Duff on his way to Newcastle

[tricky_colour]

http://www.inthenews.co.uk/sports/transfergossip/sport/football/transfer-gossip/july-23rd-toon-renew-klose-interest-cole-transfer-chelsea-formality-blackburn-raid-villarreal-$445561.htm

[jockser]

Newcastle have massive support in the North East and obviously aren't shy of a few quid.
Also its a level of their ambition that they snapped up Duff from the grasp of Spurs and Liverpool

LOL i think youre codding yourself lad. Newcastle are a team going nowhere they wont get NEAR spurs this year and they didnt snap duff from anyones grasp, as duff decided to go there. poor decision in my opinion by duff

[mypost]

Newcastle are a team going nowhere they wont get NEAR spurs this year and they didnt snap duff from anyones grasp, as duff decided to go there. poor decision in my opinion by duff

So in the winger war, Robben beat Duff at Chelsea.

Lets face it, Duff isn't going to Newcastle to win leagues and cups. He's a double league champion, after all. He's going there purely to get more first team football. That can only be good news for Ireland, as his lack of action for Chelsea last year, can also be attributed to his sub-standard performances for Ireland in recent times.

[Irish_Praha]

I was just reading the reaction of Newcastle fan to the signing of Duff on BBC's 606. There are several unbalanced reaction such as Duff is the saviour and they will be a match for anyone this year or that he is not as good as he used to be and is a waste of money (I suppose this is how it appears if you haven't been looking at him closely and dont realise that playing for Chelsea affected his game). However, the basic consensus it that they are very happy to get a player of his quality but, as they already had several options for LMF, the money might have been better spent improving their defence and finding 2 good strikers to replace Owen and Shearer. If there is still money left in the pot to do this then they are delighted with the signing, if not then it may not have been such a clever signing.
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This post here is probably sums it up best:

I really do not understand why we have siged Duff. Sure he's a good player but do we really need him, especially at this price? At a time when we have a very thin and hole riddled squad we sign a player for a position who we already have 3 competant alternatives for. Firstly N'Zogbia was awesome last season, secondly Luque who has only just stated his intent to succeed with the club, and should either of these become injured we had Emre who could also comfortably convert to LM.

Why oh why does this club repeatedly make such squanderous decisions with its cash. £10mil on a player whose position we already have sufficiet cover for. Yet the team still cries out for 2 more decent strikers, a new centre-back, a LEFT-BACK and a right-back!

How much more money can we realistically expect to have left, £15mil max? Is that enough for 5 quality players? I don't think so, 2 or 3 max. I think we're set for another disappointing season.

[dr_peepee]

I don't know how much of a say he had in his destination.... But I'm very disapointed in his decision.

Newcastle... good players, when fit. average manager, average performers. The should have pulled out all the stops to get Martin O'Neill and maybe my opinion at this point would be different.

[NeilMcD]

Cant believe he went for €5m

[geysir]

Mathematically according to the contract that Duff originally signed with Chelsea for a transfer fee of £17m it makes sense that Chelsea only get £5m.
I'd say there would be a few extra costs involved.

[NeilMcD]

Expain please

[lofty9]

£5million is a bargain.


http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/footba...name_page.html

[Dodge]

Mathematically according to the contract that Duff originally signed with Chelsea for a transfer fee of £17m it makes sense that Chelsea only get £5m.
I'd say there would be a few extra costs involved.

wtf!?!?

[Stuttgart88]

Firstly N'Zogbia was awesome last season, secondly Luque who has only just stated his intent to succeed with the club, and should either of these become injured we had Emre who could also comfortably convert to LM.

Why oh why does this club repeatedly make such squanderous decisions with its cash.

This Toon fan needs his head examined if a proven dud like Luque still ranks ahead of a proven winner and a proven international. I'd like to know now if the £5mm fee is deemed "squanderous", though I'd say the total fee is higher.

5 year contract sounds like good enough business.

Am glad to see another Irish "cluster" emerging but equally am disappointed he's not at a CL club, though the fresher he is for Ireland the better.

In a way I'm also concerned about Newcastle's injury record. Maybe Geysir's right but Duff's record with injuries isn't exactly impeccable. At Chelsea they had a number of doctors examine Duff to determine the cause of his recurring hamstring injuries. They even taught him Judo to reduce the likelihood of hurting his shoulder in afall again. I hope this medical knowledge is transferred up north & that he benefits from the same preventative regime. Didn't Luque & Scott Parker also pick up long term injuries last season? Carr too?

[pete]

Poor decision by Duff as Newcastle going nowhere. Shows a lack of ambition & he would prefer to be big fish in small pond & earn more money.

[NeilMcD]

I think the training pitch at Newcastle was the problem with a lot of the injuries. Spurs have shown how if you get the right people in you can stop the rot. Spurs used to have huge problems with injuries year in year out. They invested heavily and got a lot of top medical staff into the club and have solved the problem

[dr_peepee]

5 million is all he cost..

5 F***ing million....

I would never have pegged him for a hungry ****!! Spurs and liverpool could've easily coughed up that kind of money and each would've been an infinitely better career move.

Very Disapointed...

[Stuttgart88]

Liverpool has Kewell, Riise & Gonzalez as left-sided players. Fergie only has want-away Ronaldo, and maybe Kieran Richardson. I'm very surprised United didn't see fit to do business at that price. Sunday Times suggests that the way Spurs prematurely announced he was attending a medical turned Duff off a move there.

Apparently he's taken a pay-cut from the 65k a week he was on at Chelsea so I doubt it's about money. The guy's already financially secure for life many times over.

Maybe, just maybe, he wants to enjoy his football, feel appreciated by 50,000+ fans every week and live near and work with one of his best friends (Given)? Doesn't sound too far fetched to me. Maybe he's also thinking of what'd suit his international career best. Until Kerr's last year or so Duff would frequently say that playing for Ireland was what meant most to him.

Funnily enough, at Chelsea his league medals and prolonged CL runs probably compensated for lack of WC qualification to some extent. Lack of major trophy opportunities at Newcastle may make him focus that bit harder on qualifying for the last 2 or 3 international tournaments he's likely to be around for.

I wonder would he have asked Bobby Robson for an opinion?

[Irish Pride]

If I was a spurs or Liverpool fan i would be sick.....If Newcastle out bidded them then fair enough. But for £5million i think that is the bargin of the Summer. No matter who i had in my team, i would take Duff for that price on a 5 year deal. Owen must be delighted with that signing........if he ever plays again. Very surprised Man United didnt entered the race.....with Giggs in his mid 30's. its hard to believe they didnt make a bid. But you have 2wonder about Spurs. They were interested in Duff and yet they wouldnt pay the £5million for him. Amazingly they paid £4 million for Andy Reid.

I do feel Luque for Newcastle is a fantastic and will come good. With the lack of strikers they have i can see him doing well up front.

[Dodge]

I believe all clubs matched Chelsea's asking price and it was Duff who chose Newcastle..

[shakermaker1982]

New Utd could be going places this season, especially if they sign Klose (one transfer rumour doing the rounds). I don't know why Duff is getting stick for going to the Toon Army. Spurs have more MF than Chelsea and have ruined Reidy's career. Duff like any footballer wants games and New Utd will guarantee that week in week out in front of some of the best fans in the Premier League. Fair play to him, he could have sat on the bench, make the odd appearance and pick up medals for another season.

[Stuttgart88]

with Giggs in his mid 30's

Duh, I forgot about him

[NeilMcD]

Spurs never made an announcement in relation to Duff. I have checked their website and that is where the make any official announcments. Also the rumour was that Spurs bid 5 Million. I think it looks like Stuttgart has got it right, Duff wants to be the star man at newcastle the same way he was at Blackburn and maybe he wants the peace and quiet of life up north.