Reinventing The (Football) Wheel At NUFC?

So have Mike Ashley & Derek Llambias reinvented the (football) wheel, or have the lads had a kind set of opening fixture, carried some luck and actually played some pretty good football?

In order, I would make that no…yes…yes…yes.

Slashing costs, reducing squad size and setting too rigid guidelines on player recruitment, are NOT the formula for a football club to prosper and set out on an unbeaten run into late October.

So what exactly have they done recently at St.James’ Park? Well a few of you might have heard about a relegation that happened around these parts not so long ago. Things got a bit messy from what I hear and finances were hit by hurricane ‘Championship’.

Anyway, the Mike Ashley five year ‘plan’ was on the rocks and from that moment on the plan clearly has been to oust the highest earners. Obviously, when I say ‘earners’ it doesn’t necessarily mean they actually earned their ill gotten gains.

Getting Rid

Getting rid of your highest paid players when relegation strikes is a bit of a no-brainer but the team bounced us straight back into the riches of the Premier League, so what next?

Well, the idea of slashing the wage bill hasn’t gone away and since promotion we have also seen the departure of the likes of Barton, Carroll, Nolan and Enrique. There may have been other issues involved but the common denominator was that they were in the top band of money earners. In all but Carroll’s case the contracts were coming up to renewal and offering similar money clearly wasn’t on the agenda.

You’re Having a Laugh

You have to laugh when the media talk about NUFC’s transfer policy as though it is radical, the idea of looking for bargains beyond our shores who will then increase in value and potentially bring profit in, well I think it might have been tried the odd time! Surely every club is looking for bargains and certainly the likes of Wigan, Blackburn and so on have been ploughing that furrow for many a day. At times they strike gold with a Valencia or Santa Cruz but they have gone through a lot of ugly sisters at times to find the odd Cinderella.

Recruiting players is like every aspect of football, though like everything else the people inside football try to create this mystique around it. Identify and sign the right players….there, I’ve said it. Of course in modern day football there are more sharks and obstacles in the murky world of player transfers than there have ever been.

A Different Animal

At Newcastle United though, the idea of letting Cabaye and Tiote move because the price is right is one that would be too bitter a pill to swallow, to me that would be false economy and would tell me that the (football) wheel they have reinvented has turned out to be square!