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Newcastle United – Back of the £NET?

10 years ago
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As it stands now, the outlay of Newcastle’s nine incoming players, equates roughly to that of the money raised from the sales of Cabaye and Debuchy. This may be purely just good business sense but who will benefit the most?

The manager now has a larger pool of players to choose from and there does appear to be a healthier competition for places. Is this quantity over quality as the majority of the new signings are all unproven in the Premiership? Only time will tell.

The fans, us the paying customers, have been given a glimmer of hope for the impending season due to this influx that we have long been starved of. Plus there is some class and flair for us to look forward to with the likes of De jong, Cabella and Janmaat.

But are these just fortunate incidentals as it is Ashley who surely stands to gain the most? Good players brought in at a reasonable fee plus a little flutter on some younger talent. All stand to make him a healthy profit.

Now back in the pre-Sky era that would have been a prudent way to operate but where is the TV revenue going? With the glut of this money coming in, surely some of it could be spent? Factor in his free SD advertising and even setting aside his own huge personal wealth.

The club is being run on a tighter ship than it needs to be and you can only make one assumption why that is. All this was brought back into focus again recently by the unnecessary penny pinching of removing the coaching staff’s complementary match tickets.

It’s a challenge not to be cynical and question every action the club takes. That aside has this been a good transfer window so far?

I think most of us would have been in complete disbelief if we’d been told that we would have signed nine players. Added to the fact that Debuchy has been the only notable departure so far and appears to have been ably replaced with Janmaat.

There are still a couple of weeks left till the transfer window closes so things of course may change. The recent speculation about Tiote’s possible departure has put a more gloomy spin on things. I can’t see Arsenal coming in for him personally though. Despite his faults he is at the least a decent squad player, if not a dead cert on the team sheet.

It seems as though our optimism is now being curbed too. Recently Pardew, flushed by the success of his signingms was making noises of the team competing for a Champions League berth. He appears to have become more cautious and realistic now as his interview with Sky on Tuesday showed. Which Sky must have presumably stumped up for?

In this interview Pardew states that anything above our ten year Premiership average of 48 points will be a plus. So have no clear targets been set? But then there is more wriggle room in the realms of the vague, or maybe just no bonuses to be paid out?

He also states that there may still be further additions if the right players become available, possibly having to wait until January. This may depend on departures, with players like Ben Arfa and Gutiérrez taken off the wage bill.

We still could do with a proven goal scorer and definitely need a decent centre half. But I think the club are banking on the likes of De Jong, Gouffran, Ferreyra, Cabella, Riviere, and not forgetting Cisse, sharing the goals amongst them this term.

Likewise at the centre of defence, the club seems prepared to rough it out, with the provision that for next season we will have Lascelles and Curtis Good ready to step up to the plate. It was a huge misfortune for player and club that Good’s injury ended his World Cup hopes and denied him a valuable footballing education.

We also have other decent prospects coming up through the ranks, with Aarons and Armstrong now challenging for bench space. Then you have the likes of Vuckic, Abeid, Ferguson, Sammy and Bigi who have to produce this season or surely face an exit.

Hopefully this will be a squad that can provide competition of places and survive the inevitabilities of injuries and suspensions. It also appears to have more fluidity, movement and hunger to it.

How this season will pan out I don’t know but Pardew is probably right to err on the side of caution. A top half finish and maybe a Europa place is maybe as good as we can hope for.

But at least let’s hope we are provided with some entertainment and excitement.  It’s long overdue and much needed. I am certain that from our fresh recruits there will be some new terrace favourites for next season.

So there is cause for optimism but keep it quiet…we don’t want the ‘big boys’ to come knocking.

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