Comments from the manager to reporters on Thursday:
"The criticism that's going to come from not getting a striker in has some validity to it because seven months is a long time.
"But I can only say that from my point of view, we put the targets in front of the board and then it comes down to a financial decision, and that financial decision didn't take place.
"It's obvious that our fans and me and the players would have liked to have had another striker here and I think we're going into the unknown to a certain degree because a lot of the goals we created and scored last year are not in this team.
"We bid for three or four players to fill one position and none of them came to fruition, and that's the disappointment that we have to face.
"I feel within the squad, there's a real camaraderie in there, a really good, strong spirit. Defensively, we have shown we are a tight unit and it's just about getting the goals now.
"It's going to be important that people step up to the plate and come out of the pack and score goals and contribute to goals with assists, and there's certainly enough talent in that squad to do that.
On Ben Arfa:
"Hatem's progress has been better than we thought, and he is certainly ahead of schedule.
"When he came back this week we were not expecting him to be in perhaps as good a condition as he is in.
"I have earmarked maybe the Nottingham Forest game as maybe an opportunity for him to take part in that game, but we will have to see how he goes. But so far his injury looks really good and his fitness does too."
On Barton:
"Joey is a controlled animal now on the football pitch. He's an aggressive player, but he has brought that under control.
"He's a very, very good player and somebody we need to make sure doesn't influence the game as much as he did for us.
"He hasn't got anything to prove to me or the staff here because the players all know how good he is. Obviously, there was a falling-out with the board that wasn't going to be rectified, so Joey has moved on.
"He's got himself a contract that he has earned through not just his ability, but the way he has conducted himself in the last couple of years especially, and we wish him well.
"It's never quiet at a football club - especially Newcastle - but I enjoyed my time with Joey. He's a challenging personality but he's engaging and entertaining as well as being difficult. We miss him in some ways."
Think he's indirectly letting the fans know he isn't to blame , but that the greedy bastards are.
"The criticism that's going to come from not getting a striker in has some validity to it because seven months is a long time.
"But I can only say that from my point of view, we put the targets in front of the board and then it comes down to a financial decision, and that financial decision didn't take place.
"It's obvious that our fans and me and the players would have liked to have had another striker here and I think we're going into the unknown to a certain degree because a lot of the goals we created and scored last year are not in this team.
"We bid for three or four players to fill one position and none of them came to fruition, and that's the disappointment that we have to face.
"I feel within the squad, there's a real camaraderie in there, a really good, strong spirit. Defensively, we have shown we are a tight unit and it's just about getting the goals now.
"It's going to be important that people step up to the plate and come out of the pack and score goals and contribute to goals with assists, and there's certainly enough talent in that squad to do that.
On Ben Arfa:
"Hatem's progress has been better than we thought, and he is certainly ahead of schedule.
"When he came back this week we were not expecting him to be in perhaps as good a condition as he is in.
"I have earmarked maybe the Nottingham Forest game as maybe an opportunity for him to take part in that game, but we will have to see how he goes. But so far his injury looks really good and his fitness does too."
On Barton:
"Joey is a controlled animal now on the football pitch. He's an aggressive player, but he has brought that under control.
"He's a very, very good player and somebody we need to make sure doesn't influence the game as much as he did for us.
"He hasn't got anything to prove to me or the staff here because the players all know how good he is. Obviously, there was a falling-out with the board that wasn't going to be rectified, so Joey has moved on.
"He's got himself a contract that he has earned through not just his ability, but the way he has conducted himself in the last couple of years especially, and we wish him well.
"It's never quiet at a football club - especially Newcastle - but I enjoyed my time with Joey. He's a challenging personality but he's engaging and entertaining as well as being difficult. We miss him in some ways."
Think he's indirectly letting the fans know he isn't to blame , but that the greedy bastards are.
. Apparently he was nice enough about it though.
