Two hit the road as ASBO eyes exit

Today bought confirmation that Shefki Kuqi and Sol Campbell have both taken their sizeable frames away from St James' Park, the former moving on with Pardew's ringing endorsement that some of the region's lower league teams should take a look at him.

Without wanting to criticise the player, who reports suggest has been an amiable presence around the club, the fact that Pardew is touting him to teams in the lower leagues clearly illustrates something we all knew back when he signed - simply that Kuqi isn't really good enough for the Premier League (certainly not at this stage of his career).

On the subject of departures, the more important piece of news emerging today is that ASBO has failed to reach agreement with the club on a new contract, and with one year left on his current deal it means that the player could hold on for a year and leave for free next summer, or alternatively that the club might feel compelled to sell him now to recoup some money.

Of course, the same issue arose with Steven Taylor last year, with the central defender eventually signing a new contract last December. So, with agent Willie McKay on board, this could all just be a game of brinkmanship with the club.

What it does do is increase the pressure on the club to bring in some quality sooner rather than later, to demonstrate to ASBO, Enrique et al that this is a club with ambition and which plans on challenging higher up the league next season.

On the one hand, ASBO has been a real asset for us this year, with a string of excellent performances on the pitch. However, in the balance goes the previous years of his contract when he was either in jail, injured, suspended or out of form. As you'll no doubt have realised if you've followed this blog for any length of time, we aren't his number one fans, so don't expect to see us crying into our pints when he eventually leaves.

If he is to go, I'd rather he didn't simply leave when his contract expired, and like any contract negotiation, part of me is disgusted by the avarice displayed by players who readily demonstrate that they don't care about clubs or fans, but only about their bank balances. (However, I do accept that as a player you only have a brief career and generally speaking most people want to maximise their income when they're working.)

What it almost certainly means is a summer in which we read of ASBO being linked with every club under the sun until he either signs a new contract or someone makes a decent offer for him and we cash in.

Journeyman

We've not been very kind to Shefki Kuqi round these parts, and I continue to maintain that his was a post-Rocky panic signing that reeks of desperation - but if we do find ourselves in a relegation dogfight then, as a recent BBC interview underlined, we'll have at our disposal a player who's already had to remain resilient in the face of far more traumatic hardship.

Finn deal finalised

Our desperation in the wake of Rocky's hasty exit was confirmed with the recruitment of free agent Shefki Kuqi, Alan Pardew commenting: "We needed another option up front because we are a little light there due to the temporary loss of Shola, and Shefki will provide us with something different." Yes, Alan, signing up that great lump will certainly address the lightness issue...

Kuqi, understandably, is delighted at the turn of events: "I don't really have the words to describe how happy I am. To get this chance is a massive thing for me". Rather like Pardew and Graeme Souness before him, the Finn probably can't believe his luck at our charity.

All that said, the name "Sibierski" does keep cropping up. When we signed the bit-part player from Man City on a free transfer, we referred to him as "the equivalent of a cheap, crap sparkler" amidst a fireworks display of an August transfer deadline day - and yet a year later we had to chow down on humble pie, conceding that he'd been a surprisingly good addition. Here's hoping (and praying) that Kuqi can have the same impact - but having seen him play for Stockport, Blackburn, Ipswich, Crystal Palace and Swansea, I for one won't be holding my breath.

In any case, his window of opportunity might not be as wide open as had been first thought. According to Pardew, Big Lad could be in line to return sooner than expected - two or three weeks, perhaps - clad in a protective mask of the sort usually sported by NBA basketball players. A masked man up front will sit nicely with having Spidermag on the wing. Perhaps they can form a crime-fighting duo - though there'd be less to do around the club now that Rocky's left.