Barton seems to be ready to go if Hughton wants him, but is it the right move? Barton provides possibly the best center midfield option we have, though Guthrie has been sensational in recent matches and deserves to be one of the first 4 names on the sheet along with Carroll, Lovenkrands, and Colo.

Barton has once again claimed he's a changed man. Recently he said, “If it means I play five minutes between now and the end of the season – if that’s what the manager wants, that’s what I’ll do. I just want to help this football club get back to where I want to be,” and "“Since I’ve been at Newcastle I’ve had three broken feet and a torn medial ligament in two and a bit years – plus a well-documented spell in the clink and numerous other problems,” he said. “But I’m someone who will bounce back. If there’s another penalty I’ll put myself forward for it. That is what gets me going." I'll give him respect for wanting to go out there and earn his wages; it's obviously not his cup of tea to be sitting in the physio room. He claimed that after Leyton, he was one of the first to put his hand up to stay, which is honorable, as well.


So, the question must be asked. Is Barton worth risking team chemistry at this point in the campaign, or should we hold out until April when we hopefully know the future?

I for one, would prefer to leave him off the team sheet until promotion is secured. Once that happens, we can give him a run out in an attempt to entice prospective buyers.

i dont think he's good enough to break a winning side up for. nothing is wrong with our team at the minute, why mess with it? would anyone start shola if he got fit? (before you scoff at the idea of shola automatically regaining his place, remember what many of the posters on here were saying about him earlier in the season, when he was a mainstay of our attack in scoring and bothering defences. its not a daft idea, but i wouldnt break carroll and lovenkrands up for anything at the minute. same goes for the midfield four, they deserve nothing less.)

soley on barton, he has had three seasons to show us he was ever worth 6m, and hasnt managed it in a single game, let alone suggested he would ever manage more than a few consecutive games. and if there is the slightest question mark over any player in the squad justifying his wages, then there must also be a huge one for barton, who is reported to earn well over 2m a year. he looks prime for a loss making move, the club needs to cut and run, in my opinion.

He'll be blooded back in-we'll have to pay him so why not see if we can get something out of him? If nothing else, some good performances will raise his pricetag.

I wouldn't break up the team for him, either, but the reality is this-if he can regain something like the form of his glory days at City, he's a better CM partner for Guthrie than either Smith or Nolan. And unlike either of those two, he has the speed to play that position in the PL. A top-flight quality replacement for that position of his caliber will probably cost 10M. He needs to be given a shot-though I'll admit he's as likely to f00k it up again as anything.

glory days at city?
ignoring his strikers to hit glory shots, while the teams lack of goals almost got them relegated, is that what you mean?

its myth of barton. he's actually a never was, not a has been. he's certainly not a will be.

i have advocated listening to bids for colo on the basis of his wages, also chasing smith and even considering nolan as one to leave in order to shuffle the finances. i'd rather colo stayed, massively, nolan i'm happy to see stick with us, but not too unhappy if we get our money back (at bolton he had a motivated seller and a short contract, we could in theory ask for more then hope to break even), and smith i will give a piggy back to central station, no tip required. barton is a much bigger waste of our limited wage resources than any of them. and a @#$%&.

Barton has been a total waste of space and a waste of money for us. The lad has had enough chances at the club, and it can be easy for him to say things and then create havoc in a few weeks or months.

Unfortunately we are stuck with him, and the options are sell him but who will buy the lad, not many will take a gamble on him especially as he is going to want big money at his new club. I can't see the club doing it on a free contract either.

Drop the lad and let him rot in the reserves and see out his contract but we are paying huge amounts for a player that will never play again and then again won't be on the market for potential buyers. Release him from his contract which won't happen eiter. Or give the lad some games, try and keep him out of trouble and then sell him, which I think is the better option.

If you are looking that everything is going to be perfect with the lad and he won't cause trouble, then this year he won't make a massive difference but in the premiership he could form a great partnership with Guthrie. We have said it before that either Nolan and Smith need to be dropped.

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central mid is the first of many positions to be addressed for next season, and the most important to get right looking at what we have in our squad. i dont see smith or nolan or even guthrie as being perfect for the role.
if we keep guthrie with a view to playing most weeks, keep nolan (possibly) with a view to providing cover for central mids/target striker, and maybe an alternative formation (451/433 suits him with moble players around him), we could focus on buying in a starting (best we can attract/afford) central midfielder in the defensive mould.

guthrie is no gazza, but we wont be having the kind of possession we have this year, so i can see us relying on jonas/routledge/ANother to make supporting runs for whichever strikers, rather than looking to play through premier league midfields. we'll be a scrapping/fastbreaking team rather than some ball playing, pressure building team where, perhaps, bartons attributes, such as they are, would be more useful. long ball to carroll, rather than twenty passes to the edge of the box, i'm afraid. its our best shot, without buying more first team players than we can afford.

this, as much as the off pitch angle, is why i would be happy to see barton, and his wage packet, leave. we wont be a 'barton' team, he's a nolan without the goal threat (though of course with more to offer in distribution in the final third), he wouldnt fit a hard working, disciplined unit such as the one hughton has produced lately. the reason we have such difficulty naming our most important figure in the team is that the team is full of players doing what the team demands, not what they feel they are best at themselves. i dont see this in barton.

sheesh, sorry for giving this such a long winded post, i just see this guy as a red herring for nufc's future, and a potential problem in all the ways mentioned above plus all the obvious ones we know about when it comes to barton.

we wont be buying a whole new team, so compromises will need to be made, but getting anything for this guy would free up his wages and let hughton get his own man/men in. after the signings made in his time as manager, maybe its worth trying?

Barton is our best player by a mile.

wait hold on a second smith and nolan have been outstanding why are they being put down as 3rd/4th best cms?

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Quote:

DaraghL
wait hold on a second smith and nolan have been outstanding why are they being put down as 3rd/4th best cms?

Smithy has 9 yellow cards, all because he's been late to the tackle. He's been exploited for his lack of pace. Yes, he puts in the best effort anyone could ever ask for, but there's no way he would be on pace in the PL. He said he'd be willing to take what amounts to a 33% pay cut in order to stay, probably because he knows we'd sell him if he didn't.

For all the strong performances he's put in this season, with Guthrie and Nolan in the center of the pitch instead of Smith and Nolan we have scored 22 goals in 7 matches.

smith said what about a pay cut?


where? is this the paper story of his contract being drawn out for an extra year? i dont buy it personally. his next contract will naturally be for less per week, but he wont take the swap we read about in the mirror, no way.


and daraghl, smith and nolan have been good enough for this division, but we are hoping to get promoted to a better one for nextseason. thats why we want better players.

i read somewhere about smith willing to take a pay cut as he says he has real desire to satay at the club and really likes it here.

Quote:

lostmekeys
smith said what about a pay cut?

where? is this the paper story of his contract being drawn out for an extra year? i dont buy it personally. his next contract will naturally be for less per week, but he wont take the swap we read about in the mirror, no way.

This came from Rupert Murdoch, so it deserves to be read with a grain of salt, but:

[www.newsoftheworld.co.uk]

but waffles, he (smith)has two years left at 2.5m a year, plus a completion bonus due at the end of it. thats easily 6m due over 24 months. i'd like whoever wrote that article (without any quotes btw) to explain how smith woulb be better off earning 10k a week for four years (plus completion bonus, but after four years rather than two). thats maybe 3m over 48 months.

if he was offered 30k, he'd still have to wait twice as long to collect, so what is in it for alan smith? i cant see any reason at all why he'd even consider changing his contract without a lump sum up front, which would be defeating the object of saving on wages. if we were signing him from another club, by the way, he'd be <2m to buy and get no more than 15k a wek, or no deal.

Im glad he is fit again and hope he can find form to push back in,

Good luck to him I will be behind anyone who has the right attitude on the pitch and so far this season I have hardly moaned about any of them,

"Butt"

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A player who clearly does have talent but doesn't make anything of it.

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im not in the mood for an argument im just going to say alan smith is quality we may not score as much with him but we let in half as much...ill leave it at that

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time to start judging players by premier league standards though daraghl. we are talking about the future beyond the next ten games now, surely?

last nights match was sobering on that score. we looked rubbish for the first hour, all over the pitch (ok, maybe not left back)

Quote:

detox1978
Barton is our best player by a mile.

Have you been watching Newcastle. Jose has been the best player this year, and has the quality of one of the best left backs in the country, so we have been lucky to keep him and he has a great attitude unlike Barton.

Barton may have the potential to be a good midfielder but he f@cks everything up by what he does off the pitch or some of his tackles. Maybe some of the ref's may target him but he has done enough to come to the attention of them.

You can not tell me that he is better than Taylor, Colo or Carroll. Personally I would take a player like Guthrie over Barton any day of the week. He hs a great attitude and will play any place in the team if he is picked. Right wing or left wing as he has done this season, he has now got the central midfielder role which is his best. I think he is good enough for the premiership. He would get into all the bottom half teams and that is where we are going to be next year, so stick with the lad, and get a creative midfielder alongside him and with the pace of Jonas, Routledge and Lovernkrands I think we could shock a few people next year, and before anybody get away or attacks me I am talking about getting a european place but staying up and not just on the last day, but to do what Stoke did the 1st season

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Quote:

TOONTILLIDIE

Quote:

detox1978
Barton is our best player by a mile.

Have you been watching Newcastle. Jose has been the best player this year, and has the quality of one of the best left backs in the country, so we have been lucky to keep him and he has a great attitude unlike Barton.

Barton may have the potential to be a good midfielder but he f@cks everything up by what he does off the pitch or some of his tackles. Maybe some of the ref's may target him but he has done enough to come to the attention of them.

You can not tell me that he is better than Taylor, Colo or Carroll. Personally I would take a player like Guthrie over Barton any day of the week. He hs a great attitude and will play any place in the team if he is picked. Right wing or left wing as he has done this season, he has now got the central midfielder role which is his best. I think he is good enough for the premiership. He would get into all the bottom half teams and that is where we are going to be next year, so stick with the lad, and get a creative midfielder alongside him and with the pace of Jonas, Routledge and Lovernkrands I think we could shock a few people next year, and before anybody get away or attacks me I am talking about getting a european place but staying up and not just on the last day, but to do what Stoke did the 1st season

Yes, Jose has been our best player this season, but he's hardly being tested in this league. Almost every premiership team has a good right winger, next year will be a different story.

S.Taylor - too slow, probably a better right back.
Colo - constantly get the wrong side of defenders
Carrol - decent player, but it's all 'potential'



You are clearly jumping on a bandwagon. Barton is not a dirty player. I've seen the guy play a lot of times, he's a class above.

SSN say he is in the squad for tomorrows trip to Doncaster and that Williamson is in contension. Tough game and they have that Jay Emmanuel Thomas on loan from the gunners. He has been putting a few away for them recently.

They also said that Loven, Smith and Shola will be back for the Forest game. Its good to have the players returning from injury for the run in.

^^^^^^

taylor - too slow for centre half, so play him at full back? anyone?!

Quote:

detox1978

Quote:

TOONTILLIDIE

Quote:

detox1978
Barton is our best player by a mile.

Have you been watching Newcastle. Jose has been the best player this year, and has the quality of one of the best left backs in the country, so we have been lucky to keep him and he has a great attitude unlike Barton.

Barton may have the potential to be a good midfielder but he f@cks everything up by what he does off the pitch or some of his tackles. Maybe some of the ref's may target him but he has done enough to come to the attention of them.

You can not tell me that he is better than Taylor, Colo or Carroll. Personally I would take a player like Guthrie over Barton any day of the week. He hs a great attitude and will play any place in the team if he is picked. Right wing or left wing as he has done this season, he has now got the central midfielder role which is his best. I think he is good enough for the premiership. He would get into all the bottom half teams and that is where we are going to be next year, so stick with the lad, and get a creative midfielder alongside him and with the pace of Jonas, Routledge and Lovernkrands I think we could shock a few people next year, and before anybody get away or attacks me I am talking about getting a european place but staying up and not just on the last day, but to do what Stoke did the 1st season

Yes, Jose has been our best player this season, but he's hardly being tested in this league. Almost every premiership team has a good right winger, next year will be a different story.

S.Taylor - too slow, probably a better right back.
Colo - constantly get the wrong side of defenders
Carrol - decent player, but it's all 'potential'



You are clearly jumping on a bandwagon. Barton is not a dirty player. I've seen the guy play a lot of times, he's a class above.

Jose has looked good in the premiership before and has already proved he can play at the level. S.Taylor was one of our best players last season. Fair enough Colo was a bit gash last year and have said that on previous posts, but has had time to settle and more than likely be sold due to his wages. Carroll will be good enough in the premiership and the odd time he played there he done ok, in a team tha had no confidence or could pass a ball.

How the f@ck am I jumping on the band wagon, go through the posts, I have slagged him off none stop, Barton is pr@ck. I came on the forum just before we went down and haven't said that much positive about him.

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i'm trying to forget the off pitch stuff, and even so i cant think of an actual match where barton has looked worth persevering with. what does he do best, anyone who likes what they see, please say why?

Quote:

lostmekeys
i'm trying to forget the off pitch stuff, and even so i cant think of an actual match where barton has looked worth persevering with. what does he do best, anyone who likes what they see, please say why?

He has had this before, well done barton you are a c@nt

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i dont often agree with the prat in the sunday sun, but he got barton down just right this week

[www.sundaysun.co.uk]

Yeah, read that article yesterday mate.

He is a worry but the reason that I sort of support him is that we paid a hell of a lot of money and he is on top wages. Also a top midfielder is a must for the premier and it would be great if we didnt have to spend anything.

Fact is I would still sell him if an offer came in but I really dont see that happening, not unless he can prove his fitness.

I do like him when he is on form. He is direct and keeps the ball well whilst driving us forward. He can also pick out a good pass and Ive seen a few rakers from him. Trouble is he didnt do it for long at Man City (think maybe two seasons at most, think LMK mentioned that a bit ago) and he hasnt done it for Newcastle. Suppose you could argue that his injuries have been terrible and that he cant prove himself but everytime he has come back he seems to f00k it up somehow.

WOuldn't you think that everything that went on with City that he would have viewed this as a fresh start and want to prove everybody wrong. How many does the lad get and it is not as if he is a young lad.

On his day Barton is a good player but these days a miles apart. We need a top midfielder but that will cost big money or go after somebody who has potential. One of the reasons we have done so well this season is by the players sticking togothor and staying out trouble, other than the Carroll incidents. We all know that Barton can start a fight out of nothing

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The reason we have done well this season is because the other teams are utter sh!te.


When I said you were jumping on the band wagon. I mean slating Barton is the bandwagon people jump on, which you are clearly on without any justification.

Apart from the Liverpool tackle he's never put a foot wrong on the pitch. Both Nolan, Smith and Guthrie have made much worse tackles.


Off the pitch he's not done anything since leaving the clink, so what exactly is your justification???

I like Joey Barton. I think he's a bit troubled. However, to be fair, he has been terrible since he joined the club, probably due to the fact that he has been constantly playing injured or coming back from injury.

Perhaps he should remain a bench player for the remaining 10 games of the season while he builds his fitness. Next season as long as he starts the season at full fitness we should finally see what he is capable of.

I think Guthrie, Nolan and Smith remain ahead of him for selection when fit. As I think all 3 players have had great seasons this year and don't deserve to lose their place in the first XI to a player returning from several long term injuries.

Quote:

detox1978
The reason we have done well this season is because the other teams are utter sh!te.

When I said you were jumping on the band wagon. I mean slating Barton is the bandwagon people jump on, which you are clearly on without any justification.

Apart from the Liverpool tackle he's never put a foot wrong on the pitch. Both Nolan, Smith and Guthrie have made much worse tackles.


Off the pitch he's not done anything since leaving the clink, so what exactly is your justification???

So anybody that agrees with somebody else is joining the band wagon, I made my choice on what I have saw of him. When we signed him I thought it was a decent deal as he was going to put everything behind him and start with a new beginning, Barton decided he wasn't and be his usual pr@ck self.

Barton is better than Smith and Nolan, but then you don't need to worry about them doing stupid stuff on the pitch. Smith may pick up yellows card but that is down to a lack a pace rather than get frustrated which Barton does when things don't go his way, and it will be a good chance it will happen next year.

Lots of players haven't performed the club last season, so I can understand when you are saying that people are jumping on the bandwagon but I am not one. To me he is about himself, like Owen, and everybody slagged him off myself included.

The reason he is still at the club is that nobody wanted to sign him, not only is he injury prone, doesn't perform on a regular basis, on high wages, he is also a c@nt. I will support him when he wears the black and white but I think we should flog the lad

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i wasnt on about bad tackles, i was on about winning matches.

howay detox, you dont really think he's a great player, do you? i havent seen him do anything to suggest he is above average in a newcastle shirt, and as i suggested above, he didnt actually do all that much for city. lest stick to newcastle though, since it is us who are stuck with him, til at least the first day of the summer window

The point I wanted to make was people say he's been given chance after chance etc... but he simply hasn't.

Over two years ago he started a fight at 5am in Liverpool. Since then he's been tea-total and not done a stitch wrong.

So why on earth do people talk about selling him?

Can anyone show me what he's done wrong to justify selling him????????


As for his form/ability, he's had several broken bones which have stopped him from getting any sort of a run in the team. So what are you judging him on?

I saw him play a lot at City and he is a great player. He will come good and has done nothing to warrent being an outcast. So i'm glad to see Hughton giving him a run out at Doncaster.

you played down the 'fight' far too much there detox. he went to jail for knocking a kid senseless whule sitting on his chest. there have been other things too, the tackle on alonso when we needed him to play (thankfully we now do not) and most recently challenging hughton early this season. if that had gone more badly we may not have reached the position we find ourselves in. a bad apple.

but.


we arent talking about that. he hasnt ever done it one the pitch for us, at all, since signing. he did ok with city, no more than that. he is average at best, or was, who knows how long to get back to his best, which wasnt all that good? what position would he fill in our current team, and what changes would accomadate this? he hasnt the discipline, in a footballing sense, to play in such a tight system, and we dont have the players to allow him to roam as he would like.

have you anything to declare, detox? why do you like this guy so much? just asking, dont haveto answer at all, just find your stance puzzling, for such a nothing player

I'm not playing it down, it was a serious issue, which he went to jail for, but it was over two years ago and he's done nothing since.

I've no idea what the Hughton issue you refer to is, usually when he runs his mouth off he's right.

With regards to the Alonso tackle. The tackle itself was nothing compared to Guthrie's on Fagan, or Nolan's on Anichebe.

As for his ability. He's broken his metatarsal three times and had medial ligament damage in two and a half years we've had him. And in the February before we signed him he made the England team.

I guess we have a different idea on what giving someone a second chance is.

Give it until December, if he's injury free you'll see him come good...

I've tried to let this thread run its course for a bit, but I feel it's time to jump back in.

Detox, those are 4 very serious injuries that can have a lasting impact on a player's game. He's had 39 games in 2 and a half seasons, so his fitness must be questioned. Furthemore, will he be able to perform at the level he used to after those injuries?

As I said in the first post, Barton is potentially our best option in the center of the pitch. However, he comes with baggage. Detox is right, on the pitch for Newcastle, he's been relatively calm. He's had 7 yellows and a red in 39 matches, as opposed to 11 yellows and 1 red in both of his final two seasons at City. Also, in his 39 games for us, he's only commited 52 fouls, compared to the 64 and 68 in those two seasons at City. Despite that improvement discipline wise on the pitch, he will always be scrutinized by the media and a target of rival jeers.

LMK brings up the question of whether Barton was ever really that good to begin with. At the end of his stint at City, he was good for a dozen goals scored or created, as well as one of the top tacklers in the league (depending on how much stock you put in Opta). Barton had good vision and neat passing when he was at City. He's hard to knock off the ball when it's at his feet. He's also a decent dead ball striker, though Guthrie is probably better. As long as Barton stays out of the Ref's book, he's capable of pushing around the opposing midfielders in the same way that Smith can, but unlike Smith is capable of covering all 105 meters of pitch.


Despite what Barton is capable of talent and skill wise, I question whether he will ever find that form again after the injuries. Furthermore, as far as ability goes, Guthrie is a younger version of Barton without the baggage. Sure Guthrie's tackle on Fagan was atrocious, but that's his only straight red compared to Barton's 4. I'd rather see Guthrie paired with a creative attacking mid ala Emre than see Guthrie and Barton double each other up. If we can cash in on Barton and put that towards Cleverly, O'Hara, or another young, vibrant midfieler, we should.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 26/03/2010 04:14 by waffles.

Good article Waffles and must admit I think that just about everyone has a point I agree with.

If nobody comes in for him then we should support and use him. But I wouldnt risk going into the new season without buying a new centre midfielder with Cleverly or O'hara being choices within our grasp potentially.

I do think Guthrie and Barton could play together though as Guth sits far deeper with Barton pushing on.

I think Barton could blow up in the premiership, the media on him and his temper, take the big injuries in then he needs to be sold. However I do think we will be stuck with him and if he plays he could do us a job, but they are better around. Personally I would rather sign a creative midfielder and this has been discussed loads on here.

Barton hasn't had many good games and would be interested in finding out from detox which ones he thought were good performances. Since arriving he has been disappointing. How many players have long term injuries and quite a few of them can then pick up the pace of the premiership. Barton won't be able to so flog him

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howay detox, spit it out. have you a soft spot for city? or family from liverpool?
you are being way too easy on this guy, and without saying why.
he doesnt deserve the loyalty reserved for those who have given something to our club, however much it is to your credit that you are giving it a go.

waffles, opta may be useful, but doent go far enough in that you can never compare the input a different player would have contributed in any players place. perhaps without barton the strikers would have had more chances, and scored more for the team overall (i'm talking about his time atcity, when they couldnt beat an egg). perhaps not. opta doesnt say.
in my own opinion, barton would need us to lose a winger, and add a great defensive midfielder, as well as forget all about the aerial threat we have posed teams this season. he doenst suit the system. we may well look to change it anyway, but surely not for such a limited, volatile, injury prone has-been!
at his best barton orchestrates (or he did) the teams play, needing all of the attacks to go through him where he can play tight give and go in the other half, then slide in a killer pass when all bases are covered by the oppo. first, we dont have the capability to keep the ball with or without him for long enough, second, we dont have the fox in the box to make this turn into goals, third, he hasnt been a regular for so long there is no reason to fairly expect him to do it well enough any time soon. our strenghths are what they are, quick to break, strong in the air, and a variety of angles of attack. patient build up play by our current team would be swatted away easily in the prem, we just arent up to it!

I went to Uni in Manchester so saw him play quite a lot.


He's never had a proper run in the team, so I'm basing my judgement on his ability mainly based on his city days and the small flashes he's shown for Newcastle.

He was dyer at the start of the season, but form is temporary. Everyone has different opinions. Give it until December.

ok detox, but, how would you fit him in? do you think our current set up plays to joeys strengths? or do you think a good player just makes things work whatever the situation? what would you do with joey barton, if he was fully fit for the forest game? who misses out, and what shape do we play?
i cant see how he would make things better, in fact i cant see how he would be useful at all, given the players we would be using around him...

Quote:

lostmekeys
ok detox, but, how would you fit him in? do you think our current set up plays to joeys strengths? or do you think a good player just makes things work whatever the situation? what would you do with joey barton, if he was fully fit for the forest game? who misses out, and what shape do we play?
i cant see how he would make things better, in fact i cant see how he would be useful at all, given the players we would be using around him...

The only way Barton comes into the game, in my opinion, is for Guthrie to come out. I don't think that Barton's strengths are all that different from Guthrie's. Barton might like to slow the game down a bit more than Guthrie does, but his through balls are better. You mention that we are an aerial threat team, which is true, but in recent weeks we've seen great balls slipped into feet for goals (see Jonas to Lovenkrands or any of Routledge's 5 assists so far this season).

However, as I said earlier, between a 27 year old Barton coming off 3 very serious injuries and a 23 year old Guthrie who has been superb in recent weeks, I'll throw my lot in with Guthrie. It's not that Barton doesn't have a skill set that benefits our team, it's a matter if him not having a skill set that isn't already in our established starting XI. Guthrie gives us everything Barton does as well as chemistry with Carroll, Nolan, and the wingers.

Sure, we could keep Barton as cover, but is a squad player worth the ridiculous wages? No. It's better to sell him if we can and use that money towards someone with a skill set we don't have: a player who makes space in the attacking 3rd of the pitch and can chip in with some goals, i.e. Cleverely.

amen, waffles. add the ego factor where barton cant allow play to bypass his station, and the argument for keeping him, on 2m+ a year, falls apart.
for better or for worse, we arent that club anymore. every player needs to justify their wages, sure, there is room for risk taking, but not to the extent where this guy is just about top earner

I agree that it would be best to sell him for a good fee...I just wonder how we're going to pull that off without giving him a run in the side. I take you guys are advocating for cutting losses and taking whatever we can get for him.

You guys make a good argument. I'm thinking if we're offered 2M for him we should get rid-now that I have some confidence that Ashley will cough up the cash to replace him. Because it's a position where we lack depth, especially if Smith doesn't have a role to play in the top flight (which I believe is true).

no easy answer tunyc yeah. for the record, i'd give him a free if he went early in the summer, use his wage on four players before deadline day. chances are his wages will be the reason he stays, no-one will match them while he isnt fit to play. so yeah, get him a few matches if we nail promotion in the next couple of weeks

I would cut the losses to get rid of him and off the wages bill as we are not going to get a good fee

If not try and do a swop deal with someone. Big Sam springs to mind and we can have Pederson

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each to their own I guess.

He's not going anywhere, so we can revisit the thread around December.

seems fair enough. i'm tempted to ask why you're so sure he wont leave mind, are you agreeing that his contract is too lucrative to be matched elsewhere, or do you have another reason to expect him to stay?
just asking like, always interested to hear other newcastle fans theories on such things

Hughton played him at Doncaster, so I think it's fair to assume he doesn't hold any issues with him.

Moreover, the most we would get would 3m (given his wages), then you have to deduct loyalty bonus, which is around 10% of what is left on his contract. So it's not really worth selling.

Even if you are looking at wage alone, Barton is worth getting rid off, the club doesn't want the bigger earners on the pay role. So if we get the 3 million bid then Ashley will rip there hands off

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For someone to take a chance on him he would have to prove his fitness until the end of the season which Im not sure is going to happen without injuries.

Plus I really cant see a bid of more than 1-1.5 mill coming in and he wont ask for a transfer so that will make it harder.

Lets see what comes out in the wash.

That is why I think trying to do a swap deal may be a good thing. Maybe try Stoke, Beattie has fallen out with Pulis so he may be interested

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Beatie for Barton would be good for both sides, but I don't see Pulis doing it. While Barton is a high octane player, the kind Pulis likes, who does he replace? Whelan has been massive this year, and Delap is their bread and butter. Sure, the side is a bit aged (other than their back line, everyone is over 25), but Barton doesn't fix that as he turns 28 at the start of the season.

Man, I'd love to have Whelan.

He was one I though we might go in for if we survived and Boro didn't last season. The kid's got an engine that doesn't stop, isn't afraid to put in a tackle and can pop a wicked shot. He's impressed me more than anyone at Stoke this season (already knew about Shawcross).