Teamtalk are carrying a report that the Toon are preparing to make £3.5mm bid for Everton's Thomas Graveson.

They say we have been priced out of a bid for Brett Emerton, who Feyenoord are now valuing at £10mm.

They say there are suggestions that Everton may be forced to sell because of their financial position, but that they will hold out for substantially more than £3.5mm, which would represent only a small profit on the £2.5mm they paid for Graveson last summer.

-- Anonymous, November 04, 2001

Answers

I'd be happy with this, if its true.

-- Anonymous, November 04, 2001

£3.5m is pretty good business for someone who is a decent player with a lot of years left in him. Not exactly Vieira but still canny.

Clarky, can I ask you what the extra m stands for when you are typing the price of a player. I know what you mean by it (ie million) but is there any reason for it? :)

-- Anonymous, November 04, 2001

This was also in last night's Chronicle. £3.5 Mill though is not alot of money. If we sign him we'd have to stump up more but I think he's a canny player.

-- Anonymous, November 04, 2001

Would they take Gary Speed in part-ex??? Graveson was fantastic against us last week. I'd take him for £3.5M - and a bit more.

-- Anonymous, November 04, 2001

Paul - using "mm" as shorthand for million is simply a financial convention I must have picked up when I worked in the US.

-- Anonymous, November 04, 2001

Right Clarky. I knew it wasn't a mistype as you use it all the time, I just didn't know the reason.

-- Anonymous, November 04, 2001

It would be short for mille mille - thousand thousand.

mensa
mensa
mensa
mensa
mensae
mensae
mensis
et 'kin cetera

-- Anonymous, November 04, 2001

Mensa mensa mensam mensae mensae mensis

Honestly, what have the Romans ever done for us?

-- Anonymous, November 04, 2001

err...viaducts?

-- Anonymous, November 04, 2001

Er.. that film, Gladiator

-- Anonymous, November 04, 2001

...... erh, candles? Seasonal anyway! $-{)

-- Anonymous, November 04, 2001

er, ... sold most of the existing population into slavery

-- Anonymous, November 04, 2001

From what I've seen Graveson is a snip at 3.5m and is exactly the kind of player we need. Bit surprised Everton might consider letting him go at that price though - or are the expecting Gazza to recover his form of old????

-- Anonymous, November 04, 2001

Gazza looked full of himself on Saturday, I just hope as most others probably do that he keeps it up, heart of hearts , I see one more season and then he will join up with Rocky Hudson in Miami , Dunston lads stick together lyeuk.

-- Anonymous, November 04, 2001

I'd would be very happy if Thomas Gravesen came to Newcastle. He is the player we need, he is wild, hardtackling, has a nice pass, and plays with big enthusiasm (??). 5 mill would be a bargain !

-- Anonymous, November 04, 2001

Of course he is exactly the type of player we need which is precisely why we won't sign him.

-- Anonymous, November 04, 2001

Teamtalk report that Glen Roeder is set to try to take Rob Lee to WHU.
Given that Rob supported West Ham and is from the area, that would really stoke up the fires of this particular situation.
Unless Shepherd is prepared to back down on the contract issue (highly unlikely) we have effectively burned our bridges with Rob, and imho it's about bloody time we got a replacement signed - before the inevitable happens and we become totally reliant on Speed and Acuna.

-- Anonymous, November 05, 2001

Howay clarky.... you're forgetting Bassedas!

-- Anonymous, November 05, 2001

Er, isn't Rob Lee under contract until the end of the season? And isn't Roeder a stickler for going by the book? Now, if he was to offer MC as part of the deal......................

-- Anonymous, November 05, 2001

.... I hadn't forgotten about Bassedas, Geordie. It was the frightening realisation that we might have to rely on him if Speed or Acuna got injured that motivated my comments.

-- Anonymous, November 05, 2001

scary i'n'it?

-- Anonymous, November 05, 2001

interesting. You reckon they'd incorporate a 'first refusal on Carrick and Cole' clause into the Rob Lee transfer??

-- Anonymous, November 05, 2001

I would!!

-- Anonymous, November 05, 2001

Rob Lee can't really win. We won't get much for him if we sold - so it is pointless letting him go free from his contract. He is more than likely to be offered a deal in January and hopefully will bear no grudges and accept it.

-- Anonymous, November 05, 2001

Yeah, that's what's making me wonder. What's the problem that he can't wait till January to have his contract sorted, I mean, it's only two months. What's the rush?

-- Anonymous, November 05, 2001

The cool thing to do would be to offer him a pre-contract-extension now, but keep it quiet until January. Unless of course, there's more than water in the pipeline???

-- Anonymous, November 05, 2001

I'm somewhat baffled that Lee wanted an early extension anyway. Seems to me that if he waits until January his bargaining power goes way up because then he'll be able to sign a pre-contract agreement to go somewhere else at the end of the season. If that happens I think we can reasonably assume we'll let him go on a free immediately or negotiate a small fee with the club he's going too for an early release. There would clearly be no point in us keeping (and paying the wages of) a player who has already decided to go, he'd hardly give 100% for fear of injury. It's not as though he would even be playing to attract a bid.

-- Anonymous, November 05, 2001

BUT if we are top6 in January and pushing for Europe then I don't really see a 35 year old Robert Lee saying to the club I want to be off to West Ham, say. It must still hurt the players involved in through the Keegan years that they never won nowt and Lee would love the thought of playing for us in Europe next year, and him being instrumental in getting us there. For me we should have moved on to the point where we don't need him but that;s where Gravesen comes back into the discussion.

-- Anonymous, November 05, 2001

I feel the answer to this conudrum is straightforward - despite what has been said, he has been offered the chance of at least a two-year contract on decent money elswehere. If he is forced to wait until January this opportunity could be long gone.

-- Anonymous, November 06, 2001

If you're good enough you are old enough. I think Rob Lee is our best midfielder, even now. Think Mcallister...

-- Anonymous, November 06, 2001

What's happened to McAllister?

-- Anonymous, November 06, 2001

last inline at 'pool, which would put him first in line in our squad, :-)

-- Anonymous, November 06, 2001