Barton and Lee - Stay or Go

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Come on then and lasses

nail your colours on the bbs mast

Should we let these senior pros go and make way for new

no ifs or buts

-- Anonymous, October 15, 2001

Answers

Three years ago for Lee, 6 for Barton

-- Anonymous, October 15, 2001

Ill start with the ifs and buts

IF we can afford to replace with considered purchases then yes

Considered in Bobby Lees case meaning the last two years and it aint happened.

BUT

I feel we have enough cover in Griffin and Hughes to mean Barton could be allowed to go

-- Anonymous, October 15, 2001


They are both the wrong side of 30 to be signing new contracts. One of them was already there last time he signed.

-- Anonymous, October 15, 2001

Give them to the Salvation Army

-- Anonymous, October 15, 2001

Barton I would say yes, he can go, he really doesn't offer a lot to the team. I am grateful for his service, but his time has passed now.

Rob Lee still has a lot to offer NUFC. He has a good range of passing and can tackle well sometimes. He doesn't have a long term future at the club, but we should still hang onto him until a suitable replacement is found. In an ideal world he would stay on as a coach in a few years, and feature as a backup for his replacement that we should be looking for.

How did Johnson play tonight btw for Derby? I missed the game. Opinions?

-- Anonymous, October 15, 2001



I'm not sure we do have enough cover for Barton to let him go - Griff is always injured and has had one or two mares and Hughes hasn't played RB very often. Steve Caldwell is too slow for RB and O'Brien is currently on good enough form to retain his CH place. Likewise Rob Lee - we don't have a replacement yet. I know that Wozza's and Rob's wages don't help with the finances of buying new players and I'm not saying that we should give them new contracts but we can't lose them immediately.

-- Anonymous, October 15, 2001

Oh well, just read the next thread up, forget about answering about Johnson here :)

-- Anonymous, October 15, 2001

barton, if we let him go we need another face. as lynd, says Griff gets knackered...

lee, i'd keep him. i wouldn't let him go. We don't have a better central midfield player, not by a mile. BUT we HAVE to buy a class operator in that position, a mean machine. A younger Barry V. would do it.

-- Anonymous, October 15, 2001


Understanding we'll get nowt for either of them, Barton could be allowed to find another club now as we have adequate cover. However, letting Rob Lee go without first ensuring we have an adequate replacement for the man who is still our best central m/f player would be akin to selling Les Ferdinand when we did.

I suspect Barton will be allowed to leave, but that RL will be told he has a contract and has to honour it - at least that is what should happen.

Actually, if it was up to me I would defuse the entire situation by awarding RL a further one-year contract, which I suspect is all he really wants/expects. No big deal.

-- Anonymous, October 15, 2001


I was thinking the same about a one year contract for Lee, Clarky (note the comma). However, I'm not sure if he'd be happy with only a year. He clearly thn=inks he still has a lot to offer in the EPL and will want to carry on for more than one more year. But it's worth a try to get him to withdraw the request.

RL got a fabulous reception from the Toon Army before the game on Saturday (as well as afterwards). I wonder if that might just make him think again???

-- Anonymous, October 15, 2001



Ignore that above post from me :"Oh well, just read the next thread up, forget about answering about Johnson here :) "

Meant to be on a different thread, talking about this one. I must be off my head :)

-- Anonymous, October 15, 2001


Incidentally, he denies he has been tapped up by other clubs but I honestly can't see a player handing in a transfer request unless they are almost certain they are wanted elsewhere, particularly at his age and bearing in mind that there aren't that many clubs that would/could pay his wages.... He would probably be Charlton's or West Ham's best paid player.

-- Anonymous, October 15, 2001

dougal - I don't wish to be picky, but we have no clue whatsoever what wage Rob Lee is expecting going forward, or indeed what duration Contract he wants/expects. All we do know for sure is that he is completely 'out of contract' at the end of this season.
Why is that nobody can understand why he might be rather concerned to have this situation sorted? It seems entirely understandable to me.

-- Anonymous, October 15, 2001

Neither Lee nor Barton should be offered new contracts. We're almost certainly shelling out around 2 million a year for the pair in wages alone - that's 40 quid for everyone who was at SJP last week. Is their contribution really worth that? Throw in the fact that if we get rid now we might pick up a million or so for the pair and selling them makes a lot of sense. That said, I don't think people should be too annoyed at Rob Lee, if we're not going to give him a new contract he's entitled to ask for a transfer, on the understanding that if we don't want to give him one then he has to stay. It's not necessarily fair to say that money is the big issue here - it might be, but equally it might just be a case of an aging pro who wants to secure his playing future. I gather a lot of people were annoyed at the whole testimonial thing, but if you didn't want to line his pockets then you didn't have to go.

-- Anonymous, October 15, 2001

Yes. Both. No if's and but's.

-- Anonymous, October 15, 2001


I'd sign both to single year contracts, renewable by the club at it's discretion. Also, advise them both that they will be counted on more as cover in a reserve situation only. Also get them going into coaching at different levels, allow them to get their coaching licences all the while remaining as a squad player.

-- Anonymous, October 15, 2001

Sounds like Lee doesn't want a 1 year contract though, he's after a couple. And to be fair to him, he probably does have a couple of good years left in him at some level, though not in my opinion at a top half Premiership side. Not sure if either of them would want to stay on the understanding that they'd be used as cover players.

-- Anonymous, October 15, 2001

The longer they stay the longer the Mis-Management team can get by without having to buy someone.

-- Anonymous, October 16, 2001

....... well, I certainly agree with that observation, Gus.

-- Anonymous, October 16, 2001

My twopenneth worth would suggest it's time to part ways with both.

Mind you, you'll win nothing with kids

-- Anonymous, October 16, 2001


Clarky, I know to the penny from an immensely reliable source what Rob Lee's contract is and if he wants the same elsewhere he may struggle unless of course it is more about a longer contract and he'd be happy with less money.

-- Anonymous, October 16, 2001

Rob Lee transfer request has been turned down by NUFC, so it all now seems somewhat academic.

-- Anonymous, October 16, 2001

If Rob Lee wants a half decent contract next year (wherever) he'll have to continue playing good football, so his threat of saying there's no point hanging on to him if he's unhappy, doesn't wash with me. He's too old for that sort of negotiation. A bigger danger is him disrupting things behind the scenes, politicking with his teammates etc. I trust Rob Lee not to do this.
Interestingly there are issues coming out that were similar to those in Gullit's reign. Difference being, they're being handled a bit more subtley, and against a backdrop of having improved the team already.

-- Anonymous, October 16, 2001

The club have actually played this very well by talking in terms of his recent testimonial and so on - makes him look the w******r if he doesn't perform. Personally, I think a dignified parting of the ways might have been better.

-- Anonymous, October 16, 2001

MAYBE the fault never lay with Ruud? perhaps some 'characters' held too much influence? maybe Bobby is just a bit older and certainly wiser than Ruud. Perhaps Gullit wasn't quite as bad as he seems to have been painted?

-- Anonymous, October 16, 2001

Ollie, I think there's an element of that - plenty of players praise Gullit - and of course, he's never had the opportunity to put his side of the story across. Bobby admits that he arrived here knowing that he had to get Lee and Shearer onside which says quite a lot. However, before I get accused of a sin against the Geordie Nation for suggesting that Shearer's and Lee's hands weren't completely clean, can I add that I still think Gullit would never in a million years have worked at NUFC.

-- Anonymous, October 16, 2001

That's what I was getting at Swift. But the stupidity of Gullit's approach was trying to tackle the issue before there were alternative solutions and whilst those in question were still the backbone of the side. And when you're also not winning on the pitch, it's managerial suicide.
But don't get me wrong, the Lee, Barton, Speed, Shearer cabal had it's positives as well as negatives, it's just that these things have a natural shelf life. You want characters in the side that get on, look after each other and the younger players etc. If you manage it correctly and get the most out of them, it should be for the benefit of the team. But they shouldn't have too much say and control over managerial issues (I think Bobby was probably very clear on this when he came in).

-- Anonymous, October 16, 2001

If we get reasonable money for them, then let them go. Though both can still play a part as squad players, as long as they're willing to accept that they won't be automatic choices every week. Depending on how things look later in the season, I wouldn't be against them getting 1yr contracts to continue in a squad role and help bring younger players through.

-- Anonymous, October 16, 2001

The statement by th eboard today was spot on. we don't allow players to have tantrums & get their own way out of the club 2 months after pocketing testemonial cash. If Lee wants to stay he cannot expect to continue on a top salary through to the age of 38.

-- Anonymous, October 16, 2001

hallelujah!

-- Anonymous, October 16, 2001

Are you with me or against me Min?

-- Anonymous, October 16, 2001

Oh - I thought he was only singing ;-)

-- Anonymous, October 16, 2001

with you Dave, totally with you...

-- Anonymous, October 17, 2001

Simple answer really, if the aims and objectives of YBR and the board are to ensure that Newcastle Utd FC will be listed in the top 6 of the EPL and a dominant force in European Competetion , its Goodbye Wozza and Goodbye Robert, thanks for everything?, but let`s understand one thing, we have been good for you and countless better players than yourselves have had to take a step down in class to further their job expectaancy.

-- Anonymous, October 19, 2001

buff, I think generally most people agree with you, but if we are to say goodbye Robert and goodbye Wozza, we NEED to buy someone to replace them. Man Utd's defence is struggling because they haven't bought a suitable replacement for Stam yet. Sunderland can't get over the loss of Hutchison and Rae, without buying anyone immediately to replace them. Lee should still be here when we buy his replacement though, and the new lad should be blended into the team gradually.

-- Anonymous, October 20, 2001

BR's view on Rob Lee might be relevant to this debate. He is quoted in the Journal today:

Bobby Robson last night pinpointed Robert Lee as Newcastle's best player this season and admitted: "We can't afford to let him just walk away."

Many expected the 35-year-old to start the new season on the substitutes' bench after ending the last one on the operating table. But Lee has proved he still has much to offer in the early stages of the campaign. And, Robson has admitted, the former Charlton player is just too important to be allowed to leave.

"I haven't actually seen Rob since the board decided that we couldn't let him go. I had a say in that as well, it's not just the board's decision" the United boss said last night.

"The Board asked how I felt about Rob Lee and I told them that I thought he was our best player. We can't let him go at the moment, he's too valuable to us".

-- Anonymous, October 20, 2001


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