Should I stay or should I go?

The latest bit of piffle from a clearly bored news team who were too skint to have a summer holiday suggests that the Mackems may be ready to put an offer in for Habib Beye!

Firstly it is unthinkable that Beye would leave our club. Secondly and most importantly, it would be criminal to allow him to go to our nearest and dearest rivals. No doubt Habib holds Newcastle fans in too high a regard to consider it either. But...

We understand that Habib is in a difficult situation. The player is 31, has a year to run on his contract, is facing second tier football and the future of the club's ownership and management is uncertain. There is no doubt, (at least from us at Beyewatch) that Habib wants to stay at Newcastle, but we can understand the rumours of Premiership clubs circling like vultures.

Habib's not getting any younger, although he has a good few years service left in him. The issue is a matter of common sense to us at least, consider the scenario: Habib ignores the overtures of other clubs to stay at the toon with the ownership issue still up in the air. Habib doesn't get a new contract and reports for pre-season. During a training session or a pre-season game, Habib lunges for the ball and breaks his leg (heaven forbid - remember, this is hypothetical). The result? Habib misses a season, gets paid nonetheless but sees out his contract on the treatment table. This has knock-ons for his next deal, the club and no doubt his future earnings. It's no surprise that other clubs see this uncertainty as a green light to court Habib.

The fact of the matter is; Habib, like others in the squad, are good for Newcastle United and need to be pinned down with a new contract regardless of the ownership issue. Make Habib skipper and see how many shirts we sell! It doesn't matter if this is done by Lambias from London or from Darsley Park, but it does need to be done. A saleable club needs assets, and we don't have many more valuable than Habib Beye...