Don’t judge Leon Best before he plays in a Newcastle United shirt

by Doocey on February 2nd, 2010

Leon Best could turn out a good signing for Newcastle

Best - Some Toon fans concerned at the signing of Leon by Chris Hughton

It seems if a lot of Newcastle United fans have already formed opinions on our new signing, Irish international Leon Best. Having watched Best on many occasions, although he’s no Alan Shearer he certainly has the potential as Hughton rightly said, to make a good striker. Signing from Coventry for a rumoured fee of 650k, Best was Newcastle’s deadline day signing , getting in a striker after missing our on Victor Moses. Indeed I believe the Victor Moses scenario has played a huge part in some fans negative attitude to Best, even though he hasn’t graced the pitch in a Black & White jersey yet.

What I am saying, is give Leon Best a chance at Newcastle United. He is determined to do well for the club and more importantly, is honoured to pull on the Toon jersey, and there’s been a lack of players with the same attitude as Leon, in the last couple of years.

Having scored 10 goals at Coventry City already this season, in what’s been an in and out season for the Sky Blues, Best has been performing well. He’s quite good at headering the ball and if anyone saw his goal against Portsmouth in the FA Cup, you’ll know he can finish give half a chance.

Best is a different player to our usual Andy Carroll, Shola Ameobi and Nile Ranger, he’s quite pacy and hopefully, will cause some problems to Cardiff’s defence in the upcoming titanic clash at St.James’ Park.

Time will tell, but for just over half a million if even, Best is worth a shot and if he’s even a third of the player that namesake George Best is, then we have a right gem on our hands. Somehow I don’t think he’ll be that good!

I must say I’m not a fan of YouTube compilations as they’re no way to judge a player, (as Dennis Wise found out) but, I do advise you take a look at Leon Best’s goal v Portsmouth in the FA Cup  only a few weeks back. Check it out HERE.

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  • Kieran

    Haha 650k thats funny. More like 1.5 – 2.0 million, We recjected 1.5m from forest in summer so we would of got around 2m at tribunial so reports in cov say it is 1.8 million

  • Kieran

    Haha 650k thats funny. More like 1.5 – 2.0 million, We recjected 1.5m from forest in summer so we would of got around 2m at tribunial so reports in cov say it is 1.8 million

  • icedog

    DOOCEY,i never judge a pudding (not a pun)till i try it,give the kid a chance,a lot of fans saying hes had a lot of clubs to be any good,how many clubs has R.KEANE had,bet they would not say no to him,cant please some.hes still a kid 23yrs never been settled any were,lets see

  • nufc

    it was some goal it was 85 mph

  • icedog

    DOOCEY,i never judge a pudding (not a pun)till i try it,give the kid a chance,a lot of fans saying hes had a lot of clubs to be any good,how many clubs has R.KEANE had,bet they would not say no to him,cant please some.hes still a kid 23yrs never been settled any were,lets see

  • nufc

    it was some goal it was 85 mph

  • icedog

    as i said on last blog shame about SIBIERSKI dau,my thoughts go out to him

  • icedog

    as i said on last blog shame about SIBIERSKI dau,my thoughts go out to him

  • Derek Llambias M.D.

    The actual fee we paid for Leon was £625,000.
    Another Championship club offered Coventry £900,000 but Leon was keen to join us at Newcastle.
    We are delighted to have him here at Newcastle and if he is half as good a payer as his uncle Clyde Best was, then we have got ourselves a bargain.

  • Derek Llambias M.D.

    The actual fee we paid for Leon was £625,000.
    Another Championship club offered Coventry £900,000 but Leon was keen to join us at Newcastle.
    We are delighted to have him here at Newcastle and if he is half as good a payer as his uncle Clyde Best was, then we have got ourselves a bargain.

  • NUFC mad for 50 years

    I saw this guy 3 years ago playing for Bournemouth at Brentford (who were strong at home briefly at the time) as a raw 20-yr old loanee from Southampton. He was a real handful for the defence – quick, agressive, good runs and good vision (I thought). He played in a 442 alongside James Hayter who at the time had a much bigger reputation and, for me, excelled him. I’m optimistic.

  • NUFC mad for 50 years

    I saw this guy 3 years ago playing for Bournemouth at Brentford (who were strong at home briefly at the time) as a raw 20-yr old loanee from Southampton. He was a real handful for the defence – quick, agressive, good runs and good vision (I thought). He played in a 442 alongside James Hayter who at the time had a much bigger reputation and, for me, excelled him. I’m optimistic.

  • Robby Bobson

    Yeh i thought the 650k was abit cheap, thought a million or two is more of a realistic sum.

    Antoine Sibierski was one of the most berated signings and he went on to become abit of a cult hero. Im sure Hughton knows more about the player than the fans who say he’s not good enough, so im gona trust the Newcastle manager.

    He shrugged off Enrique at the Ricoh…may have got abit lucky with it but left me astounded.

  • Robby Bobson

    Yeh i thought the 650k was abit cheap, thought a million or two is more of a realistic sum.

    Antoine Sibierski was one of the most berated signings and he went on to become abit of a cult hero. Im sure Hughton knows more about the player than the fans who say he’s not good enough, so im gona trust the Newcastle manager.

    He shrugged off Enrique at the Ricoh…may have got abit lucky with it but left me astounded.

  • MacToon

    Who’s already judging him and if they are who’s listening to them?

    If he’s gonna wear B&W he’ll get a good reception and praised when due. I wish him good luck and hope he scores a hatful.

  • MacToon

    Who’s already judging him and if they are who’s listening to them?

    If he’s gonna wear B&W he’ll get a good reception and praised when due. I wish him good luck and hope he scores a hatful.

  • icedog

    here here MACTOON

  • icedog

    here here MACTOON

  • geordie

    watched leon a few times,and he is a handful.
    when you look at the deal,we just got a bargain. how many times have we paid ransom sums for “big name” headless chickens.lol.
    i personally would start him up front with caroll or lovenkrands on friday.with routledge and jonas supplying the bursts from mf, i think he could be prolific given a run of games.
    at the end of the day, he really seems excited to be playing in the black & white. give the kid a chance to shine, he may surprise us all…

    chin up sibs,our hearts and thoughts with you.

  • geordie

    watched leon a few times,and he is a handful.
    when you look at the deal,we just got a bargain. how many times have we paid ransom sums for “big name” headless chickens.lol.
    i personally would start him up front with caroll or lovenkrands on friday.with routledge and jonas supplying the bursts from mf, i think he could be prolific given a run of games.
    at the end of the day, he really seems excited to be playing in the black & white. give the kid a chance to shine, he may surprise us all…

    chin up sibs,our hearts and thoughts with you.

  • geordie

    well said mactoon

  • geordie

    well said mactoon

  • richietoon

    Kieran there’s no way Ashley would have paid that amount of money and as for the tribunal its highly unlikely they’d have set the fee at £2m and anyway I believe they are only for players under 23 yrs of age(apologies if I’m wrong)…….like the article says give him a chance,he has a better strike rate this season than all our current strikers,playing for a team currently in the bottom half of the league.
    We’ve signed alot more players then we could have hoped for and only 1 out…the financial drain aka as Geremi…..they may not seem to be of the quality we’d like but lets give them a chance or shall we go back to wasting millions on the likes of Luque and Boomsong???…..HTL

  • richietoon

    Kieran there’s no way Ashley would have paid that amount of money and as for the tribunal its highly unlikely they’d have set the fee at £2m and anyway I believe they are only for players under 23 yrs of age(apologies if I’m wrong)…….like the article says give him a chance,he has a better strike rate this season than all our current strikers,playing for a team currently in the bottom half of the league.
    We’ve signed alot more players then we could have hoped for and only 1 out…the financial drain aka as Geremi…..they may not seem to be of the quality we’d like but lets give them a chance or shall we go back to wasting millions on the likes of Luque and Boomsong???…..HTL

  • Mike Ashley NUFC Owner

    Yeah my mate Llambias and i had to raid my piggy bank for this one and found some loose change in it exactly £625,000 was there and thats all i could afford as i just had my heating bill in for my modest house in bucks for £1.3 million so you can blame e-on for the lack of funds, but hopefully he will do you a good turn and get you back upto the PL, then i can sell the club to someone else, can’t wait to get out to be honest (you geordies certainly know how to make someone feel welcome)
    now where did i put my pie??

  • Mike Ashley NUFC Owner

    Yeah my mate Llambias and i had to raid my piggy bank for this one and found some loose change in it exactly £625,000 was there and thats all i could afford as i just had my heating bill in for my modest house in bucks for £1.3 million so you can blame e-on for the lack of funds, but hopefully he will do you a good turn and get you back upto the PL, then i can sell the club to someone else, can’t wait to get out to be honest (you geordies certainly know how to make someone feel welcome)
    now where did i put my pie??

  • chunky58

    good signing, we need his pace up front.

    Can anyone tell me why the game is on friday.

    Is it on tele

  • chunky58

    good signing, we need his pace up front.

    Can anyone tell me why the game is on friday.

    Is it on tele

  • icedog

    hope moses enjoyed his first exp at wigan tonight in half empty ground

  • icedog

    hope moses enjoyed his first exp at wigan tonight in half empty ground

  • richietoon

    chunky58,dunno why its on fri but its not on tv despite sky reporter david craig saying it was live on sky!!

  • richietoon

    chunky58,dunno why its on fri but its not on tv despite sky reporter david craig saying it was live on sky!!

  • geordie

    sorry if i sound fkn thick lads, but does anyone know if the van aanholt loan deal can lead to a peminant move ?
    this kid looks special.
    young, quick, eye for goal, not scared of the challenge,this is a defender that on paper sounds like a midfielder. a fkn good un!!
    could be a great asset to the future of the club.
    anyone else thinking like me ?

  • geordie

    sorry if i sound fkn thick lads, but does anyone know if the van aanholt loan deal can lead to a peminant move ?
    this kid looks special.
    young, quick, eye for goal, not scared of the challenge,this is a defender that on paper sounds like a midfielder. a fkn good un!!
    could be a great asset to the future of the club.
    anyone else thinking like me ?

  • Chris

    The fee will almost certainly be around £1.5 million. I’m pretty certain Leon Best was still covered by the tribunal up until the end of this season.

    Considering we paid Southampton around £1million at the tribunal a couple of seasons back we would at least expect the same again minimum. We also rejected a £3million bid for Westwood on deadline day. This shows that we are only willing to sell at the right price. The chairman is on record at the start of the window saying we wouldn’t sell Leon for less than £1.5 to £2million. I see no reason why we would sell unless you matched what we could expect to receive in the summer.

  • Chris

    The fee will almost certainly be around £1.5 million. I’m pretty certain Leon Best was still covered by the tribunal up until the end of this season.

    Considering we paid Southampton around £1million at the tribunal a couple of seasons back we would at least expect the same again minimum. We also rejected a £3million bid for Westwood on deadline day. This shows that we are only willing to sell at the right price. The chairman is on record at the start of the window saying we wouldn’t sell Leon for less than £1.5 to £2million. I see no reason why we would sell unless you matched what we could expect to receive in the summer.

  • richietoon

    I’d like to think so Geordie but chelsea rate him highly so maybe the best we can hope for is extending the loan for the rest of the season…….dunno why it took an injury to jose to get a left back in as we’ve needed cover in that position for ages.

  • icedog

    GEORDIE,they say ch looking to extend loan has op i think,dont know about buying dont think COV would have had cash to ask

  • richietoon

    I’d like to think so Geordie but chelsea rate him highly so maybe the best we can hope for is extending the loan for the rest of the season…….dunno why it took an injury to jose to get a left back in as we’ve needed cover in that position for ages.

  • icedog

    GEORDIE,they say ch looking to extend loan has op i think,dont know about buying dont think COV would have had cash to ask

  • thetoonarmy

    David Craig might work for sky but he sure as hell hasn’t got a clue what is going on, unfortunatly the game is not on TV so i will have to come and watch it live :-)

  • thetoonarmy

    David Craig might work for sky but he sure as hell hasn’t got a clue what is going on, unfortunatly the game is not on TV so i will have to come and watch it live :-)

  • Chris
  • Chris
  • geordie

    totally agree richietoon.
    problem position or so it seems. at least we can play the lads in their right positions at long last.lol
    love to see the loan extended to the end of the season though.
    wishful thinking now parhaps. ha!ha!

  • geordie

    totally agree richietoon.
    problem position or so it seems. at least we can play the lads in their right positions at long last.lol
    love to see the loan extended to the end of the season though.
    wishful thinking now parhaps. ha!ha!

  • richietoon

    ya may be right chris as he was under 23 when the season started so maybe that keeps him covered by the tribunal?

  • richietoon

    ya may be right chris as he was under 23 when the season started so maybe that keeps him covered by the tribunal?

  • geordie

    icedog lost you mate.
    cov???

  • geordie

    icedog lost you mate.
    cov???

  • icedog

    dont take any notice of prices the press quote,they guess,like S.GIVEN all the press said 8-10mill,when his court case came up last week price came out at 6mil

  • icedog

    dont take any notice of prices the press quote,they guess,like S.GIVEN all the press said 8-10mill,when his court case came up last week price came out at 6mil

  • richietoon

    Read ya link chris…….is he worth it and do you think he’ll do a job for newcastle?

  • richietoon

    Read ya link chris…….is he worth it and do you think he’ll do a job for newcastle?

  • Toon-Army

    game is on friday cuz scumberland are playing on saturday (cant have both games on same day)

  • Toon-Army

    game is on friday cuz scumberland are playing on saturday (cant have both games on same day)

  • http://www.tynetime.com/ Doocey

    I could be very wrong, but I’m pretty sure the fee was less than a million.
    If they paid £2m for him, then surely you’d think we’d have went and got Beckford instead, especially if we were willing to meet an asking price of £2m for Best, who’s another player soon out of contract.
    Who knows.

  • http://www.tynetime.com Doocey

    I could be very wrong, but I’m pretty sure the fee was less than a million.
    If they paid £2m for him, then surely you’d think we’d have went and got Beckford instead, especially if we were willing to meet an asking price of £2m for Best, who’s another player soon out of contract.
    Who knows.

  • icedog

    GEORDIE,cov; coventry city would not have the money to ask chelsea how much!

  • icedog

    GEORDIE,cov; coventry city would not have the money to ask chelsea how much!

  • icedog

    DOOCEY spot on mate

  • icedog

    DOOCEY spot on mate

  • Tobben

    The police demanded to move the game to friday cuz some other team are playing nearby and they dont have the manpower to cover both matches…

  • Tobben

    The police demanded to move the game to friday cuz some other team are playing nearby and they dont have the manpower to cover both matches…

  • richietoon

    wouldn’t it have been easier for sunderland to change days as it would inconvenience less fans??.lol

  • richietoon

    wouldn’t it have been easier for sunderland to change days as it would inconvenience less fans??.lol

  • icedog

    i like it richietoon

  • icedog

    i like it richietoon

  • Kenny Roxz

    If the assumed price of £650K is correct, or even if the correct amount is slightly higher, it’s still a bargain if he is capable of scoring 10+ goals per season for us. We have paid a lot more, from £7M to £16M (excluded the medical bills of course), for players who haven’t been anywhere near that scoring ratio. Bellamy, Cort, Owen, Viduka (on a free transfer, but consider his wages)… In fact, only Sibierski has been close to that in the last ten years, if you divide total scorings on the amount of seasons at the club, save perhaps Martins (though he couldn’t muster a 10 goals per season ratio either).

    My point; give the lad a chance to shine before breaking him before he’s even shown what he can do!!!

  • Kenny Roxz

    If the assumed price of £650K is correct, or even if the correct amount is slightly higher, it’s still a bargain if he is capable of scoring 10+ goals per season for us. We have paid a lot more, from £7M to £16M (excluded the medical bills of course), for players who haven’t been anywhere near that scoring ratio. Bellamy, Cort, Owen, Viduka (on a free transfer, but consider his wages)… In fact, only Sibierski has been close to that in the last ten years, if you divide total scorings on the amount of seasons at the club, save perhaps Martins (though he couldn’t muster a 10 goals per season ratio either).

    My point; give the lad a chance to shine before breaking him before he’s even shown what he can do!!!

  • Chris

    DOOCEY I see what your saying but it doesn’t add up from a Cov perspective. We had a better negotiating position than Leeds did with Beckford. We could have kept him till the end of the season and still picked up £1million+ off anyone who wanted him.

    Also why would we sell our number one striker for peanuts with no time left in the transfer window to sign a replacement, unless there was a financial incentive.

    Anyway good luck for the rest of the season! Van Aanholt is a good lad and should do well for you. I think while we had him though that there was a clause meaning he had to play when he was available, might be the reason why you only have got him for a month.

  • Chris

    DOOCEY I see what your saying but it doesn’t add up from a Cov perspective. We had a better negotiating position than Leeds did with Beckford. We could have kept him till the end of the season and still picked up £1million+ off anyone who wanted him.

    Also why would we sell our number one striker for peanuts with no time left in the transfer window to sign a replacement, unless there was a financial incentive.

    Anyway good luck for the rest of the season! Van Aanholt is a good lad and should do well for you. I think while we had him though that there was a clause meaning he had to play when he was available, might be the reason why you only have got him for a month.

  • richietoon

    Spot on Kenny……..let him show what he can do……imo there’ll be alot of fans eating humble pie,support the team not slag off the individual…HTL

  • richietoon

    Spot on Kenny……..let him show what he can do……imo there’ll be alot of fans eating humble pie,support the team not slag off the individual…HTL

  • Mal

    I suspect we will have paid around £1million with a further payment if we get promoted – plus there will be a sell on clause. So it might well end up towards £2million if we do the business.

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