Scottish Mag 3 Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 A bullish Freddie Shepherd defended Newcastle United's purchasing policy last night and insisted the club's new-found selectiveness in the transfer market bodes well for a brighter future at St James's Park. And the United chairman has praised Glenn Roeder for sticking to his principles and refusing to panic when it became clear that he could not attract his leading targets to the North-East. Roeder will mark 12 months in charge of the club's first-team fortunes this morning but, having taken a long-term approach to the job, the 51-year-old still has much work to do as he strives to deliver success to Tyneside. Although his failure to make a single permanent signing during the January transfer window has filled some supporters with unease, Roeder is adamant he is working from a blueprint that will end decades of black-and-white underachievement. And Shepherd last night gave his manager his backing as he insisted that the difficult decisions taken last month were in the best interests of a club with a chequered recent record in the transfer market. "Let's make one thing very clear - if the players Glenn wanted to bring in had been available, we would have gone out and bought them," said Shepherd, who was handed a list of New Year targets that included the likes of Anton Ferdinand, Peter Crouch and Curtis Davies. "The reason Newcastle didn't sign anyone on a permanent basis during January is simple. Clubs didn't want to release the players we had identified and, however much you might want to buy someone, you can't force a club to sell. "We were not prepared to go for second best, acting in haste and repenting at leisure. Glenn has proved he is nobody's fool in the transfer market. He could easily have panicked and downgraded his targets but he held his nerve and that's an admirable quality in a manager. Just remember what he has had to deal with this season - the worst injury list in Premier League history and that's official because we have checked it out. That makes his stance even more admirable. "He would rather not buy anyone than buy second best. Without wanting to go into too many details about the club's transfer policy, let's just say that we are looking to be much more selective in the future. We're hoping that by keeping our powder dry now, that policy pays dividends in the summer. "It's ridiculous to suggest that the club didn't back the manager in the transfer market. History proves that. We have spent £80m on players in the last few years and £16m this season." Roeder has long been determined not to repeat the kind of mistakes that has seen millions of pounds squandered on the likes of Jean-Alain Boumsong, Hugo Viana and Marcelino - players who failed to live up to their expensive price tags and who were sold on at huge losses. Having worked with Albert Luque, the United boss has seen at first hand that major investment does not guarantee success. Rather than gamble, Roeder decided to stick to his guns after insisting there are no short-term fixes in football. "You just cannot gamble on the players who have poor CVs and there were a lot of those around," he said. "You have to have a plan. It is when you work off the cuff every day that disasters happen and people who do that get what they deserve. "They say in business that the first two years are the toughest - just making sure the business stays up and running - and that you expect to see progress from your efforts, the fruits of your labours, in the third and fourth year. "I know that if I am allowed to do what I want to do over the next 18 months, we will come out of it with a better squad of players that has a better value in the transfer market." Roeder did make one move in the transfer market last month - signing American defender Oguchi Onyewu on loan from Standard Liege for the remainder of the season. The 24-year-old could make his debut at Fulham tomorrow and, should he impress over the coming months, Newcastle have negotiated an option to secure his services on a permanent basis from the Belgian club. "We're happy that that piece of business was done," added Shepherd. "We all have high hopes for Gooch. He is built like a tank, he has all the qualities you look for in a centre-half and we're confident he can carve out a successful career here." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Carr's Gloves 4063 Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 If he bought Crouch and Ferdinand I would have shot the twat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gemmill 46995 Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 Can't believe they've gone to the trouble of checking whether our current injury list is the worst in Premiership history. RECORD BREAKERS!!11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luckypierre 0 Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 "You just cannot gamble on the players who have poor CVs and there were a lot of those around," he said. "You have to have a plan. It is when you work off the cuff every day that disasters happen and people who do that get what they deserve" Lolz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isegrim 9999 Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 Can't believe they've gone to the trouble of checking whether our current injury list is the worst in Premiership history. RECORD BREAKERS!!11 "Freddy, what is about the deal for a striker we were talking about?" "Not now Glenn, Kenny is still doing his Excel-sheet about the Premiership injury history. I guess you will be pleasantly surprised about the outcome." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Gloom 22496 Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 what they're saying is right if you're looking to improve an half decent squad, but we're are in a sitiuation where we are desparate for bodies - even if it was a few loans just to boost the numbers so we don't have to put half the youth team out every week. i fully expect the tea lady to get a run out at some point this season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gemmill 46995 Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 "You just cannot gamble on the players who have poor CVs and there were a lot of those around," he said. "You have to have a plan. It is when you work off the cuff every day that disasters happen and people who do that get what they deserve" Lolz It's almost as if he's taking the piss out of Shepherd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gemmill 46995 Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 To be fair to Roeder, he's talking a good game, and for once he's making sense. Let's see how we do in the summer window though. Two in a row now he's fucked up, and I personally don't see it getting any better in the summer. And I'm sorry but it's because of his failings in the summer window that we're now effectively having to write yet another season off as transitional. Whether next season is another transitional write-off will depend how daft lad does between June and August of this year. I'm not holding out much hope. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alex Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 Tbh, I was of the view that loan signings (note the plural) were what we needed in this window. Obviously it's not always easy to get players in on loan though. Where Roeder has created a rod for his own back is specualting in the press about having x amount of players in by 'the end of the week' or whatever. He raised expectations himself. Best to play it straight; people aren't daft (well, not all Toon fans are anyway). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renton 22378 Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 Tbh, I was of the view that loan signings (note the plural) were what we needed in this window. Obviously it's not always easy to get players in on loan though. Where Roeder has created a rod for his own back is specualting in the press about having x amount of players in by 'the end of the week' or whatever. He raised expectations himself. Best to play it straight; people aren't daft (well, not all Toon fans are anyway). Exactly. But on a side note, I really cringe (copyright Sima) when Shepherd uses cliches like "keeping our powder dry". What happened last time we did that? It all went horribly wrong and we've ended up where we are now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJS 4446 Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 Some of what they've both said makes sense but as usual they forget that not all fans are sky interview mong fodder. They forget that we haven't forgotten how bad a job they did last summer so the "chance to put it right" factor should have meant increased effort before "caution" kicked in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fop 1 Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 If he bought Crouch and Ferdinand I would have shot the twat. I don't particularly rate either tbh (Crouch is massively overrated on his England performances, and Ferdinand is nothing like as good as his brother and a bit Bramble-esq mistakes/concentration-wise), but surprisingly (for myself) I think Crouch maybe could have done a decent job hear, along side a smaller faster striker like Owen or Martins. Tbh, I was of the view that loan signings (note the plural) were what we needed in this window. Obviously it's not always easy to get players in on loan though. Where Roeder has created a rod for his own back is specualting in the press about having x amount of players in by 'the end of the week' or whatever. He raised expectations himself. Best to play it straight; people aren't daft (well, not all Toon fans are anyway). Exactly. But on a side note, I really cringe (copyright Sima) when Shepherd uses cliches like "keeping our powder dry". What happened last time we did that? It all went horribly wrong and we've ended up where we are now. Yep that was a big, big, huge mistake in hindsight. I dunno though that the situation now is exactly the same, I can't see FFS sacking anyone for not getting Champions League football this season or even next season. I can see where his "plan" is coming from, and it may well pay dividends, but on the other hand its a hugely high risk stratergy which will result in his dismissal if results, injuries or just luck goes against him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Kelly 1280 Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 The problem is more than just the last two transfer windows. Since the summer that Bowyer was our only signing we have fucked up every oppertunity to bring players in. Fatty is quite clearly a massive part of the problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ketsbaia 0 Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 I'd much rather he paniced and brought in players of some quality rather than not buying at all. "Freddy, i've been on the phone to Ronaldinho, he's not intrested" "Should we make a move for Huntelaar then?" "Fuck that, i'm not lowering my standards" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Invicta_Toon 0 Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 A bullish Freddie Shepherd defended Newcastle United's purchasing policy last night and insisted the club's new-found selectiveness in the transfer market bodes well for a brighter future at St James's Park. stopped reading at the first sentence who does he think was responsible for our previous 'lack of selectiveness' ???? fat wanker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alex Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 A bullish Freddie Shepherd defended Newcastle United's purchasing policy last night and insisted the club's new-found selectiveness in the transfer market bodes well for a brighter future at St James's Park. stopped reading at the first sentence who does he think was responsible for our previous 'lack of selectiveness' ???? fat wanker Good point. He's just a slow learner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howaythetoon 0 Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 All good and well Freddy but by having one policy, you limit your chances, especially in the fickle world of the transfer market. If you can't get your number one targets, there should have been a plan B to tide us over until we are in a position to get who we want. This is what pisses people off - the contradictions. We don't want to sign expensive foreigners - we sign Martins. We don't want to waste money - we sign Duff (we were well covered in that position, buying Duff took away funds that could have bought us players we DID need, defenders). We don't want to sign overaged players on short-term deals - we sign Sibbers, and later Srnicek. We won't be making panic buys or buying players for the sake of it - err, Bernard, Sibbers, both last minute buys. The best policy is to strengthen when you can, with what you can if those players are or will be an improvemen - i.e. Gooch. Are the club trying to say out of the thousands of players playing the game, he was the only one they could get? Pull the other one. In part I agree with this 'new' policy, but if anyone needed proof that this club lacks planning, then the transfer window or rather our policies, are proof positive. Typical Toon, we get one thing right but leave ourselves short as a result. BTW our transfer policy has sucked since KK left. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ewerk 31547 Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 keeping our powder dry now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alex Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 I just see it as a soundbite anyway. We didn't sign anyone permanently (rightly or wrongly) so all of a sudden it's our policy to be prudent in the transfer window. Whatever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howaythetoon 0 Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 (edited) I just see it as a soundbite anyway. We didn't sign anyone permanently (rightly or wrongly) so all of a sudden it's our policy to be prudent in the transfer window. Whatever. Aye, you're right. Had we signed lots of players, he'd have rolled out the "we always back our man" line. That's what makes this quite decent policy worthless, becuase you just know he's just masking over yet another transfer window failure and this isn't actualy a club policy. BTW I'm aware this may open the old "they can't win" argument Edited February 2, 2007 by Howaythetoon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChezGiven 0 Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 Keeping powder dry is a Bobby Robsonism tbh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Park Life 71 Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 It's criminal negligence really. There is still even an outside chance for a CL birth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howaythetoon 0 Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 It's criminal negligence really. There is still even an outside chance for a CL birth. The club can't see that far ahead man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alex Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 It's criminal negligence really. There is still even an outside chance for a CL birth. Berth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sniffer 0 Posted February 2, 2007 Share Posted February 2, 2007 If they players we need were not available then I'm all in favour of waiting until the summer. Roeder has to know that there can't be any excuses then. I don't see the point in bringing in loan players if they aren't significantly better than the players we have unless it's a view to a permanent transfer. What we do need is a clean out next summer and definitely move out the likes of babyaro, Luque, Pattison and possibly Bramble and carr. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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