Article: Simply put... | Football, Newcastle

I thought today that maybe our transfer business hasnt been so bad. My example to go off was sunderland, after everyone tipping them to finish above us and giving them credit for signing a heap of average players, i thought i'd compare the business so far.

Cabaye, french international, integral part of Ligue 1 winning Lille. Compared to say, Craig Gardner, a barely average midfielder who was and integral part of relegating Birmingham.

Ba, had a good half a season in a very poor West Ham side and showed signs of his ability, although has a dodgy knee. And we are likely to buy another striker for between 5m-10m. Compared to Wickham with a goal ratio of 1 in 5 at Ipswich and Won from a League that is more than likely worse than the championship.

Marveaux and Obertan, two technically gifter wingers with great pace, both highly regarded in France and good captures for Newcastle. Then Sunderland have signed James McClean an unknown from the Irish League, yet another terrible league.

Now we have Hatem Ben Arfa back, he is like a new signing, and in all seriousness from what we seen last season before his horrific injury and in the pre-season games, he is by far our best player and if all is well he could well be the difference in us finishing bottom half and top half of the table. If we look at sunderlands Sessengon there player who plays the Ben Arfa role, it is quite clear who the better player is.

And now we have an abundance of youth talent in the ranks, with Dan Gosling looking impressive in pre season, Mehdi Abeid looking like a steal from Lens, Sammy Ameobi looks like he could score for fun, and Haris Vuckic looking to make a break into the first team and finally coming into his own.

All summed up, once we sign a new left back and hopefully it is that lad Pieters from PSV, our team will be much better than it was at this point last season and i have faith in this bunch of lads to do well in the coming season. On the other hand Sunderland best players from last season have either returned to their parent clubs or have been sold and i have a feeling we will end up finishing higher than them come May next year.

 

I agree that we have added some good players, however all we ever really needed were 2 striker. I am just bewildered by the fact we are now only a few days away from the first game and have no left back.

 

Seconded

But, shhhhh, they might hear you

Edit: Too late, see above

 

Feel better already mate. That young French lad who scored against the Smoggies the other day has been sent home, not good enough. But keep them coming.

 

Gardner was relegated with Birmingham, Ba was relegated with West Ham, doesnt mean either of them are bad players, you cant say Ba is class in a **** West Ham team and then say Gardner was **** in a **** Birmingham team, too much bias there my friend, Gardner scored a lot of goals for them last season, no reason he cant potentially do better in a better side, same goes for Ba.

Sessegnon vs Ben Arfa? I'm sorry but its not clear to me at all, Sessegnon has played more games and been one of Sunderland's best performers, while I hope Ben Arfa is better theres no guarantee a couple of good performances for us before the leg break and a hitty missy pre-season game against Darlington makes him better than that just yet.

Agree with the rest and not being pessimistic about the other points, just staying objective.

Kudos on your optimism btw

 

Big thumbs up

 

Yeah it is a little bit silly not to have a LB ready for the start of the season, but if this Erik Pieters comes in next week and can play against the scum i wont be too bothered, i am optimistic for the arsenal match, but to get something out if the game we need to have well knit team with good discipline and i think Tiote and Cabaye will totally boss the midfield.

 

This. Rep.









OH NO WAIT I CAN'T BECAUSE OF MICK YOU BASTARD

 

Yeah fair point man, i was just stating Gardner was their from the start where as Ba came in when they were in total free fall and nearly saved them, and for Ben Arfa being better than Sessengon, i have no doubt in my mind that on there days there good players, but i just feel that Ben Arfa has that little bit more to him, something special in the locker, for example the goal at everton, there isnt many players who can do that.

 

I agree, after the sale of Enrique if this Pieters were via some miracle sign tomorrow it would be a real lift for the squad and us.

 

we can make ourselves feel even happier if we compare our signings to Everton
there is a lot of teams in this league in a worse position than us and the mackems. think both our teams will finish top 10 can't see why not when looking at other teams and their squads
think some people make the mistake of comparing our squad with the top 6 clubs
compare them to the likes of fulham/stoke/blackburn/wolves/norwich/swansea/qpr/wigan etc. i bet you'll feel a hell of a lot better afterwards

 

I think even if he did sign they wouldnt play him against arsenal, too soon, will barely have met his team mates and will more than likely cause confusion, we should probably use Raylor, he isnt the greatest but he can do a job for one game.

 

I sense a poll...

Working on it.

 

Buts that's not the FM way of things!

 

Haha in FM i would of drafted in Kadar and he would of done a tidy little job

 

Good to see some optimism, however probably abit to optimistic, Sammy Ameobi score goals for fun? He is unproven in the priemer league or even championship.....

The really annoying thing is even if MA just spent 12mil of his 50mil hes got from players and kept 38 for himself (which is still a discrace), we could probably get a decent striker and a cheap CB for cover!!!

Were so close to having a decent team and yet so far away as we all know MA hates putting his hand in his pocket!!!

 

Ahaha yeah got carried away with Sameobi, but he is a good prospect, and yeah maybe a little bit to optimistic, but im just hoping for a good season thats all.

 

If you honestly think your team is better than last season you really are mental. One or two injuries and you are down to the bare bones.