Transfer Rumours 5 Points too many?

A good article by Ed Harrison here.... he's on the money for me.

http://www.nufcblog.com/2015/01/19/this-is-why-newcastle-lack-interest-in-january-transfer-market/

If Newcastle don’t bring in at least one experienced player in the January transfer window, it’s a decent bet that one of the major reasons Alan Pardew left Newcastle in early January was that the Newcastle Board refused to back him in this transfer market.

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Lee Charnley and Mike Ashley at Newcastle

We have been short of one striker all season, when we failed to replace Loic Remy in the summer, and we started the season with only three experienced center-backs – and now Steven Taylor is out injured for the season.

Any normal club would have ambitions to bring in a striker and center-back in this January transfer window – but it doesn’t seem like Newcastle are interested.

Maybe we have 5 points too many for Mike Ashley to spend the cash – because if we were further down the table and a couple of points above the relegation zone, we know Mike Ashley would act and probably get personally involved too.

That’s exactly what Mike did after we were beaten 2-1 at home to Reading two years ago on January 23rd, and we were only 2 points above the drop zone on 21 points from the 23 games played.

In the following week we brought in four players – Massadio Haidara, Moussa Sissoko, Yoan Gouffran and Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa – and we had already signed Mathieu Debuchy earlier that month.

And would you believe it but we won our next two games – a 2-1 win at struggling Aston Villa, and then an historic 3-2 home win over Chelsea – what a game that was – when Moussa Sissoko scored two late goals to give us what was a sensational win.

But Mike Ashley has only one motivating factor as owner of Newcastle United, and that’s to keep us in the Premier League so we get the big bucks every May.

There are 13 days left in this January transfer window, but it’s noticeable we have not been linked with many players this January – we have 5 points too many – that’s the reason.

And if Mike needed another excuse for not spending any money in January – it’s that we have no head coach and when he’s appointed – if he’s appointed – it will then be too late to bring in any new players.

Perfect!

Yes, we are being cynical, but we are also close to the truth.

 

Good article and I agree 100% with it. Still think we will be in a relegation dogfight though and our game with Hull is a 6 pointer.

 

I personally find the silence from the club staggering. As I've said, it's as though they don't feel they owe the fans anything. There'd just be no club without them, there'd be no Sky/BT, no advertising, no Premier League without the fans. You'd think Mike Ashley and Lee Charnley would do well to remember that their wealth, their jobs, only exist because of fans of sport.

 

Let me ask this, without reading the whole article: which other clubs have strengthened so far this January? I don't see the likes of Stoke, Villa, Everton etc. strengthening? Ask me if I would like a striker and a CB of decent quality and I'd answer yes. Do we currently have enough to finish much higher than 8th/9th at best? Maybe not. Do we currently have enough to finish above the bottom 6? More than enough.

If we don't finish in the top half this season it's down to the lack of management, lack of clarity from the board, lack of anything BUT players. I'm convinced that we have a squad capable of finishing comfortably in the top half this season, which is why it's all the more annoying that there appears to be no lack of urgency in the appointment of a new head coach. Get a capable, likeable, technical enthusiastic coach in, and MAYBE a player or two and whole mood changes.

 

I'm not sure we have a top 10 squad personally. I do agree there is lack of management too everywhere in the club at present which is also unhealthy. I do not think that much of our squad compared to others though. Two or three injuries in certain areas (and we seem to have a lot of injury prone types), and we are looking at the likes of Willo, Gouf or Sammy. Being honest I think there teams at the bottom who have better reserve options than those.

 

Villa's owner wants to sell, so they will only purchase with any money made through sales

Everton spent 28m on Lukaku in the summer. I would take a quiet Jan if we spent 28M on a striker in the summer

Stoke have brought in lots of players under Mark hughes and are renowned for having deals done on the last day. Deadline day is like new years eve for the people (and i use the term people lightly) of stoke

 

I can't to be honest with you.

Most teams in the league are in trouble if they have a few injuries to key players, almost all would be in trouble if they had an injury list like ours.

You say you don't feel we have a top 10 squad but we're missing De Jong, Arrons, Obertan, Abheid, Santon, Saylor, Raylor and probably a few others. As well as having Tiote and Cisse away. Shocking list to be honest. yes one or two of those players wouldn't get a start but most of them would. The likes of Obertan and Arrons were our better players at the start of the season. The reality is, a fully fit NUFC squad is a player or two away from the top 7/8 with a decent manager. IMO anyway.

 

How long do we use the injury excuse though? The likes of Obertan, Aarons, SDJ all have to prove they are not just injury prone as seems to be the case. Santon, Raylor always get their fair share of injuries. We buy a lot of injury prone players, so you have to factor that into your assessment of a squad. If you know players are going to be injured, then what ifs are neither here nor there. You know Gouf/Sammy/Willo are going to have to play.

Take Hull for example - they are in the bottom 3. They have 4 centre backs better than Willo (Chester/Dawson/Davies/Maguire). I think I'd take any of their wide men over Sammy or Gouf (Brady/Ramirez/Snodgrass/Ince/Elmohamedy). I'm not saying they have great players themselves looking at those options, but they are better than ours. Our first team lads outstrip theirs I think. But if our plan is simply to hope Saylor/Colo/Aarons/Obertan stay fit then we are mad as a *****ose.

Same goes for QPR. Not great options themselves but I'd rather a few of their back players compared to what we have. Its not an 11 man game, its 25 man squad. When we are at full tick, great we are a top 10 side. How often is any PL side at full strength? Let alone one littered with injury prone players.

 

Our squad is 12-14 place at best.
All clubs have injuries.