Ashley & Derek Are Too Cheap For Our Own Good!

Observing the transfer rumour mill going round this summer has been interesting. We seem to be linked with a number of decent players, in which we have actually made formal enquiries and bids. The Andy Carroll offer came from no-where and was very exciting to see at the time.
However, unfortunately there has been a running theme throughout this summer which has been slowly pissing me off more and more through each day and that's Mike Ashley and Derek Llambias are embarrassingly cheap! More than I ever thought they were before.


It's got to the point of embarrassing now and actually quite alarming. Especially to our potential reputation within football. Some of the offers we have made for top class players has been a farce at times. We went in for Douglas, who is considered a top class defender on his day, with a bid of around £3million. £3million?! Anyone with a brain will tell you that this kid is worth at least double that. They rightfully told us to go f*ck ourselves.

We also have been chasing Debuchy for weeks now. Everyone knows about it. What everyone else also knows is that he is a top class player. He was good in the Euros and didn't do anything to harm his reputation. The lad, for whatever reason, has even made it public that he actually WANTS to join NUFC. Forget Inter Milan who are also chasing him, forget Chelsea, he wants to play for Newcastle Utd. Brilliant. Unbelievable. This is too good to be true. That's one decent signing in the bag then...well no not exactly. He is still at Lille and it seems we are no nearer to securing his signature. He has the pen in his hand waiting for this thing to go through. What the f*ck is going on?!


Here's a conversation that would represent the situation nicely: 
NUFC Fans, 'Debuchy wants to come doesn't he. Sign him up than yea?!'
Mike and Derek, '....well no not exactly.' 
Fans, 'Well what's the problem?'
Mike and Derek, 'We can't agree a fee.' 
Fans, 'Oh I see, are his club asking for too much money and overstating his worth.'
Mike and Derek, 'Well, no, not really.'
Fans, 'What? I don't understand'
Mike and Derek, 'Well they want around £8mil'
Fans, 'Ok then, that's seems about right. Its a moderate fee for someone of his ability, I don't see the problem.'
Mike and Derek, 'Well we are a pair of greedy fat bastards who like to get things on the cheap and don't like to actually pay for things that are there rightful worth.'


The situation is embarrassing now and has officially pissed me off. If we miss out on one of the best full backs in Europe, who actually wants to sign for us and nobody else, that is worth a moderate amount of money that is more than affordable to us...then that will be an absolute disgrace. How cheap do these clowns want to be?! If Lille were asking for £10million than I could understand it. If Debuchy turned us down for a move to Inter Milan or Chelsea instead than I could understand it. What I don't understand is how a player that is hell bent on a move to us, is valued at his correct price, isn't already on Tyneside! Never mind no where near signing as we speak.


The scousers laughed off our initial bid for Andy Carroll as not even worthy of considering, which is always nice to hear (not) and we haven't exactly came back with an improvement have we? Are these blokes for real? Yohan Cabaye had a release clause in his contract which is the reason we got him so cheap. Demba Ba had the same for his free transfer. Mike & Derek got themselves a good deal on Papiss Cisse as he was worth 15m Euros this time last summer but his price came down significantly to 10mil in January and Mike got his cheque book out. Fair play. But where has his cheque book gone? We obviously have the means as we are making bid's for players left right and centre.


Now I am all for getting the best price possible and not being taken for a ride. I get that and agree with it. The Freddie Shephard days were shocking at times, but this is beyond that now. It's too far the other way. Bidding for players at half there value is not going to get us anywhere and only develop our football club with a reputation as cheap, time wasters who aren't worth listening to. £3million for Douglas? £4million for Debuchy? £4mil for Anita? A loan and £12mil for Carroll? Who are you they trying to kid?! Get Douglas in for £5-6mil, Debuchy in for £7-8mil, Anita in for £6-7mil and Carroll for £15mil (if not a loan first).
It's what they are worth, it's what their clubs want & rightfully expect, they aren't exactly massively expensive apart from maybe Carroll and the most ridiculous thing about these deals...is that the players above actually want to sign for us and are waiting for deals to be agreed. When was the last time we had these type of players wishing to join us? If we can't afford all of the above then fine. Just do the important deals like Debuchy and Douglas first and see where we go afterwards.


But I don't think it is a case of not being able to afford them...it's a case of being too cheap to f*cking pay for them!