The future is bright, says Pardew.

Alan Pardew insists that the future is bright at NUFC as the race to sign players and tie down existing ones begins.

But with careful scouting supplied by Graham Carr, Pardew himself, John Carver and the rest of the backroom staff the current manager believes that the club can attract the players that will make those that are wondering whether or not they can achieve their goals at St James' Park realise that they can be part of a successful future at Newcastle United.

It would appear that scouting will feature heavily, and rightly so, as the club looks to recruit champagne players, like Cheik Tiote and Hatem Ben Arfa, on beer money. It's great if it can be achieved, but it's a risk all the same. Pardew told Sky Sports:

"That's not easy, not for the sort of fee we paid. There are players like Cheik out there, but they are a lot more money than we paid for Cheik. It's difficult, but it's something that Graham Carr, myself and my scouting team are all on top of."

"Getting players over the line, whether they are players you have at the club already or new players, is one of the most difficult parts of the game, convincing players that the future here is bright, which I think it is," he added.

So we're looking for value for money then? Diamonds in the rough basically. It's about what I expected to be honest. I didn't expect us to start splashing cash here, there and everywhere now we are a bit flush with the Carroll cash, and to be honest I would be a bit annoyed if we did just blow a load on one player as we need numbers with quality through the door more than one major signing.

As Pardew mentioned above, selling the club to players is something that is vitally important. It's something Kevin Keegan was very good at, and I actually think Pardew will be rather good at it aswell. I mean he does like to talk doesn't he? Hopefully he can talk a few players into joining us instead of a team in the Champions League for example. It sounds outlandish, but it's part of Pardew's plan apparently. He continued:

"We have got a good foundation to go forward now, so attracting players shouldn't be a problem and hopefully the financial side of it, we can find."

"We are competing against Champions League teams and foreign teams - it's always difficult. They are not going to be done quickly, but hopefully they will be done."

These are all just words of course, but hopefully Pardew and the rest of the backroom staff can pull something out the bag. Our need for strengthening the squad is there for all to see so it will be nice if these words can be put into action. If not, Pardew will end up with yet more egg on his face.

Hopefully it doesn't come to that, for all our sakes!