Empty
There's only one word that really sums up the feeling on Tyneside today: Empty.
It seems that getting kicked in the teeth is part and parcel of being a Newcastle United fan, and the departure of Andy Carroll is as vicious a kick as they come.
Liverpool fans were today pondering, what have we got for our money?
Well I'll tell you Kop-pites what you've got, a bloody bargain at £35million.
It may well be a huge fee, but at 22, and with his whole career ahead of him, calculate how much Newcastle United will spend on strikers in the next 10 years and I bet it will be more than £35million - especially given some of the big money flops we've endured in the history of the football club so far.
Carroll not only had great aerial ability, prowess in the box, a wicked left foot and the ability to hold up the ball and drag his team-mates into games they thought they were fading out of.
He also had the will to win and the passion that is vital when it comes to pulling on the black and white shirt.
Many may slam Carroll for his love of enjoying a night out in Toon, but the top and bottom of that social side, is that the number 9 knew just how flat the city is when the Magpies have lost a game of football.
And as for a replacement?
Your guess is as good as mine.
Put it this way, you will struggle to find a player of his age and ability for anything near the exact price tag we paid for Carroll.
It is a chance for Nile Ranger to step up to the plate but with Carroll way out on his own this season, it is some gap.
Shola Ameobi, Leon Best and Peter Lovenkrands also have a big job on their hands.
There is young Phil Airey, but it would be an incredible task for him to make such big strides in such a short space of time.
All in all, a total mess.
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Lee Ryder - Proudly born and bred on Tyneside, the Chronicle's chief sports writer has followed the fortunes of the club over the last three decades as a Toon fan and football writer.
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Ashley was always going to cash in on Carroll. Ashley waited till the last possible minute to sell Carroll so that he could get away with not investing a single penny of the fee on new players. Carroll is not injured, Ashley was just keeping him out of the team to protect his asset to guarantee him millions at the end of the window. I guarantee Carroll will be in the starting eleven for Liverpool's next match.
Newcastle United have not got £35 million for Carroll, Ashley has got £35 million for Carroll. In real terms Newcastle Utd have got NOTHING for Andy Carroll because that's how much of the fee will be re-invested on new players.
And despite the utter nonsense spouted by Ashley's puppet and failed third division manager Pardew today, we all know Carroll never wanted to leave.
I'm heartbroken by this transfer. Andy Carroll was by far the best player to come through the ranks at St James's Park in a generation. The kind of mercurial natural homegrown talent that has been so sadly lacking since Paul Gascoigne emerged over a quarter of a century ago. Andy Carroll was destined to become a Newcastle United legend, he would have been one of our all time great number nines, right up there with the likes of Shearer, MacDonald and Milburn. So it is soul destroying to see all that thrown away, to see him leave at the age of only 21 having played less than 100 games for us, and all because of Fat Ashley's greed to line his own pocket.
As a Liverpool fan, the whole saga just leaves a bitter taste. We lost our so-called "hero" to Chelsea, then raided Newcastle for their local hero. We may have got a good player in Carroll but the feeling in Liverpool isnt so good either. The only winners in all this are the players and their agents. As always. Football has gone mad and lost its magic.
Replacement. According to pfa site, ex arsenal and boro forward alliadiere is available on a free transfer. Whoopdie doo. Suppose we could do worse, although pardew probably not even interested. Still only 27 like.
If those in charge at NUFC are so lacking in ambition as to let him go (at any price) then he has made the right decision for his own future.
The club should have turned down Carroll's transfer request, like Blackpool did with Adams.
He'd just signed a new contract in October, make him stick to it.
Then Pardew who's been quoted as saying "Carroll is going nowhere", "He's the future of NUFC" wouldn't lose credibility with the fans.
Ashley pulled the rug out from under Pardew.
If Pardew has any self-worth he'll resign.
Pardew's word means nothing now, like Ashley and Llambias who were shown by a tribunal to be liars.
Resign Pardew show Ashley there are still people in the game who have honour.
As a Newcastle Fan I have to say I am growing increasing more and more disillusioned with the Club and that Idiot of a owner Mike Ashley, HE DID NOT WANT TO SELL Andy Carrol for 35million plus extras ( WHAT A LAUGH ).
And really have we tried to buy anyone in the transfer window the answer is NO ??, As I have said before Pardew is just another yes man for Ashley as was Chris H.
And when the summer comes the same will happen again from Pardew = ( I need to buy, I have spoken with Lambais and Ashley and things are looking good, WHAT A LAUGH ) Watch this space it will be the last minute of the transfer window again for Newcastle in the summer, And lucky if we sign more than 1 or 2 players and probably Cheap as Chips players.
As for trying to Charles Z ,Why Why Why go for him, he was nothing but trouble when he was at the club the last time, and has had a troubled time at Wigan as well, ( WHAT A LAUGH )
Unless Ashley goes quickly this club will be back in the Championship before you can say Andy Carrol.
Without wishing to join the homoerotic paean to Andy Carroll, it was a stupid move, particularly when we didn't even attempt to sign a suitable replacement.
Well said Jezza.....word for word with you.
Now Mr Ryder........how come your newspaper isnt printing this instead of the subservient rubbish it is printing?
you can't argue with 35m but then again you can't put a price on a local goal scoring hero to be... what gets me is why doesn't MA just sell the club? he is obviously just hanging on to make a quick buck but does he really need the money -no! i think he has already decided he will never do anything positive for the club (which symbolizes the area) ever again it a situation of we hate him he hates us. it does appear that hes out to cause as much hurt as possible. the thing is you'll never beat a geordie, we'll always get up, make a joke out of what or whoever tries to hurt us, stick 2 fingers up and laugh at them for trying. and as for andy carrol one day he'll realise he made a huge mistake, end of...
Difficult one. I'm not going along with Lee's virtually homoerotic paean to AC (I can feel your pain, Lee), but he was a good player, had developed considerably (on the pitch) in a short space of time and he had great, if not outstanding potential. If we're after that money for him, why on earth not have a replacement in mind?
Generally, I think the Chron needs to be an awful lot harder on Ashley instead of leaving it to the southern media, who have been right far too often with this joker.
Hope he remans injured for Liverpool for a while; hope he doesn't go out on the town with Gerrard; hope Ireland becomes something more than an also ran; hope we stop wellying the ball up in the air and play it to our forwards' feet - and we might survive.
Lee as you have not allowed my last comments to be viewed i believe you are letting yourself&10000s of NUFC followers down.No need to add further remarks.
I think Andy Carroll should take a leaf out of Joey Barton's book, he loves Newcastle United and has even offered to take a pay cut.
I'm a huge Newcastle United fan. I'm not a great fan of Mike Ashley or his entourage but I dont think it matters what he does, the fans wont like him.
Lets just wait and see what happens with the £35 million.
Andy Carroll left it late to put in his transfer request - not leaving much time for a decent replacement to be found,
I dont think he was pushed.
If he loved Newcastle as much as he says why did he agree personal terms with Liverpool.
So Alan Pardew is gonna get 35m to spend in the summer yaeh right!!. I'm now getting tired of all the verbal garbage that seems to come from the mouth of the puppet/manager Mr Pardew and the board.Do us all a favour and stop talking Bo##cks to the fans & media at every press confrence.We are not stupid!!
Dancing with wolves
Dining with sharks
Sleeping with serpents
A dawn without larks.
A bargain you say? 35million could have bought you david villa in the summer, a proven goalscorer at the highest level of football. This is very good business by that of Mr Ashley, for a guy who likes a bit of a drink and injures himself by falling off a bar stool and not to mention the fact that he beats his girlfriends which if it continues a jail sentence is inevitable. I would just like to say what a fantastic job Mr Ashley is doing and long may he sell your prize assets. FTM
Still going to give Ashley your money?
More fool you if you do. If you can't give up the match for the rest of the season then
A: you really need a life and
B: Clearly don't care enough about the club to get rid of the odious cretin owner.
I will no longer belive a word that comes from either Mr Pardew or the Board of NUFC.It's all lies and I'm longer intrested in what the club have to say cos it's all a ploy to get us mugs to part with our cash come sesaon ticket renewal time. Mr Pardew say's he has been promised 35m to spend in the summer yeah right every fan know's it's just PR exercise to get you to renew for next season.You might think us are Geordies are thick Mr Ashley, But we know when we are being connend and lied to. So on ya bike bonny lad and don't come back!!
I think we can know all the truth. I do not believe for one second that Andy Carroll 'popped his head in the door' to renegotiate his contract. THEREFORE SOOTY (AP) IS A LIAR. If AC had these meetings about the Liverpool offer without his agent then his brains really are in his feet. YES ANDY THE FAT SHOPKEEPER DOESN'T WANT YOU HE WANTS HIS MONEY! We all KNOW that. But WE wanted you and you must have known that too!! WHAT DID YOU THINK THE FCB WOULD DO TO YOU? LET YOUR CONTRACT RUN DOWN SO YOU COULD WALK AWAY FOR NOTHING???? NOT PLAY YOU??? Look, here's the score... Sooty has Ashley's hand up his *****. (by the way after his performance over transfers shouldn't he resign!!) Ashley is Ashley so no change there and Andy.... Andy...he had to have taken the money... is it one or the other?... ITS BOTH.
I knew this was going to happen as soon as Newcastle sacked Chris Hughton,i believe the reason they sacked him is because there was a discusion about selling Andy Carroll and Chris Hughton has made a huge fuss about it,strange how Andy Carroll soon afterwards fell off a bloody bar stool and has been injured ever since,even stranger he then goes to Liverpool and then is pronounced fit to play again ???????????? i have lost all respect for the club as the fans just constantlly just get kicked in the teeth time and time again,another sad day for the fans
What A surprise my comments haven't turned up Lee. Didn't put you in a good light. You'll censor truth but print Ashley lies.
just read in the daily star that the £35m will be reinvested in the club during the the summer. but wages,signing-on fees, agents fees and so on wll be taken out of it on top of the transfer fee.what about the £40m or so we get if we stay in the premier league is some of that going in be invested aswell i think not.
There is one simple truth to the saga of the sale of Andy Carroll from Newcastle United to Liverpool, and the simple truth is this.
The deal suited all the parties concerned, no one was miffed or short changed (except the fans) everyone of them got exactly what they wanted out of the deal.
The supporters, as usual, are left to cry in their beer as another badge kisser, flag waver, messiah, legend in the making - bites the dust weeping and wailing, declaring their innocence and undying allegiance (it's not my fault gov) to the Geordie nation.
It's PAP marra's.
The Toon are ganning doon,I can't see them beating an egg never mind another Premiership team this year.Champoinship here they come, And it's all ashley's fault ha ha!!
Lee, out of all of us fans, you have the ability to print the true sentiments regarding what MA is doing to this club. The man should be charged for rape of NUFC. What is happening is disgusting and everyone knows it. So for crying out loud Lee, do us a favour and write the bloody truth so that clown understands that even the local media has had enough. Are you keen to travel to the likes of Scunthorpe again for your blogs? Do us a bloody favour. Please.
All Newcastle supporters (apart from me) are completely bonkers. Look at some of the facts surrounding this situation. First, after three and a half years Ashley and co have moved the club to a far better position than it was when they came. The squad is more committed (ok, whether itâs better is debatable), the finances are massively improved and weâre higher up the Premiership. Those are the facts. Football, we hear, is all about results. Look at the results. We all think heâs a nasty piece of work (allegedly) and would sell his own grandmother to the rag and bone man, but look at the results. Heâs absolutely pathetic (indeed non-existent) in terms of communication and PR, some of his decisions have been truly embarrassingly awful, but â look at the results. Second, at last Newcastle seem to have some young players coming through. Whose fault is that? The little weasel Denis Wise â we need to blame him, it seems, for Ranger, Vukic, Kadar etc. What a dreadful legacy. It might mean we wonât have to waste millions on Spanish no-hopers â it just wonât feel like Newcastle any more. And what did Ashley say when he came â develop the youth system, buy young players and sell them on. Nothing wrong with that. True, it wonât turn us into Chelsea or Man U but when was the last time we were anywhere near that level anyway? Answer: never. So no difference there then. Third, do we realise that now for the first time Ashley has got his own choice as manager. We may not like Pardew (I do, as it happens â quite, anyway) but at least we know heâs the ownerâs choice. Allardyce obviously wasnât. Kinnear was simply a short-term stand-in. Keegan was the peoplesâ choice, all emotion, no logic. Shearer was a panic measure. Hughton, bless him, was simply âJohnny on the spotâ, a safe pair of hands who did an excellent job. None of them was Ashleyâs choice. Pardew is and we have half a chance of building something long term, and even an outside chance that Ashley might give him some money to invest. Carroll? However good he is, that offer could not be turned down. Simple as that. Liverpool were prepared to take £50m for Torres, who is at least twice as good as Carroll. Get real. The only way NUFC will move forward is steadily, bit by bit. Children want it all now, now, now. Just like Newcastle supporters. Well, we canât have it all now, we have to be patient. Time will tell whether we can believe Ashley when he says the £35m will be invested. Some are understandable cynical. But â an uncomfortable fact to some â letâs not forget he seems to have put about a quarter of a billion of his own money into the club. One final fact: every last nook and cranny of Newcastle United Football Club is his and he can do what he likes with it. It doesnât matter one jot what we say here on this blog or anywhere else. Fact.