smoggeordie 0 Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 NEWCASTLE United will put every single player up for sale if their Premier League survival bid at Aston Villa on Sunday ends in failure, as owner Mike Ashley frantically tries to contain the financial disaster of crashing into the Championship. United’s shocking home defeat by Fulham on Saturday means the Magpies have slipped back into the bottom three and will need at least a point at Villa Park to have any chance of avoiding the drop. However, with Hull City entertaining a Manchester United side which has already won the title and who face Barcelona in the Champions League final just three days later, United are clinging on to their place in the top flight by the tips of their fingernails. As a result, the Newcastle hierarchy have already planned for the worst and The Journal understands none of the first- team squad will be safe from the chop as the club look to reduce a wage bill which gobbles up around 70% of the business’s turnover. It is thought Ashley, who has planned to cut costs and slash staff levels in every department, will look to reduce wages in the first-team squad by at least £600,000 a week – or £31.2m a year – if results do not go Newcastle’s way on the final day of the season. That will prompt a fire sale at St James’s Park as rival clubs look to pick up a bargain from the wreckage of United’s catastrophic campaign. While the non-renewal of the contracts of Michael Owen and Mark Viduka would save around £180,000 a week, there are plenty of other high earners on the books, including Joey Barton, Geremi, José Enrique, Alan Smith, Damien Duff and Obafemi Martins. Fabricio Coloccini and Jonás Gutiérrez would almost certainly return to Spain after just one season in English football, despite costing around £18m when they were signed last summer, with interest thought to be high in the Argentinian pair despite a troubled year on Tyneside. Whether buyers can be found for some of the other big earners remains to be seen and some players may be willing to sit on their lucrative contracts in the Championship rather than move on, despite the damage this could do to the club in the long term. In turn, while the board will want to slash costs, Alan Shearer will fight to keep some of the best players even if he fails to keep them in the top flight after just eight games in charge. The former Newcastle skipper will have some leverage and he will demand certain assurances before committing to becoming permanent manager at the end of the season. He will be desperate to keep the likes of Sébastien Bassong and Habib Beye, as well as a core of younger players like Danny Guthrie and Andy Carroll, alongside the more experienced Nicky Butt, Kevin Nolan and Steve Harper. He will also want money to spend on replacements as the loss of so many players will make it virtually impossible to secure an immediate return to the Premier League if new ones are not drafted in. Shearer knows he is Ashley’s last shot at redemption as Newcastle owner and there will plenty of manoeuvring behind the scenes if relegation becomes a reality, as the United manager looks to ensure he has something left to work with in the Championship. Meanwhile, Newcastle’s desperation ahead of the trip to Aston Villa was obvious yesterday when they launched an appeal against Bassong’s sending-off against Fulham. Bassong was shown a red card by referee Howard Webb for tugging back striker Diomansy Kamara just inside the United half as the ball bounced over his head. But, despite claiming the decision was “ probably right” after the game, Shearer, who may also be without Beye next weekend after the Senegal international picked up a hamstring problem against Fulham, has decided to appeal in the unlikely hope of a reprieve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fop 1 Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 Can just see us starting next season with 11 players..... how many more do you need? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig 6321 Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 Has the crazy fucker not thinned the squad out enough? Proving more and more every day that he's money rather than success orientated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Face 29 Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 Most people on here advocate this. Generally people can only name 3 players they'd want to keep whether we survive or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alex Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 Non-story anyway. People on PL wages will be up for sale if the side drops out of the PL. Standard stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fop 1 Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 Most people on here advocate this. Generally people can only name 3 players they'd want to keep whether we survive or not. It's not so much who he gets rid of (although with the whole team up for sale ), but who he gets back in...... if anyone. Can you see us building a cheap & decent squad (capable of getting us back into the Premiership and staying there) on Ashley's regimes form? Do you think lessons have been learnt that a club is about a squad not 11 players? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billy Whitehurst 795 Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 I thought Geremi and Gashapa were out of contract also? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alex Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 Most people on here advocate this. Generally people can only name 3 players they'd want to keep whether we survive or not. It's not so much who he gets rid of (although with the whole team up for sale ), but who he gets back in...... if anyone. Can you see us building a cheap & decent squad (capable of getting us back into the Premiership and staying there) on Ashley's regimes form? Do you think lessons have been learnt that a club is about a squad not 11 players? When you think about this season and the squad (or lack of one), what the fuck was Wise playing at? You'd expect him to know the value of having a squad even if Ashley and Llambias don't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alex Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 I thought Geremi and Gashapa were out of contract also? Cacapa is, Geremi has another year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Park Life 71 Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 Non-story anyway. People on PL wages will be up for sale if the side drops out of the PL. Standard stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holden McGroin 5059 Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 (edited) Is the story even accurate anyway? We'll get rid of all the Premiership earners and I reckon someone will snap up Bassong. I can see Carroll and Edgar getting regular games and Taylor might even stay for a year. Harper will stay along with Nicky FUCKING Butt. Edit: Oh, and im sure Shola will be here for the rest of his career as well ! Edited May 19, 2009 by Holden McGroin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Face 29 Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 Most people on here advocate this. Generally people can only name 3 players they'd want to keep whether we survive or not. It's not so much who he gets rid of (although with the whole team up for sale ), but who he gets back in...... if anyone. Can you see us building a cheap & decent squad (capable of getting us back into the Premiership and staying there) on Ashley's regimes form? Do you think lessons have been learnt that a club is about a squad not 11 players? No. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trophyshy 6443 Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 Is the story even accurate anyway? We'll get rid of all the Premiership earners and I reckon someone will snap up Bassong. I can see Carroll and Edgar getting regular games and Taylor might even stay for a year. Harper will stay along with Nicky FUCKING Butt. Edit: Oh, and im sure Shola will be here for the rest of his career as well ! Stay Nicky Butt Nicky Fucking Bu-Utt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Park Life 71 Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 Buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuttttttttttttttt!!!!!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norbert Colon 0 Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 I think david edgar is going to burnley - apparently the contract he was offered from us was a bit of an insult and has secured a much better deal with them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkT 0 Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 Most people on here advocate this. Generally people can only name 3 players they'd want to keep whether we survive or not. I agree with this. Only players i would want to keep are beye, bassong and enrique. If we stay up i wouldn't mind him selling the rest if they were replaced with some half decent players but i can't see this happening. Also if we go down i wouldn't mind getting lita on a free. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kid Dynamite 6082 Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 Carroll and Taylor are 2 of the best young English players in the country imo. Be mad not to hold on to them. Same goes for Ranger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkT 0 Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 Carroll and Taylor are 2 of the best young English players in the country imo. Be mad not to hold on to them. Same goes for Ranger I don't rate carroll very highly. I think he's decent in the air but thats about it. You can't question Taylors commitment but he just doesnt have the quality to go with it which is why i wouldn't mind selling him if anyone came in with a decent offer. Also he is alot better at right back than in the centre. One of my mates told me he works with one of taylors best mates and apparently he said if we go down Taylors going to man city. Don't know how true this is but if it is true Mark Hughes deserves to be sacked. I havn't seen enough of ranger to comment on him but i've heard good things about him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kid Dynamite 6082 Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 We havent seen enough of Carroll to judge properly. Hes only 19 man. As for Taylor, I think hes probably better at CB than RB and Dowie looks like hes had a good effect on him Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alex Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 Taylor v Boro is about the only good game he's had at CB in about 2 seasons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norbert Colon 0 Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 Taylor v Boro is about the only good game he's had at CB in about 2 seasons. Its the same old though isn't it-he has all the attributes, all the passion but has picked up some bad habits (like making a b-line for the goal line everytime the offside trap gets sprung) which cost us - eradicate those and he would be a good player but in saying that we could still be moaning about them in four years time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chaser 1072 Posted May 19, 2009 Share Posted May 19, 2009 I reckon Butt would do us ok for another season in the Championship. Alongside Guthrie, who I fully expect to stick around, they could be quite a decent midfield pairing down there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Face 29 Posted July 6, 2009 Share Posted July 6, 2009 Newcastle United are set to step up efforts to reduce their wage bill this week as they attempt to make the relegated club more attractive to purchasers. The details of 10 players, most notably Obafemi Martins and Fabricio Coloccini, have been circulated to agents worldwide. Despite interest from Malaysia, the US and the UK, the club remains unsold, with the three parties concerned about the overdraft arrangements and an annual wage bill which stands at around £65m. Seymour Pierce, the investment bank brokering the sale, had hoped Mike Ashley would have found a buyer by this week but sources suggest it could be another month. In a bid to accelerate the process Ashley has tried to move some high earning players on, but many of Newcastle's squad are on unusually generous pay. Martins is coveted by Wolfsburg, Sevilla and Lyon. While the Nigeria striker, currently recovering from groin surgery, does not want to move to Germany, Sevilla and Lyon could probably only offer him £40,000 a week – barely half his wages. Coloccini, an Argentina defender, cost Newcastle £10m but after a disappointing season few, if any, clubs are likely to match his £70,000 a week. Galatasaray, though, have already made a £4m bid. Meanwhile Newcastle's squad travelled to Dublin for a week-long training camp culminating in their first friendly, at Shamrock Rovers. While Chris Hughton, the caretaker manager, put them through their paces, a frustrated Alan Shearer waited for news of a takeover and his potential installation as manager. He is unlikely to have been reassured by Joe Kinnear's first public comments since his recovery from a heart bypass in February. "Mike [Ashley] knows I'm still available," said Kinnear. "I feel as fit as a fiddle, I love the game and I'm desperate to get back into it." Moreover he claimed Newcastle would not have been relegated had he stayed in charge. "I'm pretty sure that the run I got the team on at the time would have seen us through," he said. Shearer, who was in charge for the last eight games, is wanted back at Match of the Day but, for the moment at least, the BBC is not putting any pressure on him. http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/ju...artins-for-sale £70K? And his priority was dropping the wage bill? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Park Life 71 Posted July 6, 2009 Share Posted July 6, 2009 I reckon Butt would do us ok for another season in the Championship. Alongside Guthrie, who I fully expect to stick around, they could be quite a decent midfield pairing down there. Please, no more Nicky Butt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kitman 2188 Posted July 6, 2009 Share Posted July 6, 2009 I reckon Butt would do us ok for another season in the Championship. Alongside Guthrie, who I fully expect to stick around, they could be quite a decent midfield pairing down there. Squad player surely? Unless they shuffle around on zimmer frames in the CCC? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now