Would you miss TIOTE??

As much as I admire the BEAST I have to say that when he has been missing, either through injury or suspension, we have not seemed to miss him that much. He is an immense tackler etc but he often tends to do a "SCOTT PARKER" and spin around quite a bit sometimes, and his distribution is not always that great. If we were to lose someone this summer I think it would be him. I think Pardew has already players earmarked to replace him if that happens. DISCUSS..................

 

Tiote would be a loss.

We can cope without him at the moment. In order not to be weakened by his departure, though, Mr Carr would need another moment of cleverness.

 

When he was out I was thinking we probably wouldn't miss him that much, but since he's come back in the team and back to full fitness he has been absolutely immense and reminded us of exactly what we were missing. James Perch does a sterling and efficient job but Tiote is just a bulldog, he really gives us a steel and dynamism we don't have otherwise. The Scott Parker comparison is ridiculous IMO, he's a far better than Parker was, is or ever will be. Absolutely class player, just needs to stay clear of those niggling injuries.

 

Thought so myself for a while but when you analyse his season, he has it disrupted by injury/ACON etc. One notable thing is when he does play, he (like Benni) is capable of taking control of a game on his own. Particularly in the big games against the top sides. He has areas to improve but he is already very effective. I like Parker too though! Basically I'd be loathe to lose him because he has that ability to make us really competitive against the big sides. He is also the perfect foil for Cabaye and Jonas when we play 3 centrally.

I'd hate to lose anyone. I do think the signs are ominous though after DL comments. You'd think a deal was set up at board level with those kind of comments. Tiote can of course try to stay but it is difficult.

 

Not putting him on the same level but i think this highlights the issue of Guthrie going in the summer (if he leaves) as part of the reason we did well at stages in the season when Tiote was away was because Guthrie was playing fantastic. We would miss Tiote but at least we would get a chunk of money to replace him (and perhaps more), but players like Guthrie going on a free is more problematic i think considering our European games too.

Only those with short-term memories would deny that Guthrie has played a vital part in our success this season.

 

Tiote going would be a huge loss, make no mistake about the importance he plays in protecting our back 4. We look far more solid with him in the team and it settles the likes of Colo and Williamson who get more time on the ball when he plays.
Would be a big big loss and a step in the wrong direction whatever way you look at it

 

I don't think Guthrie will leave if it means missing the prospect of playing in the Champions League.

He wants to play more first team football, but the CL is the thing you tell your grandchildren about. And with any European football there will be more games and more need of a squad. I wouldn't necessarilly assume that he's going to leave

 

Whether it would be a step in the wrong direction depends on what we do with the money

 

Given the lack of absolute investment of the Carroll money you would have to doubt a large spend of the Tiote money.

 

Our best players, obviously, are:
Tiote
Colo
Krul
Cabaye
Cisse
Ba

Of that elite bunch Tiote is the best of the lot.

We'd be mad to want to lose our best player. Mad.

 

How has it not been invested?
Because we didn't spend the full £35m fee on one single individual?

We've wisely spent the money on key additions to our squad. In a not dissimilar manner to Arsenal's (past?) policy.

Bit of a daft post Kentish, if I'm honest with you lad.

 

Don't be silly Durham. The club for the first time in a long time, had serious money to spend on strengthening the side but instead chose to gamble on an injury prone freebie. Don't get me wrong, Ba turned out to be a gem but it was a gamble nonetheless that could easily have gone wrong. A Ba injury in Spetember would have left a threadbare attack and Newcastle would have seriously struggled without the over reliance on him! That doesn't strike me as being terribly ambitious from an owner with club money to play with.

Tiote will be the same.

 

We can cope without him, but we do miss a lot of his attributes when he's out.

We miss his aggression, his tackling ability, his physical presence and no one fills that DM spot better in this league atm IMO.

We would miss him IMO.

 

Then what about Cabaye, HBA (not sure if he was after sale or not?), Obertan, Santon, Cisse, who all cost money then add Ba and Marveux both on free's but still with wages, agent fees, signing fees etc who we probably would not have signed if AC had stayed.

I'm not say not saying we wouldn't have got any but to say the AC money hasn't been invested is ridiculous.

 

In short, yes I'd definitely miss Tiote. He's immense.

He's the kind of player you want in your team, not to be playing against.

 

Agree with that. HBA was officially signed on permanent deal same month as Carroll departed. Along with those other players you've listed, a very large chunk of that Carroll cash has now been re-invested in the squad in some way. I'm glad it's been used wisely to strengthen a number o key areas, rather than buying a token 'star'.

 

What order would you have these four players in if you were including them in your team, and do you think Carroll would have done a better job for us than the other three have done?

1. Ben Arfar
2. Cabaye
3. Carroll
4. Tiote

 

I guess it depends on who else you have in your squad to play around them. So assuming it were our current squad, plus Carroll, I'd say:

1. Cabaye - classy & versatile
2. Tiote - absolute rock in the centre
3. Ben Arfa - match winner on his day, but can also drift out of games
4. Carroll - our current stikers would get in ahead of him

To answer the other question, no I don't think Carroll would have done any better. All three have had great seasons for us. Carroll wouldn't have come close to some of the goals Ba & Cisse have scored - pure class.

Carroll was playing well for us under the system we adopted at the time with him here, but the current strikers allow more versatility and the ability mix things up. They are more clinical, have more intelligent movement and their touch as far better. Carroll can give teams a hard time, no doubt, but in terms of ability, he's not close to the others on your list, or to Ba and Cisse.

 

Though your point is intrinsically flawed, even if we agree, just to humour you, I'd rather we'd not spent 1p than waste money Mertesacker, Gervinho and Santos as you did with the money you got for clichy, fabregas and nasri.

Glasshouses and stones?

 

The answer is YYYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSS!

Are you ****ing crazy???? If I was you I would throw some petrol over yourself and light up the fire.