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Has Mike Ashley been right all along?
All has seemed pretty rosy for Newcastle this season. They currently sit in the European places in the Premier League, bragging rights were won over Sunderland earlier in the season, and the players brought in over the summer have been revelations. As such, until the fiasco over renaming St James’ as ‘that’ arena (it still pains me to say it), owner Mike Ashley had begun to enjoy a little respite from those up North.
One of the accusations that has always been levelled at Ashley is that he is too willing to sacrifice the potential of the club in order to make money. Selling Andy Carroll for £35million to Liverpool in January, and not allowing enough time to bring in a replacement, is the obvious example. Alan Pardew had insisted Carroll was going nowhere. Then, on the last day of the transfer window, the lofty Geordie hero was bundled into Ashley’s helicopter, never to be seen again in the black and white stripes.
There have been other examples where Ashley’s policy has seen fan favourites leave the club. José Enrique joined Carroll at Liverpool, and is now continuing to develop into the best left back in the Premier League. Club captain Kevin Nolan was not offered the money or length of contract he wanted, so he dropped down a division to West Ham. And then, of course, there was the Joey Barton saga, which needs no further discussion.
And yet Newcastle sit seventh in the league, and are playing surprisingly good football. They have a striker on top form in Demba Ba, the central midfield pairing of Yohan Cabaye and Cheick Tioté is surely one of the best in the league, and the defence has been rock solid. And in captain Fabricio Coloccini, Newcastle have the ultimate professional and an outstanding centre back.
Suggesting Mike Ashley is right about anything can be dangerous in and around Newcastle. But could it be that all this time his transfer policy has been on the money?
Andy Carroll cuts a shadow of his former self at Liverpool. Joey Barton started well at QPR but, as always, controversy comes first and his playing suffers. Kevin Nolan and West Ham are in a scrap for promotion in the Championship. Only José Enrique is truly prospering, and even then, Ryan Taylor has filled in wonderfully at left back, with the magnificent Davide Santon now starting to come through too.
And it is these new players that offer the most hope. Santon is the Italian under-21 captain and a fantastic prospect. Cabaye is a superb passer, runs the game and offers his all for the team. Ba is shaping into the complete striker, a reliable goalscorer and target man. Youngsters such as Mehdi Abeid are also waiting for their chance to shine. Under the direction of Graham Carr, Newcastle’s chief scout, the club are replacing ageing players with young and exciting ones, bought cheaply with massive resale potential.
Carr now appears to dominate the French market, and is starting to further explore the Dutch leagues, finding players at terrific value, such as Tioté from FC Twente in 2010 for £3.5m, or discovering the £4.5m release clause in Cabaye’s contract at Lille. With Carr’s help, Ashley’s policy of buying younger players with the hope of securing a few years of service before selling them on for a profit appears to be working.
Issues arise when it comes to this selling on, however. The prime example is Tioté, with rumours growing that he may well leave as early as January, with Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool apparently preparing bids. In hard financial terms, Tioté’s sale could potentially see the club making a profit of around £20million. But, undoubtedly, it would damage the team’s ability to compete with the best, the fans would lose one of their most loved players, and the scouts would once again have to scour the markets with the daunting task of finding his replacement.
And therein lies the dilemma that has always afflicted Ashley’s time at Newcastle United. He views it as a business, one to be run efficiently and without emotion. But the fans, who live and breathe this club, want success, and they want the players who they invest so much in to be a part of it on the pitch. We can but wait and see if Ashley will ever agree to find a compromise between the two.
Posted by Newcastle fan Rob Sellars
Follow Rob on Twitter @rob_sellars
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