Newcastle United’s transfer policy is, without a doubt, one of most debated subjects amongst pundits and fans. With the January transfer window drawing ever closer, further speculation and rumors circle amongst journalists, hyped by a larger demographic of fans interacting via social media.
By and large, chief scout Graham Carr bears the brunt of the majority of criticism. With Newcastle sitting precariously in the bottom three, there must always be a scapegoat. I would like, if possible, to offer a medium, an alternative view, which I believe in and support. I believe Newcastle United’s transfer policy works, however, time is needed to fully see the benefits.
Stuck in the bottom three, struggling to attain credible results and most importantly points, journalists and media pundits will attempt to pick apart the problems at the club. Year in and year out, however, these people adopt the same old narrative. Ever growing foreign contingents within squads provides them with easy targets. “Clubs must have more English players and Premier League experience.” Or, a club requires “a spine” or more “heart”. I find this narrative utterly ridiculous.
English players are placed upon a pedestal not bestowing their ability. If these English players were so good, why then does the national team continually struggle? Why are English players falling behind elite counterparts in terms of technical and physical ability? These kinds of questions are never thought of by media and fans. These cliches have been repeated by so many, for too long, that it must be true. Furthermore, why are players being judged by their birthplace? A birthplace should never be considered in the recruitment stages.
FA rules stipulate a proportion of the squad must be of English origin. I can understand this so we can, at least, attempt to give future academy lads a chance of success. However, the downside to this is that English players of significant quality become commodities, bound by inflation.
Take Andros Townsend for example. Having fallen out of favour with coaching staff at Tottenham, he’s now apparently looking for a move to revitalize his career.
Now the rumored fee is £14million. Whilst this could be nothing more than a rumour, it further highlights my case. Due to his nationality, the price tag placed upon him is inflated beyond his ability. Why should any club be looking at paying this amount for a reserve? With his name linked to Newcastle, I can fully understand why the club would look elsewhere. He may have played a number of Premier League fixtures and have the ever important “Premier League experience” but so what! Has Townsend played in the Champions League? Has Townsend played in international finals and semi-finals? The answer to this is no. But he has played in the “best league in the world”, lines spouted by no one other than Sky in order to ensure subscriptions are continually purchased and profits remain high.
2008-2009 – the dreaded season Newcastle was relegated. I would like to look over that squad. If English players give you heart and spine, why were we relegated? A squad comprising: Michael Owen, Kevin Nolan, Joey Barton, Stephen Taylor, Nicky Butt and Alan Smith. Let’s also take into consideration Premier League experience of Mark Viduka and Damian Duff. If you listened to the media this team should never have been relegated!
Aston Villa, this season, are stranded at the bottom of the Premier League. Seven of their starting XI in the previous fixture away to Norwich were of English nationality or Premier League experience, with Lescott omitted – an ex-England international. There is a pattern forming here, yet you can guarantee not one journalist will report it.
Whilst I know many will hide behind this overused narrative and football is a game of opinions, the above is not an opinion but facts. Facts which cannot be argued nor disputed. They happened and are still happening to this day.
The summer at Newcastle brought the big change – new head coach backroom team and a plan to overhaul the squad. Having one of the highest net spends in Europe, the board looked to readdress the problems of last season. The problems, however, are deep and require more than a cosmetic overhaul. Had you looked at the team which started the final game of the season you see clear deficiencies: a leaky defense; little to no creativity; a clear lack of goal threat and potency offensively. Look at the squad in detail. You could have made a strong argument to sell the vast majority of them. Krul, Dummett, Taylor, Colo, Tiote, Sissoko, Cisse, Obertan, Gouffran, and Willamson, the list goes on.
Newcastle acquired a creative entity in Gini Wijnaldum, a striking option with huge potential in Aleksandar Mitrovic and a central defender in Chancel Mbemba. All three have taken to the squad and clearly enhanced what we had at our disposal. Whilst many will claim these players should’ve been sold, let’s be realistic. Who will buy these with long contracts and large wages? Offloading, what I perceive is, dead wood is problematic. With a cap of 25 players afforded to clubs, why would you continue to pay a player if he is not in the squad? Giving that we also spent £50million, how much further do you really want? Budgets are a part and parcel of business and, whilst it must be nice to support Manchester City and see their owners lavish millions, we operate within our means. Such is the reason we require several windows in which a squad can be shaped to propel ourselves to higher echelons of the league.
The squad at Steve McClaren’s disposal, in my mind, is capable of attaining results. There is quality within the ranks, however, we must then ask ourselves are they being utilized to their maximum. Given that Jack Colback and Paul Dummett are selected every week, my answer to that would be no. Both players are English and boast Premier League experience, yet you won’t see two worse players than the two local lads. Both are proof and testimony you don’t require ability to achieve dreams – in Newcastle anyway.
Graham Carr has purchased players who can make a difference, but he neither coaches them nor gives them instructions. The blame for this lies at the door of the coaching team.
The point of this article is to dispel many ridiculous narratives and my want for fans and media to see beyond cliches. Newcastle United is in a precarious position, but it’s not the end of the world and relegation can be avoided. January with a couple of further signings, notably a left back and centre back, can see relegation averted and better times ahead. Rebuilding a squad requires patience and understanding. Rome was not built in a day. Every club has deficient areas and they strive to improve in the same way.
