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Is
It Wise To Get Rid Of Our 3 Best Players? The Stats Say No! |
19th May 2005
By Sparks
Newcastle-Online reader & forum member
Going through all the goals Newcastle have scored in the past four
seasons since 2001 I thought I'd take a deeper analytical look into
just what kind of impact in terms of goals taken and goals created
our two main creative outlets in Laurent Robert and Craig Bellamy
have made in attempt to assess just what kind of impact their impending
sales could have on the team. I also took a look at Patrick Kluivert,
the first of our flair players to leave under the Souness 'revolution'.
I noted down each individual's statistics from their collective appearances
and here are the results:
| All comps |
Total
app (sub) |
Goals |
Assists |
Pens
won |
Yellows |
Reds |
| Robert |
155 (29) |
32 |
63 |
7 |
16 |
2 |
| Bellamy |
119 (9) |
43 |
21 |
5 |
19 |
2 |
| Kluivert |
25 (12) |
13 |
4 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
What do those figures mean? Stats don't tell us the whole truth, of
course, but they tell an awful lot about each individual's worth to
the club and value to the team.
Robert hasn't exactly been outstandingly brilliant since signing from
PSG and one word to sum up his time at St. James' Park would be underachievement!
However as the figures prove, he is very much a crucial and important
player for us. His stats show that in 155 starts and 184 games in
total, he has been involved in 102 goals either by scoring himself,
assisting or winning a penalty, yet despite those impressive stats
he could now leave on a free transfer!
Bellamy's contribution is similar, and where as the Frenchman's performances
haven't been that great, the Welshman's have been nothing but and
since his switch from Coventry City he has contributed to 69 goals
in his 119 starts - roughly almost a goal every other game.
Finally onto Kluivert and his "terrible season". With his
12 substitute appearances, equating to roughly 2 full games, we can
round off his overall tally of full games to 27 in total. And from
those 27 games he has scored 13 goals and has 4 assists meaning he
either directly or indirectly contributed to 1 goal every 2 games
in which he played/featured in.
In the final six games in which the youngsters have been blooded through,
we have seen some decent performances with plenty of hard work and
effort from them, much praise from Graeme Souness and some good press
(all deserved). But in terms of actually end product and results we
have seen very little. In fact, just 1 win from those 6 games and
in 4 of them none of our players managed to find the back of the net!
To replace Robert we will need a left-winger who can contribute to
on average of 25.5 goals a season. Currently the only players in the
Premiership who can match that level statistically wise are Robert
Pires and Damien Duff, two players who will not be joining Newcastle
I think it's safe to say.
And it is a similar situation with Bellamy who will need replaced
by a more than decent player. One who has pace, can create and can
score at least 15 goals a season because that is what Bellamy is worth
to the team in terms of individual contribution. Are one of Rangers
pair Dado Prso or Nacho Novo going to the answer? No! So lets hope
Souness' recent presence at Ibrox didn't involve casting an eye on
one of them with that view in mind.
Now that we are a lower mid-table Premiership side and facing the
InterToto Cup, who can we attract that can possibly be anywhere near
to the standard of Bellamy and recompense for his overall contribution.
Andy Johnson? Possibly but with half of his goals coming from penalties
and Alan Shearer staying on for another season, 50% of his goals supply
will not be there for him to feed on. Plus he stinks of another one
season wonder just like all the others. James Beattie, Marcus Stewart,
Michael Ricketts, Kevin Davies and ex-Toon loanee Luis Saha have all
been there, signing Johnson for upwards of £8m would be a huge
gamble, surely?
Even if we spent £20m on Michael Owen (I know, it's not going
to happen), I would question his ability to fill Bellamy's shoes.
Owen is a great player but heavily dependent on service and without
Robert and Bellamy - by far our most creative players over the past
4 seasons - he would struggle I feel.
Finally onto Kluivert, a player with an excellent track record but
an unimpressive first season under his belt. Is Kluivert the same
player that was one of the best strikers in Europe just a couple of
seasons ago? I am unsure, however his past season has been plagued
by injuries with the Dutchman forced out of the reckoning on 5 separate
occasions at different points of the season. He also arrived having
a limited pre-season due to previous injury.
Few players could reach their utmost best under these circumstances,
yet he has still managed 13 goals in 25 games - a very respectable
return. With an injury free season Kluivert could feasibly hit 20
goals and with his skill and ability could easily contribute to another
8 or more. There is still a world class player in him and we could
have used the option of retaining him. Alas, he's gone now, soon to
be followed by those other two flair players who have contributed
an awful lot over the years.
In conclusion, to replace all three of them (which we will need to
do) it could well cost a hell of a lot more then what we will get
for them and even then there is no guarantee that any player brought
in to fill their boots could contribute to an even or bigger number
of goals than they certainly did.
Robert, Kluivert and Bellamy are or were our most talented and important
attacking players while poorer players in the same position will remain
at the club in Shola Ameobi, James Milner and now even a significantly
aged Shearer. How are we to move on without our most important players?
Can we move on without them? |
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