Ba, what a C***

If his experience means that other quality players could see Newcastle as a place to come for a couple of years, play out of their skin and step up to a moneybags club then I'm all for it. We wouldn't have got to where we did last season if not for Ba, and I personally would take him again even with the release clause if it meant another season like last one's. I just hope Cisse gets that January feeling now and starts banging them in.

 

But did we? after agent fees i wonder how much we really got

Why would we as the selling club pay his agents fees, surely that would be down to Chelsea ?

 

Spot on tash micester

 

He was never the main replacement for Andy Carroll tho was he ,cisse was the main one hence we spent just short of 10m on him
Its obvious tho they can't play together so hey ho I am only worried due to we are another man down with a wafer thin squad as it is.

 

I assumed he meant taking into consideration the initial agent fees when assessing the overall deal. On the way in cost us 2m in fees, on the way out cost 2.5. Net profit of 3m (his wages whilst here being covered by the goals he scored)

 

He came for nowt, always gave his all, scored some brilliant goals, was hardly ever injured then left for the champions of europe.

The problem most of us have is that he has shown no class in his interview - yes, he's excited about Chelsea and he feels he has now reached the pinnacle of his career but to look back on West Ham and Newcastle and brand them as stepping stones is just wrong. He's upset a lot of Geordies who loved him by saying that. It's fine to think it, but not to stand there with a massive grin, clapping your hands with glee and calling Newcastle united a small club by comparison.

And for the record, if this was 1996/7 and Chelsea had come calling for Les Ferdinand in the same way, would he have gone and said 'well, it's chelsea isn't it?' No. And the reason is Chelsea are not bigger than Newcastle - their owner is richer and by default, won more trophies. If Ba had class he would have said 'I'm not joining a bigger club, just one that has a much better chance of silverware' adding the usual 'I loved it in Newcastle' platitudes.

Even with my black and white glasses off I still only see Man Utd, Liverpool and Arsenal as bigger clubs than us. We were 5th last year, above Chelsea. Yeah, Chelsea are HUGE Demba, just HUGE. they fell into the Champions League final through some unseen power and somehow ended up with the trophy, playing nobody off the park in the process.

on another matter...

Have faith in what Ashley is trying to do - we have the players to be top 6, they're just not on the pitch right now. Debuchy is a class signing. A centre back and a forward of the same pedigree and we'll bounce back and challenge next season (after surviving this of course)

Rant over.

 

This makes it look more believable

 

Well put

 

While I agree we'll bounce back, I'd have to disagree. He is just being honest, and I can't see why people get upset. There is simply no comparison in size. It doesn't matter how Chelski got where they have (Russian thug or not), the reality is they have. They've won 3 PL titles in the last 10 years, won the CL, I'm not even sure how you can begin to think we're on their level. Consistency in performance is what dictates your current standing in the game. They are guaranteed to have a depth of quality and be in the CL every year. We simply can't match that.

We are a stepping stone to big clubs at present, resenting that is just daft. Hopefully through Ashleys methods and stricter rules with FFP we'll get there eventually. The cold hard facts are though, we are not at present and Ba has simply pointed it out. To think otherwise is a little delusional to coin the popular media phrase. I'm not ashamed of where we at as a club.

 

Why boo the lad, his goals per game ratio for us was good, his presence here probably helped in bringing in Cisse, he is joint second top scorer in the prem for us this year, helped us to a surprise 5th place finish and Europa qualification last season, his injury record for us was excellent despite the dodgy knee reports and he has only left us to go to a team who regularly challenge to win everything they play in and win something nearly every season including the Champions League last season as well as probably doubling his wages. He has been good for us both on the field and financially (a big name and big scorer in the squad for 18 months effectively for nowt overall). I wish him well, with reports on the condition of his knee he needs to make as much money as he can and win as much as he can as quickly as possible so good luck to him.
I think most of the unrest centered around the contract clause but who can blame him for that being there, we agreed to it and hopefully have now learned a lesson from it.

 

The bloke is obviously a complete cock.

The tragedy of it is (irrespective of recent history) Newcastle are a FAR bigger club than Chelsea will ever be ( and even being a Sunderland fan I've no problem making this comment).

By the way tremendous following at Brighton today lads. Can you ever see Chelsea replicating that? No chance

 

What the hell has he done wrong???

He said Newcastle are a big club with a great history but when the champions of Europe come calling then you have to go. How can you disagree with that. The bloke came and helped fire you back into Europe. Give him a break.

 

Safc83. Spot on. I don't see what the guy has done wrong. We are not in a position to pay the wages for a top quality goal scorer and Chelsea are. He has pretty much pointed this out. I'm sure if I was playing for a team in France like st.etienne and Paris st Germain offered me a good deal I would take it. Good luck to him.

 

what do you want BA to do or what would you do in his shoes....stay with the toon who are struggling or join chelsea and win things....no brainer really is it..

 

I hope he gets shot in the lip... with an RPG

 

We have to move on, prove to him and ourselves we can survive without him, he's having a dream debut, he's scored his first goal, our revival is worth more than any one player

 

He doesnt play for us, so I dont give a stuff.

 

See he's scored on his debut for Chelsea. We will miss his goals.

 

.

 

god it's a bit worrying that beyond cisse the only forwards we can call on are shola (whose now suspended hopefully it gets rescinded because that was ridiculous), ranger and cambell, and the most worrying of all pardew doesn't seem overly confident of signing a new striker, remy looks like he's our top target but it really doesn't look like we have the money to pull it off, with qpr supposedly leading the chase because they're willing to pay more in both fees and wages.