Article: The five year plan | Football, Newcastle

All goes well with the club's 5 year plan.

He's managed to get rid of most of the major drains on the club's resources with some of the biggest wage earners gone now. They have brought in younger players for minimal fees and though these players are on decent wages they are nothing like their predecessors. On the face of it these new replacements appear to be as good if not better than the previous encumbants. This is highlighted by the departures of the big earners the likes of Campbell, Nolan, Enrique & Barton. Obvious exceptions being Smithy (unfortunately no-one wants him at any price because of huge wage given to him by the previous regime) & Xisco.(A loan is better than paying a guy who would probably not even make the bench)

Also improving club facilities so the young talent we've invested in will have the best chances to flourish. The vision being to have a great academy with young players of the highest level being produced through our own ranks rather than spending fortunes on players who may or may not cut it at the highest level.

With regards to the current team he is starting to develop a new team going forward, building on the core of players that fit the model. Krul, Saylor, Simpson, Cabaye, Tiote & Ben Arfa. Add to that guys like Marveaux, Abeid, Obertan & Ba who have potential and may or may not be in the long term plans depending on their development. Added to this the addition of the new LB and striker and possibly 1 or 2 more will provide added depth that was lacking at times last season.

Some would have us believe that the likes of Saylor, Tiote, Cabaye, Marveaux & Ba signing long term contracts is a way of pushing up their market value. Another way of looking at it is good financial planning. The club has a fairly good idea what the wage bill will be for the best part of the next decade and can budget accordingly. All are well within the wage structure parameters (or wage cap) and should adjustments need to be made there is room for negotiation.

Financially the club is on a strong footing now having made the savings mentioned above, securing a new sponsorship deal with Northern Rock and possible stadium naming rights. We have been very smart with this because we all know that whoever takes up the option of naming rights and whatever they call it, to the general football fraternity, fans, media etc the ground will always be St James's. We will be without a doubt one of the few clubs to make money this year which believe it or not is a good thing. We will be well prepared for the next few seasons when other clubs have to make drastic cuts to enable them to play in Europe under new UEFA regulations.

All in all the future looks rosey for Newcastle United with all the improvements that have been implemented. Our opening two fixtures were both potential banana skins facing one of the pre-season favourites for a top 4 finish and then the noisy neighbours. We came through them relatively unscathed, most fans would have taken 4 points from those opening two fixtures. In all life is good and a lot better than those with a less sunnier disposition would have us believe.











Disclaimer: These aren't necessarily views held by the OP but I thought it would be interesting to take a different perspective to the doommongers as the arguements hold up just as well as "I told you it would happen, I'm right and the club's in turmoil" arguements I've seen so many of lately.

 

Much agreed

 

Good article. You can either look at it like this, or that the club is just looking to stay afloat with no ambition, depending on how you want to look at it.

 

T ....That is the head of the nail you just hit

 

Well said! Important points well made

 

I like this article. It has mostly realism with a spin of optimism which is always the way to go in my opinion.

I agree that financially and long-term the club is in a strong position relative to many teams in the league. However, I also believe we need to have a solid top ten team to capitalise fully when the inevitable financial downfall of clubs above us happens. To achieve this we need to buy a left back and striker of good quality. After these two purchases I see it as a case of natural turnover (replacing those we lose). Ashley's plan is a good one, but some of his decisions just make the mind boggle and the communication with fans is non-existent. I think he still has the opportunity to repair his relationship with the fans, as we can all recognise some good he has done, but many decisions turned out to be stupid (Employing Keegan then undermining a club legend, sacking Hughton, allowing Pardew to promise us the Carroll money when he had no intention of spending it (I will eat humble pie if we go on a spending spree in the next week) etc).

 

Great article Alfie,

It all makes sense and fits in with the theory that MA is getting the club to run as a financially sound business model so that he can sell it (Hopefully). The big gamble though, is that the squad remains good emough to stay in the Premiership.

I think that it is, but it is still a gamble, having to rely on so many new untested players.

 

Thank You!! At last a bit of positivity!!

HWTL!!

 

Good atricle but like Simon I am worried about relying on untested new players.

 

Are you employed Alfie? It's just the club are so **** at PR they could probably use a spin doctor like you.

I'm not sure when the five year plan was dreamt up, but I seem to recall the end goal being European qualification, which is more than five years off even now (barring a cup run, or even more unlikely, fair play) and further away than it was just three months ago, further away than a week ago. This transfer window has been a disaster. With the core of quality footballers we had, £35m of investment would've been enough to push for 6th or 7th, but the club are putting the squeeze on again. More out than in. The squad is cheaper and younger and Frencher, not better. You can clutch at straws (by assuming the young'uns will flourish, when they could just as easily flop) and say in a couple of years time we'll have a quality squad, but the ones that develop into quality players will be sold, replaced with cheaper, younger, Frencher equivalents and so the process will continue.

We're a business, not a club.

 

totally agree mate

 

Another point, not brought up in the OP but I thought I'd mention it anyway - a lot of people are talking up the likes of Abeid, Vuckic, Airey, and Sammy Ameobi. Two years ago this was Carroll, Ranger, Vuckic (still), Kadar, LuaLua and Donaldson. Carroll's the only one who's hit the heights and he was sold. Going back beyond that we had the likes of Huntington, Ramage, Taylor, Pattison and Edgar, of which Taylor was the only one who amounted to anything. Only a small fraction of youth prospect will ever make it to the accepted level, of the current batch I think Ferguson will make it, but most, if not all, of the others will drift into obscurity.

 

yes mate unfortunately fully employed.

I would just say though your arguement of more out than in.
We've lost:

Campbell - old, slow, overpaid and a liability last season
Kuqi - was only a stop gap due to the last minute sale of Carroll, was there to make the numbers up but never in the plan
Routledge - not good enough, was already on the way out having been out on loan.
Nolan - all summer we saw porn formations, very few of which included Nolan. His contract demands were outlandish for a guy that would have struggled to hold down a first team place.
Enrique - admittedly a loss, but if a player wants to "improve his career/get a bumper pay cheque" and leave in these days of player power not a great deal a club can do (unless you're Man U and want to pay someone £200K a week). If we bring in Pieters we have a proven LB with international pedigree, something even Enrique doesn't have, possible blessing in disguise.
Barton - techniqually not out the door yet but was always going to happen, high wage demands and an unsettling influence on the team unit. Can you imagine what the new guys thought when they saw this going on at their new club?
Xisco - on loan, again because we can't sell him due to his huge wage, not a great player and no real loss.

As for selling players once they improve, will they be sold? None of the new breed have been sold, only players that were here before the plan was implemented.

 

This is my point exactly. Anyone want guess the initial outlay for all the players listed above? Very little, they came through the academy. All of them at one time or another had a chance in the 1st team, some couldn't cut and were sold on, a couple did make it. But it's better to get these players through the academy than spend expensive fees for guys who couldn't cut it. Luque, Xisco, Bassong, Cacapa, Rozehal to name but a few who were here the same time as the guys you've mentioned.
Even the best managers have a few misses when bringing in talent. Wenger signs new youngsters every year and only a small percentage make it, same with Sir Alex Ferguson. The point being they don't cost a lot (virtually free if they come through our academy) and will still have some sell on value. And there are some that do make it, look at Man U's "kids" of a few years ago even now with the likes of Welbeck & Cleveley. Arsenal are much the same.

 

When I said "more out than in" I meant transfer fees, should've been more clear. Of course the window hasn't closed yet, but for the last month we've been told "be patient, be patient" and all that's happened is two of our best players have been ushered through the exit door. This is reminding me horribly of 2008 when we had a really slow transfer window culminating with Milner being sold right at the end. We've only had one satisfactory window (IMO) since Ashley took charge, and that was the January one in Championship, when we made some effective yet inexpensive signings to strengthen our promotion push. Before and after that it's been disappointing.

 

There are some good points in this article.

1. We have brought quality players in
2. I think we have some promising yound players in our ranks
3. The Uefa fair play rules will suit newcastle
4. profit, what ever you says money rules footy, most clubs are and need to make profit.

I just wish that some players had nto left, and some players dont leave in near future.

 

What I like about the 5 year plan - Youth will get its chance to play games and develop.

What I don't like - If they do turn into good players, they will be sold.

 

Well that ends this article's credibility then.

 

Not if Man City get away with their plans to bypass the rules with dodgy sponsorship deals. We'll be back to square one. The more I thought about footy in this country, the more and more I came back to the same conclusion. A wage cap is needed urgently.

 

Well said. Being objective (as you have) you can certainly argue that many of changes in personnel and contracts etc are a benefit to the club in terms of the quality and potential of the playing staff and not just a pocket lining exercise for MA.

I think its the way most of the changes have been conducted that have riled us all at times though.