OTF

In the end Joey Barton would be the first name on my team sheet, but if the club don't offer him a new contract it's the right thing to do because he could have a sulk and upset the strong team spirit that he helped to build.

Possibly only being linked because the media think he is French based on his temperament.

The good news is that now that there is absolutely nothing good about Blatter he can be taken out the back and appropriately shot. The pompousness and untouchable status of FIFA currently is a fucking joke and is completely against the spirit of the game, being a game for all people.

Obviously nothing to do with the question I was asking. More angling towards peoples thoughts on having an English football side with a largely French speaking core, and whether tthis could offset or affect the current team spirit. More to the point the departures of key players is likely to affect that balance. ...and Moore and Viduka were never at the club together.

In this dream reality Berbatov with Gameiro I think would be a better fit up front. Gervinho could be in there as well but in a wider role, with Ben Arfa down the other side.

---------------Eng--------------- ---Eng----Eng---Spa----Spa--- ---Eng----Eng---Fre-----Spa--- -----------Eng---Eng------------ That's the team as it is, allowing for Ben Arfa as injured, a strike 'force' of Best and Shola. ---------------Eng--------------- ---Eng----Eng---Spa----Fre--- ---Eng----Fre---Fre-----Fre--- -----------Eng---Fre------------ I kept the formation the same to make it easier to compare. Left back there I've included Cheikh M'Bengue. Ben Arfa as left wing/midfield, Tiote and Cabaye in central midfield, Barton on the right, Shola up front alongside Ba/Gameiro or with Ben Arfa behind and Gervinho on a wing. If you wanted to be even more extreme it could be two French speakers up front (Ba + Ben Arfa, Ba + Gameiro etc). Obviously it's a long way off happening, but would make an interesting dynamic and would be far and away the most French speaking starting 11 in the league.

I'd hope that we wouldn't swap out any of the Spanish speakers. As unlikely as it is, it would be a mouth watering prospect to see them added to rather than replaced. With Jonas and Coloccini contracted until 2013 there's no reason for them to leave just yet, that is unless the owner wants to replace them with lower wage earners.

With all of the talk of interest being almost exclusively in French speaking players, what do people think the implication will be for our side? Would you have a problem with the core of our team speaking French? The Cabaye signing is all but assured and he represents the fourth French player to be permanently signed since the January window (Hatem Ben Arfa, Yven Moyo and Mehdi Abeid). Coupled with another key signing from last summer (Cheick Tiote) the number of French speaking players in our side has certainly spiked. In addition to these the most seriously linked players are all either French or French speaking - Gervinho (French speaking), Sow (French born), Gemeiro (French speaking), Ba (French speaking), N'Zogbia (French born). As many had predicted the club are looking to plough the talent of the second tier European competitions (with England, Spain and Italy the top tier), with a particular focus on players from high performing sides. Financially it seems to be a viable option, with the lure of playing alongside compatriots no doubt a significant lure to players stepping up to a more competitive competition on foreign soil. If these players do come over in the numbers that are being rumoured then it could impact upon the positive spirit amongst our players that has carried them up from an extremely tumultuous period. That kind of spirit has not come easily for Newcastle of late, so it could be a dangerous game to mess with it. Whilst they'll no doubt arrive with the best of intentions there's no telling what the disposition of these players would be in trying times, something of a common ground at St James' under the ownership of Ashley.

Their long ball reliance is not just because of Davies (though it helps to have someone who makes a good target), but also because they don't have players who can play the ball out of defense. If Enrique and Coloccini go for us our long ball numbers will jump exponentially. Can you imagine a back four of Perch - Saylor - Willo - Simpson? I suppose it we be worthy or rejoice when they cleared the ball rather than stuffing it up somehow.

Another French speaker [speculation]Could be a Gameiro fallback plan.[/speculation]

Nailed on to being made up as a result of him not being in their Champions League team. DEADMAN speaks the truth in here.

I dont suppose you would like to offer any links to "those people" who said that? Dont worry, I know the answer. To be honest I wasn't happy with the way in which I summed up some people's expectations for this transfer window. Could you please do me a favour then, and sum up yours in one or two clear lines. Thanks. Its been very clear all weekend. I would like to start Next season with a stronger side than we finished last season. I also said I am happy for a neutral like Chez to call whether the team is stronger or weaker. Sorry mate, I asked for your expectations not your desires. To clarify that's what you think will happen and not what you want to happen (they can of course be the same). Everyone would like to start the season with a stronger side, but for the record the strength of the side should not be judged against the team at the end of the season, but the team prior to January. That's allowing for the idea that the club did not have time after the Carroll sale to reinvest the money.

Finishing mid-lower part of the table is the general consensus that people seemed to have when we were promoted after the activity in the transfer window had occurred. In the end we were only 7 points above relegation. Noone assumed that, but we were able to realise that there was a number of poor sides in the league that we should conceivably have finished above. The analysis turned out to be accurate. The Carroll risk has absolutely not paid off until we have a better side than we did prior to his departure. That can only be adjudged at the end of this window. Certainly we were a lesser team for his departure despite the fact that he sat out a large part of the second part of the season injured. Everyone will appreciate that you can't obtain a player of his ability cheaply, nor can you have them on wages of 20K a week (which is what we would have been paying him under his contract which ended in 2015). Moving in the right direction is hard to judge when you've spent a number of years under the same owner sliding backwards. Even still when the club seemingly takes a step forwards you have to look down and see whether we've actually progressed or have instead remained neutral or lost ground because of some other sliding activity concurrently occurring.

I dont suppose you would like to offer any links to "those people" who said that? Dont worry, I know the answer. To be honest I wasn't happy with the way in which I summed up some people's expectations for this transfer window. Could you please do me a favour then, and sum up yours in one or two clear lines. Thanks.

I think there's an obvious difference that you're not mentioning here. In the Championship the team performed despite, and not because of the owner. The general feelings regarding where we would finish in the League were pretty much spot on. The activity in transfer windows is what is up for discussion here. Whilst that obviously contributes to the ability of the team to perform it is far from the only influencing factor. The owner regained some modicum of reputation in the last summer because of Ben Arfa's desire to play here and because of the quality signing that Tiote turned out to be. At the same time the signing of James Perch was disasterous from the beginning. The apparently opportunistic signing of Dan Gosling has done nothing so far but waste wages on another sick note. Simpson's permanent signing was a cautious one. His early season form was promising but since then he has slipped off the pace. Another chance was taken on Sol Campbell, no transfer fee and plenty of experience - but when needed he was hardly there and when he was he disappointed. The Xisco saga continued with the club desperately trying to peddle off their money burning flop. Then in January the club took another chance on a sick note in the form of Stephen Ireland. That turned out to be a useless move. Carroll was obviously sold for a princely sum, and despite going into the window requiring a first team striker ON TOP OF Carroll we ended up without Carroll and with only a token gesture signing in Kuqi. A number of our players were also loaned out with no replacements forthcoming including Routledge who would come in handy late in the season when injuries and suspensions resulted in having to field players out of position. With that the most recent track record of transfers (and quite frankly the record for the owner is worse in the windows immediately prior to these) it's ridiculous to suggest that the burden of proof lies with anyone but those proclaiming that this transfer window will be all good with plenty of players arriving to improve the team and only dead wood heading in the other direction.

Any links to that? http://www.premierleague.com/page/Headline...2094341,00.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premier_Leagu...fer_regulations

Kind of funny how despite the FA stipulations to increase the number of British players in the Premier League Ashley's hunt for a bargain is looking at doing just the opposite.

Can't say I disagree with this policy of recruiting (err. being linked with) French speaking or French nationals en masse. Last thing we want here is a United Nations where noone understands each other, and obviously when coming to a foreign league the value of other players speaking your language would be significant. Of course the Ivory Coast's official language is French, so adding to Tiote and Ben Arfa (Plus a couple of French kids Abeid and Moyo) already in our side who speak it there would be a significant French contingent. Le Sulk here we come! Spanish is so last season obviously.

Hope to fuck they're having a really bad day.

£3.5m of care from the last wrongful dismissal tribunal Ashley was involved in.

I read this thread and laughed. There's only a shred of truth in the initial post and it's nothing to do with the inferences made. CT you're obviously now just fishing for reactions as you even take the piss out of yourself on occasions showing that you're not at all sincere. You obviously enjoy attempting to put yourself in the TT limelight. The fact that this is a Newcastle United forum has very little to do with your participation here, instead it's your vehicle for your attention grabbing. That's what I think anyway. Don't care to discuss otherwise because that would just be contributing to the problem (even more than I already am).

He has had significant injury problems as well which generally doesn't bode well for a player in their later years. Even still three years with an option for a fourth would be acceptable in the circumstances. Wages wise obvisouly we're not privy to how much he is paid, but if the rumours are correct then there's no wauy that he should get any sort of pay rise. In three weeks he'll have been here for 4 years. In that time he's only been on the pitch 79 times. That's less than half of the competitive games that the club has been involved in. In that time on multiple occassions he has brought the club into disrepute and yet on various occassions the club and managers have stood by him. Any decision he makes about his playing future should take all of that into consideration, and likewise any decision made by the club should also take his history into account. In light of this there could be clauses written into a lengthened contract relating to availability and suspensions. The problem would now be that the fuckwit Willie McKay will only be interested in getting the most lucrative deal for Barton (and himself) and that is not likely to be offered by Newcastle. The comparison between Barton and Enrique doesn't stand to reason IMO. Enrique has never had any problems at the club (apart from being under utilised by the manager who bought him) and will have been on much lower wages (he was a young and upcoming player when he was signed). When Barton came he already had a high profile and was recognised as a fully developed talent.

Reeks of a pre-emptive strike regarding his departure. "We did all we could to keep him at the club by offering him a fantastic new deal, but ultimately he had made his mind up about leaving and we only want players who want to play for the team." etc etc

Isn't it funny how the big wage players happen to be the best players? No.