Article: I won't be singing for Barton if he leaves | Football, Newcastle

On this point I honestly think it's both sides at fault: Ashley is, in football terms, a clueless asshole and this is well established. But let's tackle the Carroll situation; the reason I have a problem with the guy was that he went public saying he was Newcastle through and through about a month (as I recall) before he left. He wasn't forced out, he could have stayed if he really wanted to stay but two things happened: Mike Ashley saw 35 million and thought 'kerching' and Carroll saw Liverpool, a better club than us willing to give him a higher wage and his ambition as a footballer took over his ambition as a Newcastle player. I would have no issue with his choice to move - if he only hadn't said several times that he didn't want to leave Newcastle.
On to Nolan and we have a guy who scored goals aplenty especially when Carroll was here, but was an obvious passenger for many games and supposedly wanted a long contract that would have seen him, an already tired looking player, into his mid thirties. Again, Ashley is a **** and made things difficult but Nolan also saw the opportunity arise at a club who would give him what he wanted and went against the many quotes of loyalty we could produce here that he gave unto the club.
Then we have Barton, after the guys he obviously got on well with the most have left under such circumstances would you blame the guy for wanting out? He has done his very best to keep public relations on nice and serene plains, he has kept the fans as happy as possible while slamming the board that we already hate so much. But he has dragged the fans through a lot of bullshit with his many twitter moments, having pops at the owners here and there, and nobody with any sort of intelligence would do that without expecting the sort of response from the asshole that is Ashley.

In conclusion to this hilariously massive post, possibly the biggest thing I've written on here that won't be read by most people, I think Ashley is a **** but I also think Barton has been doing his best to engineer a move out of the club while keeping his public image in tact because of the previous ****ups of the Ashley regime.

 

I realise the players have never tackled their side of the bargain perfectly, but nearly always as a response to Ashley.

http://www.nufcblog.com/2011/02/01/the-text-messages-between-steve-wraith-and-andy-carroll/ Andy Carroll wanted to stay! Ashley ****ed it up. That was the start of all of this.

Nolan wasn't that good true, but he was our only proven goalscorer. He is always average at best in second half of the season anyway, so not sure if Carroll leaving was why he stopped scoring to be honest. He left for money and first team football. But it all started with Ashley rejecting his contract requests. Also I've just noticed our owner really doesn't like negotiating contracts does he? Either accept his terms or it's no deal.

I feel i've already voiced my opinions on the Barton saga and i'm too tired to do it again

I think we can agree that no matter what is going on Ashley is the common denominator and the root of all the problems.

 

Yep, I'll certainly agree that Ashley is a clueless **** who by no means makes life easy for any player (or manager) at Newcastle or regarding their departure from Newcastle.

 

Ashley is the root cause of all the player/manager unrest at this club. Between him and his cronies they have edged out Milner, N'zogbia, Keegan, Carroll, Nolan and now Barton.

There is common denomenator here and yet people seem to want to ignore it and focus on the players. When the club don't offer you a new contract and tell you to get the hell out of dodge, theres not much you can do is there

 

I'm getting a little tired of far-fetched conspiracy theories regarding players like Barton 'manufacturing' moves, as alleged by Malcolm 'Pillock' Macdonald on the legends last night. He also believes, by the way, that a Scouse clique was running the club, and that's why they got rid of Nolan. The fact is, there are far easier ways to get a move other than making thousands of posts on Twitter, like going to see the manager and asking, for instance.

I supppose, in the end, it all boils down to who and what you believe, especially as the club's PR is virtually non-existent. And I certainly will not believe proven liars like Fat Boy and the casino manager before Barton.

It seems the management are embarking on an all-out offensive to close down all dissension, even at the cost of wrecking the team and its spirit. Make no mistake, less than 2 weeks to go before the season starts and already Newcastle are in desperate trouble.

 

Good post. Tell it like it is. Ashley is satan in my eyes and yet people defend him after all his cock ups.

 

I don't think anyone here is defending Ashley mind, I did point out that he is solely responsible for this mess and everyone else seems to agree on that. The subject dividing opinion seems to be Barton. I just don't think he should come out smelling of roses if he leaves for another club because if he wanted to stay it would make no difference if he was on the transfer list or not, free or otherwise. Like I said, if he sticks to his word and stays then he has my undivided support.

 

I understand what you're saying Aldridge, but Barton is not the only one to suggest great unrest in the camp. Something is seriously wrong, and everyone is looking at the effect of the problem and not the cause. I genuinely believe he has the fans best interests in his heart and is voicing concerns for our benefit. I for one am glad that the players don't seem to want to brush the problems under the carpet.

 

This...

I've been saying the same thing for a while now. we'll miss him on the pitch but he's playing up to the bed sheet brigade to keep his rep intact and nothing more.

 

I would not blame Joey if he left and I would continue to support him. After all the club have made it more than clear that he is not wanted so why would he stay. If he stay's he won't play another game for us so really he has to leave. Pardew won't play someone who his bosses hate and want out of the club because if he does then he will be going against them and if he does that then he will be next out of the door. Pardew wouldn't side with the player anyway he will side with his 'mates'. At first I thought selling Carroll was a great deal for the club, he isn't even worth half of what we got for him but now that it is clear that not even a penny of that £35 million has been or will be spent on buying players as promised several times so basically Ashley has ****ed us over with that. Then 'betraying' our club captain and top scorer before forcing him out. Yes I know Cabaye is better but surely the idea of building a squad is to keep your good players (top scorer!) and ad even better one (Cabaye). Nolan's leadership and goals were key to getting us promoted and key to keeping us in the premier league last year. Now Barton forced out aswell, there are no natural leaders left at the club except Harper who will probably be told to do one aswell. As for Jose leaving, I don't blame him. If I played for any club (other than Newcastle) I would ask to leave because I wouldn't want anything to do with the board and I honestly don't see us being a premier league team this time next year unless something drastically changes. Team Spirit comes to mind, the same team spirit that got us promoted and kept us in the EPL is now gone. The dressing room has no faith in the board, there are no leaders and because of both of these I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest if they lost faith in Pardew. Any manger in the right mind would do what Keegan did and walk out. The board are forcing your key players out they aren't giving you any transfer funds never mind the promised £35 million. The team spirit is shattered as is our hopes of making any progress. The majority of fans are kicking off with there bit protest. Why would you stay, I certainly wouldn't, I'd be gone and I would be taking Ashley to court like Keegan did. As it now shows clearer than ever Keegan was right all along, he was right to walk out and he was right in his interview. There is no way that any one could possible defend Ashley any more. Enough has to be enough!

 

I often think you lads are to quick to criticise why don't you give Ashley another couple of years before you judge him.

 

I agree completly with the OP
Ashley is clueless, but at the same time Barton has done his best to get a move of sorts IMO.

The thing that has me thinking though is why let Barton go on a free????

Everyone keeps going on that Ashley is in it for the money and cashing in on all the best players.

If this is the case why let Barton walk away with a year left for nowt???

There must be more to this in the background than is being let out, Ashley isn't the kind of person to loose money on a good player like Barton. If we are getting £2 Million for Routledge, Barton must be worth double that easily.

There is nothing wrong with people having opinions and expressing them in a constructive way, but has Barton been pushing them in a bad way to the team????
Is it a case of cut out the infection to save what good bits are saved??

Barton is a big player for us, but still believe he owes us more than the club owe him considering the amount of times he's played for the club since he's been here.
He wouldn't even have such a good carrer prospect if it wasn't for NUFC sticking with him.

 

I have to disagree there, we don't know this for sure until we KNOW that he's staying or going. If he goes then it's proof that the Twitter debacle was more of a smoke screen and attempt to keep his own reputation intact. If he stays then it seems maybe he was doing it for the fans all along, to give us a true insight.

 

agreed

the only thing loyal in football are the fans ****ing hate badge kissing chest beating players,if he moves really soon after being transfer listed in my eyes he'll have engineered it.