It’s official. Newcastle United have accepted a bid from Liverpool for Andy Carroll with the fee believed to be about £35 million with add-ons. This is devastating news for Newcastle fans, just after the Newcastle number 9 confessed his love for the club and that he wanted to stay.

The events leading up to the transfer are shrouded in mystery though. Newcastle first rejected a £30 million bid, then a £35 million bid, and then ‘reluctantly’ accepted a transfer request from Andy Carroll. The mystery is what prompted Carroll to submit a transfer request. Was his hand forced by Mike Ashley? Is loyalty dead in football and Andy had his head turned by a more lucrative offer? We may never know. But the fact of the matter is, Andy Carroll will become a Liverpool football player and Newcastle United (or Mike Ashley) will be a lot wealthier.

What do you make of the Andy Carroll transfer to Liverpool? Are you devastated, or do you think it’s a good bit of business by NUFC?

I will leave you with this tweet from Mirror Journalist Simon Bird.

Earlier this year Kevin Keegan said that Newcastle United were “a million miles away” from challenging the top four of the Barclays Premier League. How right he was – hopefully those words are now ringing in Mike Ashley’s ears with a large amount of gusto.

Liverpool outplayed and outclassed the Toon in every department today. Were it not for Shay Given, the  scoreline at half and even full-time would have been far different. The final result was a conservative reflection of Liverpool’s dominance. They picked us off at will and have to be seen as contenders for the title.

The midfield display of Gerrard and Alonso were outstanding with the pair both contributing goals, Gerrard bagging two. We couldn’t even blame the ref.

So what happens now? I think we all have to hold our hands up and be realistic. Those of us still wearing our black and white tinted glasses need to put them away, it will be years before we can challenge the top four again, let alone get close. It’s our chance now to show the world what dedicated followers we are of our football club. Let’s back the lads who are on the pitch 100% – they sure need all the help they can get.

Howay the Toon.