Thoughts on this summer's transfer window

[Shak]

I'm disappointed we didn't sign Debuchy, had we just done that then I'd have considered it a good window. The fact that we went into the summer with RB clearly our weakest position and haven't improved it is frustrating, very much so.

 

All in all though I think we've improved the first team squad.

 

Guthrie and Best were the only players of any significance we lost. Amalfitano looks like he's been brought in as a replacement for Guthrie, and while we haven't replaced Best directly I think we'll get by without him. We have Shola, Cisse and Ba and while it doesn't seem that the 4-3-3 is Pardew's favored formation at this point, he's certainly willing to use it so as long as one of those is fit we should be able to field a team without playing players out of position.

 

The addition of Anita pleases me. I can see why some were perplexed by it when we have Tiote and Cabaye already, but after years of seeing us suffer one dimensional footballers like Geremi, Butt, Smith, Nolan etc in the center of the park I'm delighted to have genuine quality depth there. Any two of Tiote, Cabaye and Anita should provide us with a very good engine room in the middle of the park, we shouldn't get overrun in the middle that often. It also should see us playing 4-3-3 more often, which can only be a good thing IMO.

 

One thing I am excited about is potentially seeing some of the youngsters break through and establishing themselves as options in the first team. The squad is pretty thin in terms of senior players but what we do have for the first time in my time as a fan is a number of young prospects who might actually amount to something.

 

Tavernier, Good, Ferguson, Abeid, Bigirimana, Sammy, Vuckic, Campbell come to mind off the top of my head, and there are others too. What's the point in amassing all this young talent if there's no scope for them to break into the first team squad? It looks like they'll get their chance this year, and while I really hope we don't treat the Europa League as a reserve team competition I'm excited to see these players develop.

 

I don't think any of our rivals have really strengthened that much either tbh.

 

Spurs have signed a very good keeper and improved there, no doubt about it. But while Vertonghen, Dembele, Sigurdsson and Dempsey are quality players they've lost a lot too. Modric was their best player, he's gone. King was easily their best defender when fit, he's gone. Van Der Vaart was a big player for them too, if either Dempsey or Sigurdsson can replace what he gave them they'll be doing well.

 

Arsenal are similar, people were calling them a one man team last year and now they've lost that man as well as one of their starting CM's. Cazorla looks a quality addition but Van Persie is a monumental loss for them, with Wenger in charge they'll be OK but I'd be surprised if they're much improved.

 

Everton have done some good business but they've also lost their best young prospect in the process. Liverpool have improved in midfield but I'm still not sure where their goals are going to come from.

 

Could the window have been better? Absolutely. But I still look at our squad and am excited by our prospects for the year. We've got a genuinely world class talent in Ben Arfa in our team, the best defender I've ever seen in a Newcastle shirt in Colo, the best group of CM's we've had at the club in yonks, a host of exciting young prospects, two absolutely lethal strikers and lots and lots more.

 

Considering where we were only a few years ago that's pretty amazing, and while I do wish we'd splashed out for Debuchy I'm not going to let it spoil some of the great work we've done in getting the squad to this point.

 

We will have to make some more positive moves over the next few years and show some more ambition to keep some of our star players, but as the board showed with the signing of Cisse they're not afraid to spend some money when they feel the deal is right for the club.

 

Here's hoping for a good performance and a win against Villa tomorrow, howay the lads.

[Mike]

Did Read, lol.

 

I'm hoping that Tavernier pulls a Perch.

[Shak]

I feared the worst when I saw you'd replied.

[Mike]

I feared the worst when I saw you'd replied.

 

Which is why I did the opposite. Not gonna act like I didn't have to talk myself out of it.

 

Some decent points made, tbf. I just don't have a lot of faith in Tav atm. That first leg of Atromitos wasn't a good look.

 

If Pards goes 4-3-3 from the start, I think we'll smash smaller teams consistently enough to see the youngsters get decent playing time. Haris should be the our new Best.

[oldtype]

I feared the worst when I saw you'd replied.

 

Which is why I did the opposite. Not gonna act like I didn't have to talk myself out of it.

 

Some decent points made, tbf. I just don't have a lot of faith in Tav atm. That first leg of Atromitos wasn't a good look.

 

If Pards goes 4-3-3 from the start, I think we'll smash smaller teams consistently enough to see the youngsters get decent playing time. Haris should be the our new Best.

 

Was really impressed with Haris in the first half on Thursday. Until now I honestly didn't think he'd ever make it

[hakka]

I'm also frustrated we didn't get Debuchy. We are lucky that he would have come here if rumours and noises about him wanting to hook up with Cabaye here are true. Given that he is international class, anything up to £10m would have been understandable and he would have given us another player capable of adding quality to our attacks. Simpson isn't terrible, but he's just non-top 6 player at a club trying to be a top 6 club.

 

Other than that, we are taking risks up front and at centre back. And with Raylor injured we are gambling a bit further. The most important thing of the summer was not to lose any of our brilliant players and that we did, so I'm very happy that we can move on this season and do well. Anita signing is good, but I said I wouldn't be happy if we got him and didn't stengthend more important areas. I do like Anita though, think he will be very good but I hope injuries don't make us regret not putting that money in other positions.

 

This year is time for our youngsters to shine. We need Ferguson, Tavernier, Vuckic, Campbell, Abeid, Sammy and Good to contribute and do well when they are called upon. Vuckic showed some class against the Greeks, so I'm hoping he can carry that in to the Premier League or other European games. If some of our youth can come through and play well, in particular up front, we could have saved ourselves a load of cash in the short term. Big if though!

[ohmelads]

The model we have sort of stumbled upon after Ashley's disastrous first few seasons is an understandable one, but its success depends on flexibility in the market when required. No model will work without some degree of flexibility, because football is not a science.

 

What we are left with is a continued weakness to the first team which opponents will look to exploit every weekend and that's us until January or beyond. I don't know the ins and outs of the Debuchy saga or why we couldn't find a right back in all of Europe but every time we struggle down that right hand side people will be cursing this window. Meanwhile Simpson will be running down his contract.

 

The extent of the damage of missed opportunity, continued weakness in the first team and holes in the squad will be revealed in the testing months ahead as we face 8 more games than last season, and that's just between now and January. I think we've made a mistake, and can't help but wonder what logic led to the Anita signing while other areas were left weak or without proper backup. I hope he turns out a good addition, but we had urgent needs elsewhere.

 

The aim should always be to move forward. I don't think we will but as a fan I live in hope. Cisse, Ben Arfa and Santon didn't start last season yet we went on an excellent run. Back then, Pardew recognised our weaknesses and set us up not to concede, we defended deep hence the number of desperate blocks and goal line clearances we saw from players like Raylor and Simpson. We did not dominate many games but nonetheless kept picking up points. Our weaker players were at least tactically disciplined and we made ourselves hard to beat, with Ba and Cisse deciding tight games at the other end by taking whatever chances came. It was not swashbuckling football but it was effective. Our overall attacking play improved as the season wore on and Ben Arfa came into the fray. We are capable of doing the same again: our first XI is better than the one which started last season, and while they're fit I think we're alright. But there is a major distraction this time in the shape of Europe, which brings injuries, fatigue and rotation.

 

You get the feeling our season will defined not by our best XI which we know is good, but by injuries and the ability of our 'second XI' to fill in as Perch and Raylor did last time. The fact that Raylor is arguably our best bench player speaks volumes. We have a good XI, an excellent spine to the team, but we lack depth for what is a gruelling fixture list. It is going to be down to the kids, and players like Marveaux, Gosling, Obertan, Williamson and Shola to step up. Perhaps they will, the kids too bring an element of the unknown and this is their big opportunity.

 

Overall my gut feeling is we will pay the price for leaving the squad short on quality ahead of a tiring fixture list. If that turns out to be the case I hope this board will learn from it and rectify that in the January window. Perhaps they are indeed waiting to see how the squad copes, and waiting for events to force them into action, such as Senegal's qualifier with the Ivory Coast. nufc.com summed it up well when they said "there seems to be some gambling going on at SJP". That's exactly what is happening and all we can do as fans is hope we get away with it over the coming months. The Raylor injury is certainly not a good start.

[ohmelads]

Didn't realise my post was that long! Skip to the last paragraph if your eyes hurt!

[Guest nufc1892]

We needed a sub striker far more than we needed a RB, Shola has been and always will be crap and Campbell looks like he hasn't hit puberty yet, Xisco isn't wanted and probably can't wait to leave and Ranger is a prick who won't play for us again.

 

Id consider Sammy as an AML rather than a striker so disgreard him and Vuckic is a Attacking Midfielder rather than an all out striker.

[Shak]

Wouldn't worry mate, doubt anyone will come near the thread again after my fucking essay.

 

Good post btw.

 

Only positive regarding Simpson this year is that he'll essentially be playing for his next contract so he'll have a lot of incentive to perform. Then once he leaves surely our hand will be forced in terms of bringing in a RB next summer.

 

Unless we sign him to an extension.

 

[Shak]

We needed a sub striker far more than we needed a RB, Shola has been and always will be crap and Campbell looks like he hasn't hit puberty yet, Xisco isn't wanted and probably can't wait to leave and Ranger is a prick who won't play for us again.

 

Id consider Sammy as an AML rather than a striker so disgreard him and Vuckic is a Attacking Midfielder rather than an all out striker.

 

Dunno, we can always play the 4-3-3 which means we can get away with just having one striker on the pitch.

 

If Pardew was hellbent on playing 4-4-2 every game then I'd agree, but don't think he is.

[Mick]

We needed a sub striker far more than we needed a RB, Shola has been and always will be crap and Campbell looks like he hasn't hit puberty yet, Xisco isn't wanted and probably can't wait to leave and Ranger is a prick who won't play for us again.

 

Id consider Sammy as an AML rather than a striker so disgreard him and Vuckic is a Attacking Midfielder rather than an all out striker.

 

I'm not sure that we need a sub striker more than a right-back.  If Tiote and Co knock Senegal out of the African cup of nations then we should get by unless we are unlucky enough to pick up injuries to Ba and Cisse at the same time.  Simpson will play every game when fit and getting an upgrade would have benefitted the team over the whole season rather than the odd game.

[henke]

I'm dissapointed that we didn't bring a full back in, even a dedicated left back (not Anita) would have been handy. And obviously a forward to cover the ACoN. But i don't think the lack of new faces is quite the crisis some are making it out to be, we bring forward cover in during the January window and maybe Debuchy too.

[ohmelads]

Wouldn't worry mate, doubt anyone will come near the thread again after my f***ing essay.

 

Good post btw.

 

Only positive regarding Simpson this year is that he'll essentially be playing for his next contract so he'll have a lot of incentive to perform. Then once he leaves surely our hand will be forced in terms of bringing in a RB next summer.

 

Unless we sign him to an extension.

 

 

Yep, let's hope he finds a new gear as he'll be playing for a move. But sadly I don't think his problems are down to lack of effort, he's just a fairly limited player especially going forward which was our weakness for much of last season. If he was great defensively you could argue his case, but he is not great in this regard either.

 

He was a great signing for our promotion season, and is a Premier League quality full back, but now we seem to be among the top 7 or 8 clubs he stands out as a weakness. Though they are different positions, I rate Guthrie as a similar if not better player. He also ran his contract out but did so as a backup, presumably we didn't find a taker and figured we'd keep him for that reason. It is strange that Simpson is doing the same as a first team player, he is not worth a new contract yet finds himself in the first team - it's not often you see that.

 

I would echo what others have said that Perch deserves his chance.

[Guest nufc1892]

We needed a sub striker far more than we needed a RB, Shola has been and always will be crap and Campbell looks like he hasn't hit puberty yet, Xisco isn't wanted and probably can't wait to leave and Ranger is a prick who won't play for us again.

 

Id consider Sammy as an AML rather than a striker so disgreard him and Vuckic is a Attacking Midfielder rather than an all out striker.

 

I'm not sure that we need a sub striker more than a right-back.  If Tiote and Co knock Senegal out of the African cup of nations then we should get by unless we are unlucky enough to pick up injuries to Ba and Cisse at the same time.  Simpson will play every game when fit and getting an upgrade would have benefitted the team over the whole season rather than the odd game.

 

We are one injury away from having Shola starting up front with a 18 year old on the bench, who is nowhere near for regular first team football. If Senegal beat Ivory Coast we spend 6 weeks with Shola as our first choice striker (we should have sold him about 5 years ago tbf)

 

We need at least 4 decent strikers, 2 starters (Cisse & Ba) with two who can do a job and chip in with 10+ goals each with Shola as 5th choice/tea boy

 

[Sifu]

So, that's another summer transfer window which has ended in disappointment. I can just about accept us not signing a new RB/CB - our options there are quite decent (for the next 4 months anyway) but our failure to sign a striker is not on tbh. Of course, we do have two top strikers in Cissé and Ba but our options after those two aren't the best - Shola's best role is coming off the bench as an impact player; Sammy was impressive during pre-season but can he properly step it up this season?; and Campbell is still a young'un. Signing a backup/third choice striker should have been at the top of our priorities. I shudder to think what we'll do if Ba and Cissé get injured/go to the ACoN.

 

Though, on a more positive note, we didn't lose any of our top players. As far as I'm concerned, the core of the team is still intact and that must count for something surely? A couple of additions would have been brilliant, that goes without saying but think we can still push on for the next 4 months - like I've said the core of the team is still there and our youth players should help us cope with the high number of games we're expected to play. Our lack of options upfront will be a continually worrying issue though.

 

With these two paragraphs in mind, this summer's window has been a disappointment. Hoping for some good news in January...

[TRon]

Things could have turned out a lot worse tbh. I expected Liverpool to sign a striker after moving Carroll, but they didn't which puts us back ahead of them in the finishing places in my book. Also Spurs have lost two top players in Modric and VdV and while they've signed decent replacements they aren't in the same class. Plus there's question marks over their manager in English football. I thought both those clubs were going to get away from us in the last couple of days of the transfer window but it didn't happen.

[Guest BooBoo]

17th in terms of money spent this summer.

 

"Mike's got the hunger back."

[Rich]

By the end I just wanted a quality fullback to be honest, right or left depending on who was available. Extremely disappointed we didn't even manage that.

 

[alexf]

As long as we are one of the big movers in January then the summer is acceptable in my eyes. We don't know what's gone on behind the scenes. We may have been victims of our own success and teams were wanting far too much money off us who knows. Keeping hold of our top guys isn't something to be laughed off it was extremely important and many teams have spent big simply trying to replace outgoings (tottenham, arsenal)

 

However we simply have to bolster the squad in January as we no doubt will have picked up more injuries as well as the potential loss of Cisse and Ba to the African cup of nations.

[OzzieMandias]

JB's VERDICT – 4/5: For Alan Pardew it was more about not losing players than signing them and that’s a sign that Newcastle already have their house in order. A solid, tight squad and a good manager with a well-run business. A sound window.

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/football-transfers/9514505/Premier-League-transfers-club-by-club.html

 

[Interpolic]

Think it's becoming quite clear that we'll spend very little without a big incoming fee to fund it. Makes me feel like I wouldn't be that pissed off if we shifted Tiote or someone for big money if we replaced him and plugged a few other gaps, preferably in the same window of course.

[Guest neesy111]

Selling Tiote has crossed my mind considering the injuries he's picking up etc.

[Tooj]

Pathetic if we need to sell Tiote to be able to further strengthen our squad.

[Unbelievable]

My biggest disappointment this summer transfer window is not an individual transfer target we may have missed out on, but the inescapable conclusion that despite our excellent season and the almost complete lack of disrespect shown towards Mike Ashley (time heals all wounds and all that), our owner has not seen fit to change his stance with regards to the investment he is willing to put in the club year on year. We were once promised an outside investment of 20 million per season, which would go a long way with our current transfer setup and the excellent way we've brought our finances under control. This is one promise he has failed to deliver on, which could have helped us massively to ever achieve more than we have done in the season just past. There's nothing stopping him spending 20 million per season for the stadium naming rights for example if he really wanted us to do well. Alas, it appears that whatever intention there was at the beginning to see us as a bit of a fun passtime is long gone.