Pardew: the club is not yet stronger than last year
Posted on August 19th, 2011 | 32 Comments |
The prospect of signing Modibo Maiga seems to be fading with every day and it seems that Sochaux’s Chairman Alexandre Lacombe is going to force Maiga to see out his contract until 2014.
“There are those who speak and those who do,” said Lacombe, although quite what he meant by that is anybody’s guess, but the French press are suggesting that the door is now firmly shut in terms of Maiga transferring to Newcastle.
The window however isn’t, and Alan Pardew thinks we may still be able to nip in that way and land our man. The usually mute manager had this to say:
“He is a player we want to bring to the club. That is where that is. Negotiations are still ongoing.”
In terms of a left-back, the Dutch press are reporting that Erik Pieters will probably not start for PSV on the weekend, raising further speculation about our interest in him. However, we’re apparently ‘struggling’ with an expensive transfer clause in his contract, which probably means that Ashley’s wallet is too caked in dust to prise open.
Interestingly, I noticed some comments in the Dutch press from Jelle Goes, the ‘Head of Youth Education’ at PSV, about the ‘poor state’ of fullbacks in the Premier League. He suggests that we don’t produce ’rounded’ fullbacks who are equally able to attack or defend, whereas both parts of a fullback’s game are addressed at Dutch academies.
Anyway, that’s an aside. Apparently this contract clause is enough to put us off Pieters and Aly Cissokho is now our favoured target, for whom The Journal suggests we’ll submit an improved bid. Pardew had this to say about the left-back situation:
“The left-back situation is a week down the line and the plan we had went straight into action.
“Of course everybody knows we need a left-back and it is being made difficult not by us but by other clubs.
“We have to get over that. We have to make sure we reach an agreement with the other club which is right for them and right for us.”
Whether that’s relating to Pieters or Cissokho is not clear. Pardew went on talk about the recruitment process in general:
“I can only reassure people that not only have we tried to secure players but we are trying to secure two players we have in the building.
“That process is very, very important as well. We are trying to make sure this club going forward is stronger than it was last year.
“As it stands, when we started the season, I would say we are not at that position yet, but hopefully we will be.
“I don’t think I need to nudge Mike Ashley. I think he is very much aware of that. I don’t think I need to nudge him any more – I have nudged him enough!
“It is like where Arsenal are as well and a number of other clubs – like Spurs – you have to get the deal which is right for the football club.”
Asked about whether or not we might actually have to cough up some more money to land some of these players we’re after, Pardew said:
“We might have to do that and we might be at the stage where we are doing that.
“So that question might be talking out of turn there. I have sat in another press conference as I have done quite often here with nobody across the line, but at some point we will.”
Well, let’s hope so Alan.
NUFCBlog Author: Hugh de Payen
I'm a baby-boomer of the punk rock persuasion, currently exiled in Somerset for crimes committed in a previous life where locals keep trying to poison me with something called 'scrumpy'. Hates sprouts, coat-hangers, Cilla Black, ornaments, Steven Seagull movies and 50 Cent (he's not worth 10).
Hugh de Payen has written 634 articles on this blog.
Bored of this.
No replacement number 9 – The Board sitting on 35m and 7 months to get one in….C’mon lads we are being fed a different flavour bullshit every time this idiot opens his mouth.
Now we need a LB known that for months now and a keeper……shocking.