Matty 0 Posted June 5, 2007 Share Posted June 5, 2007 Nodding In Approval At Allardyce... Posted 05/06/07 If Sam Allardyce can get Tal Ben Haim, Mark Viduka and Joey Barton in at Newcastle United for the grand total of £5.5m - and add Sol Campbell for not much more - he will already have done a better summer's business for the Toon than any of his previous five predecessors ever managed. Add to that a few quid spent on two new full-backs (Leighton Baines will surely beg for a move after T*tf**k Bumble's arrival at Wigan) and Michael Owen and Obafemi Martins being persuaded to stay put for at least another season, and you start to believe that Newcastle are ready to join the likes of Tottenham and Everton in that second tier of Premiership clubs. Allardyce inherited a Newcastle squad stronger than the Bolton one he twice led to UEFA Cup qualification - it's just that this one is beset with the typical twin Toon evils of injury and general disaffection. Whatever Big Sam's limitations tactically, he is untouchable in terms of ensuring players are fit and happy. If you can keep El-Hadji Diouf and Nic Anelka quiet and relatively content, then what problems could Oba Martins and Kieron Dyer possibly pose? Of course, Joey Barton is a different proposition. Journalists talk of 'discipline problems' but fans talk of 'loose screws'. Can Allardyce change him? Who knows, but sometimes the kid at school who attacks another kid with a brick just needs a change of school and a change of approach. If he can rehabilitate him, and that risk comes at just £5.5m, then it could well be the bargain of the summer. Espcially if they get £8m for Scott Parker, a player no better and probably less motivated than Barton. But even at £5.5m, and assuming you're getting Barton the player rather than Barton the thug, he might not be Allardyce's best move of the summer. For reasons unbeknownst to anyone, Newcastle's only top-quality centre-half of the last ten years has been Jonathan Woodgate, and he was made of balsa wood. Kevin Keegan ignored the issue, Graeme Souness spent £8m on Jean-Alain Boumsong. For some reason it's been considered un-Newcastle to have a decent defence. Change that ridiculous tradition and you solve the majority of the Toon's problems in one fell swoop. You need only look at Portsmouth's achievements last season - without a great deal of flair and no strikers worthy of the name - to see what an almost rock-solid defensive back five can achieve. Newcastle's forward players are in a different class to Pompey's. Add in Allardyce targets Campbell and Ben Haim and you get a line-up that immediately looks so much stronger than either side last season. Nolberto Solano, James Milner, Emre, Nicky Butt, Damien Duff, Kieron Dyer, Owen, Martins, Shola Ameobi - it's hardly a poor selection of options, is it? The free transfer signing of Viduka would also be something of a coup. When he looks like he can be arsed, the Australian is still one of the sharpest strikers in the Premiership. Sam's nutritional expert only has to keep him off the stotties. Hopefully for Toon fans, Allardyce's reign will bring about a new era of sensible spending, ending the days of ill-fated PR-boosting, season ticket-selling chases for the likes of (The Real) Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney, £9.5m moves for unproven 'stars' like Alberto Luque and Hugo Viana and cheap, low-quality defensive reinforcements. It does not take a genius to see what Allardyce needed to do this summer - buy a new defence and bring in players with proven Premiership pedigree. He didn't need to make headlines, but rather steady the ship. Barton might not fit into that no-risk strategy, but he is still a very good Premiership player whose commitment on the field is rarely in question. Basically, his temper has made him three million quid cheaper than he could be. Sam presumably believes that's one risk worth taking. As long as he doesn't take too many more, he'll have something of a Toon revival on his hands... Sarah Winterburn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alex Posted June 5, 2007 Share Posted June 5, 2007 The only bit that is cliched bollocks is the bit about KK ignoring the issue of central defence. We had a quality defence under Keegan. Canny read other than that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newcastlebroon 0 Posted June 5, 2007 Share Posted June 5, 2007 canny article Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gemmill 43843 Posted June 5, 2007 Share Posted June 5, 2007 She must have a thing for Allardyce cos I'm pretty sure she's the bint that's had nowt decent to say about us in years. And she HATES Shearer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattM4 0 Posted June 5, 2007 Share Posted June 5, 2007 She must have a thing for Allardyce cos I'm pretty sure she's the bint that's had nowt decent to say about us in years. And she HATES Shearer. Ah it's her... thought I recognised the name. That article was pretty funny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheInspiration 1 Posted June 5, 2007 Share Posted June 5, 2007 T*tf**k Bumble tbh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatful Of Hollow 0 Posted June 5, 2007 Share Posted June 5, 2007 Seeing Allardyce talking to Barton at the training ground on SSN certainly gave me more confidence than if it was Roeder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isegrim 9652 Posted June 5, 2007 Share Posted June 5, 2007 Well, since Sarah Winterburn can't write about Shearer anymore she comes up with some decent stuff... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fop 1 Posted June 5, 2007 Share Posted June 5, 2007 The only bit that is cliched bollocks is the bit about KK ignoring the issue of central defence. We had a quality defence under Keegan. Canny read other than that. Tbh the whole Newcastle = shit defence is rather a cliché, we've had seasons were they've been fine (albeit still prone to losing it at a crucial moment). I kinda get the feeling we could built the best defence in the league and people would still be saying that sort of stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fop 1 Posted June 5, 2007 Share Posted June 5, 2007 She must have a thing for Allardyce cos I'm pretty sure she's the bint that's had nowt decent to say about us in years. And she HATES Shearer. How can she hate Shearer and like Viduka (as a player anyway), he's likely to be playing a very similar role to Shearer, at least in his latter years? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alex Posted June 5, 2007 Share Posted June 5, 2007 The only bit that is cliched bollocks is the bit about KK ignoring the issue of central defence. We had a quality defence under Keegan. Canny read other than that. Tbh the whole Newcastle = shit defence is rather a cliché, we've had seasons were they've been fine (albeit still prone to losing it at a crucial moment). I kinda get the feeling we could built the best defence in the league and people would still be saying that sort of stuff. Well, we had the second best defence in the league and people were saying it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isegrim 9652 Posted June 5, 2007 Share Posted June 5, 2007 She must have a thing for Allardyce cos I'm pretty sure she's the bint that's had nowt decent to say about us in years. And she HATES Shearer. How can she hate Shearer and like Viduka (as a player anyway), he's likely to be playing a very similar role to Shearer, at least in his latter years? She had some weird elbow-phobia... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Papa Lazaru 0 Posted June 5, 2007 Share Posted June 5, 2007 The only bit that is cliched bollocks is the bit about KK ignoring the issue of central defence. We had a quality defence under Keegan. Canny read other than that. Tbh the whole Newcastle = shit defence is rather a cliché, we've had seasons were they've been fine (albeit still prone to losing it at a crucial moment). I kinda get the feeling we could built the best defence in the league and people would still be saying that sort of stuff. Well, we had the second best defence in the league and people were saying it. Yes, under KK the defence was actually quite good, especially when you take into account everyone in front of them goign all out attack and often 1,2 or even 3 of the efenders joining in the attack!!! These days we'd have to basically have clean sheets every week before anyone would say we even have a half decent defence! I would love to see a toon team go on a run of getting clean sheets mind it would be a new experience, combined with goals scored obviously! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alex Posted June 6, 2007 Share Posted June 6, 2007 The only bit that is cliched bollocks is the bit about KK ignoring the issue of central defence. We had a quality defence under Keegan. Canny read other than that. Tbh the whole Newcastle = shit defence is rather a cliché, we've had seasons were they've been fine (albeit still prone to losing it at a crucial moment). I kinda get the feeling we could built the best defence in the league and people would still be saying that sort of stuff. Well, we had the second best defence in the league and people were saying it. Yes, under KK the defence was actually quite good, especially when you take into account everyone in front of them goign all out attack and often 1,2 or even 3 of the efenders joining in the attack!!! These days we'd have to basically have clean sheets every week before anyone would say we even have a half decent defence! I would love to see a toon team go on a run of getting clean sheets mind it would be a new experience, combined with goals scored obviously! Yeah, I reckon if we did that we'd win a few games too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2bias 3 Posted June 6, 2007 Share Posted June 6, 2007 those three for 5.5m is good but whats the wage bill going to be like Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fish 10645 Posted June 6, 2007 Share Posted June 6, 2007 with Barton on 45k, I'd guess Viduka would be on at least 50k and any figure I suggested for Ben Haim would be a total guess. but still... I'm alright with that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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