Sell, sell, sell! Buy, buy, buy!

I've been harsh on this lad!
Newcastle United are looking like they want to secure Premier League survival the hard way as they make what should have been a relatively easy task look immensely difficult.

Now we all know that injuries are ripping apart what is a frail squad. Many people have said all season long that if we suffer an injury here or there then we are screwed. It’s looking that way at the moment as injuries to certain players like Joey Barton seem to be hitting us harder than ever and exposing areas of our squad in which we are woefully short.

This is not a novel suggestion and, as pointed out above, is something that many people have said throughout the season. It was nailed on that we would get a heavy bout of injuries at some point during the season as it’s what Newcastle seem to do, so it was nailed on that we would have to involve some of our squad players at some stage. It is a squad game after all…

I seem to read a lot of comments that say something along the lines of ‘player x isn’t good enough, sell him’ or ‘player x should be nowhere near the first team’ or comments along those lines. I’ve been guilty if it myself, especially with Ryan Taylor.

Did we really expect anything different though? I mean we have just returned to the Premier League this season, so is it not a bit extreme to be suggesting that we should have a team of polished players that can make an impact in another players absence? Put simply, some of our player are Championship standard, but this should come as no surprise as we have just come from, well you know where……

This is why this summer is vitally important to the club, and why the transfer activity that we conduct could be the making of us, or indeed the breaking of us.

I know there will be a clamour for a top name at some point. People may deny it, but at some point there will be a player linked that will ***** the ears of many fans and will become someone that we should buy. I’m not saying that would be a bad thing but if you look at the situation that we find ourselves in now, would spending a fair bit of cash on one player be the right thing to do? What would happen if said player got injured? We would be back to scrabbling around in our reserve squad and hoping that they can ‘do a job’ until the more expensive (and hopefully better) player comes back into the team.

The summer transfer window should be used to make the squad better. In my view that would make more sense than just splashing cash on one player and putting all of you eggs in one basket. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love the sort of quality that one of those expensive players could bring, but to me the rebuilding process is going to take a bit of time and won’t happen overnight.

This summer we should be moving a couple of players on, and should be replacing them with better models. Doing that would make the squad stronger and would ensure that we don’t find ourselves in the situation we find ourselves in at the moment. It would ensure that we have adequate cover for when injuries inevitably happen again.

In my view anyway… but then again we need to make sure we’re in the Premier League again next season first!

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.

34 thoughts on “Sell, sell, sell! Buy, buy, buy!

  1. Agree – it’s about squad, not individuals. But first it’s about preventing a mass exodus of our best players. But I think I’ve made that point once or twice before. 😉

    We only have two really weak positions: LB and RW. We definitely need a striker, but at least we do have options there, thanks to Besty stepping up to the plate so well.

    I’d like to see another LB (van Arnie!), two RW, another DM and a small, quick, poacher-type striker. All in the Tiote/Benny bracket, i.e. not total unknowns, but young enough to grow in value too. A few million each.

    Oh, and half a dozen more younguns as good as Ferguson would be nice!

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  2. Oh Btw, More comments/thoughts needed in my discussion thread in forum.

    is dead. 😥

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  3. We will stay up and i could fully see us getting to 40 points in the next two matches.

    If i was Pardwho i would put all me eggs in one basket and bring in proper top flight strikers Gervinho, Lavezzi and Wickham for me, If he is given the Carroll money that is (which is about as likely as Gary Glitter getting a job in the wacky warehouse 🙄 )

    I reckon we could get away with Ferguson as back up to Enrique and Kadar can play left back as well, I would rather see young talented lads promoted from the academy than bringing in more players players like Perch and Ryan Taylor.

    I also think with a fully fit Ben Arfa, Gosling and Lua Lua for next season we have a bit of strength in depth in midfield and Alan Smith to boot… 😯

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  4. AOD – I’ve been harsh for calling him ****. I shouldn’t have said it, just quietly thought it along with others as well 😎

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  5. Rich – He is garbage though. After Bolton I never want to see him in a Newcastle shirt again 👿

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  6. It’s very rare I have I go at Toon players but I didn’t even thik he was good enough for us in the Championship….soz but that’s my opinion of him 🙁

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  7. Absolutely. I was quite worried hearing AP claiming that we will be signing four or five players in the summer. We have a very small squad and some players are looking increasingly likely to move. Bearing tha in mind, four or five wouldn’t be enough, would it? I think we gonna need at least six to seven players to really establish ourselvs as a pl club.

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  8. The fact of the matter is that, unless we get another Carroll-esque bid of a ridiculous amount, we shouldn’t sell anyone unless they really want to go or they are like Alan Smith, in that they are replaceable with superior talent and less wages (Beram Kayal please).

    Outside that, we need guys like Ryan Taylor and James Perch (awaits attacks) to fill out our paper thin squad. These guys alone can play every position on the pitch except goalkeeper. That is hugely important to even just fill the bench with, as they are essentially five players in one.

    Hughton loved utility players and while it isn’t great in that they aren’t great at any one position, the fact they are solid in the vast majority of positions makes them like golddust.

    We don’t have the squad to allow us to cull our current squad. We need to bulk up in the summer and then use January/next summer to clear out the least likely to play.

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  9. Batty, wish I could mate! How was your beauty sleep last night? Comfy mattresses n all lol…

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  10. fj,
    You have practically packed Kayal’s bags packed for him. Can actually see you outside st James with a banner campaigning for his signature!

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  11. Widowmaker@12, Pardew also said we would sign at least 3 but more likely 4 players in the last window, and no one thought it would be 2 frees, 1 crocked and 1 pensioner and also 2 conract renewals and there were also promises no one would be sold.

    Sorry to labour the point, which is, nothing is as it seems to be with this club, all smoke and mirrors.

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  12. Just finished work. KO at 5 a side at 6.30…..fookin knackad like !

    Wish me luck against the sweaty socks 😉

    One of the lads is a toon fan, the majority support either old firm or Arsenal 😯

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  13. I’m still just miffed about letting Routledge go with no replacement. Mental move.

    We’re possibly without Jonas, Barton and Raylor for the next match. Between them they are our only wide players… and Barton only at a push… and Raylor.. nuff said about Raylor… to cover two positions. Which part of the word ‘strengthening’ do they not get??

    I just hope Mr Carr a co are about to pull a blinder this summer; they certainly had a major brain-fart in January.

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  14. Bobby,
    Being a toon fan is like being a mushroom.

    Just fed **** and kept in the dark 😐

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  15. If we can avoid any of our starting 11, I’d argue we only need 3 or 4 players of the right quality to really step up a gear and fill all the gaps. Half a dozen ‘ones for the future’ on top.

    Trouble is, that’ll cost about £20m in fees, plus wages.. so about a £40m commitment. If we have to up our offers to the Joeys, Joses and Collos because they don’t trust the club’s intentions any more, that’s another £10m gone…

    Oops.

    Mind you – it depends on the operating balance of the club. If Ashley’s no longer having to fork out £20m a year just to keep us afloat, then perhaps he won’t be averse to putting some of the change in for players.

    More pills for me!! Wooo! I collect spoons!! Icky-icky-icky-cornflake-boobs!!

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  16. On topic- Truthfully, I think I’d rather have 5-7 decent-to-good players to fill out the squad than have 1-3 top signings. The way I see it, we need one classy striker and one more up-and-coming striker for depth, let the cookie monster go, bring in a RW and LB, maybe sign a couple more talented youths to cover various positions and learn their trade, and we’re sorted.

    Just looking at what we have on the books now (injuries aside), it’s easy to see that we have a decent squad.

    GK’s- Harps, Krul, Forster
    CB’s- Colo, Willo, Saylor, Kadar, Campbell
    FB’s- Jose, Simmo, Perch, Ferguson
    CM’s- Tugboat, JB, Tiote, Benny, Guthrie, Smudge, Vuckic
    Wings- Gutierrez, Gosling, Raylor, LuaLua
    ST’s- Shola, Best, Lovenkrands, Ranger, Kuqi

    Not entirely bad, but it’s easy to see that we need at least one fullback. I’d almost be inclined to go with a cover for right back. Unless we wanna go in for Taiwo and lose Jose, I think Ferguson/Kadar can deputize on the left pretty well.

    Midfield is sorted.

    Wings could use some beefing up on the right. I think with Benny on the left and Gutierrez for cover, we’ll be fine. We DEFO need a RW. Probably two, actually.

    Obviously, we need a really good striker, but could probably use another decent one for cover. I believe in letting Best start as our #2 striker.

    It’s imperative that we ship out Perch, Smith, Raylor, and Kuqi. Getting rid of Smith’s wages alone will open the door for two or three younger, fitter players to come in and make names for themselves.

    So, ship out 4, bring in at least 5. I think we’d be just about sorted at that point. Then just concentrate on developing the youth squad and bringing them into the first team.

    Come on, Fat Man. Splash the cash to get the players we NEED.

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  17. Bobby,

    I know, it’s frustrating sometimes to live with the current management team. Sadly, I am getting used to it and I think many others are the same. We are lowering our expectations both on and off the field and this is perhaps the first and also the most important part of the so called five year plan? 😕

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  18. I think we need 4 plus replacements for each player that leaves in the summer……ain’t gonna happen tho imo 🙁

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