Le Toon epitomising the changing face of English football

Expert Opinion

05Feb

Le Toon epitomise the changing face of English football

by Mike Calvin

Alan Pardew gets the grief, Graham Carr grabs the glory. There, in a nutshell, is the subtle shift in power which may change the culture of English football – who cares about the man in the hotseat as long as the bloke at the back of the stand keeps finding treasure?

Newcastle United had better get used to the fact they are just another part of Mike Ashley’s business empire. Only the most naive fan cannot be aware of the club’s reliance on Ashley, the stack-’em-high-and-flog-’em-cheap multi-millionaire who, with Carr’s help, is bringing his retail philosophy to St James’ Park – though with an expensive twist.

When Ashley temporarily turned off the tap last summer, a lot of supporters at St James’ Park suddenly felt a raging thirst, and they have responded with characteristic theatricality to Newcastle’s January splurge on six new players, five of whom are French. They are now, unofficially, Ligue 1’s 21st club. The weekend win over Chelsea – founded on a fabulous home debut by Moussa Sissoko (pictured, centre) – completed the rebranding of the north-east club. They are now simply known as Le Toon.

The club shop has sold out of berets. While players are not exactly turning up for training on bicycles festooned with onions and popping out for a crafty Gauloises, there has been a tangible shift in culture. When even the local scribblers are reaching for dog-eared French GCSE revision books, something profound is surely happening.

That approach has its benefits, and its challenges. There is an obvious risk of cliques being formed, yet the acquisition of players of such obvious potential as Sissoko, Mathieu Debuchy and Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa is fantastic business.

It also highlights the influence of Carr, the chief scout who was the first member of the back-room team to benefit from Ashley’s determination to offer key staff an eight-year contract. That is unheard of job security for a man in what is an inherently insecure trade.

He has a humble background. Carr managed the likes of Dartford, Nuneaton Borough, Northampton Town, Blackpool, Dagenham and Redbridge, Maidstone United, Kettering and Weymouth before making his name scouting for David Pleat at Tottenham, after which he worked under Sven-Göran Eriksson at Manchester City and Notts County.

Carr’s knowledge of the French market is apparently inexhaustible, yet none of his purchases – and they have a personal imprint – came from left field. All had burgeoning reputations on the other side of the Channel and all were on the radar of other clubs.

They are athletic, resilient and cheap at double the price. Yanga-Mbiwa has even been touted as a future France captain by national manager Didier Deschamps. Crucially, they also fit the modern business model. Newcastle will be a selling club in the summer, when it will be Carr’s turn to feel pressure. It is up to him to keep the production line rolling.

Related articles:

Video: Gouffran, Yanga-Mbiwa and Sissoko – Hit or miss?

Video: “Newcastle are teetering on the edge”

Sturridge, Debuchy and Fryers: Hit or miss?

Video: “Toon paying the price for Ashley resting on his laurels”

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Comments

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jules

there is no evidence newcastle will sell in summer ba went release clause carroll ridiculous transfer fee all other sales were cos the club wanted rid the evidence suggests the club will sell only on its terms and if the form of recent weeks continues till end of the season who would want to leave … cant see cabs or benny going colo and tiote possibly but tiotes been poor this season and we are well stocked in centre mid more southern journo shite
saaaam

in my opinion big mike is an good owner who has made huge mistakes in the past which he seems to have learnt from. To suggest we are dependent on him, i believe, ignores the fact he has actually turned us into a financially stable outfit that will not depend on its owner. true we are not there yet but how else will we get there other than by doing exactly what he is doing, ensuring premier league status and developing a club with enough depth to compete. He has also proven to the contrary that newcastle are a selling club by taking a reluctant stance on selling major assets and only doing so when a tremendous fee is offered (or a release clause being triggered – bloody chelsea).
Alister

What a pointless article. Built on a lack of solid facts, and a lot of ambiguity. Newcastle will sell their players – as will 95% of teams in the world – for the right price. As Jules rightly said, Ba went on the cheap because he had a clause that we couldn’t remove (would he have come if we refused to put it in?) and Carroll went for stupid money – money that has bought us a whole new team.

Yes the imports have been cheaper – fair play to Graham Carr, Alan Pardew and Mike Ashley – but there is no evidence to suggest that we will sell. Unless we get well above their value.

Use some facts. Dear god, use some facts.
tooooonarmy

How you get a job is beyond me! How are newcastle a selling club? you have no facts to back up your rubbish. Your just another southerner worried that newcastle will do well and you can’t handle it. It’s pathetic.
Evreyone we have sold is because they were not good enough for us anymore and we have replaced with ten times the quality. What a poor and biased article.
Name

I’m sure I remember loads of articles that started a year ago which stated that we would sell everyone in the summer…
If in doubt, repeat erroneous comment annually until you can finally say that you predicted it.
BenArfa

As long as he dont sell HBA, Cabs, check or the other key players.
We sould sell the “young” players as sammy, abeid, tav and the others who have faild at performing at top level considering they’re not that young anymore.
Ballerfan2

Original thought impossible for you then? Open your eyes man and you might see what is really going on at Newcastle. Ashley has put the club back on a solid financial and sustainable footing, unlike the majority of clubs you fawn over. No debts – that’s a novel way to run a club eh? Plus there’s a squad full of talent worth an absolute fortune. If you are suggesting that that is Ashley’s cunning plan then you are going to be sorely disappointed as, has been said already, no one will be leaving unless someone comes up with another £35m or the club want rid. Yes, I’m sure Ashley is prepared to sell – on his terms. After a year or so of anti Ashley hysteria, the fans have finally come to the conclusion that Toon couldn’t be in better hands

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