Toon transfer window round-up.
Posted on February 1st, 2010 | 76 Comments |
Add to that a glut of injuries that started to pile up, loan players returning to their respective clubs, and a series of uninspiring draws on the pitch, and you could see why people were starting to feel like the bubble had burst! So just what has happened in January?
We kicked off the month losing Marlon Harewood and Zurab Khizanishvili who both moved back to their original clubs, leaving us 2 players lighter. However,with interest in highly rated Leeds striker, Jermaine Beckord, things looked a bit more positive. Beckford handed in a written transfer request at the start of the month, adding fuel to the fire that he could be on his way to Tyneside. A sequence of bids up to the value of £1.8 million were subsequently knocked back by the Leeds board, with Ken Bates adding that manager Simon Grayson didn’t wan’t to sell the striker. The move pretty much died there.
Danny Simpson, on a 6 month loan from Manchester United limped out what seemed to be his last game for The Toon against West Brom, recieveing a fantastic ovation from the fans for his efforts at Newcastle as he was bing replaced. Simpson had always maintained that he loved playing at Newcastle, that the fans are fantastic and that he wanted to stay. A deal was agreed with Manchester United to make the move permanent but the player couldn’t agree personal teams and we looked resigned to losing him. However, in what can almost be described as a soppy ending to a love-story film, last ditch talks between Hughton, Calderwood and Simpson resulted in the player making his move permanent for a fee believed to be around £500,000.
Then came confusion when Turkish side Ankaradio ga-ga, clamied to have signed midlfielder Geremi leading to much rejoicing from Toon fans who had become increasingly irritated with the midfielders willingness to do nothing to earn his massive salary. This good feeling was short lived as the club released a statement the very next day denying he had been sold.
Next up, and completely out of the blue, news began circulating that Wayne Routledge had signed for The Toon. A complete surprise to many, but a welcome one that brought back memories of the night QPR came to St James’ and drew, with our new signing having a starring role in a very good performance from the away team. His debut was equally impressive, teeing up Nile Ranger for the 2nd and decisive goal against Crystal Palace. Another surprise signing, Mike Williamson from Portsmouth, also made his debut against Crystal Palace looking assured and composed at the back in the absence of the injured Steven Taylor.
Crystal Palace went into administration the day before their game at St James’ Park, and with the administrators not allowing hot prospect and the clubs biggest asset, Victor Moses, to play lead to a gush of excitement as it became clear that teams would be able to get the England Under-19 star for a knock down price. Chris Hughton admitted interest and we put a bid in amidst rumours from the players agent that Real Madrid and Arsenal were poised to make a move. The striker eventually plumped for Wigan, although how much of that was player preference or administrator choice we will never know.
Then came 2 more surprise packages, in the form of Fitz Hall and Patrick Van Aanholt. Van Aanholt has only signed for a month on-loan, presumably to cover the injured Jose Enrique, but he impressed on his debut so perhaps there could be an option to extend this loan to the end of the season. ‘One size fits’ Hall is with us until the end of the season, presumably as more cover should another injury happen.
Then onto deadline day itself. News broke early of interest in Coventry City’s Leon Best. Sky Sports News showed footage of the player arriving at the clubs Benton training HQ and the deal was concluded and confirmed just a few hours later, with the Republic Of Ireland international signing a 3.5 year deal. Out the door, finally, went Geremi. The Turkish team mentioned earlier that I couldn’t spell was the Cameroon internationals destination.
In conclusion then, a better window than many had hoped? I certainly think so! We have lost 3 players from the squad, including a rather large chunk of salary off the wages due to Geremi’s departure. We have replaced them with 5 new faces and retained the services of Danny Simpson, which leaves us with a very deep squad in comparison to other championship teams. These moves also introduce pace in the form of Best and Routledge, something that the team has needed for a while now.
Perhaps the most surprising aspect for me, is the fact we haven’t sold anyone other than Geremi. I started feeling nervous when players like Williamson were brought in as my first thought was who ‘would be sold? Colo or Taylor?’ I’m happy that none of our senior players have been sold!
Overall, I’d have to say this window has to get chalked down as a success. Our squad has grown in numbers and added in areas that we were thin in. Let’s all hope the new players can settle into their new surroundings quickly and propel us back to the Premier League.
Bring on Cardiff!
NUFCBlog Author: toonsy
toonsy has written 643 articles on this blog.
Dont think we can complain too much. We have cover in all the right areas. Yes an AM fould have been nice, but we hopefully we have enough now to get us up with the possibility of more loans coming in.
As for Moses, lets face it, put ourselves in a players view point and take away our support of the club. Would you not go to a PL team giving the chance? Yes, lets hope we are there next season, but nothing is for sure if your a player arning your trade.
Lets just hope what we have will get us up