Michael Walker on how while Leeds may have got the money afterselling Jonathan Woodgate, ambitious Newcastle United are the ones better off.
Dressed like a character from a Quentin Tarantino movie - black suit, white shirt, black tie - Jonathan Woodgate finally joined Newcastle United yesterday. Mr Black and White signed a four-year contract.
In doing so he not only brought a saga to an end, he also completed the biggest deal of the European transfer window. The £9 million that Newcastle directed towards Leeds United yesterday, said Bobby Robson, offered evidence of Newcastle's rising ambition.
Robson once again stopped short of saying that the signing meant that his club were capable of rivalling Arsenal and Manchester United for this season's Premiership, but Woodgate himself did not. "I believe so; why not?" he said of Newcastle's title chances.
As he spoke at length for the first time in the three years since the attack on Sarfraz Najeib in Leeds city centre, the focus fell naturally on his recent past. He was found guilty of affray in Hull crown court, was sentenced to 100 hours' community service and was fined eight weeks' wages by Leeds.
There is an outstanding civil action by the Najeibs, so Woodgate had to be careful about what he said, but he admitted, apparently in a reference to that affair: "I've done things wrong in my life. It was the hardest time of my life. The court case was a bad time for me. I've made mistakes, I've learnt off my mistakes. I'm not a racist player; ask Michael Chopra, ask Harpal Singh, ask Kieron Dyer. I'm not a racist, I'm black and white."
Chopra is Newcastle's Asian Geordie teenage striker, Singh is Leeds's former apprentice, and though the "I'm black and white" bit was clearly scripted, Robson identified one of the key reasons for the public differentiation between Woodgate and his co-defendant in Hull, Lee Bowyer: remorse.
"We signed him basically on football," Robson said of Woodgate, "but we know what he's been through. He accepted his punishment; he was full of remorse. He went through a period when he couldn't even face playing, that's how repentant he was.
Perhaps leaving Leeds United is a very good thing for him even if he is sorry to leave Leeds."
ROBSON added: "I'm delighted we prised him away from Leeds. I understand the problems this transfer has caused them. But we have our ambition and Leeds have our money.
"We've got the right player at the right money," Newcastle's chairman Freddy Shepherd said. "Our signing compares favourably with the £30 million Manchester United paid to Leeds for Rio Ferdinand just five months ago. For, in our humble opinion, Woodgate is as good as Rio Ferdinand.
"Yes, it's taken some time for us to complete the transfer, but we now know we have bought the best for Newcastle United. Sometimes we wonder if people think we are daft Geordies up here. Well, let them keep thinking that and we'll keep signing the best players at the right prices."
It gives Newcastle a squad Robson described as "exquisite", and what Woodgate gives Newcastle is instant defensive credibility. His thigh strain may prevent him from facing Arsenal at St James' tomorrow week but it is away from home where Newcastle will need him most anyway. If they can repeat the sort of 1-0 win they got at Tottenham in midweek then Woodgate is correct in his analysis about their championship potential.
"There is a big chance, this year, next year, in the years to come," he said. People nodded, but then they had been here before. The last time Newcastle were at the top end of the Premiership with snow on the ground and a big signing to consolidate their title challenge was February 1996. The player was Faustino Asprilla. Newcastle were nine points ahead of Manchester United. Within a week it was six points. The rest is history.
Guardian Service
