over all transfers, or was it simply they weren’t as bad as some of their disastrous decisions made them out to be? At the time of speaking in August 2012 I wonder if Carr was aware that the summer would yield just one signing in Vurnon Anita. Was he comfortable with that? I think his history at Manchester city suggested that he was. Carr began life at United in underwhelming fashion. Promotion and the positivity that followed was soon dampened with Dereck Llambias and his ‘no capital outlay’ statement which was bizarre as it damaging to United’s support. Just 42,000 saw United humiliation of Vile – no wonder with statement’s like that. That summer United did manage to sign Nottingham Forest utility player James Perch for £1 million, Sol Campbell & Dan Gosling (shudder) on free transfers, Hatem Ben Arfa
on loan and World Cup star Cheik Tiote for £3.5 million. Unsurprisingly, with no new first team signings besides HBA who got injured after a bright start and the impressive Tiote, Chris Hughton’s side struggled for consistency despite some eye catching results. At the time Hughton’s poor record in the transfer market was cited by some journalists and fans as a reason for his downfall. Graeme Carr was as yet a name unknown to the majority of mags. At this point in his United career it’s almost impossible to know what type of influence Carr had on transfer activity at United. One major hint is given in that same interview in August 2012 he gave to talksport; Adrian Durham: “So describe exacly what your job is, Graham.” Graham Carr: “I’m the Chief Scout at Newcastle. I went there with Chris Hughton in
February, I’ve been there just over two years and basically, I’m just recruiting players.” That’s Carr himself saying that he was responsible as early as 2012 for all recruitment and signings at NUFC. Did he think £4.5 million of investment was prudent for a newly promoted club? A club that the same season would sell its best player and replace him with Shefki Kuqi? Ben Arfa on loan and Tiote were shrewd, decent signings – both playing a major role at United in the years to come. Both massively ultimately failing to deliver on an awful lot of promise. HBA was released. Many blamed Pardew. Tiote is currently a disgrace and hasn’t put in any effort on or off the pitch in 3 years. In 2012 Carr spoke of following Tiote as an Under 17year old and watching his progress. He was happy to take credit for the Ivorian then, what does he think
about his performances now? The following season under Alan Pardew was the highlight of Mike Ashley’s reign at Newcastle United. It’s the season the club still point to as ‘their way’ is best and Carr still seems to cling on to it as the way to recruit players. Yohan Cabaye, Demba Ba, Papiss Cisse, Davide Santon, Gabriel Obertan & Sylvian Marveaux were all recruited for less than Liverpool bought Andy Caroll. I’d have Cabaye, Ba and Santon back in the first team in a heartbeat. Whatever you think of Graham Carr, of Mike Ashley and Newcastle United – that summer recruitment drive was one of the best in Premier League history. Rarely has a club spent so little and received so much. There’s a caveat of course and here’s what I believe Graeme Carr and Mike Ashley fail to understand.
This season more than any other is the great Carr conundrum. Signing Moussa Sissoko for £2.5 million is breath-taking business, to an extent. Despite many of his performances recently, for £2.5 million, if he never kicks a ball again for United, we’ve had our money’s worth.
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