NUFC.com report **There is alot to read** ** Warning**

not sure if anyone has read but this is what was said by Carroll and Pardew.

Scource "NUFC.com"

The fallout from the sale of the most expensive English footballer continues:

Alan Pardew, quoted in the Shields Gazette, Tuesday:

"What can I say? We didn’t force anybody to leave.

"I disagree with that point. He had a contract here for five years, and at some point it would get renewed, but for him to sign in October and it get renewed in January – where would it stop?

"Personally, I’m disappointed. He’s a lovely lad, and I really like him, but it was his decision, and you can’t change that.

"Was this about football? That’s what you have to ask. I don’t think it was. We turned down a big offer, and they came back with a second big offer. We were having a discussion about what we were going to do with that offer when Andy requested to see me.

"I went to see Andy, and face to face we had a conversation about him wanting a new contract, even though he signed on in October, and if he didn’t get that contract, he wanted go.

"I asked him what he wanted, and I went to the board. We had a discussion about what the ramifications would be for the whole club. We took the view, with him signing a contract in October, that this would cause us all sorts of problems.

"We decided that we needed the conversation confirmed, and he put in a transfer request, which he did. He spoke to his agent, and between them they put the request in. We decided with the size of the offer, and what it meant to us, that we would accept.

"We weren’t expecting him to go, so we weren’t in a position to replace him. One thing I can guarantee, having spoke to Mike Ashley, is that every penny will go back into the club. Mike’s assured me he won’t take a penny out of the transfer.

"We never put him up for sale – we fended off a bid from another Premiership club, but no club’s about one player. We’re absolutely gutted that he’s gone. It’s disappointing, but we’re not in a financial position like Liverpool.”

Further quotes from the BBC:

"When I first heard of a substantial bid, my advice was to turn it down as the reaction time for us to buy anyone else was too small, regardless of the size of the offer and Derek and Mike agreed with it.

I wanted Andy to stay but events took over and the size of the fee was obviously a big part of that. We have got an extraordinary figure for a 21-year-old who has done six months in the Premier League.

"Could it have been used (on Monday)? Late last night we made a couple of bids, but we were getting extortionate figures thrown at us. It was ridiculous.

"Were we going to pay an over-inflated price for a lesser product than Andy Carroll? No, so unfortunately as I sit here now, I am weaker than I was yesterday because I had Andy Carroll maybe four or five weeks away [from full fitness].*

* let's wait and see when he debuts for Liverpool...

"No, I am not comfortable with it, but it is what it is.

"That doesn't feel good and that's part of why it's a difficult day because I've got to prepare a team to play Fulham, but we have to stay strong as a group and my message to the players and fans is that we have to be strong in the second half of the season.

"We have done well without him and we have to continue doing that.

"Andy is probably slightly misguided. We didn't twist his arm to get on the helicopter. If he wanted to stay he could, but he's not here.

"He had a five-year contract and we said we would renew it in the summer but he wanted it renewed straight away and that is when the power shifted.

"Andy's a local boy and he doesn't want to have bad feelings with everyone and I don't want that either. He's gone to a good club and good luck to him.

"And it wasn't just about Andy Carroll. If we did a deal with him where does that leave everyone else at the club? If he scores another five goals does he get another contract?

"This is about Newcastle United being bigger than anyone and the decision was right for the club."

Andy Carroll, speaking to the Chronicle, Tuesday:

"I was in talks about a new contract and talking to the gaffer about that. He told me that they are now not going to give me a contract. That was as soon as the offer of £30m came in.

"So I asked why (I wasn’t getting a new contract) and he said his hands were tied. He said it wasn’t up to him. Then a £35m bid got accepted.

"And then I was allowed to talk to Liverpool. The owner then made it clear to me that I was not wanted at the club. Saying that his own helicopter is waiting for me to go down to talk to them.

"So being shown I’m not wanted I said OK I will talk to them. Then suddenly the bid was rejected and then Derek asked me to hand in a transfer request. So I was pushed into a corner and had no choice. I wasn’t wanted by them and they made it clear they wanted the money.

"Then I flew down in his (Ashley’s) helicopter. I didn’t want to leave. I’m gutted that I wasn’t wanted at my home team after everything I’ve done and progress I’ve made.

"I didn’t want to leave at all. Make sure they know I didn’t want to leave. The players, staff and fans were fantastic."



Carroll, Monday night: "gutted"?

We can't help wondering what would have happened if Carroll had actually said no to Liverpool? What could the Newcastle management have threatened him with? Would they really have left their prize £35m asset to rot in the reserves for the rest of the season?

And to those claiming £35m is a "great deal for Newcastle" - only if every penny of that gets spent on quality players. What happens to the money if Ashley sells the club?

We may see some summer signings but don't forget that will be with season ticket money and Sky dosh - only something approaching £50m will actually see the Carroll fee being reinvested.

Anyone willing to wager we'll see that sort of spending? Pardew certainly seems to think so, but there again his most recent predictions about Andy Carroll's future hardly inspire confidence that he has any more idea about what's going on here than the punters have....

PS: for anyone who didn't see it, comments made by Spurs boss Harry Redknapp to Sky Sports News on Monday night are worth repeating:

"I had a good laugh this afternoon watching an interview from Newcastle, I thought it was the most amusing thing I'd seen, how hard Newcastle have fought to keep him, how they've pulled out all the stops, he's handed in a transfer request but they've battled it all the way and they've got the £35m for him.

"I thought, 'My God'. Every time they sell a player these clubs they have to want the player to put in a transfer request to make it look like they don't want to sell him. It's good money for the boy, but I'm sure they're quite happy with the business they've done."

Unfortunately, Sky didn't ask him on camera about his bid for the Newcastle striker last week - we're now starting to wonder whether even that was genuine, or a bid of the sort that we made when Wayne Rooney left Everton....

 

If Pardew's story's true then I think we did the right thing. Nobody's bigger than the club.

As for 'Arry - he's a ****.

As for Carroll - he's a bigger ****.

At the end of the day Carroll could have always refused to sign what Liverpool were putting in front of him. Hope he lives to regret this decision.