I think top 8 would be a great season I'm not getting carried away because I think Newcastle are short on quality.
Think it's too early to say. With our current squad (including Barnes) then top 6 would be an achievement again as the "Big 6" plus Villa and Brighton will all be pushing. Depends on how much we prioritise Champions League over the EPL games and also how much the noise about money is a smokescreen. Although I do agree that I don't think it is a smokescreen, there are ways around it (like Chelsea) and last year we heard much of this then signed Isak from nowhere so the sudden signing of one or two ballers wouldn't shock me. I just wouldn't be shocked if it didn't happen either. One more defender, a 6-7th place finish is still good progress. The issue would then be that if we weren't pushing for top 4 the following season then some of our players would move onwards I suspect.
We definitely need a quality left-footed attacking LB considering all of our left-winger's are right-footed cut inside type players so we need a LB to make the overlapping diversionary run constantly to make the space for the wingers tricks to work. Burn is limited going forward because of his size. Targett is decent at both defending/attacking but he's not elite at either. Lewis is a right-footed LB so he'd be cutting back inside constantly like the wingers already do which would crush the space and make it easy for the opposition to defend. If we could buy someone like Dimarco from Inter it would open up our playstyle to be as threatening on the left as we are currently are with Tripps & Almiron on the right... and give Sandro a fellow Italian to speak to
Agree 100%. We beed a natural left footed LB who can both defend and support attack. IF we were to finish the transfer window with Tonali, Barnes, Livramento and Dimarco, then it will be a very decent window. Plus the youngsters we've brought in, including Minteh. Add to that offloading the likes of ASM, Darlow (and hopefully a few other of the fringe players), to bring some money in and trim the squad & wage bill, then even better.
Did you know that Trev took Steven Spielberg to court for stealing his ideas? "Jurassic Park: The Lost World" was the original title of Trev's book, detailing his many attempts to trace the field he used to play in when he was a bairn.
All I can say about it is that we clearly didn't want him, otherwise, we'd have signed him. Good player - I rate him, personally, but we can't buy everyone. Got to trust the team are making the right calls, and so far they have.
I know Howe has said a few times that he wants proven PL players. Diaby looks a fantastic player, but I guess Barnes has the proven PL experience he's looking for (and counts towards 'home grown', albeit not for the CL 'club trained' element).
Barnes------------Isak--------------Almiron ----Joelinton----Bruno----Tonali----------- New LB-----Botman---Schar------Trippier -----------------------Pope-------------------- Looks like all we're missing is a bit of defensive cover and that's it really.
I actually think we will surprise people again this season, i think our trump card lies in our coaching, fitness and team spirit. Granted its a long gruelling season but I think our transfer business so far has set us up nicely. *edited to add a fourth I think.
Howe has also said that he only wants players who really want to sign for us - enough to run here bare footed. Diaby apparently had a chance to join but rejected us last summer. Perhaps that also played into it.
Tonali, Barnes and Livramento would be a very good window. Livramento can play left back and would be better than what we currently have (although I do like Targett) A couple of loan to buy options (Chiesa please!) would really top it off.
