Reap the Wild Wyn on Friday

Friday is here. You don't have to be poor anymore.

A few days ago the Swiss-based football economics research unit CIES Observatory released what they believe are the value of Newcastle United's "six crown jewels". The players, in order, are Georginio Wijnaldum (19.2 mil dollars/24.8m Euros), Aleksandar Mitrovic (18.7 mil dollars/24.2m Euros), Jonjo Shelvey (12.8 mil dollars/16.6 Euros), Chancel Mbemba (12.2 mil dollars/15.8m Euros),  Moussa Sissoko (11.4 mil dollars/14/8m Euros) and Vurnon Anita (2.1 mil dollars/2.8m Euros). CEIS claims it has a strong success rate in player evaluation:

Since the 2013 summer transfer window, the correlation between values estimated by our algorithm and the sums actually paid for the recruitment of big-5 league players has been close to 80%.

With three of the four players signed last summer increasing in value (Florian Thauvin is your outlier), that does speak well for something within the Newcastle clubhouse. It also, however, asks the question of what their value was over the course of the season. Gini, Mitro and Shelvey all saw bench time under Rafa Benitez. Sissoko and Anita appeared to receive strong votes of confidence. Yet, it could be argued, only Shelvey completely disappeared from the landscape with the others showing signs of improvement. What were the value of these players prior to Benitez coming on board?

This led me to look for information on what players were considered lost after Newcastle's last relegation, which I found in an old piece from the Guardian (link below). The Guardian looked at twice as many players, but of those listed Newcastle transferred out only four prior to the start of the season. The culture of the Premier League has changed since then, but also has Newcastle's. One key name on the list kept was Kevin Nolan, who along with Andy Carroll led the team with 17 goals for the season. The 2009/10 season in the Championship saw Newcastle lose a total of four matches.

These are really nothing more than talking points, used as a means of speculating what might happen. We have already been told Newcastle will not be forced to sell anyone. In an interview yesterday Fabricio Coloccini stated he felt the team would see off some older players and go young in their rebuild. This was more focused on players presently on the roster as opposed to players looking to be signed.

We here at Coming Home Newcastle are working on some articles focusing on player evaluations, akin to what Jim already did with the goalie position. It should be an interesting Summer.

Let's kick the ball.

Newcastle United fire sale: How much are the players worth?

As promised above this is the Guardian's piece on those players who could be transferred out after Newcastle's 2009/10 relegation. The Joey Barton sentiments are funny.

Steven Taylor to leave Newcastle after 21 years at the Championship club

While we can bemoan Taylor's recent quality of play it must be noted that he is a product of Newcastle's club system, and has given his heart to both club and country. Fans can debate whether he optimized his talent, or never realized it. Best of luck in your opportunities both local and abroad. Thank you for your play.

Here is Newcastle United's retained list for 2016/17: Mbabu agrees new deal as seven depart

Apart from Taylor leaving the name that jumps out is Kevin Mbabu getting a new contract. Time for me to do some research on these other boys.

Everton look to Newcastle ace

Everton and Roma are the spotlight clubs looking at Wijnaldum. Everton has been linked to Gini in the past.

Transfer rumours: The top 100 players in the summer transfer window 2016

It's a slide show. You have been warned.

Aston Villa confirm Roberto Di Matteo is club's new manager as he targets promotion in his first season

The promotion battle just got more interesting. If I am a Villan this hiring would make me quite happy.

5 Alternatives to the Diamond Engagement Ring

Two years old, but still timely. I've been married for 20+ years so hopefully I'll never need this advice.