By Tyne-Talk
May 31 2008

We all know Mike Ashley isn't Roman Abramovich, however we have a very small squad in comparison to other Premier League teams and we may have just lost Emre (one of our better players). Reports of James Milner leaving have been on the cards for a while but I haven't seen it attributed to directly wages before now. Today's reports suggest manager Kevin Keegan may be forced to sell the 22 year old winger due to the excessive wage demands of Premier League players and Ashley's ambition to bring the club's wage bill down. A £5Million sale will add to the limited funds available to Keegan this summer.

This doesn't bode well for the arrival of good, new talent when we cannot even keep our current players happy with wages and in Michael Owen's case allegedly giving him a pay cut (lets wait and see on that one).

Mike Ashley cannot just cut wages, and say C'est La Vie! We have to be competitive with other clubs or we will miss out. This is already quite noticeable with the transfer of Luka Modric - falling through and Spurs taking over, signing the youngster, and again most recently in the Richard Dunne case.

Dunne who has reportedly been chased by Newcastle over the last few weeks, made way for a sale after failing to sign a new contract and is now likely to go to Spurs due to Ashley not happy with the players wage demands.

That's 2/2.

So that's one of the brightest new talents and one of the 2007/2008 seasons players who excelled throughout the season that Spurs will accommodate at White Hart Lane, and who Keegan has failed to secure due to the services available to him.

Keegan said at the time Modric was making headlines:

"We can offer more than most. After the top four, I would back us against anyone. In recent weeks the players have shown we don't need six or seven new faces. We have quality. Now we just need some top-notch players."

This doesn't seem to be the case and must be quite unsettling for a manager who returned to the club he loves with lots of prospects and promises and appears to be being offered very little in return.

Just over a year ago Mike Ashley took control of Newcastle United with a fortune of approximately £1.5Billion; earning £929Million a day in February 2007 at number 25 in The Times rich list 2007. At the time of his takeover sources were coming out with quotes such as:

"He will drive the club from behind the scenes.  He will not be the face of the club.  He is a very private guy.  He will not be going in with any half measures. He is a winner.  That is what he has done in the past with all his business and his intentions for Newcastle United are no different.  He will not come in and let it wane or drift. He will come and push the club and take it to the highest level possible." 

He now falls in at number 54 but still with a serious amount of cash in the bank.

If Newcastle United feel they are unable to meet the demands of players in today's current climate then we will be looking at starting the 2008/2009 season with the players we have and perhaps a few who have some talent but are not exactly what we are looking for.

Do we really want to repeat some of the horror buys of the past which have been good money wasted or would we rather be researching the players well, securing their name and paying them the wage they would get else where or at least what they were getting else where? Thus ensuring they provide a good service and help move the club forward.

And should we really be selling off our best players if we have no view or are in no position to replace them with the same level of ability and talent?

At present all talk of being unhappy about meeting wage demands makes me question how Mike Ashley intends to "push the club and take it to the highest level possible".

Money talks and money matters; unfortunately the Premier League is a very expensive game to play - if you can't keep up, you end up losing.

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If Wages Prevent Signings, We Are In Trouble!

Discussion started by TyneTalk (IP Logged), 31/05/2008 17:14

TyneTalk
31/05/2008 17:14

If Wages Prevent Signings, We Are In Trouble!

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Jaryd
31/05/2008 17:25

It's about time Mr. Ashley pulls his finger out off his ass and does something with the money he has. Im sorry but If he wants something out of the club he has to put something into the club. I can understand how he Is trying to remove the tag that Newcastle is related to with money but seriously you can still negotiate with standar amounts.

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MissC
31/05/2008 17:27

I dont advocate the extortionate amount of money players get played

BUT

If your in it you have to pay it - otherwise you dont get the players.

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exileonwearside
31/05/2008 19:51

i read at the time that modric would have been paid more in wages by newcastle. the deal spurs agreed for his transfer was less upfront but more overall than the single payment nufc offered, and this is why he was sold to spurs rather than ourselves.

as for dunne, lets wait and see. it does seem to make sense that he would be a target for keegan, given that he managed him at city in a time when dunne's game improved, and the players off-field life reportedly settled down under his guidance. but if he is making unrealistic demands, or trying to play us off against spurs, maybe it would be the right thing to do if we cool our interest, and focus the players mind a bit. there is no need to panic at this stage off the summer, its not like dunne is exceptional - he's decent, and thats it. we have three months left to sign the right players, dont read too much into what has or hasnt happened so far

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tunyc
31/05/2008 23:07

What's the source for this about the wages?

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MissC
31/05/2008 23:10

I wrote it after reading the GOAL.COM report and thinkin "@#$%&... if thats true we are screwed"

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tunyc
31/05/2008 23:11

Yeah, I gotta hope goal.com is full of it...

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MissC
31/05/2008 23:13

Yep - tend to be not "too" bad normally......

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Jaryd
01/06/2008 05:00

Goal Is usually more reliable than other sites such as Tribal Football.

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matt2050
02/06/2008 04:42

I recently saw on FSC that NUFC had the 5th highest wage bill in the Premiership. The top four obviously being the big 4. Our sqaud is not nearly as deep as theirs so it goes to reason that there are some bulging contracts on players that aren't worth the price at this point(Smith, Viduka, Duff, and how many others). I'm hoping that Ashley is trying to cut the dead weight off the wage bill and get more bang for the buck. NUFC also aren't carrying the debt that a lot of those teams are, so there should be some wiggle room. There needs to be someone coming in soon, they can't just get rid of everyone and not bring in players

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ROD RICHARDSON
03/06/2008 09:22

Give everyone a chance to prove their worth. Ashley has done us ne wrong so far. He rid our club of Shepherd and Allardyce and gave us back Keegan. Thats just for starters!!The man is no mug and i feel that our club is 100% in the right hands and the man has a lot more to lose than we do if he gets it wrong. The future will show his worth to Newcastle United so dont judge him while work is still in progress.

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Jaryd
03/06/2008 10:20

Yeah true. I do love the personality he brings to the club though. It's not everyday you see a chairman sitting with the fans wearing the clubs home shirt. I would just like to see him spend a bit.

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MissC
03/06/2008 21:35

No one is disputing what he has done - and he has put a lot of cash in.;

Its the talk of wages and not paying them which is worrying if your trying to bring in big names.

Even media gossip of that kind will scare off players.

Lets hope he has a good summer

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tunyc
04/06/2008 21:38

Right, Carys. Thing is, I think the club may be right to ignore it as long is it's only coming from second-rate online sources and takes the form of speculation. Acknowledging it might seem more ominous.

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