No need for panic, yet.

Alan Pardew
Pardew still working on transfers.
With ten days left of the transfer window, Newcastle find themselves with only one confirmed signing through the door in the shape of Hatem Ben Arfa.

With squad numbers dwindling through injury, the need for signings is becoming crystal clear. A couple of injuries to key players and we are down to the bare bones. Basically the squad has quality, but it lacks quality in depth.

The easy solution is to just go out and by some players. It’s not quite that easy though as there is an awful lot of work to do when it comes to transfers. Contact has to be made, players need to agree, agents need to agree, clubs have to agree, forms have to be signed, registrations need to be completed and so on. This would make it likely that we are not going to sign anyone who will be available for the game against Tottenham tomorrow.

Despite that though, there is no need for panic stations yet. There is still time left in the transfer window, and with Newcastle playing their final game of the month tomorrow afternoon, it gives Alan Pardew and the club the time to fully concentrate on getting players through the door.

One of the players linked is Stephen Ireland, and if you believe the infamous Twitter dudes it would appear that a deal is done to bring the 24-year-old Irishman on loan to Newcastle with a view to a permanent move. Whilst unconfirmed, it is this careful approach that seems to be the direction the club is taking with regard to transfers.

January is notorious for over-inflated deals going through, like Darren Bent for example. A good striker, but at potentially £24 million I would say it was a deal that was over-priced. Newcastle are trying to avoid that same trap as they operate in the market.

I guess what I am trying to say is that we should be patient. The fact that we haven’t signed anyone other then Ben Arfa is largely irrelevant at the minute as the next time we play, after tomorrow of course, is after the window shuts. I’d expect us to have at least one new face before our next game at Fulham.

All we can do is wait and see. Pardew has said he is looking for new players and will be bringing in new signings, so I guess we can only go by that. Rumours will persist and, until we get new faces in, there will be doubts. Don’t panic though, as there is still time for things to change.

About toonsy

A lifelong Newcastle fan and current webmaster of this very 'blog who has the sole aim of creating a place by Newcastle United fans, for Newcastle United fans.

54 thoughts on “No need for panic, yet.

  1. Not sure if I want Ireland. He was top class at City but has gone down over the last 12 months or so. I suppose signing on loan may be good for we can if he’ll fit into the squad here. As you say though we’ll just have to be patient.

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  2. I don’t think new bodies are essential to be honest. Sure I’d like to see some more competition for a couple of positions but I think we have enough to survive and I’d rather keep the dosh for the summer. If good deals are out there then great but otherwise….

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  3. There are rumors tjhat Ireland has been dealing with injuries this past year, but they also say that when they have a dip in form.

    I’d be OK with the loan I guess if the wages aren’t astronomical. But I’d miuch rather see us stick with the plan and bring in a younger, up and coming type player

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  4. well tbf MDS he’s only 24 so he is still technically up and coming he’s still a very young lad 10 years of game time in him if he doesnt get any serious injuries.. if we can get him and the squad can pull him in they group and get him to love the game again he will be a fantastic signing, i loved him when he was at man city wanted us to sign him before he went to villa which he never really wanted to go too in the first place bt was forced out of city

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  5. @GeordieToon89

    Yeah I keep forgetting he is still that young, seems like he has been around forever. I just don’t want to see us overpay for a guy who has struggled as of late. Again, there are a lot of reasons for a player to struggle.

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  6. Is that cos his agent said on twitter “they might be big news for Newcastle fans today ” underwhelmed 🙄

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  7. I am currently reading this article written by KK and i am not sure what he said about this is true or not,does anyone know? 😕 ❓ 😕

    Given that the transfer involved a prolific striker leaving a North East club abruptly and unexpectedly, Bent’s move has been compared in some quarters to my decision to sell Andy Cole to Manchester United in January 1995, but the difference between the two deals is that myself and the Newcastle board decided ourselves that it was time for Andy to move on, not the other way around.

    He had of course performed tremendously well for us, scoring 55 times in 70 league games, but his time at Newcastle was coming to an end and he knew that. I said to the Newcastle board, ‘you won’t believe this, but we have to move on from Andy Cole’. We received a big transfer fee for the player – £6 million was a huge amount of money in 1995 – while Manchester United signed a centre forward who was ready to move on in his career.

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  8. Les Ferdinand was his replacement, but I didn’t bring him in immediately because the Cole deal all happened so quickly. In fact, it happened so quickly that Andy didn’t even know he was going to Manchester United until he was sat in the car, with his agent, driving down there. I rang him as he made his way to Manchester. Because it was such a big move we endeavoured to prevent the news from leaking out ; there was no Twitter in those days so it was a bit easier to keep it under wraps. When the transfer was completed there was no bitterness from me, the club or Andy. The supporters were a bit annoyed, but there was no real animosity. It worked well for all parties, and myself and Andy are still great friends. The difference is that Newcastle United controlled that deal, while I’m not sure Sunderland have controlled this one.

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  9. The Part,”but his time at Newcastle was coming to an end and he knew that.”

    I thought KK make a bad mistake selling him off. 😥

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  10. AOD – If the player wants to go, and the club are happy to let him go, then it’s the right decision. He was vindicated in the end.

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  11. If we were to bring in Tranquillo Barnetta and Bradley Johnson for a combined total of around 8-10million that would be fantastic business. Two hard working, fairly young players that can cover a whole host of positions. Their arrivals would give us cover for the ENTIRE midfield and also at left back.

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  12. @toonsy: But judging from what KK says,i interpret as he willing to sell cole off because of the huge money,and Cole didn’t even know he was leaving? 🙄

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  13. Ferguson has ruled out selling Welbeck to Sunderland. It just gets better and better for the Mackems 😆

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  14. Bardley Johnson??

    When was he linked with us before or after his fluke goal, I hear were after that lad from glentoran who scored the lu kang backheel… 🙄

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  15. Ok so maybe Ireland might not be to everyone’s liking but surely if he has seen how Barton has changed his career round at Newcastle surely he would be interested in doing the same. wouldn’t mind him coming to us as long as he was willing to put some effort in.

    With ten days left of the windwo i’m sure we will get a couple of players through the door. I’m not too worried, i’m just happy we signed Ben Arfa on a permanent deal

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  16. CC

    To be fair, he hasn’t been linked with us. However, he is out of contract in the summer ad refusing to sign a new one. Judging by the players we have been looking it thus far it seems logical for him to be a potential target.

    Forget the goal he scored, he was thoroughly impressive in midfield in throughout both games against Arsenal.

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  17. Johno- I’m just waiting for January to end my elf. If we get through the month with the core intact, Ben Arfa, and another winger I will be very satisfied.

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  18. MDS
    Posted January 21, 2011 at 4:33 PM

    “Johno- I’m just waiting for January to end myself.”

    Sounds a bit dramatic 😯

    You can get counselling you know 😉

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  19. I reckon it could soon turn ugly for the scum. Gerard Houllier has been on the radio and completely dismissed Bruce and Quinns’ claims that Villa tapped Bent up. Houllier claims the whole transfer was conducted properly and Sunderland top management are fabricating stories in order to save face. Surely the fans aren’t that stupid that they can’t see through this. It was clearly too much money for old Quinny to turn down.

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  20. El Toro
    Posted January 21, 2011 at 4:35 PM

    “Surely the fans aren’t that stupid that they can’t see through this.”

    Did you not know that Quinny ***** golden beans according to them lot? 😯

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  21. Bruce is showning yet again what a fat hypocrite he is.

    Kanu/Overmars goal against his Sheffield united team threatened to take the players off the pitch and bitched until he got a rematch, Fast forward the beach ball goal which was breaking the rules and he just laughed it off.

    A man who refused to play for Norwich again until he got his move to manure and has jumped from Crystal Palace, Brum and Wigan (twice) when a better off came along and then accuses Bent of disloyalty.

    Now his players are being tapped up, Im sure N’Zogbia and Rodallega arent well informed of their forthcoming wearyside moves… 🙄

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  22. Toonsy

    Im waiting for Ellis Short to see through Quinns blarney and see what a crock of **** this irish chancer has twisted his arm up his back to pay for…

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  23. By the way, Wayne has completed his loan move to QPR. He said “…It’s done” earlier on his Twitter.

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  24. Now we can bring someone in to fill in for routledge………. Speculation is about to get 10x more than it was before (if thats possible!)

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  25. I think Routledge going out on loan is to make way for someone who is going to come in. I know a lot of us don’t know why he’s gone out on loan but maybe this will give him a chance to work on his final ball.

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  26. Well with Smith out and Routledge on loan, we need to bring people in. A paper thin squad is starting to get even thinner. Maybe this will force our hand which is only a good thing.
    Obviously we still need to buy sensibly like, but this could encourage us to speed up with transfer targets.

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  27. lacedaemonian
    Posted January 23, 2011 at 9:29 AM
    The loaning out of Routledge makes no sense considering how small our squad is.

    It makes perfect sense in Ashley/NUFC world!

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