Scottish Mag 3 Posted July 30, 2006 Share Posted July 30, 2006 Newcastle chairman Freddy Shepherd says he is still working hard to bring new faces to the Premiership club after capturing Damien Duff. The former Chelsea winger made his Magpies debut to a raucous reception in a pre-season friendly against PSV Eindhoven on Saturday, but the 3-2 defeat to the Dutch champions reinforced the notion that the Premiership club cannot rest on their laurels after signing the Republic of Ireland international. With Alan Shearer retiring and Michael Owen expected to be out injured for the majority of the season a striker is a priority for Glenn Roeder's side, and the club have been linked with both Feyenoord's Dirk Kuyt and West Ham's Dean Ashton. Newcastle may also be looking to strengthen their backline, with reports on Sunday suggesting that Sol Campbell is a target, and chairman Shepherd says he is hoping to inject more new faces before the transfer window closes. "We're aware that we still need to strengthen and we're working towards more signings," said Shepherd. "Patience is important in getting the right players. "The transfer deadline is the last day of August, which is still over a month away." However Shepherd has allowed himself to bask in the glory of Duff's cut-price £5 million arrival from Stamford Bridge, saying the signing could eventually be seen as one of The Magpies' most astute pieces of business. "We smashed the world record when we paid £15 million for Alan Shearer in 1996 and in terms of impact we will probably never make a more important signing," said Shepherd in The Sunday Mirror. "We also proved the size of our ambition by luring Michael Owen from Real Madrid last summer. "But in its own way the capture of Damien could turn out to be one of our best pieces of business. "When you consider that we have got a world class player who cost £17 million three years ago for £5 million, Duff has to one of our top signings." Meanwhile the star, who showed glimpses of his talent during the game against PSV, has stated he would be keen to end his career at St James' Park. "I see myself finishing my career here at Newcastle," Duff told the Sunday Sun. "I'm 27 and I would like to think I have a good eight years in me. "My contract here will take me to 32, but I will put my heart and soul into the club and hopefully stay here longer." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kid Dynamite 7335 Posted July 30, 2006 Share Posted July 30, 2006 Slag him all you want he backs the manager more than any other chairman outside of chelsea and man united. I think we might be pleasantly surprised by the new additions on the 31st of august Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tony_Green Posted July 30, 2006 Share Posted July 30, 2006 All hail the ambassador Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matty 0 Posted July 30, 2006 Share Posted July 30, 2006 Pleasantly surprised and all that eh.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shearergol 0 Posted July 30, 2006 Share Posted July 30, 2006 Less talk more action please fred Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fish 11097 Posted July 30, 2006 Share Posted July 30, 2006 Freddy is a dual edged sword tbh he is absolutely one of the most financially supportive chairmen in the Premiership, but at times his need to please gets in the way of good business sense. See Gullit, Dalglish, Souness appointments and token "big name" signatures instead of a genuine long term plan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom 14021 Posted July 30, 2006 Share Posted July 30, 2006 Yeh i think sometimes we can make daft signings. The obvious being currenlty Faye. Boumsong. Luque Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legacy 0 Posted July 30, 2006 Share Posted July 30, 2006 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig 6703 Posted July 30, 2006 Share Posted July 30, 2006 Meanwhile the star, who showed glimpses of his talent during the game against PSV, has stated he would be keen to end his career at St James' Park. "I see myself finishing my career here at Newcastle," Duff told the Sunday Sun. "I'm 27 and I would like to think I have a good eight years in me. "My contract here will take me to 32, but I will put my heart and soul into the club and hopefully stay here longer." Totally committed to the cause - it's refreshing to hear someone talking like that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shearergol 0 Posted July 30, 2006 Share Posted July 30, 2006 Meanwhile the star, who showed glimpses of his talent during the game against PSV, has stated he would be keen to end his career at St James' Park. "I see myself finishing my career here at Newcastle," Duff told the Sunday Sun. "I'm 27 and I would like to think I have a good eight years in me. "My contract here will take me to 32, but I will put my heart and soul into the club and hopefully stay here longer." Totally committed to the cause - it's refreshing to hear someone talking like that 167104[/snapback] Here for his last pay day tbh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig 6703 Posted July 30, 2006 Share Posted July 30, 2006 Why the cynicism?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Footsoldier 0 Posted July 30, 2006 Share Posted July 30, 2006 At lesat I'm confident Duff has the right attitude and will earn his money. I won't bother listing the wasters, past and present, who are milking the club and making fools of the supporters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shearergol 0 Posted July 30, 2006 Share Posted July 30, 2006 Why the cynicism?? 167110[/snapback] Just been thinking the last few days about why we actually signed him. I know at that price it was too good to miss out on, but until we see a top class striker signing, I'm not gonna be happy about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GafferTape 0 Posted July 30, 2006 Share Posted July 30, 2006 I'm still waiting for the £100mil that Shepherd said we had to spend in 2000 or whatever it was. Not keeping much hope like.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ted Maul 0 Posted July 30, 2006 Share Posted July 30, 2006 Slag him all you want he backs the manager more than any other chairman outside of chelsea and man united. 167039[/snapback] And 'Boro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kid Dynamite 7335 Posted July 30, 2006 Share Posted July 30, 2006 pardon!? Weve spent about 3times more than boro on players. And as for that 100mil on players, we ust be getting up there by now 17mil owen 10mil luque 8mil boumsong 9mil robert 5mil duff 7mil parker 4mil emre 4mil carr and around that time we had the likes of ferguson, cort, bramble, marcelino. Weve spent a good 70-80mil on players in the last few years Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fish 11097 Posted July 30, 2006 Share Posted July 30, 2006 I'd like to see our income against our expenditure in comparison to 'Boro's before I said Freddy was a more supportive chairman or not. but as I said before, it's all well and good throwing money at the problem, but as we've spent on a plateau with Chelsea and Man U over the last decade, where is the return? Freddy made poor judgements both in the transfer market (it is after all his money) and more importantly in filling the top spot, going for a big name, ahead of the right man Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig 6703 Posted July 30, 2006 Share Posted July 30, 2006 I'm still waiting for the £100mil that Shepherd said we had to spend in 2000 or whatever it was. Not keeping much hope like.. 167172[/snapback] According to .COM, and not taking into account any of the fees which were undisclosed, we've spent £124.09m since 1st January 2000. In the same time we've only recouped £56.7m in disclosed fees making a net spend of £67.39m One thing you can't accuse Fat Fred of is not stumping up the cash. He's crap in other areas, granted! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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