although thats what it seems like we have at the moment. joey barton frozen out and now that means we are going to be relegated! come on guys. one person doesnt make a team. yes i know he was pivotal to team spirit as was nolan, but really when barton keeps on saying these things about the board and the club, its going to cause a mutiny rather than smooth plain sailing. a team for the season from what we have could be Krul Simps, Saylor, Colo, Tav/Ferguson Marveaux Tiote, Cabaye, Guti Ben Arfa Ba now to me that seems like a fairly decent mid table squad. i really dont understand the doom and gloom from supporters. i honestly dont. we got 4 new players in, plus the return(ish) of ben arfa and gosling. so a case of one in/one out really. lets get behind the team! barton or no barton we can do this! we are the toon army!
Agree, no one is bigger than the club and people exaggerate how good Barton was last year to make their point - he went missing loads of times and did punch Pederson. They also say he was our standout player even though Tiote and Colo were arguably better or at least as good as him, he himself admitted this over twitter.
he did go missing quite often last season, but this is never a question of the quality of barton. im saying we have more than enough quality already to replace him. barton is out, ben arfa is essentially back into the fold. if not gosling, cabaye, marveaux or even tiote can have better midfield berths than barton.
a striker would, and should still be our main concern. Barton was class, but its not the end of the world (and we wont now get relegated) if we lose him, seeing as we finally have some good depth in midfield.
As things stand currently I'd expect us to be in and around the relegation zone all season but survive. But that's only if we don't have a lengthy injury list all year. Obviously we've taken quite a big punt with regards to fitness. If we sign replacements for Joey and Jose, and get a striker, we may challenge for top half. I just not sure we'll bring any more than one player which to me leaves us with a weaker squad than the start of last year. It'll all depend how quickly the new lads adapt, and also how long it takes Ben Arfa and Gosling to get up to speed in competitive matches. We have to be forgiving with those two after such serious injuries.
