 17, 2008 at 21:01
probs prefer kenwye jones rather than ashton
59 Tom_Toon // Feb 17, 2008 at 21:01
Viduka is one of the best hold up strikers in the prem if not europe.
Dean Ashton cant really hold a ball hes just a fat and lazy half goalscorer.
60 Tom_Toon // Feb 17, 2008 at 21:02
Kenwyne Jones is miles better than Ashton but Viduka still edges it for me, if he could stay fit he’d be immense.
61 CJ // Feb 17, 2008 at 21:10
Def agree viduka great at holding up the ball with a player similiar to Gerrard who burst’s in to the box he would score and create goals all day long.
Toon4lyf are you a smoggy
62 CJ // Feb 17, 2008 at 21:11
Ashton has been in the prem lge for a while now and has not made an impact and Viduka has been scoring goals in the lge for a long time.
63 Todd // Feb 17, 2008 at 21:11
Thing is, there were “reports” of 50 million in January. Ed even says “Since we didn’t end up signing any senior players in January, that money would be available in the summer.”
According to who… ? I haven’t seen one quote from Mort or Ashley saying anything about a dollar amount. And until I do, I’m not gonna assume any amount is available in the summer. I only hope Ashley is willing to spend large amounts on new players. It worries me that there was such a thin squad in January, and nothing was done then.
64 scott9 // Feb 17, 2008 at 21:14
i really hope we go for mgeady hes been great for celtic this season hes really creative and just the type of midfileder we need be it on the left right or down the middle he could be a realistic target
65 Macca // Feb 17, 2008 at 21:35
Mcgeady, he’s been flying for Ireland and Celtic latley, he’s really developing. Apparently a lot of clubs are after him, don’t know if he’ll leave and if he does I don’t know if he’d go to Newcastle.
66 Gooderz // Feb 17, 2008 at 22:04
If McGeady is going to leave then it will be for a hefty fee, especially considering Hutton went for 8m quid. To be honest it could be twice that and even then he’s still worth the risk. He’s already shown so much skill and quality in his career and has really taken a big step forward over the last 2 years, and he’s not going to turn 22 for another couple of months or so.
McGeady could be our Joe Cole for a decade or more.
67 Tom_Toon // Feb 17, 2008 at 22:17
We couldnt attract McGeady if he left, he rejected Manure anyway.
I dont necessarily think we need another big striker with all this Ashton talk i just think we need one that contributes to the teams and gets loads of assists and some goals, like Marica or Lavezzi.
Gooderz - You mention Gokhan Unal but what do you think of his team mate Topuz who is a pretty decent right winger.
68 Nicky Butt is crap! // Feb 17, 2008 at 22:29
toon4lyf………..arca?? are you for real you daft bastard! and sell viduka for 1 million…. you must be a smog, lets go ahead and buy mido aswell shall we? idiot!
69 Ausgeordie // Feb 17, 2008 at 23:26
What worries me is that Tottenham are only just above us on the ladder but have managed to bring in three class defenders in the last transfer window whislt we could not get any.
70 Ed Harrison // Feb 18, 2008 at 1:23
Todd - you’re right - it’s a bit inuendo.
But we think now Ashley has his own manager in and Keegan will move players out - Ashley may well start to loosed the purse strings. The amount is unimportant so long as Mike backs Keegan with the players he wants to bring in during the summer.
71 Toooooooooooooooooon // Feb 18, 2008 at 1:56
whats the point of having 50m but being soft at the transfer market? we miss woodgate last January which for me is a big miss(spurs look a decent squad with woodgate playing)…
KK should use the Euro2008 tournament as a scouting place for good players…
72 AdamCF // Feb 18, 2008 at 6:27
Ausgeordie.. I suspect it may be the attraction of Londre.
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