Chaos or a Cunning Plan?

So far it's not been the summer many expected. Les considers the situation.

Looking at social media you would be forgiven for thinking that our club was about to plunge into the abyss. All the hype and good times from the 24-25 season has receded into the mist, a long awaited trophy and qualification for the Champions League are but a distant memory replaced by frustration and nerves.

Even when we have no football, no jeopardy and we are meant to be relaxing with a sunny beer the life of a Newcastle fan is still a mixture of feeling physically sick and losing your mind isn’t it?

What could cause this?

Well we went into the summer with baited breath, no PSR issues to worry about, our most successful season for 70 years had unlocked the coffers and we were anticipating news on our stadium redevelopments. All the things we love. The new strip was out and used on the last day of the season, a thing of beauty and hoovered up in all its guises like it was make of golden fibres.

After the well documented PSR transfer embargo of recent seasons the shackles were off, we could start to anticipate when we would be signing players and who they would be. We had long standing interest in the likes of Guéhi, Mbeumo, and Trafford. The work was done and the ground laid and even Eddie had announced that he wanted to get transfers done quickly.

So fast forward three weeks and we’ve seen none of the above. Instead it’s been replaced with a few worrying happenings. Firstly our Director of Football Paul Mitchell has resigned, with less than a year under his belt. We already knew his relationship might be a strained one with Eddie Howe but it would seem it wasn’t workable and going into a really vital transfer window without your chief negotiator seems a little problematic.

We already knew his biggest ally Darren Eales, our CEO, was leaving due to ill health so its maybe not that much of a shock?

The long anticipated announcement of what lies ahead for our stadium plans has again been kicked into the long grass. With no further information released, it’s creating an impression that maybe Newcastle United isn’t that high up on the list of priorities of our majority owners PIF.

Our rivals are extremely active in the transfer market and expanding their incomes through innovative business deals: selling your own women’s team to yourself or spending on transfers like there is no tomorrow when you’re waiting for the verdict of 115 charges being the standouts. Meanwhile, we have chosen to be prudent and follow the rules to a T.

I actually thought that PIF were going to be the disrupters that broke the PSR stranglehold. Their record so far in golf, boxing and with the Saudi League are the examples of their tactics and strategies. Sadly it seems we have the kitten version - bland and beige if you may.

Luckily we have Eddie Howe. He is the man with his finger plugging the gaps in the dyke. He is a miracle man really, as his achievements so far have exceeded anything any of us thought were possible on his appointment. Saving THAT side from relegation, a cup win, two UCL qualifications and Premier League finishes of 4th, 7th and 5th are quite unbelievable really.

So as we stand our main target for RW has turned us down for the golden $. Can’t blame him really and it looks like Guéhi will be going to Liverpool if reports are true. Even Delap turned us down.

Where does that leave us then? This summer is pivotal for us as a competitive force in the Premier League and future European qualifications. If we don’t have a successful window, bringing quality first-team starters in at CB, RW and ST, while managing to shuffle the deck and reduce our GK squad (yes it’s a squad), as well as replacing some players who aren’t even considered for selection these days like Targett and Longstaff, then I can see it throwing us back into the mid table section of clubs and we will be competing with the Fulhams, Brightons and Bournemouths of the league.

Now if you went back a few years we would’ve snapped your arm off for that scenario, but times have changed and it’ll be a real wrench to go back to being also rans in my book. A dead rubber of a transfer window will see our stellar players agitate to move on, quite justifiably, and it wouldn’t surprise me to see Eddie Howe call time on the “Project” if he’s sent into battle yet again without any backing whatsoever.

I actually think we will sign four or five players across this window. The club regularly make signings that none of us anticipated, Tonali and Isak being the examples. My worry is that it’s plainly obvious that when given the choice, pretty much every player will choose several “bigger” clubs over us. We aren’t the club of dreams or “wages” like we’d hoped we would be, and I honestly think none of the players that have been appearing in the media about possible transfers to the club will happen.

We will sign lads who are young, 22-23 with high ceilings, sensible fees and wage expectations, and we will be banking on the Eddie factor, he who can polish a turd so to speak. It’s what he does very well but in every example so far players have had to wait months before they get selection as starters, simply because his tactics are so thorough, they need to be learned and practiced. Apart from Kieran Trippier every big name now started after being slowly introduced.

I don’t think we can compete for the oven ready signings, we just can’t. They chose salary over project and who can blame them? Modern players are a different breed now and are very slick business wise with their agents being their most close confidants.

With this in mind it wouldn’t surprise me to see our line up against Villa being Pope, Livramento, Schär, Burn, Hall, Tonali, Bruno, Joelinton, Gordon, Murphy and Isak. We might have a really new and interesting bench mind, giving us a bit if hope from that perspective, but Eddie always goes with tried and tested. Be never just rolls the dice and has a suck it and see me moment, does he?

Away from the pitch I’d love to see some urgency around the appointments that require a resolution soon. A new CEO for the long term, please, a new DoF who can work in tandem with Eddie, some good commercial deals from Peter Silverstone. Does he still work for us? Oh and some news on the stadium would be welcome too. There’s far too much up in the air at the moment, and it creates a lot of unrest. I just hope it doesn’t do that within our playing squad.

Chaos or a cunning plan? Only time will tell…….

Les Cash

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