From looking at Newcastle’s signings so far (as well as the latest links the Nketiah and Burn) it looks to me like things will really hinge on Bruno Guimares (should that be finalised which it looks like it will) absolutely firing and adapting very quickly. Not impossible of course
I for one have many reasons for it (Ashley, new owners, fans with no class, Ashley, etc) but I really hope they can’t buy a win for all the money in their dubious owners back pockets… would love to see a record run where all their games are treated like cup finals by their respective opponents and they struggle for a point for the rest of the season and go down early…!!!… just saying…!!
Indeed, we have spent the last 3 or 4 years bemoaning the lack of quality and depth in central defence and now some fans want to weaken it again?, it makes no sense to me.
I don't see it as weakening. I see it as improving. Bednarek is one of the players who I think we can improve upon, so if Newcastle were going to pay over the odds for him in a desperate attempt to sign a CB before 11pm on Monday, I wouldn't be adverse on us accepting that and then seeking to invest that money into a better CB in the summer - and with money left over to spend elsewhere too. I'm not suggesting that we push Bednarek out the door, accepting whatever offer we can get for him. It would have to be a decent offer for me to be interested. But should said offer come, I'd be far more open to us losing Bednarek than losing, for example, Salisu or KWP.
I don't know whether Ralph sees it that way though, Bedders has been his #1 pick at CB ever since he came in as manager.
But he wasn't in Ralph's first choice CB pairing to start the season as you implied. It was Stephens and Salisu and he only got back in to the PL starting line up when Stephens picked up that injury at City.
There is not way we will sell Bednarek. I think that we have seen a relucatnce by English clubs to sell to Newcastle other than the Woods situation which was something Burnley could not avoid. The prospects at Southampton are far better and I would rate Ralph much more highly than Eddie Howe who is a disaster waiting to happen. Regardless of this, Saints won;t sell and Bednarek won;t want to run the risk ofpaying Championship football next season. Newcastle need somethung like 1.3 points a game to get to 38 points which is increasingly likely to be necessary. If they escape, Newcastle will do this by a very fine margin. They are not going to have a Lazarus -like resurrection all of a sudden.
We'll see but I don't think that Ralph will be all that keen to see him go, but I suppose every player has his price.
You're missing the point I think. I don't want Bednarek to be sold because he's been good lately with Salisu but if someone offered way over the odds for him we'd be foolish not to take it.
Yes that Bedders has been Ralph's first choice all the time. Which he hasn't. Stephens was excellent before he got injured so if we did sell Bednarek we could cope. Note that both CB's have looked good when playing alongside Salisu.
You have taken it literally, there's no doubt that Ralph has started Bedders more than any other CB since he's been here, that was my point.
From a squad perspective we simply shouldn’t move on post transfer window with Valery as 4th choice CB Now if there is someone we can get on loan in the meantime that is different (we are not going to be able to line up a decent money CB transfer in a day or two). But in that case it would need to be someone who can be first choice because why would someone join on loan to be 4th choice That would upset things with our existing defenders and be difficult to pull off For these reasons I don’t see how it can happen
I am seeing West Ham linked with a loan with option or obligation for Caleta Car No idea why Newcastle aren’t looking at that unless they have already been rebuffed by the agent with him not being interested A scenario where Bednarek goes for “over the odds” and he comes in on loan is about the only one that would make sense (purely on paper as I don’t know much about CC) That said - if West Ham are truly in for him then I doubt we can compete both on wages or aspirations.
Bednarek wasn’t first choice at the beginning of the season because of the Euros though right? Ralph said he had come back rusty and taken time to get back to sharpness. In which time Stephens was playing very well and it would have been harsh to drop him. I don’t think Bednarek’s ability or form was the reason for him not playing.
That's how I see it, just because a player misses a few games, does not mean he is not first choice, there are many reasons that we are not privy to, but I would say that Bedders being at the Euros is so obvious as to why he wasn't played for a bit. He's one of our key players who we would be mad to sell last minute during this window in my opinion. Not because he isn't replaceable as he is, we have had better players in the past and will have better in the future, but he's a solid pro, gets a few goals and for the most part plays well. We are not safe yet, looking likely yes but not yet. To sell now could prove costly especially considering players needing to isolate. Also it would be a bad move to buy the club, come out and say we do not need to sell our best players and then sell him without replacing him, deja vu or what? Also it's Newcastle, so we should just say no, even if they want Shane Long or Theo Walcott!
