Ronaldo transfer shows how far United has fallen

[ohhh_yeah 2991]

Ronaldo transfer shows how far United has fallen

by Mark Douglas, The Journal

 

 

If Newcastle fans needed another reminder of how far they have fallen, it arrived with news of Cristiano Ronaldo’s impending record-breaking transfer to Real Madrid. Mark Douglas reports

 

AN early-morning exchange on Sky Sports News probably summed it up best. Midway through an update about the on-going takeover saga at St James’s Park and in full flow, North East reporter David Craig was unceremoniously cut off by an excited voice in the studio delivering “big news from Manchester United”.

 

That bulletin, of course, related to the Premier League champions accepting an £80m bid from Real Madrid for their want-away winger Cristiano Ronaldo. Breathtaking and staggering news though it was, the implication that Newcastle now occupy a different plane to the genuine giants of the world game was difficult to ignore.

 

In financial terms, the money that will take Ronaldo to Spain could buy United and provide Alan Shearer with a transfer fund even more lavish than the one that has apparently stalled talks to install him permanently at St James’s Park.

 

That is partly an illustration of the financial lunacy that underpins Florentino Perez’s stewardship of Real, but for the most part it is another depressing and stark reminder of just how far United have fallen in such a depressingly short period of time.

 

Being involved in deals like the one that will take Ronaldo to Real Madrid seems like a lifetime away to United now.

 

With no manager, a discredited owner desperate to cut and run and the club’s best players queuing to find an escape route from the black-and-white madness conjured up by two years of Mike Ashley, Newcastle are so far removed from Real and Manchester United that they may as well be playing a different sport.

 

But only 13 years ago, it was Newcastle who were breaking world records and shaking up European football by shelling out staggering sums on players.

 

Shearer, the man now growing increasingly downcast about his chances of rescuing United from Championship football, was paraded at St James’s Park as the final piece of the title-winning jigsaw back in July 1996, after the Magpies paid Blackburn a then-world record fee of £15m. Shearer did not possess the natural gifts or repertoire of a Ronaldo, but he was just as effective as the mercurial Portugal international. And if successive United managers had been able to provide him with a supporting cast half as good as the one that Ronaldo has worked with at Old Trafford, perhaps he would have had the title he so desperately craved.

 

The signing of Shearer, if not as protracted, was just as shocking as the Ronaldo deal. It was a deal that not only brought United the best striker in Europe, but also the kudos and star dust of being one of Europe’s major players.

 

That is precisely the kind of effect that Perez is trying for at Real. Fed up with seeing Barcelona and Manchester United move ahead of his club, Perez is throwing eye-watering cash at the world’s best players to restore the prestige of the tattered Bernabeu brand. The story of Newcastle United probably won’t mean much to Perez, but perhaps in a more sober moment he would do well to consider the mistakes made at St James’s Park.

 

Freddy Shepherd and Sir John Hall probably had one eye on recreating the lustre of the Shearer signing when they signed Michael Owen from Real for £16m in 2005. But, as undoubtedly talented as Owen is, he was the wrong signing at the wrong time – a vanity purchase who faded into insignificance with every year he spent on Tyneside.

 

This summer, the striker is a broken man leaving a broken club – a cautionary tale to a Real Madrid club dealing in fantasy finance.

 

With so much to worry about, the last thing that Newcastle United supporters need is more evidence of just how far they have fallen over the last decade. But like season ticket renewal forms landing on the mats of vexed United fans, the unwelcome reminders keep arriving.

 

As well as news of the gargantuan deal for Ronaldo, yesterday saw the 40th anniversary of the Fairs Cup win, the last time the city was able to celebrate a major honour.

 

The wages those players earned are a mere drop in the ocean to someone like Ronaldo, but compensation for the heroes of 1969 arrives with the reverence with which they are still regarded in Newcastle.

 

“I’m not bitter about it,” said Bryan ‘Pop’ Robson yesterday. “That kind of money is just . . . well, it’s unbelievable. It seems crazy to me when you’ve got doctors and surgeons saving people’s lives earning less than Ronaldo will do in one day. We just seem to have got it upside down.

 

“It probably does bring home to us how far Newcastle have fallen in the last 10 years or so. They are a million miles away from doing that kind of thing now. They can’t even compete with Manchester United on the pitch any more, no matter off the field with these kind of transfer fees.

 

“It’s a long way back but like most Newcastle fans I think they can hope to compete again soon. There’s still 52,000 people coming to watch them, they are still a huge club from that perspective.

 

“But they need to appoint Alan (Shearer) as soon as possible if they’re going to get back to where they were. He doesn’t have that experience but he has the knowledge and respect of the city and everyone at the football club.

 

“I just can’t understand the delay. I would say Mike Ashley needs to do it quickly if he is going to give Alan any chance.”

 

While United dither over the appointment of Shearer – that delay has cost him “up to five” signings, according to a source close to the would-be Newcastle manager – Ronaldo moves on. The Portugal winger is finally getting his wish to play for Real, and it is fair to surmise Sir Alex Ferguson has tired of the diva antics of the supremely talented, yet temperamental, world player of the year.

 

Ronaldo and Real feel like a good mix – a gigantic ego joining a club that has behaved with incredible arrogance over the past decade. There is no doubt that the team will be better for Ronaldo’s addition, but it remains to be seen whether the midfielder will prosper quite so spectacularly without the likes of Wayne Rooney doing so much of the unheralded leg work beside him.

 

 

http://www.journallive.co.uk/nufc/newcastl...61634-23851927/

[Kitman 2207]

I think it says more about the silly money Perez is prepared to throw around rather than how far we've fallen. I don't see the connection with us at all tbh.

[Phil 6]

I think it takes a bit of an over inflated ego to think Newcastle were in Real's league.

 

 

Blackburns rise and fall would have been a better comparision.

 

 

Also, Sky alway cut from story to story - as most are re-runs.

[spongebob toonpants 4183]

I doubt we will ever hear the phrase "today Newcastle United broke the world transfer fee record" again

[ChezGiven 0]

I doubt we will ever hear the phrase "today Newcastle United broke the world transfer fee record" again

 

"....for a player over the age of 35" perhaps.

[Kitman 2207]

I doubt we will ever hear the phrase "today Newcastle United broke the world transfer fee record" again

 

"....for a player over the age of 35" perhaps.

 

Leave Obafemi out of it, Chez

[Kid Dynamite 7312]

AN early-morning exchange on Sky Sports News probably summed it up best. Midway through an update about the on-going takeover saga at St James’s Park and in full flow, North East reporter David Craig was unceremoniously cut off by an excited voice in the studio delivering “big news from Manchester United”.

 

That bulletin, of course, related to the Premier League champions accepting an £80m bid from Real Madrid for their want-away winger Cristiano Ronaldo. Breathtaking and staggering news though it was, the implication that Newcastle now occupy a different plane to the genuine giants of the world game was difficult to ignore.

 

I think this is the biggest non story ive ever read in my life

[Happy Face 29]

AN early-morning exchange on Sky Sports News probably summed it up best. Midway through an update about the on-going takeover saga at St James’s Park and in full flow, North East reporter David Craig was unceremoniously cut off by an excited voice in the studio delivering “big news from Manchester United”.

 

That bulletin, of course, related to the Premier League champions accepting an £80m bid from Real Madrid for their want-away winger Cristiano Ronaldo. Breathtaking and staggering news though it was, the implication that Newcastle now occupy a different plane to the genuine giants of the world game was difficult to ignore.

 

I think this is the biggest non story ive ever read in my life

 

 

I never read the article as it was clearly shite, but that bit is very funny.

 

As if SSN would not have cut away to the Ronaldo world record transfer breaking story a year ago, two years ago, five, ten or fifteen years ago.

[Kid Dynamite 7312]

Exactly, they could have been talking about Barcelona and I they still would have cut to the news that the World transfer record had been broken. it has no bearing on the size of a club whatsoever and wins the award for ''shittest and most tenuous link to make a newspaper article out of'' award

[1892 0]

I doubt we will ever hear the phrase "today Newcastle United broke the world transfer fee record" again

 

Especially now it's at £80million.