Baggio 0 Posted June 22, 2007 Share Posted June 22, 2007 SMITH IN SWITCH TO TOON EXCLUSIVE By David Mcdonnell 22/06/2007 NEWCASTLE have won the race to sign Manchester United outcast Alan Smith in a deal worth around £3.5million. Toon boss Sam Allardyce made his move for Smith after the England striker made public his dismay at not being offered a new deal by United. But Allardyce failed in his bid to make it a United trio at Newcastle after the Old Trafford hierarchy rebuffed his attempts to sign defensive duo Wes Brown and Mikael Silvestre. AdvertisementSmith revealed his desire to stay at Old Trafford only last week but admitted he had received no assurances about his future from Sir Alex Ferguson, a revelation which sparked a scramble for his signature. Despite his reluctance to leave United following a £7million move from Leeds in 2004, Smith has been assured of regular football at Newcastle under Allardyce, something Fergie could not give him at Old Trafford. And Smith is said to be relishing the challenge to prove he can get back to the level he was at before breaking a leg at Liverpool in February 2006, which ruled him out for seven months. A host of Premiership clubs including Tottenham and Aston Villa made clear their interest in signing Smith but Newcastle have won the race Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ewerk 26550 Posted June 22, 2007 Share Posted June 22, 2007 £3.5m sounds like a good deal to me, however it does look increasingly like one of Owen and Martins is set to leave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baggio 0 Posted June 22, 2007 Author Share Posted June 22, 2007 If Allardyce was to replace either Owen or Martins with fucking Alan Smith he wants shooting tbh. Replacement for Shola and back up to Viduka is all he's good for, a very average player who's overrated because he gets stuck in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themags 0 Posted June 22, 2007 Share Posted June 22, 2007 I just don't rate Alan Smith, even for 3 million I don't want us anywhere near him Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gemmill 34812 Posted June 22, 2007 Share Posted June 22, 2007 I quite like Alan Smith, although admittedly that is partially because he gets stuck in. Wouldn't be against getting him here for that sort of money though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themags 0 Posted June 22, 2007 Share Posted June 22, 2007 Can't help feeling Smith is rated allot better than what he is because he's at Man Utd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tooj 17 Posted June 22, 2007 Share Posted June 22, 2007 Can't help feeling Smith is rated allot better than what he is because he's at Man Utd He did start off quite well at Man Utd but has been shite ever since Fergie tried to turn him into a centre midfielder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glen 0 Posted June 22, 2007 Share Posted June 22, 2007 No, No, NO! Classy Defenders. Not decidedly average strikers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JawD 31 Posted June 22, 2007 Share Posted June 22, 2007 I'm undecided about this one (if true). For that price it seems a good deal. Yes we know we need centre halves etc, but no one is saying this is instead of one. Im just puzzled how he would get regular football, unless as said Owen or Martins is set to leave. Mind, this said, Viduka will be injured at the start of the season and Martins may or may not be in the African nations. Unless of course Sam has other idea's for him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henryb1 0 Posted June 22, 2007 Share Posted June 22, 2007 Ill bet anyone 10 english pounds that this afternoon Anal tells us its "wide of the mark" like the nappy ripping bastard he is! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetleftpeg 0 Posted June 22, 2007 Share Posted June 22, 2007 Radio Newcastle were running with this story when I came in this morning. Personally, I'd be quite happy with him coming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ewerk 26550 Posted June 22, 2007 Share Posted June 22, 2007 Ill bet anyone 10 english pounds that this afternoon Anal tells us its "wide of the mark" like the nappy ripping bastard he is! Maybe you should just stick to the Help forum, eh Henry? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottish Mag 3 Posted June 22, 2007 Share Posted June 22, 2007 I'd be happy with Smith and it would be a good deal for that money. 3.5 million for Smith and Viduka seems good value though wasn't that a forward line that could not do enough to keep Leeds in the league? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snakehips 0 Posted June 22, 2007 Share Posted June 22, 2007 It's a 'No' for me. I always thought Smith was overrated tbh. And if Allardyce is fearing losing Owen or Martins, he should be looking at replacements at £10m, not bargain buys imo. Then again, if he is looking to hedge his bets, maybe there is more to this rumour than we think and, at £3m-ish, Allardyce reckons Smith is priced reasonably to buy him as potential cover for a departure; after all, it appears Allardyce only has a certain budget to spend and most of it has to go on defenders. If Smith is bought, 'just in case', and he is proved not to be needed, NUFC will be able to sell him on next summer without too much of a loss. fwiw, I reckon the four strikers we have at the moment will be with us throughout the season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bombadil 0 Posted June 22, 2007 Share Posted June 22, 2007 Not a fan of Smith. £3m isn't too bad though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geordie Boyo 23 Posted June 22, 2007 Share Posted June 22, 2007 I don't think he could offer more than what Shola can offer, or even Carroll for that matter. Then we've got Viduka, Owen & Martins. I don't see any point in buying him, IMO, especailly as we could do with using the money for new defenders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetleftpeg 0 Posted June 22, 2007 Share Posted June 22, 2007 Welcome to the premiership in the 21st century people, where teams with quality squads win things. You have to remember how we struggled last season because we didn't have strength in depth. As people keep pointing out, Shola is apparently shit so buying Smith would give us 4 main strikers, a minimum if you want to compete, which I assume is what we want to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottish Mag 3 Posted June 22, 2007 Share Posted June 22, 2007 I don't think he could offer more than what Shola can offer, or even Carroll for that matter. Then we've got Viduka, Owen & Martins. I don't see any point in buying him, IMO, especailly as we could do with using the money for new defenders. Carroll for England... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Kelly 1117 Posted June 22, 2007 Share Posted June 22, 2007 He's definitely worth £3m, he's a good footballer and used to link well with Viduka. I wouldn't be overly impressed with him as a direct replacement for either Martins or Owen though tbh. I don't think he would ever score the amount of goals they are capable of. That said he would offer us something different and would probably be more likely to fit into a 4-3-3 than either of those two (especially Owen) and I would say that a strike force of Owen/Martins, Viduka, Smith & Shola would score a lot of goals if we are able to provide them with the oppertunities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ewerk 26550 Posted June 22, 2007 Share Posted June 22, 2007 Going to replace Parker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alex Posted June 22, 2007 Share Posted June 22, 2007 Canny player. Far better than Shola and not a bad price. Needs a new club to kickstart his career too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest stevieintoon Posted June 22, 2007 Share Posted June 22, 2007 Me fatha's been on the phone from work there, I don't know where this has come from but he reckon Shola is away to the blue dippers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ewerk 26550 Posted June 22, 2007 Share Posted June 22, 2007 Me fatha's been on the phone from work there, I don't know where this has come from but he reckon Shola is away to the blue dippers. I was myself that the only logic for signing Smith would be as a replacement for Shola, as long we get at least the same money for him as we're paying for Smith I'll be happy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geordieboyo 0 Posted June 22, 2007 Share Posted June 22, 2007 Me fatha's been on the phone from work there, I don't know where this has come from but he reckon Shola is away to the blue dippers. Win win situation that then Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Kelly 1117 Posted June 22, 2007 Share Posted June 22, 2007 Me fatha's been on the phone from work there, I don't know where this has come from but he reckon Shola is away to the blue dippers. For fuck's sake don't start more rumours Stevie. I can't be arsed with another 30 odd pages of shite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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