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Building a Newcastle United squad – This is the deal

1 year ago
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Building a Newcastle United squad fit for purpose isn’t an overnight job.

Eddie Howe always had a massive job on his hands.

When I say building a Newcastle United squad ‘fit for purpose’, I am of course talking about putting a squad together that can hope to progress and compete, with a bench to back up the eleven on the pitch.

These things don’t happen overnight.

Certainly not from the starting position the new owners and team management found themselves in, when arriving 15/16 months ago.

We had basically eight players of real first team quality that Eddie Howe inherited – Schar, Longstaff, ASM, Almiron, Willock, Joelinton, Wilson, Dubravka.

Never mind a demoralised team / squad due to the combined efforts of Mike Ashley and Steve Bruce, underneath that, even if Eddie Howe could raise the spirits with a new level of professionalism and hard work, at its core, this NUFC squad had at best, seven players of real inherent quality to start regularly in the Premier League IF he could shock a Newcastle United back into action, that was flatlining all the way to the Championship.

In these past 13 months, Eddie Howe has led fantastic recruitment to add another eight first team starting eleven contenders, with Pope, Trippier, Botman, Burn, Bruno, Isak, Gordon, Targett (as well as a host of younger players, such as Kuol and Ashby).

Which basically leaves us now with:

Two goalkeepers:

Dubravka, Pope

Fourteen outfield players:

Trippier, Schar, Botman, Burn, Bruno, Longstaff, Willock, Almiron, Joelinton, Wilson, ASM, Isak, Gordon, Targett

We are getting there very definitely BUT for a number of Newcastle fans, clearly not quickly enough.

Some moaning as though it was the most obvious mistake in not say signing James Maddison in January for £60m, £70m, basically, whatever it takes.

What is happening at Chelsea hasn’t helped expectations for some on Tyneside, who clearly would have loved to have seen Newcastle doing similar.

Rampaging around buying everything that moves, paying whatever it takes…

Well, since the January transfer window opened. Chelsea have played eight matches and won only one, so anybody who thinks signing loads of players would / could be a quick fix, it doesn’t always work out like that, if ever.

Eddie Howe and everybody else at Newcastle United is working to a longer-term strategy, partly through choice and partly through necessity.

I happen to think Newcastle United did great business in January, Anthony Gordon looks a great signing already based on his two sub appearances. Whilst on the other hand, it is vitally important that Newcastle also look after the other side of the equation, getting the best possible deals when moving players on.

Neither Wood nor Shelvey were anywhere close to the NUFC first team if everybody available and if keeping them around until the summer, their combined transfer value would have been very low. Forest are desperate to stay up and at that moment in time (January) were prepared to deals at whatever level for the pair, deals that from the sound of it could land Newcastle a combined £20m+ in transfer / loan fees, plus two of our bigger wage earners off the payroll.

This is great business and a necessity for the longer-term health of Newcastle United.

The bottom line at the minute is that Eddie Howe ends up with a bench of players game after game where the vast majority of them aren’t real first team contenders and in most cases won’t be here next season, if at all possible.

This Newcastle United squad / club is moving on and a lot players need to move on as well, to find clubs where they can be playing regular football.

On Saturday at Bournemouth, Eddie Howe had a bench of Dubravka, Dummett, Gordon, Ritchie, Lewis, Fraser, Anderson, Murphy, (L) Miley.

It isn’t a case of saying the other players are all terrible and / or haven’t played a decent part in the past for Newcastle United.

Just an acknowledgement that what is needed moving forward is a very different level.

On Saturday, Howe had eight outfield subs and only one of them, new signing Anthony Gordon, that he could bring on as a positive chance.

Obviously you hope Miley and Anderson can make the leap to become Premier League players of the future but as for the other outfield players on the bench, it is so tough for Eddie Howe.

Knowing any change will almost certainly weaken the eleven on the pitch.

Wilson is hopefully back on Saturday, Bruno will be back the following weekend and fingers cross, Targett as well.

By the time we are heading into March, we could have a Newcastle United squad of 16 first team contenders to tackle the rest of the season, two keepers and 14 outfield players.

Get to the summer and maybe four new first team contenders will be signed, to give Eddie Howe a minimum Newcastle United squad of 20 first team players.

That is massive progress in anybody’s language.

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