O'Shea to Newcastle

Big Nelly

http://www.sportinglife.com/football/news/story_get.dor?STORY_NAME=soccer/04/11/18/manual_092011.html

Newcastle have reportedly bid £4million for Manchester United's John O'Shea.

The Republic of Ireland star has struggled to hold down a regular starting berth at Old Trafford this season.

And Toon boss Graeme Souness sees the talented 23-year-old as the answer to his defensive problems.

According to The Daily Mirror Souness tried to sign O'Shea while he was in charge of Blackburn.

Souness has bid £4million and while Manchester are reportedly holding out for nearer £6million the Geordies are hopeful of thrashing out a deal.

O'Shea has hardly figured in the Old Trafford first team this season, apart from in the Carling Cup and as an emergency midfielder.

As well as his pursuit of O'Shea, Souness is continuing to monitor Rangers stopper Jean-Alain Boumsong.

He watched the former Auxerre star play for France against Poland on Wednesday night, and could check him out in Saturday's Old Firm clash.

Newcastle are hopeful of landing Boumsong for around £5million.


Think this would be a good move for O'Shea if he is going to be played at CB.....was being used at LB for the past 2 seasons and now Heinze has that position! also Ferguson seems to prefer Brown at CB.....so not much of a future???

knobbles

Souness managing almost the entire Republic Of Ireland defence,
who would have thought that 15 years ago!

mayordenis

LOL na really it would be a great move for jos

enda_4

Yeah i reckon so to, but i think you might see Shay Given movin the other way, seein as Souness lookin at other keepers and all. Would be a nice signin for United :cool:

Big Nelly

Utd wouldnt get Shay fr 4Mil....no chance!! looking around 7-8mil for Shay

eirebhoy

enda_4 wrote:

Yeah i reckon so to, but i think you might see Shay Given movin the other way, seein as Souness lookin at other keepers and all. Would be a nice signin for United :cool:

Souness put a £15m price tag on Given which basically means he's not for sale. I'd love to see O'Shea going to Newcastle.

Nuttzz

I hope he stays at Man U, and Newcastle go down

eirebhoy

Nuttzz wrote:

I hope he stays at Man U, and Newcastle go down

So basically you hope all Irish players rot.

Big Nelly

Given

Carr

---

O'Shea

---

O'Brien

---

?????

Not a bad backline....future of the Irish team when Kenny hangs up his boots......talk of Wigan wanting to take O'Brien as well......so if he aint getting his place for Newcastle wouldnt be a bad move.....Jewell wants him back after working with him at Bradford years ago!!

thejollyrodger

It would be a great move for Josh. I hope he goes. I reckon he can get his confidence back there and there is of course the possiblity that he can play in the centre of the pitch in the future. I think newcastle are a club that can really challange for those european places. It would be a great move IMO. There is no point playing in the FA cup for Man Utd

I cant see Given leaving tbh. But there is speculation that Chelsea player Huth is going to Newcastle !

johnor

I cant see why ferguson should hold on to him, he hasn't preformed well at left back last year and he hasnt preformed well enough to be considered in midfield this year. Heinze has stepped up as the number one choice at left back and fortune is on his way back to full fitness. Although should Phil Neville be let go to Boro in exchange for Schwarzer I think United might find themselves short of expierence at the back. Johnathan Spector looked god preseason and i reckon he'll feature towards the back end of this season...altho westbrom are after him on loan.....I dont think united will make a move for given, I reckon he'd cost too much for united at the mo.....

The Muppet

The O shea to newcastle rumours have been around quite a while. It would be great for our National Team to have nearly its full defence playing together week in week out but I think Given going the other way may be part of the deal.

DoctorEdgeWild

It would be good for Ireland but not so great for United. I think Utd are in such a transitional phase at the moment,and that O'Shea will be back regular by the end of the season. Heinze has cemented LB with a string of unbelievable perfornmances. In fact, the only player to give 100% in the United first XI. I think Brown may be in the last chance saloon with Fergie, he delayed contarct signing this year and maybe Fergie will lose patience when he inevitably succumbs to injury once again.

You have to remember the old second season slump with regards to O'Shea. Last year he really made his mark, this year hes been moved about and played out of position but I trust Ferguson to do whats best for him, maybe not so much when Keane goes but I'd stick around if I were O'Shea. Newcastle are a long way from the top three teams (even with current league positions).

Nuttzz

eirebhoy wrote:

So basically you hope all Irish players rot.

if they went down, Carr & Given would be snapped up in a moment,

Big Ears

Id love O'Shea to go to Newcastle , he had a very poor spell a while ago but his recent form for Ireland has been very good , admittedly I haven't seen that much of him playing in defence this season at United , but that has a lot to do with O'Shea not even making the bench sometimes . £4,000,000 would be a great price and £6,000,000 would be okay but I wouldn't want to pay any more , and as for given going the other way....no chance he's the second most loved player in the team , and there would be uproar in Newcastle if he left , plus I think Souey rates him very highly .

W'ere improving and Champions League is something to aim at for this season .(remember last year was the first times in 4 years since Newcastle since Newcastle didn't come get a Champs place)

Chucky the tree

When the rooney deal was done there were rumours that o'shea was going to newcastle. anyone kow what that was about?

enda_4

eirebhoy wrote:

Souness put a £15m price tag on Given which basically means he's not for sale.

Yeah, but is there not some questions over given's contract?

thejollyrodger

I think if Josh does go O brien could be out on his ear TBH

Toon to test United's resolve over O'Shea
http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=94&si=1290793&issue_id=11718

NEWCASTLE UNITED are ready to try and tempt Manchester United to part with John O'Shea when the transfer window reopens in January.

The Ireland defender has been targeted by Graeme Souness as he bids to strengthen the Newcastle defence although his versatility makes him an attractive option.

O'Shea can play anywhere across the back four as well as central midfield and Newcastle are reported to be prepared to offer £4million for a player who came through the Manchester United's ranks.

Newcastle have money to spend following the transfer of Jonathon Woodgate to Real Madrid while O'Shea has struggled to make it into the United starting line-up this season.

The return of Rio Ferdinand from suspension plus the arrival of left back Gabriel Heinze has left the Waterford player on the fringes and since the draw with Middlesbrough in October he has made just three appearances for United, two of which came in the League Cup.

Souness is hoping that if he can agree a price with Manchester United that the presence of Ireland colleagues Shay Given, Stephen Carr and Andy O'Brien plus his former Old Trafford colleague Nicky Butt will persuade O'Shea to move.

But it is likely that O'Shea will only leave United if he is told by Alex Ferguson that he has no future at the club.

Ironically, his arrival at St James Park could spell trouble for O'Brien who has struggled since the arrival of Souness as successor to Bobby Robson.

Meanwhile, Wigan Athletic are preparing to enter the race for Andy Reid's signature in January. The Championship leaders are said to be preparing a £5million bid for the Ireland winger in January but will face opposition from Spurs, Charlton, Newcastle and Birmingham.

Everton midfielder Lee Carsley has finally called time on his international career. The 30-year-old, who won 29 caps, had intimated earlier this season that he was prepared to be considered for selection again but after failing to make the squad for this week's game against Croatia he decided to finally close the door.

THE Eircom League hopes to have an interim chairman in place by the end of the month following last night's League Management Committee meeting. There was a 14-0 vote in favour of changing the rules to allow an interim chairman to be elected.

The matter must now be referred to the FAI's Rules Committee for approval.

Gerry McDermott

Lets hope Andy Reid moves to a premiership club this time !!

SteM

DoctorEdgeWild wrote:

It would be good for Ireland but not so great for United. I think Utd are in such a transitional phase at the moment,and that O'Shea will be back regular by the end of the season. Heinze has cemented LB with a string of unbelievable perfornmances. In fact, the only player to give 100% in the United first XI. I think Brown may be in the last chance saloon with Fergie, he delayed contarct signing this year and maybe Fergie will lose patience when he inevitably succumbs to injury once again..

Hang on, you say that Heinze has cemented LB but JOS will be back in the team by the end of the season! Where?

LB - Heinze has made this his own
CB - Two from Rio, Micky or Wes will be first choice, no doubt.
RB - G Neville.

As for midfield it would seem that Miller, Fletcher, Keane & Scholes (I'm not even counting some of the others) are all fighting it out in central midfield ahead of JOS. This would be his best chance of getting a spot in the team but I've not seen anything special from him when he's played here, in fact I'd prefer to see P Neville put in here ahead of him 'cause at least Neville's proven he can play a defensive midfield role.

DoctorEdgeWild wrote:

You have to remember the old second season slump with regards to O'Shea. Last year he really made his mark, this year hes been moved about and played out of position but I trust Ferguson to do whats best for him, maybe not so much when Keane goes but I'd stick around if I were O'Shea. Newcastle are a long way from the top three teams (even with current league positions)

Second season slump? I've got a poor memory but I'm pretty sure JOS made his mark the season before last. Last season should have been his 'second season slump', maybe he's not realised this - someone should tell him!

If I was O'Shea I'd stick around until the end of the season and if there's been no improvement on first team chances go to Newcastle because eventually he'll just end up a utility player at United. That would be no good for him or his position in the Irish team.

DoctorEdgeWild

Howdy Stem,

I see JOS back in the United team full time by the end of the season in either Central Mid or Central Def. Rio and Silvestre are Fergies first choice, no doubt. However, given Sly's proneness to injury I can see alot of games where Rio would need a partner - ie JOS. With current squad rotation policies, the list of first team regulars no longer stops at number 11. There are probably 18 people in Fergies first choice 11!

As for CM, Roy Keane has a limited number of games left in him. Im a big Keane fan and I dont see JOS as a direct replacement, Ithink he is a better bet than Djemba, Kleberson, Fletcher and Miller.

I agree that his performances in that performances in that position have been sub standard but he is very adaptable and I personally believe he could make an excellent central midfielder.

Here in Ireland, we heard nothing but JOS for a year when he first broke into the United squad, but last season was when he came to the attention of most European football fans. With the Irish media as it is, Irish players often get pushed for stories ahead of more deserving (my opinion) foreign and especially English players.

Most of the posts on this thread so far have made some point about how it would affect the Irish team (understandable when you consider this is boards.IE) but HIS main concern should be with regards his team. Thats United - they pay his wages, and will be the main force in whether or not he makes enough money to retire happily when his playing career is over. Dont get me wrong, I support our national team, stadiumless as they will soon be. I just think that leaving a top team for a lower team, can only be a step down when you consider he has a foothold. He still has work to be done before he can part company with United and say 'I did the best I could and reached the heights my talents could carry me too.'

SteM

I don't understand what you're trying to point out with your post but I'll try to condense what you're said and put my point of view in afterwards.

1) Central Defence - At the moment I see 4 people up for 2 places and JOS is 4th choice. The first choice pairing is RF/MS and the second choice is RF/WB. There are also some good young players in the reserves and from what I've read they're pushing for first team spots. JOS seems to have lost his way at centre back and that's probably Fergies fault as much as anyones, swtiching him all over the place can't have helped him at all.

2) I don't think that JOS will be a better central midfielder than Fletcher or Miller in the long run as that is their 'natural' position. Only time will tell with this, however how can JOS prove it if he can't get in the team?

3) This is the bit I don't understand I don't understand....

'Here in Ireland, we heard nothing but JOS for a year when he first broke into the United squad, but last season was when he came to the attention of most European football fans.'

He broke into the United FIRST TEAM in the season 2002/2003 which was the season before last. He finished that season with 32 premiership appearances but IIRC he made his senior debut for Ireland before this (I seem to remember that he gave away a penalty in his Ireland debut but I could be wrong). So it's not like JOS is a newcomer to United or the first team or first team squad.

I understand exactly what you say when you post

He still has work to be done before he can part company with United and say 'I did the best I could and reached the heights my talents could carry me too.'

but I have this awful feeling that he had his chance at United (this is the 3rd season in the first team remember) and because he hasn't progressed by now he may not get another one. I hope I'm wrong though as I always want Irish players to do well at Old Trafford.