There’s news in lots of the Sunday papers today on Newcastle United, and as usual it doesn’t seem to be too good, if you take it at face value.
Michael Owen - reduced contract at Newcastle?
Before we go much further on this let’s always remember that the gossip press loves doom and gloom and sensational things, which are even better for selling if they are really negative.
With that level set let’s review what the papers this morning are saying.
The major news is that quite a few papers are reporting that Newcastle’s wage bill it too high, and needs to be cut.
We had heard that several weeks ago, and it seems that of the total costs each season at the club, which are around £90M, the wage bill is £70M – which is about 78% of the total cost.
As we mentioned yesterday, one way to reduce the bill is to get rid of players, who are either not good enough, or highly paid but not worth it.
This would include players like Carr, Ramage, Rozehnal, Ameobi, Troisi, Diatta and Smith. We can also add Charles N’Zogbia to that list, since he still seems to still want to move to London. Of course most of these would then need to be replaced, since our squad is still small.
The disturbing news today is that the reduction in the wage bill could affect Michael Owen and Steven Taylor. Both of their existing contracts run out next summer and need to be renegotiated soon.
Owen is said to be on a massive contract of around £110K – £115K/week, negotiated of course by the previous regime at the club, and the news being reported freely today, is that he will need to take a pay cut to stay at Newcastle.
The pay cut would limit his wages to around £80K/week, which is at least close to the £2M/year cut reported yesterday (£40K/week). So there may be some logic or thread of truth there - maybe.
Some news also says that Ashley will introduce a wage cap on all players of £80K/week, so Michael would be getting the top wage of anybody at the club.
Other clubs like Tottenham and Arsenal have different types of wage caps, or at least some restrictions on the total wage bill.
Of course there is news all over that Michael will not accept the contract, and will just let his contract run down and move on a free transfer next summer. He has every right to do this of course.
If we cannot agree with Owen on a new contract, then we should probably sell him this summer, to at least get something. That’s from the club’s side of things.
But if this course of events happens, Keegan is unlikely to be happy with the situation at Newcastle.
But let’s not over-react too much to the news, since this is the gossip press. We have no idea if it is true, or that some possibly some exceptions may be made for our very best players. We’ve already renegotiated a contract for Nicky Butt, and there seemed to be no problems there, so these reports may be a little (or a lot) over the top.
We should know within a couple of weeks if there are indeed problems with the new contracts being offered by the club.
Let’s hope there isn’t.
Comments welcome.
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69 responses so far ↓
1 Davy C // May 11, 2008 at 9:42
I hate this time between seasons and this season hasn’t even finished yet!
The papers have got to sell and as they have no football to report on they do what they do best - speculate. Yes there are some reporters who seem to have the inside track with some clubs but I think that Newcastle have become almost a secret society over the last few months.
Yes, it is possible that Owen could see out his contract as could any player at this stage in any contract. Yes, it may be true that Man Ure have started to try and procure Owen to warm their bench next season. But it is also possible that Owen signs a new deal and stays with us for the rest of his career.
Let’s wait and see!
2 AdamCF // May 11, 2008 at 9:43
Why don’t they pay him the 120k per game that he plays. Shouldn’t be that expensive then.
3 wolfhound // May 11, 2008 at 9:44
newcastle has been run like a headless chicken for years crazy wages for crap players (dire dyer ) lets hope its the start of something good to long has this club been used as a cash cow for over rated players and greedy agents
4 jezzer // May 11, 2008 at 9:48
more sh*t
5 Jezza // May 11, 2008 at 9:50
If it’s true about Owen having to take a pay cut, I can still see him ultimately agreeing a new contract on those terms. £80,000 a week is still almost certainly more than he’d get at any other club, given his injury record in recent years, and the fact that he’ll be 29 this year.
6 Fernando // May 11, 2008 at 9:53
since keegan has no say on contracts, why should this be a bother to him. he has already said he doesn’t deal with contracts therefore this has nothing to do with keegan. it’s the executive’s decision. if they can put a wage cap and still attract players kudos to them, and if it affects keegan getting the players he wants then it’s a problem.
7 Rob Kirton // May 11, 2008 at 9:54
For those who are saying it is crazy to reduce the wage bill and that we must spend more - how many of the teams around us in the league spend £70M a year on wages?
When it comes to bangs per buck I’d like to see a comparison with Arsenals wage bill lined up against ours.
Asking Keegan / Wise to keep costs down is not all that difficult. We cannot attract the very top for the sake of not offering European football. Why then pay top dollar?
Of all of the players signed by Keegan last time around, how many were big money signings, commanding top dollar wages? Not many. He will always manage to get the best out of what is available.
OK, a strategy of signing up and coming (and cheaper) players will not win the league. It will however move us forward. It has been a long time since I thought that possible at the club.
8 craig chisholm // May 11, 2008 at 9:58
its all crap…..simple fact is, it will save us alot of money by putting owen on a new 4 year 115K a week deal. Work it out, 35 grand a week pay cut means 1.8 million a year, multiply by 4 and that means over the course of a contract we would save 7.2 million by reducing his salary by that 35k. however, if they try to reduce it, owen will not sign and will leave. to replace owen with another world class player and someone of his stature will be just about impossble for us to do the way we are set up at the minute. either way, if newcastle had to spend a penny over 7.2 million to replace owen it will have meant that they have lost money, not saved it. and lets be honest, what can you get in terms of world class names for 7.2 million……….nothing. we were prepared to pay 20 million for modric. so, as we now are run bythe bean counters they will know all of this nad will therefore give owen his 115k a week in order to SAVE money!!
9 Cloudstrife // May 11, 2008 at 10:01
i agree with wolfhound. our club has been run like crap for too long. we have often spent more than most teams in the league (including Arsenal and Liverpool) in transfer fees and wages with evidently very scant reward if you look at our league position.
i think this is not disturbing news at all, quite the opposite. it could be the beginning of the club being run professionally. the more i see of Mort, the more i seem to like him. he could yet get our club right. Newcastle will no longer be a cash cow for the greedy people in football. i would be fully behind a wage cap or restriction at our club.
However, i belive it should not come from wage cuts for existing players. most players are unlikely to accept and Owen would not be blamed if he did a Flamini in a year’s time. i believe all future players should conform to the new wage structure but let those currently over it see them out. after all they wont carry on playing forever.
10 Cam_Toon // May 11, 2008 at 10:02
This story is from the Daily Mail… enough Said.
11 Peter Perfect // May 11, 2008 at 10:11
If EMO decides to up sticks and go to Manure I have to be totally honest and say It wont bother me in the slightest.
If he wants to stay, fine, if he wants to bugger off…. “see yer Michael”.
I couldn’t give a toss either way to be honest.
12 Eric // May 11, 2008 at 10:11
Have put my comments about all of this Sunday crap on the match preview site. The People say we are after 35 year old Edgar Davids. More shite. The Mail on Sunday did not print my email to them. They hate printing the facts. If Owen wants more money sign a new contract and play to get us in a position where more will be paid. Play well and Ashley will pay well - that’s the deal.
13 faustino // May 11, 2008 at 10:19
Well it definitely seems as if the Mail are wrangling to represent some pathetic lead they’ve been given. Notice they stuck in a Shepherd quote on KK today. Desperate?
14 Big Al // May 11, 2008 at 10:20
What a load of cr*p i think it was the mail yesturday that said somthing similar however they also said we had been negotiating with owens people for the last 6-7 weeks over a reducing 80k a week contract.
Funny that since owen himself said there had been no contact from the club to his people at all yet.
15 Taiwantoon // May 11, 2008 at 10:23
I don’t think this is true as if it is, it would not be leaked at this stage of time. Well, but must admit that it can be very disturbing, and I hope Owen will take a professional approach to it.
Nonetheless, I still think it is crazy to start cut the wage bills with probably our best player. It could backfire.
How many ppl would take a pay cut and thinking that the company still have a high regard of you? Can anyone swallow it when been told “you don’t deserve what you are taking” and just reply “Yes, you are right. I will take a pay cut and work my socks off from now!”?
It will also send a terrible message to potential signings. “YOU CAN NOT GET LONG TERM INJURY OR YOU WILL BE INSULTED WHEN OFFERED THE NEXT CONTRACT BY NUFC.”
Can this do us any good?
No, don’t get me wrong, I don’t think the board is stupid enough to do this. I think it is just a terrible strategy from the bad medias to sell papers. The board should stop appointing new members to the board if they really mean to cut the wage bill.
16 GraemeR // May 11, 2008 at 10:24
Bit of a dilema - in as much as top player demand top wages coupled with the fact that top players win you leagues (or a least get close).
That aside, it is obvious that we have been handing top wages out in the hope of attracting players. It all started with the ridiculous “Ill always be the top earner” deal struck with AS. Paying 115K for Owen is hardly good business and if he driven purely by money and not the club then he can go (hopefully in the summer for 10M).
What we need is players that are more interested in football than money and then we may start to move forward - admittedly more slowly than Chelski. If not we end up with a team of high earners, who simply do not try - Luque, Marcelino - or spend most of the time on the treatment table - dyer, Marcelino, Luque, Owen etc etc.
Whilst it may not be palatable to the masses the soone the club is run as a business and not like fantasy football the sooner we will see improvements on the pitch.
17 Archie Brand // May 11, 2008 at 10:32
I think we’re missing the point in all this.
How are we going to get into the top 6?
By attracting quality.
How do we attract quality when we’re a bottom half team? Salaries.
How do we get quality if we’re not paying the money? Quite simply we dont.
Yes the salaries are stupid at the moment but that’s what its all about.
They should leave the salaries up there for a couple of years to give us a chance to get European football, then we could cap the salaries and attract players on merit.
Why would good solid players want to come to Newcastle if we’re not offering European football or silly money?
A few more of the likes of Beye, Faye and Enrique , and a few less Smiths and Bartons might help the situation.
Unless we’re willing to wait for this new crop of youngsters to come through……….
18 Russel // May 11, 2008 at 10:35
totally agree with Archie Brand
19 Dave // May 11, 2008 at 10:37
Basically, IMO i think all footballers are overpaid. It would be interesting if the powers to be introduced a world wide wage cap for every club, then we would see which players wanted to play for what clubs.
20 craig chisholm // May 11, 2008 at 10:38
i see it is breaking now that man utd are in for owen now……a reported 7 million. well thats that well and truly fcuked if its true. they should have done what keegan said 6 frigging weeeeks ago and tied him down……ifthis is true, he’ll be off and you know what, who can blame him.
21 Russel // May 11, 2008 at 10:40
man utd ???
IS IT TRUE???
OH ,NO.
22 geordie nick // May 11, 2008 at 10:41
i agree with introducing a salary cap to a certain extent, but we cannot possibly ask our best player to take a 35k per week cut and expect him to sign, it aint gonna happen, our wage bill may be at around 78% of turnover this season, but surely doing better in the league and cups and euro qualification next year will see our turnover rise. so if our turnover rises next yeatr and wage bill is still 70million then the % will drop, and the only way were gonna do better in league and cups etc is by keepin hold of owen etc
23 Slam Dunc // May 11, 2008 at 10:42
You can see from this Premier League salary table that Newcastle have the 5th highest wage bill in the Premier League.
It’s time we did start moving the club forward by sensible management.
Keegan gets success by inspiring players to greatness, if Owen is a casualty of this then so be it, he’s never going to play more than 20 games a season anyway:
http://www.trophy4toon.co.uk/salaries.html
24 geordie nick // May 11, 2008 at 10:43
dave if tht happened then players wouldnt come to us, the only way we get good players is by paying top wages, so a world wide salary cap would mean us gettin less top players comin to us, they would all go to london or a team tht wins things
25 geordie nick // May 11, 2008 at 10:45
slam dunc, mihcael owen has already played 32 times this season!!!
26 Leo // May 11, 2008 at 10:47
the newspapers do not have anything to report on at the moment therefore these stories appear in the newspapers and not just one, if one newspaper prints a ridiculous story they all print it because then their story has substance because they can claim theres no smoke without fire etc…
makes me sick
27 Bobby Ollox // May 11, 2008 at 10:50
May I respectfully suggest that every one caught up in the nonsense over whether its 80 or 110K per week, goes and reads the Sunday Times today - read the article a Knights Tale and then decide whether its really important.
This man bears his illness with such dignity.
28 t-g-w // May 11, 2008 at 10:55
I would blame him… This club has stuck by him through some lows in his career, given him the best medical care and then he’s going to turn his back on us as soon as he has a good run of 7 or 8 games? If he leaves now he better not come back to SJP. i would love him to stay of course.
29 t-g-w // May 11, 2008 at 11:00
Slam Dunc - looking at the list of our players who earn the most, I would say Viduka and Butt should take pay cuts (too old and won’t get paid anwhere near as much anywhere else) and that we should sell Emre and Smith who get paid loads but deliver absolutely nothing. That way our best players, Oba and Owen, keep their wages beacause at the end of the day they deserve them more because they are better players. Seems better sense to me…
30 Hadrian // May 11, 2008 at 11:01
mort and ashley just stuck over 10 milllion per year onto the wage budget in sams tenure .
there seems tobe alot of the blame game going on as a reason ashleys not investing .
*blame the 100mill debt (that nobodys quite sure where it came from)
*blame the wage budget
31 craig chisholm // May 11, 2008 at 11:05
it dont matter anyway. he will be a manure player soon. i am not a mathematical genius so i need some help here lads cos i must be missing something…. here goes….its just been quoted that we have the fifth highest wage bill in the prem….fair enough, i can believe that. so, why is this a problem if we have the third highest gate reciepts and are also the only club in the whole of the prem with no debt, not a single bank payment? manure are in it for 600 million, liverpool for 360 million. why does it seem that all other clubs are ok with their finances yet us, with the third top attendences can not cope with a wage bill only fifth top. plus our team is in the top twenty rich list in the world, plus merchandise plus tv rights etc. so help me out lads, , does it all make sense to you or are we all scratchin our heads now??
32 domton // May 11, 2008 at 11:11
One word:
Modric.
33 Hadrian // May 11, 2008 at 11:15
domtom
4 words
taken over 3 years .
34 Ausgeordie // May 11, 2008 at 11:19
We know they want to reduce wages so it makes sense to the papers to say our highest paid player might have to take a pay cut. Hope we can keep him though
35 Luke // May 11, 2008 at 11:21
Firstly don’t believe a word of any of the details.
Saying that, we all know in the deep recesses of our mind, that owen’s priority is to be fit, play regularly and then to join a bigger club.
36 Bots // May 11, 2008 at 11:26
Is he really worth similar wages to Ronaldo and Rooney? Bollocks to him. He’s been shit anyway, apart from a few strikes late on. Get someone new in let some other club pay his ridiculous salary before they too realise he’s not worth it.
37 jeff // May 11, 2008 at 11:29
There are alot more players at the toon that should have pay cuts other than just Owen….To be honest we wouldve been f***ed without Owens goals in the last few weeks so maybe ashley should count himself lucky his club is still in the premier league or he would well and truly be f***ed without television money…premier money etc etc etc……clear the crap from the club….but Owen Martins milner Beye taylor faye enrique for example will be first team players next season if they sort things out quickly…..Any new players coming in should have a wage cap when signing…Introduce it now…not to existing players..I also heard from a mate who was at a talk in with John Carver,and the talk is that ashley is prepared to sell if he makes a profit…Its not common knowledge to the world allegedly but in the billionaire world the club is being touted about….If its true then that would make sense to why he hasnt spent much in transfer windows….But surely a club with top assets like owen and martins would be a better seller….IF ITS TRUE!!!!
38 Newcastle United. // May 11, 2008 at 11:32
I pray the lord this isn’t true, the main reason we attract some players is money.
39 faustino // May 11, 2008 at 11:41
I’m glad someone else is watching the team at the mo. He hasn’t been THAT good ffs. A diamond in the rough perhaps , more likely he looked good compared to some seriously under performing players. Oba is a more important player imo.
As everyone knows, we need a total change. I am sick of being precious about things. F*ck it as long as they’ve lined up two of Gomis/Gudjhonnsen/Anelka/Crouch as replacements sell the sick note on if that’s what he’d prefer because we need players who want to play for the team.
Anyone with a bit of soul and in his position would accept they owed something to the club and sign a contract stating atleast a slight drop in pay that would increase if we do well!
It would be healthy if this club changed the attitude that the ’star striker’ is the be all and end all of the team. Shirt sales and computer games aren’t everything. Get rid of Owen and two 50k players and you can just about have three 75k/week players. Half the Man Ure team at the Barca semis were on less than that! Build a 100% qulaity team then add the stars!
40 Tom_Toon // May 11, 2008 at 11:42
We need to lower our wages bill. The wages some of our players get for not performing is sickening.
We should have a like a base 20k a week and a then a pay as you play on top of it.
41 domtoon // May 11, 2008 at 11:43
hadrian. dunno what you’re on about?
42 faustino // May 11, 2008 at 11:47
Ironically Jeff I think it will be 3 years until he sells but he will sell. Ironic because it’s the same legnth as Keegan’s contract and the same amount of time touted as possible challenging at the top yadda yadda.
If you were to be cynical it could be suggested everyhting Ashley does is marketing. Removing debt, employing local hero, installing tertiary management sysyem, balancing wages and building a strong top mid/table squad is all exactly in line with how Ashley does business. Do the work to make somehting attractive and ready for a final investment and push for top line business but let someone else take the risk as you hold on to a nominal share holding.
43 Magpie6699 // May 11, 2008 at 11:51
The rumoured change to Owen’s contract is not a re-negotiation, rather a negotiation about a future contract for an injury-prone but excellent player we would like to keep. IF Owen takes the pip at only being offered £4 million a year at the age of 29 to stay with a club where he claims he is enjoying life and football, has won over the fans and been made captain, then it would be really strange. What guarantee would he have that he could get even that much elsewhere? Who would be prepared to take that gamble? And if he wants to go to someone else for the same wages because they can offer Champions League football, then all the money in the world shouldn’t help. Or am I missing something?
Finally, if Newcastle are going to negotiate and do business in a professional manner at last, why would they appear to begin their negotiating stance in the columns of crap newspapers?
Mischief again.
44 Tom // May 11, 2008 at 11:51
Ian Ridley, Mail on Sunday: “If I was Michael Owen this morning I would be flying out to Manchester and finding out where I sign!”
SOUTHERN CRAP!!! :@
45 Spyro // May 11, 2008 at 11:53
Not sure about this specific situaiton, but wage cuts are the way forward.
46 Darryl // May 11, 2008 at 11:54
Gotta be some truth in this guys, if its on SSN, its usually fairly true…
47 Andreas // May 11, 2008 at 12:09
@craig chisholm; “it dont matter anyway. he will be a manure player soon.”
Since you know for sure that Owen will be at Manure next season I suggest you walk into the nearest bookmaker and put down a bet on it, a few months wages seems like a sensible amount due to the fact you already know the outcome (and don’t be afraid to take up a loan if you need money for the bet, it’s a 100% safe investment…or?).
48 crazy man // May 11, 2008 at 12:09
sell them all and start again i say they all get paid to much anyway..
no heart or passion for the club.. then sold!!
49 Ajmuzzard // May 11, 2008 at 12:14
why shoudld we want to keep own if he isnt willing to play for eighty grand a week-we shud of had enough of these greedy Basta*rd, wastin all r money for half rate performances. if he doesnt accpet the new contract, we shudnt want him at our club
50 toonhitman // May 11, 2008 at 12:15
if this is true owen is a disgrace we should have left him in madrid lets get rid of him and sign ashton and bullard owens wages could pay both of these wages
51 craig chisholm // May 11, 2008 at 12:22
andreas……any point at all to what you said there? by all means, have your say mate, get it out i nthe open. thats what its all about on here. it stands to reason that he will bugger off, more money, europe every year fro the rest of his career guarenteed, a better run club without a doubt - we are in constant chaos and he’d get better service and would ultimatley score a shit load more goals and thus get back into the england set up…..currently he’s in the cold on that one. besides………would any single person on here want to keep working for your current employer if he came up to you and said ,’hey, andreas, you can stay working here but your gotta take 35% pay cut, cheers’. would you stay?
52 NUFC_GT351 // May 11, 2008 at 12:46
just what news of the world want,another site regurgetating there pants story!,remember shepard wanted owen to speak,well its happening again-wake up
53 toonoholic // May 11, 2008 at 12:58
why wld manure want a 29 year old player who is trying to do what rooney and tevez are already doing ? If man united want a striker , it wld be a poacher , and owen by no means is a poacher at the moment .
But i would be sure as hell dejected if hes gone , if you cant save one of ur top players ( agree the wage is ridiculously high but his shirts sell anyways) , then the ambition of the club would certainly be doubted .
I am gearing up for another dejected campaign , i have been supporting this club for 7 years . I stay in india and its tormenting when u are surrounded by glory hunter chelsea, manure fans . not to forget liverpool and arsenal fans too.
And i am sure keegan wont be too happy if owen doesnt stick around for a couple more seasons !
54 Dondatta13 // May 11, 2008 at 13:11
£70Mil wage bill
Minus £34Mil for the newly introduced TV money.
Minus the £6.4Mil leauge position finish.
Equals £29.6Mil wage bill?
Looks like Tubby Ashley wants his cake AND eat it. You (Mr Ashley) cant run this club like Arsenal because we are not in London. Players play for Arsenal on lower wages because there is a prestige and honour in playing for a club thats constantly challenging for honours.
We will sign crap players for crap wages and end up in the Championship
55 ScottyT // May 11, 2008 at 13:44
booooorrrriiiinnnggg… same ol sh1te worry l8er if it becomes true and is said by som1 at club not some bull paper.
56 Michael12 // May 11, 2008 at 14:04
If true: It would be testimony to Newcastle uniteds past seasons. Aspiring for mediocrity. If Ashley is going to to take the frugal approach then he needs to get a manager who can work with such a team. We have seen Keegan this season get undone when one piece of his puzzle falls out of place.
Consider Even if we manage to put together a deal for Owen, this will cause unrest in the changing room almost like that at Manchester united and Wes brown. Higher wages for Owen would mean others who consider themselves stars would also want elevated wages. It is better for the club to get a manager who can work with mediocrity, and be rid of our super super stars e.g. Owen and Martins. Keegan as I have said repeatedly and as has been suggested by even Keegan loyalists, that KK needs world class players to make his “swash buckling” attacking football. These are the conditions under which Keegan thrives, heck a monkey would thrive under those conditions.
Pity, but if we are looking to get into
Europe then we need to attract top players and top players command top wages. It is not a Math equation. You get Dennis wise to scout for talent what experience does he have? Is he capable of attracting young hot shoes who do not command top wages and how long will they stay with us when their talent becomes manifest? We would not be able to offer them wages comparable to the top four teams nor European football. So what we are going to become is simply a breeding ground for talent to then sell off. I suspect this is what Ashley is trying to do a Wenger. Get Anelka for 2mill and Sell for 15 mill
Perhaps??? If true I place emphasis on this, they are only speculation
57 tapir // May 11, 2008 at 16:32
maybe we need some Arab or Russian to buy our club?
Then we will have 200M transfer kitty!!
wuhoooooooooo
58 iain // May 11, 2008 at 17:06
i have been thinking that all this stuff coming outr from the meeting is disinformation aimed at letting the club get on with there jobs whilst the papers write nonsense.
funny that this should all start in the mail, the one paper that continually has been writing stuff that is wrong about nufc.
how they got all this info so quickly after the meeting is baffling, unlesss of course like i said it is all disinformation.
i have this strange picture of keegan/wise/mort and ashley all in some sort of military war room disussing there plans to outfox the written press.
imo it just doesnt add up one bit, 16m bid for modric, big wage offer that is better than what spurs offerred, then talk of only 20m transfer kitty and owen getting a wage cut.
also the sunday sun back page seems to be a cut and paste from the mail story by a writer who ive never seen write for the sunday mail b4 without ading anything new.
59 Reb // May 11, 2008 at 18:48
A LOT of things don’t “add up”. First, I wouldn’t take a 35% wage increase at my job — I’d find another (and Owen can find another, higher-placed, club to pay 70-80k), so why should someone like Michael Owen? Second, how does cutting the captain and best player’s wages, when he’s quite publicly hit a very rich vein of form and fitness, make any sense whatsoever? It’s just horrific PR when trying to make summer signings. I can’t believe Ashley got to be a billionaire doing business in such a manner. Third, these articles all talk about weeks of talks already past, when Owen said at Shearer’s bar last Tuesday (five days ago) that his advisor had not even been contacted! The whole thing stinks like more press that just can’t believe someone of Owen’s stature is happy at Newcastle United. But he wasn’t happy at Madrid, as a super-sub, so I don’t know why everyone in the press seems to think he’d fall in love with a chance at ManUre.
60 mitch // May 11, 2008 at 20:28
I don’t think it is true about MO but it was interesting to here MO has never scored 20 league goals in a season even at lfc
61 lee // May 11, 2008 at 20:39
yeah ill admit we have spent to much on players that arent that good and the wenger way is probably the best way but that doesnt mean we have to get rid of the players we have got that are actually good with the likes of harper owen and taylor are all players we need to keep (of those whos contracts are nnearky up) and not to mention 2 of them have not been that expensive sepecially as they ccame from the academy and also these players we are signing are they really good enough
62 azim // May 12, 2008 at 2:24
I think this would be a correct move by MA and CM. He missed whole of the last season and still getting his wages and he also injured a lot during his 1st and this season.I think Owen has no royalty at our club and if he has that he would sign new contract this summer even pay cut. This is businessman of thinking. He is only here for money…
63 taylor // May 12, 2008 at 2:57
whether he is for money here or not,is it very important?
it’s important that WE NEED HIM,and we can’t get a striker as good as him at a low price.
64 chuck // May 12, 2008 at 6:03
Hmmm! it seems a majority of P.L. managers agree with KK`s statement, however KK then has his meeting with Ashley, who explains the facts of life to him and he then retracts his statement.
From rumor we then hear the club was about to take a new direction, based on the system presently employed by “The Arsenal” and its manager Wenger.
Great! I have been advocating that very system as the only one to emulate and it seems NUFC have began to stock the youth system with emerging talented players.
Sure it works well at Arsenal who have a highly developed scouting system and a manager who as we all know is a fair judge of talent.
But one has to remember they are a glamorous team located in London, its a bit more difficult to attract the same talent to Newcastle, although they seem to be doing fairly decent lately.
Also not all of the Arsenal team, anymore than theMan U. team, emerge from the youth system, infact most are bought in the market place for big bucks.
As for salary caps , the market place sets the prices and anyone who attempts to regulate players wages just wont be able to either keep or attract players to the club. Remember when Man U. attempted to cap Keene`s wages at fifty thousand, seems like small beer now!
No, like professional athletics every where, with the involvement of lawyer agents , players. wages will soar directly in relationship to the amounts earned by the clubs .
The only answer to this problem is to employ a jointly agreed salary cap similar to the one presently in effect in the NBA in the US .
Sorry, bit long winded I`m afraid.
65 Aussie dave // May 12, 2008 at 7:59
Owen scored 13 goals this season in about 1/3 of the games he should have played.
If he was able to play the whole season you would think at least he would be worth double this total and some.
We have to remember his form towards the back end of the season is more reflective of his ability as he was coming back from a serious injury. ACL injuries are not that easy to come back from.
Pay him 115k a week, he deserves it, he is the captain as well so surely his responsibilities a sa captain off the field need to be remunerated.
pay him whatever he wants and keep him.
66 Cyprus Toon // May 12, 2008 at 12:43
Lets get one things sorted, Owen has never scored 20 goals in 1 season, not even at his peak, which he is way past now, so forget him doing that next season or any season for that matter!!
The papers are full of crap about this, that & the other, no one really know’s what is going on until it happens, so no use wishing him to stay or go, it will happen either way, we’ll just have to wait!!
Yes Newcastle should cap the wages of all players to a max 80k a week, no matter who they are, the majority of Prem teams don’t pay most of their players that much, so why should we!!
As someone else said earlier, all this is mis-information so that MA, CM & KK can get on & do what they need for the new season, KK was probably told in the meeting with MA that he shouldn’t go around shouting about funding or they’d have to pay more for players, so keep it quite & we’ll do what we can to get him who he wants!!
If MA doesn’t come good, I can see us having another shocking season in the bottom & KK losing his job by Xmas!!!
67 Adedpa // May 12, 2008 at 15:07
Owen would be asking for too much, he is a good player for the squad and we b adly need him. He must not hold the club to ransom, if he does not want to take what is offered after all that has happened (injuries) since he joined the toon then he must be longing to play elsewhere and must not be allowed to go on the cheap. Let sell him and get Paulletta from PSG he can do the job too alongside Martins.
68 Reb // May 12, 2008 at 18:39
Cyprus Toon — no, the majority of Premiership teams don’t pay their players as much as Michael Owen is paid. Most of those clubs aren’t hoping to push for fifth on the back of two seasons finishing in the bottom half. If Newcastle offers 70k/week, and so does Portsmouth/Everton/Tottenham, etc. the top-class players are going to chose the more recently successful clubs. This includes, I suspect, Michael Owen himself.
This is the problem. Arsenal, for example, can have a wage cap (even if I think it’s a bit higher than 80k) because they have loads of other attractive things to offer — runs for the league title, FA Cup possibilities, CL football, the “bright lights of London,” etc. Everton has developed a good squad under this system, and it could be a very good idea for bringing IN new players. But to cut the captain’s wages in order to retroactively fit him into the system seems harsh. Essentially, Owen bears the financial brunt of the team’s lack of success — where are the wage cuts for the rest of the squad: Martins, Viduka, Barton, Butt, Geremi, Smith, Duff, Milner, Beye, Faye, Taylor, Enrique, Harper, Given, et al. ? Is it just or fair to punish the best player and the team captain in this manner? Just because of the timing of his contract?
What does it say, for example, if Owen is cut by 20-30k per week to 80k, whilst Martins’ pay is raised to his recently rumoured 90k per week (again, that’s paper talk, but surely THAT paper talk is as valid as THIS paper talk) — or perhaps the “cap” of 80k? While Viduka is on 70k, and Smith is on 65k?
What it says is the club doesn’t consider him their best player, remarkably superior to most of his colleagues around him. The fact is, Owen IS a class above much of what is at Newcastle. And aside from Arsenal, the most successful teams do pay high wages. I’m not opposed to a general cap of wages — just retroactively enforcing it in a way that could alienate and force out Owen, thus failing to achieve Keegan’s “most important signing of the summer.” So that leaves Newcastle shy of one top-scorer, captain, and finest player, and with a less-than-happy manager. Good business, that.
69 Toonloony // May 12, 2008 at 21:16
I say let Owen go!!!! If the poor bugger cannot live on £80000 a week then something is wrong!!
Maybe he sould take a cut to prove that he is interested in the club and football and not just drawing a huge wage to support his race horse stud farm and training facilty And his gambling habit!!!!
Greedy scouse tosser!!!!!
We would do as well with Oba andViduka upfont with a cheeky bid of £10,000,000 for Darren Bent!!!
Any way all this is just conjecture and guess work from the gutter press!!!!
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