Transfer Window

[David Kelly 1260]

Well now that it's over (unless we have some freebies up our sleeves) what is everyones perception of how we've done?

 

For me the positives are;

Guttierez - Looks to have quality, pace and a very good work ethic. I think he's going to be a big hit.

Colloccini - The most composed looking defender I've seen other than Woodgate. Possibly mightn't be great in the air against a really big guy but I think his other abilities more than cover for that.

Gutherie - I wasn't expecting anything from him so he's certainly surpassed that. Showing promise.

Bassong - Promssing and for the money looks good value

Xisco - Know nothing about him other than what I've read but he seems to be a good choice to provide cover up front in more of a Viduka role and make that position his own in the future.

Owen - He's still here.

Carr - Bye bye fatty.

Rammage, Emre, Rozenhal - All dead wood that we won't miss.

 

On the other hand the negatives are;

Faye - Was our best centreback and while I think we have now got better in Coloccini, I think he would have been a good partner or at least squad player.

Owen - Still no contract for what Keegan said would be his most important signing of the summer.

Squad - Woefully thin (as shown to painfull effect on Saturday). I know getting quality in was paramount but we needed a greater quantity. We still have no natural cover for either fullback.

Midfield - I'm not convinced we are anywhere near strong enough in the centre of the park. Butt is getting on and his passing is poor, Barton has been a liability to the club so far, Gutherie looks promissing but he isn't going to boss the midfield at this stage, Nacho is a completely unknown quantity but I really can't see us buildling our midfield around a guy who's only on loan for the season (with little skope for it to turn into a permanent deal given that he's only just signed for Valencia) and has never played in a top league. We needed more.

Smith and Ameobi - Still here, still useless and in Smith's case disgracefully well paid.

 

Overall while I like our apparent transfer policy of bring young(ish) players in that are driven to play for the club and could be here for a long time, I think the state of our squad isn't good at all. I'm content that we have good option up front and I don't mind the look of our starting defence but I don't think our midfield (particularly the centre of it) is of the quality needed to push up into contention for the european positions and when you look at who we have as cover a few injuries to key players will leave us struggling.

I would give us a 6/10.

[Fop 1]

Well we do seem to have brought in some decent players, but we are paper thin.

 

 

And January being pirate season is never a good time to be desperately trying to strengthen.

[Geordieboyo 0]

I was thinking about the squad on my way into work today.

 

Goal Keepers

Given

Harper

Forster

Sodeberg

Krul (I aint heard anything about his move materialising)

 

I think we are well stocked in this department, expecting to hear about Harpers contract by the end of the month. Hopefully he will sign for another couple of years as I don't think the young keepers are ready to be number 2 yet

 

Defenders

 

Enrique

Beye

Taylor

Colo

Cacapa

Edgar

Bassong

 

I would have liked to see cover brought in for the full-backs, but the first choice back four (Colo,Enrique,Beye,Taylor) looks decent enough. Hopefully either Bassong will step up to challenge Taylor or we have someone in mind for January. Haven't seen or heard enough about the likes of Tozer to comment on the strength of our young underbelly.

 

Midfielders

Butt

Guthrie

Spiderman

Nacho

Duff

Zoggy

Barton (Assuming he didn't make a last minute move which we haven't heard about)

 

Probably our weakest area, although Spidey and Zoggy have potential to be a more than decent wing pairing. We desperately need to strengthen central midfield in Jan, as I doubt Guthrie is ready to take over from Butt full time. A fit and focussed Barton will make a huge difference, as would Duff finding some form (Flying pig time). Again I don't know enough about the young reserves. If Nacho fits in well then our attacking trio here would be pretty good imo.

 

Strikers

Owen

Martins

Viduka

Xisco

Smith

Ameobi

Carroll

 

Owen Martins Viduka is a great strike force on paper (and on the pitch based on our run in last season). Shame about Vidukas fitness. Hopefully Owen can continue in the same fitness vein as last season. Xisco is highly rated and has the tools to be a success in the Premier League. Martins is the key, his pace gives the team an extra dimension, hopefully his all round game can improve. So first 4 look good (fitness permitting).

We have to assume Shola is shot in terms of being a viable option after Arsenal. Smith needs a run in the reserves where he can hopefully score a few goals. There was a decent player in there at one point. Carroll needs to go back on loan somewhere.

 

5/6 down to 12th will be tight this year, this squad is as good as any in that pack. With a decent run with injuries I reckon we will have a good season, we need re-inforcements in key areas, hopefully the three headed beast ain't sitting back and we are identifying January targets from today.

 

There will be ups and downs, we can't expect to be beating the top 4 away from home and no doubt we will drop points to teams we should be beating. But I'm excited for the season, the best set of players since Bobby's reign.

[Jusoda Kid 1]

Have to say like I'm a bit disappointed, a few injuries and were fucked. I think we'll probably do ok this season and be on course for a european spot then have a bad run of injuries and end up out of contention.

[Loco 0]

I was thinking about the squad on my way into work today.

 

Goal Keepers

Given

Harper

Forster

Sodeberg

Krul (I aint heard anything about his move materialising)

 

I think we are well stocked in this department, expecting to hear about Harpers contract by the end of the month. Hopefully he will sign for another couple of years as I don't think the young keepers are ready to be number 2 yet

 

 

he might finally realise he will never be Newcastle`s no 1 no matter how well he does unfortunately. If he`s content to sit on the bench then fair enough he can stay.......

 

Anyways, I`m happy Krul hasn`t been sold......would have been beneficial perhaps to loan him out though

[2bias 3]

im a bit concerned bout lack of another defender which is what kk said he wanted. other than that looks reasonable

[Norbert Colon 0]

Could have been worse - shame to see finnan go to espanyol - i always liked him as a player - its just a bit frustrating because of the last few years we are viewed as a middle ranking club and have seem to have lost the panache and excitement of the robson era - I still think keegan can do it with a bit of time but it would have been nice if ashley had done a shinawatra when asked by the abu dhabi people and stepped aside

[Jimbo 175]

I'm still concerned that we haven't got adequate cover at either full-back positions, also the last couple of matches have highlighted for me that Nicky Butt needs to be replaced, also we still need a central playmaker and a right winger, not sure if Gonzales is good enough in either of those positions.

[JawD 99]

Looking at the window as a whole, I think we have brought in some solid players, and I think all of them improve our squad. So, like for like I think we have moved forward. Without perhaps any "trophy" signings that many crave, I think we have been cautious and yet seemingly quite clever in the players we have bought. While I dont know much about Xisco, if he is the quality of the other players that have came in its only a good thing. Plus he's young.

 

The downside Id say was squad size. While player for player we have improved, we did have a small squad. We still have a small squad and we do still have some dead wood that needs moving on. In particular Shola and Smith. But, with Owen (who I hope sorts his contract out soon), Martins, Viduka and Xisco I think we should have some good options up front so Shola and Smith we may not see much. Geremi is slow but can be a good squad player. Barton I'm willing to see how he gets on. He had a lot to prove to me when he joined, though he started to look good at the end of last year. I think we need to forget all the shite surrounding him (though he will get a ban anyway so will be out of the squad a while).

 

So, maybe not what we hoped, but a step forward either way. Time now to get behind what we do have and press on.

 

Also, we need to ignore whats going on at other clubs like City and just get behind our club. I still think top 8 is possible if we are not hit too hard by injuries and that would be improvement over last last few shambolic years.

[Happy Face 29]

Have to say like I'm a bit disappointed, a few injuries and were fucked. I think we'll probably do ok this season and be on course for a european spot then have a bad run of injuries and end up out of contention.

 

That's been the case for 3 years simply because our managerial turnover has meant that every window has been spent re-evaluating the first team rather than bolstering the squad.

 

Gutierez > Milner

Coloccini > Faye

Guthrie > Emre

Bassong > Ramage

 

Extra attacking options:

Gonzalez

Xisco

 

Reduced Defensive options

Rozehnal (who was loaned out most of last year anyway)

[toontoasey 0]

A permanent deal for a creative playmaker would of done me fine rather than a loan signing, ahh well beggers cant be choosers its all done and dusted, now we can get behind the team and hope we dont get a few injuries all at once, maybe we will be more active in the Jan window.

[Chaser 1261]

With the lack of depth in Midfield, Im glad we kept Smith as at least he can be called upon to do a job in CM if needs be. A stronger proposition than some of the younger players.

[Flair 0]

Have to say like I'm a bit disappointed, a few injuries and were fucked. I think we'll probably do ok this season and be on course for a european spot then have a bad run of injuries and end up out of contention.

 

That's been the case for 3 years simply because our managerial turnover has meant that every window has been spent re-evaluating the first team rather than bolstering the squad.

 

Gutierez > Milner

Coloccini > Faye

Guthrie > Emre

Bassong > Ramage

 

Extra attacking options:

Gonzalez

Xisco

 

Reduced Defensive options

Rozehnal (who was loaned out most of last year anyway)

 

What about Carr?

 

Btw, Emre>>Guthrie

Edited September 2, 2008 by Attain

[The Fish 10972]

It's hard to say how we've performed in the window until we've seen how the new lads fit into whatever system Keegan wants to employ. We've undoubtedly improved our squad and if (like Gemmil said) we'd made all our signings on deadline day, everybody would have been creaming themselves.

 

Guthrie raised a few eyebrows but has slot straight into the 1st team and has been one of our better performers, Gutierrez needs no fluffing from me and Colo has looked solid, a vast improvement on previous foreign centre halves... I believe that Keegan has limited himself to signing only those players that he knows will work in the system and the team he is building. I know a lot of people expect/are used to a big trophy signing... I can't think many of those that have worked really and we're not in the position to offer anyone European football, so we'd have had to offer the world in terms of wages to get someone to sign on the dotted line. It strikes me that we've got the right players to take us to the next level (Owning a UEFA cup spot) without breaking the bank, leaving plenty of cash to spend on fattening out the squad or dumping all on one player.

 

We've made a stack of youth signings, which is somewhere we've always lacked imo. Taylor was the last player to really break from the juniors to the first team.

 

Overall I'm satisfied, not bowled over, but certainly happier with the policy than I've been in the past.

[Ayatollah Hermione 14069]

Btw, Emre>>Guthrie

 

[Snake 0]

Btw, Emre>>Guthrie

 

 

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