Transfer of the season?

Newcastle United now seem an irresistible force to gain a Champions League spot with the 3-0 drubbing of Stoke over the weekend. All credit to Alan Pardew and his team for shaping the a side which brought about back belief in the club. St James’ Park is once again packed to the brim in anticipation of what could be a dream finish to the season. Hey, no trophies this time but I think this Newcastle United side has gained something even more valuable than any silverware.

The side now  have quality to build on and Tiote, Ben Arfa, Cababye, Ba and Cisse  are all on top form. Cisse is deservingly wearing the #9 and has all the goal scoring predatory instinct that comes with the shirt. Cababye performance in the match against Stoke was particularly note-worthy being both provider and scorer.

If the run of results continue and our main rivals slip up like Spurs, a return to the Champions League will be a real possibility but expectations have always been a killer for this club. Pardew and the team are correct not to look beyond anything but the next match. There’s no pressure on the team to win day-in day-out so as a fan I’m just loving every minute of the football NUFC are playing.

Papiss Demba Cisse, the Sengal International was signed up just before the start of the African Cup of Nations. We had the daunting prospect of facing a full month  without Ba and now without Cisse. Things didn’t go as planned for Sengal and both Strikers were back at St James’ Park before Wednesday’s win against Blackburn.

Demba Ba, who, despite a slow start to his season has found a goal scoring form that would make Drogba envious of. Both Ba and Cisse, on paper,  are clearly a good partnership and Pardew has been astute in taking on Cisse. Potentially these two players could be a really potent strike for the next few years. However, much has been made in the press has made of Ba’s rumoured £7m release clause. Whether Newcastle can hang on to the player if we make Europe is no certainty. Chelsea could come sniffing if they let go of Torres this year.

Still, it looks like fans are going to be in for a treat if Cisse keeps on scoring!

(It certainly looks like we have the right Cisse)

Here’s what Derek Lambias said: “Naming the stadium the Sports Direct Arena helps up to showcase the opportunity to interested parties.

“We are now actively seeking a long-term sponsor wishing to acquire full naming rights for the stadium.

“Our shirt sponsorship deal with Northern Rock will also expire at the end of this season, which presents would-be sponsors with the opportunity to acquire both the naming rights and shirt sponsorship deals.”

Shirt sponsorship is one thing but renaming an entire stadium can provoke some real negative responses for brands from vocal fans.

We don’t need this kind of distraction whilst our team is concentrating on a high flying premiership campaign.

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The good run of games  has certainly been a shock to fans so far. Including myself, I was looking at a bit of a struggle to grind out results with the loss of key players who performed well last season. Losing Carroll had been a body blow but some astute transfer market buying brought in Ba and a handful of players who would turn out just fine for the club. Admittedly, Ba eventually found some form and thankfully he’s been fantastic.

Ba’s eye-catching performance is fantastic for us at a crucial time for Newcastle trying to push through it’s second year in the Prem since relegation. However, I seriously hope that the unpredictably of Mike Ashley and board don’t see this as an opportunity to cash in much like the situation of Andy Carroll. What Ashley should look at is expanding our team in the New Year. Newcastle is a big club with a small team in comparison and so far Alan Pardew has made some great additions to the team through players like Ba and Cabaye. Let’s hope that Ashley does the right thing and provides funds for Newcastle to endure this most gruelling of football campaigns.

November represents a bigger test for us. Everton on Saturday and queuing up behind them are Man City, Man Utd. and Chelsea.  I’m not expecting miracles against these big spending clubs but certainly I expect Newcastle to play with same determination and spirit that has brought the team to position 3 in the table.

The good start doesn’t exactly mean it will be plain sailing all the way. This weekend sees the Mags against Blackburn who won decisively against a weaker Arsenal. We’ll have the home support behind us but it’ll be no push over.

Tonight also sees us in action against Forest. The news is that Ben Arfa makes a return after the horror tackle which left him missing most of last season. Let’s hope he has a stellar match and show us some of the massive potential he obviously has.

With the Barton saga now firmly behind us, we can start to concentrate on the game and with some faith remain in the top 10 this season.

Newcastle originally wanted to sell Barton who only had one year left of his contract but clearly his actions have peeved off some. Jose Enrique is another player who is heading out due to comments made about decisions at the board.

Clearly fan opinion would be split on this but I have to say if Barton had so many grievances he should have spoken out using a different forum. Personally, I don’t like having players talking down the club at what is a crucial time.

Arguably, we’ve lost two of our best players notably Nolan and Barton now. But if Barton is not happy then he needs to go but us fans are worried that the inability of the club when it comes to bringing in more players and talent.

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25-year-old midfielder, Sylvain Marveaux came aboard on a free transfer from Rennes over last weekend. Not bad following Demba Ba’s move from West Ham. Demba bagged 7 goals in 12 appearances but doesn’t take the still vacant #9 shirt donning the number 19 shirt instead. High hopes for the fella come the new season.

The big question is can NUFC tempt Charles N’Zogbia back into the fold. As I remember correctly, N’Zogbia took a swipe at Newcastle when he left citing something about our relegation and winning trophies at Wigan? But anyway, he’s impressed at Wigan despite the awful season they had just barely managing to keep out of the relegation zone. I would welcome his presence in the team once again. Someone who’d I’d have second
thoughts about would be bringing Scott Parker back in. Great midfielder but very injury prone.

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Pardew can certainly talk of his desire to bring in players of stature like Berbatov in but it’s not going to happen.

As fans we expect that the £35m sale of Andy Carroll will be used appropriately to pump up the squad – a new striker would be good for a start. As much as I like Ameobi, Lovenrands and Best up front, they don’t have the scare factor of Carroll at his prime. Certainly there might be some quality to extract from West Ham and Birmingham but I’m not going to speculate at this stage.

Players leaving this summer will be varied. Sol Campbell has already walked and Joey Barton, arguably our best player in the team to date has not signed a new contract beyond next season. The temptation would be to sell.

News that we welcome Lille’s Midfielder Yohan Cabaye seems like a very good move. However, let’s wait and see how this summer pans out.