Analysis: Ba to NUFC

While Jeremy is our resident NUFC supporter, he is out of pocket this week so I'm going to take over with my thoughts on the transfer of Demba Ba from WHU to St. James' Park.  Taken as a move by itself, there is little to do other than like it a lot.  NUFC is desperate for strikers and Ba was very effective over the second half of last season at Upton Park.  If he can stay healthy, I don't have any trouble seeing him match the goal total of the man he is, in essence, replacing - Andy Carroll. 

What could go wrong with this move? A couple of things:

Nolan to West Ham

Newcastle captain Kevin Nolan set for West Ham after clubs agree fee

The Newcastle United captain Kevin Nolan is undergoing a medical at West Ham ahead of completing a move to the Championship club.

West Ham targeted Newcastle's top scorer from last season after he rejected a new contract at St James' Park. Newcastle dismissed an initial bid for the 28-year-old as "derisory", but accepted a subsequent offer.

Nolan, who has two years remaining on his Newcastle contract, will be reunited with the former Bolton manager Sam Allardyce at Upton Park if the deal goes through.

I'm not sure why Nolan wants this move. Obviously money is always an issue - perhaps always THE issue. And Nolan knows Big Sam. But does he really want to be the best player in the Championship again? Hasn't he been there, done that?

Kudos

From Neal's Week Ahead post:

Nolan - I saw the old Joey Barton re-emerge in his cameo vs. Arsenal yesterday - he could easily have been sent off in under 20 minutes (as it was, he saw yellow for the less flagrant of his two bad fouls).  With a derby on tap this weekend, it feels like the time to shift to Nolan if you want a reasonably priced NUFC midfielder.

Does Nolan ever score just one goal in a match? It's either brace - or hat-trick - or nothing for him. So frustrating for fantasy purposes.

The Week Ahead - Week 4 Edition

I was preparing myself to fill the space generally reserved for ranting about whatever is on my mind with news about the various injuries sustained by key players - Defoe, Dawson, Walcott, et al - over the international break but since Jeremy already covered that here and here there isn't much sense in being repetitive.  Just click and see his fine work.

Honestly, with 4 fantasy (gridiron) football teams getting ready to kickoff the new NFL season this evening and two weeks where there was very little news other than injuries, I have to say that I'm a little bit at a loss as to what to write about leading up to my weekly analysis.  I will go on record with a few NFL predictions that probably none of you outside of the US care about but I'd like to get them on record somewhere so I can take credit for them later in the year.  Plus, we're all about fantasy sports here so there is at least some relevance.

• Kevin Kolb may or may not get the Eagles to the playoffs but he's going to be an excellent fantasy quarterback.  Under Andy Reid (the exceedingly plump coach, not the slightly overweight Sunderland midfielder) the Eagles have always thrown for a lot of yards no matter who the QB has been.
• The New England Patriots aren't going to be very good this year.  Randy Moss bitching about his contract, best O-lineman holding out, best D-lineman out for the year, best CB out for the year, no quality running backs.  I am all for giving Brady/Belicheck their due but at some point there has to be some talent and I just don't see it.  No playoffs in New England.
• Arian Foster will be a top 10 fantasy running back.  Great offense and he fits their style to a T.
• Malcolm Floyd will be the Arian Foster of wide receivers.
• San Francisco will look great until the playoffs when they have to start playing much better teams.  SF players will be great for fantasy but will not deliver in the end when it matters - but maybe next year.
• Dallas will be a playoff team but not the best team in the NFC.
• Kansas City and Oakland will battle down to the wire for a playoff spot and both will be much better than expected on offense - I think Oakland will win out because they were already pretty solid on D.
• Green Bay and Baltimore (who should get healthier on defense as the year goes on) will play in the Super Bowl.
• Green Bay will win it all.

OK, I feel better having that out of the way.  For those of you who don't care, I apologize, back to the Premier League and EPL fantasy now.

Season Preview: Newcastle

Overall Outlook - Welcome back from exile to a team that, on talent, we could never figure out how they ended up in the Championship in the first place.  I guess they took dysfunctional to an entirely new level.  Hopefully for their sakes, they're ready to reverse some of the sins of their recent past and come back stronger (and perhaps more realistic) for their exile.  The talent on hand is certainly better than their fellow partners in promotion Blackpool and West Brom and it is also probably better than a few of the sides that finished the season toward the bottom of the Premier League last season but avoided the drop - we're looking at you Rovers, Wolves, and maybe West Ham.  That said, there's nothing that says that the Magpies' talent won't continue to be degraded by dysfunction once the going gets rough.  Still, my prediction is that they finish between 14th and 16th in their bounce back season.

Koren surprised by exit

Robert Koren has admitted he was surprised that West Brom decided not to keep him at The Hawthorns.

The Baggies confirmed earlier on Monday they were releasing Koren after opting against taking up the further year's option on his contract.

It was expected West Brom would keep hold of the attacking midfielder as they prepare for life back in the Premier League, but Baggies boss Roberto Di Matteo has decided to let him move on.

I'm thinking this is the club rallying around Dorrans, who has already been subject to a transfer offer from West Ham. Though there is also bad blood between he and Di Matteo.  Strops after being substituted, complaints about where he was being played on the pitch, etc.

Koren is a bit old in the tooth at 29, but if he has a good World Cup for Slovenia I could see him being snapped up by a Premier League club. Perhaps Newcastle or Villa will look to him as cover for Nolan or Milner, respectively.