They wanted him on loan, but when he got there they already had 6 loanees and because they can only play 5 loanees at a time, they didn't really have room in the squad for him. However, they were quite impressed.
I assume that he is on £19k at Newcastle. How do you know that he would want the same wage here? I don't think that he is as bad as you make out, G. I'm sure that he was severly restricted by Thorn and consequently unable to show his capabilities.
Something similar to that happened near our village. Gypsies parked at a local beauty spot so the farmer who owned the adjacent field sprayed the field with muck and slurry. The gypsies were driven out by the stench.
Noggin, I don't want TM to regress to the mean. I want him to be the most successful manager in the division, but without the award which usually signifies that regression is imminent.