scotty84 0 Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 (edited) from skysports: Damien Duff has pledged his allegiance to Newcastle despite seeing the club relegated to the Championship. The Republic of Ireland international suffered the indignity of scoring an own goal on the final day of the 2008/09 season against Aston Villa, with that 1-0 defeat sending the Magpies through the Premier League trapdoor. Keen to make amends for his, and the club's, failings this term, Duff has now vowed to do all he can to help the club bounce back into the big time at the first time of asking. That means he will not be seeking a summer exit from St James' Park and will instead be leading the club's promotion charge next season. "I'm as loyal as they come and, whether the gaffer (Alan Shearer) stays or goes, I'd love to try to get Newcastle back up into the Premier League," said Duff. "I don't know what words can describe the way I feel. I'm devastated. The lads haven't tasted relegation apart from me at Blackburn and Nicky Butt at Birmingham. "When it happened at Blackburn, I wasn't planning on seeing it again in my career. It's not a nice feeling. "No disrespect to the Championship, but Newcastle are too big a club to be down there. I plan on being straight back up (in the Premier League) after next season." Duff has also called on the Magpies board to hand temporary boss Shearer the managerial reins on a permanent basis. "I've loved working with him," he said. "It's been a proper, proper football club for eight weeks, and it's about time. It's just disappointing we couldn't stay up for him and the fans. "I think he's been brilliant even though we haven't got the results to keep us up. "It's the first time in a long while that this place has felt like a proper football club. Things are done right and it's been a breath of fresh air. "If there's one man to get us back up, it's Alan Shearer." Devastated Meanwhile, Newcastle defender Steven Taylor, one of the Magpies' local lads, admits relegation has hit him hard. "It's the worst feeling I've had as a professional footballer. It's the worst day in our careers," he admitted. "The dressing room was like a funeral afterwards. Everybody was devastated. I've got the European Championships with England Under-21s to focus on now. That's all I can do, but this is something I'll never, ever forget. "The 3,000 Newcastle fans who came down to Villa Park are the reason you play. It's got to be an honour to play for Newcastle United Football Club. "No matter who you are, what club you have played for, you've got to give it 100 per cent every single game. It can't be like the last 10 months, when it hasn't been good enough. "I know there will be changes at this football club, but I don't know what's going to happen. As players, we haven't got a clue. "But I'd just ask the fans to stick with us next year. We'll be giving everything to get the club back up where it belongs." _____________ Owen to come out and pledge his future here next... Edited May 25, 2009 by scotty84 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JawD 31 Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 Yeah, but you're shit? Though, Id wonder what quality some of our shite is the next level down? Also, would he be willing to take a pay cut, such is his devotion? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alex Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 Duff never hid in the 2nd half yesterday btw. Just about the only one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinofbeans 86 Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 fair play to him, he's not the player he was, and he hasn't hidden at all despite a lack of confidence, but will be an assett in the championship. needs to take a pay cut though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottish Mag 3 Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 I keep seeing all this talk of pay cuts. If there is no relegation clauses in their contracts does anyone really believe that any of the players will take a voluntary pay cut? No chance.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonGoodwyn 1 Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 If hes willing to drop to less than 20k a week, we should keep him. He should be good in the championship and might start taking people on again like the days of old. I think it would be best to hold on to at least a couple of current first team players, as a complete reshuffle wouldn't gel for a long time, and Duff would be one I'd look to keep as he appeared to actually be quite sad that we've been relegated Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JawD 31 Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 I keep seeing all this talk of pay cuts. If there is no relegation clauses in their contracts does anyone really believe that any of the players will take a voluntary pay cut? No chance.. Not one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leannenufc 0 Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 If hes willing to drop to less than 20k a week, we should keep him. He should be good in the championship and might start taking people on again like the days of old. I think it would be best to hold on to at least a couple of current first team players, as a complete reshuffle wouldn't gel for a long time, and Duff would be one I'd look to keep as he appeared to actually be quite sad that we've been relegated Realistically, we do need to keep a couple of the bigger players at the club, whether that's on their Premiership contracts or not. Losing Owen and Viduka will take a lot of the wage bill and I do think Duff could do a good job in the Championship. As much as he frustrates me, I've never found a reason to doubt his effort and commitment so he wouldn't be the worst person to keep hold of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TicTacWoe 0 Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 He wouldnt get a deal anywhere near as good elsewhere. The only clubs who would take a gamvle on him now are the likes of Blackburn or Fulham, teams that simply don't pay the sort of money Duff is on, even for their top players so in many ways it suits Duff to stay. In saying that I know for a fact that he thinks the world of Shearer and does try his best, but remember he is on 70k per week, yes 70k. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khay 8 Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 Happy enough with Duff staying like. Think we will do a good job in the championship and you still need some old heads even though they are not that good any more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChezGiven 0 Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 I keep seeing all this talk of pay cuts. If there is no relegation clauses in their contracts does anyone really believe that any of the players will take a voluntary pay cut? No chance.. Am not that up on labour law but a company can change the contract of its employees if it suffers a significant changes in its circumstances. Otherwise how would companies be allowed to make redundancies? Employment law accounts for these things i believe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottish Mag 3 Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 I keep seeing all this talk of pay cuts. If there is no relegation clauses in their contracts does anyone really believe that any of the players will take a voluntary pay cut? No chance.. Am not that up on labour law but a company can change the contract of its employees if it suffers a significant changes in its circumstances. Otherwise how would companies be allowed to make redundancies? Employment law accounts for these things i believe. Fair enough if thats the case. Just cannot see the modern day footballer voluntarily doing it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChezGiven 0 Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 I keep seeing all this talk of pay cuts. If there is no relegation clauses in their contracts does anyone really believe that any of the players will take a voluntary pay cut? No chance.. Am not that up on labour law but a company can change the contract of its employees if it suffers a significant changes in its circumstances. Otherwise how would companies be allowed to make redundancies? Employment law accounts for these things i believe. Fair enough if thats the case. Just cannot see the modern day footballer voluntarily doing it... Not sure it is entirely, just drawing upon what i know from redundancies in my own industry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2bias 3 Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 I think it would be a good move to keep Duff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fop 1 Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 He'll probably be quite "good" in the Championship, just ridiculously expensive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S-I-S-S-O-K-O 0 Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 Duff can fuck off. I'm sick of seeing him do anything BUT put a cross in. Watch the Fulham goal again last week for an example. He had the ball wide on the left with plenty of space to put in a cross or attack the full back and what did he do? He ran across the edge of the box instead, got tackled and they broke and scored. He can fuck right off with Spiderwank for me like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig 6308 Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 One of the few players who played his heart out during the final games of the season - and despite playing in completely the wrong position. I hope he is retained - the likes of him we need, the likes of Barton, Jonas, Owen & Sideshow Bob please just fuck off... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy_w_1986 0 Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 I keep seeing all this talk of pay cuts. If there is no relegation clauses in their contracts does anyone really believe that any of the players will take a voluntary pay cut? No chance.. Am not that up on labour law but a company can change the contract of its employees if it suffers a significant changes in its circumstances. Otherwise how would companies be allowed to make redundancies? Employment law accounts for these things i believe. Done quite a bit of employment law myself, cant see them being able to enforce a wage reduction on someone unless the individual agrees to this. What some companies do to reduce the wage bill are things such as a 4 day week as long as the T.U agrees to this, not really relevant to NUFC. With reference to the redundancies there are two main circumstances they can be enforced; business closeure and a diminished requirement for work of a particular kind, once again not really relevant to NUFC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChezGiven 0 Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 I keep seeing all this talk of pay cuts. If there is no relegation clauses in their contracts does anyone really believe that any of the players will take a voluntary pay cut? No chance.. Am not that up on labour law but a company can change the contract of its employees if it suffers a significant changes in its circumstances. Otherwise how would companies be allowed to make redundancies? Employment law accounts for these things i believe. Done quite a bit of employment law myself, cant see them being able to enforce a wage reduction on someone unless the individual agrees to this. What some companies do to reduce the wage bill are things such as a 4 day week as long as the T.U agrees to this, not really relevant to NUFC. With reference to the redundancies there are two main circumstances they can be enforced; business closeure and a diminished requirement for work of a particular kind, once again not really relevant to NUFC. There's a diminished requirement for premiership footballers Is there not a third criteria, which has been going on all around us for the last 6 months? Major companies are not closing, their revenues are being reduced and since labour is a major cost, they reduce the wage bill through redundancies. We just laid off 800 last year, with head count reductions coming from across the company. Our business model hasnt really changed, we still do all the same type of work, just with less people. You'd obviously ask them nicely first but am sure there must be a way of adjusting a contract if that contract threatened the ongoing survival of the company? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tino 0 Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 Am I the only one who wishes he hadnt pledged to stay? I think in general, hes been ok, but not the player he used to be or even close to the one we signed frankly and I would still group him among the collection of "collect fat wages and cant be assed" players we have at the club. His wages are said to be staggeringly high too so what with his lacklustre play this season and his fat wages, surely hed be perfect dead wood material to get rid off. If we do end up keeping him, then ok I guess hes going to be one of the better players in the division, but fuck me hes gotta step up beyond what he did this year and hes got to take a pay cut. From what I know, none of the players have relegation wage drops/releases in their contracts so that makes it even more important to get rid of the big wage earners and actually get some players who want to play for us. Sick of these dog shit players who collect 60k+ a week and do fuck all for it and dont care about the team, the badge, the club or the fans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigChrisfgb 0 Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 I think he will be good for the Championship, I mean we can still get and keep some good players, Sheff Utd bought Beattie when they went down, fair enough he isn't Prem quality now, but he's most certinaly a top goal scorer in the Championship. I can still see us attracting players, just not big names. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Park Life 70 Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhooooooooooooooohhh hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!11111 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom 13883 Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 Apparently Jonas said he wants to stay too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonGoodwyn 1 Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 Apparently Jonas said he wants to stay too. The Sun says his agent did, anyway Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigChrisfgb 0 Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 Apparently Jonas said he wants to stay too. YES, he will be good, I actually rate him when he's playing in the right postition. 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