Newcastle’s Alan Pardew waivering on Cheick Tiote

“You never know with the window — it’s such a minefield of possibilities. I think I’ve learned from the Andy Carroll situation and outside of Manchester City, every club has a player that is vulnerable.

We have one or two players here that top clubs, I’m sure, would be interested in.

The one thing I would say is that they will have to pay a lot of money to take anyone out of here because we’re in a good position — not just on the playing side but financially.

Cheick is a big target because he’s a great player and great players will be targeted.

We value him very highly here and I think, on my part, I expect him to stay.

But that does not mean to say something might not come out of the fire.

If he did go, it would have to be for a silly price.”

That’s Alan Pardew on the possibility of Cheick Tiote leaving Newcastle.

Why not just say he’s not for sale? All Pardew has done here is give encouragement to any sides that are sniffing around his midfielder – he’s basically confirmed that the Ivorian is for sale at a certain value. You can’t really blame Pardew, because I suppose that he’s aware that his owners will sell any of his players for the right price, but it’s just a shame to hear this kind of comment after the start Newcastle have had.

If I’m a Newcastle fan, all that’s happened here is that it’s been reinforced to me that we’re a selling club – and that there’s a ceiling to our progress. Brilliant.

This is why Mike Ashley shouldn’t own a football club, because if he’s ever forced to make a decision between trophies and cash, he’ll choose the latter. Sometimes you have to ignore the economic benefits of owning a football club, and focus a little bit more on rewarding the fans.

Andy Carroll was sold for a ‘silly price’, but that was never properly reinvested in the squad – so what’s the upside of a similar scenario with Tiote from the supporters’ perspective?

“We’ve sold the lynchpin of our midfield for an exaggerated transfer fee!”

“Great, who will you buy with the money”

“Oh, nobody – our owner will just use the funds to erect SportsDirect marketing material around our stadium.”

“Great.”

Newcastle to beat Swansea? 8/11 with Paddy Power.