Newcastle need January reinforcements.

Posted on December 29th, 2010 | 18 Comments |

Pardew talks the talk.
Pardew talks the talk.
Alan Pardew has today come out and said what most of us have been saying all season long and has admitted that Newcastle need new faces in January.

Part of the problem is strength in depth at Newcastle. We have a first eleven that can beat anyone on their day, but it’s when players are injured or suspended that we start to struggle.

Take yesterday for example. Jose Enrique was injured, and we had no real reliable backup to come in and cover him. Another example is Kevin Nolan. Love him or hate him, surely few can deny that he was missed yesterday. At least he would have affored Andy Carroll the luxury of having at least some support up front rather than having to burdon himself with everything regarding the team attacking the opposistion.

There is part of our problem. Potentially we have a good team, but a weak squad. The better teams have the squad to cope with the various injuries and suspensions that crop up throughout the season. This is something Newcastle need to emulate if they have aspirations of pushing up the league and steering clear of the relegation battle.

Still, there is a slight ray of hope suggesting that some of our concerns could be allayed in January with a couple of additions to the squad after Alan Pardew revealed that he will be backed by the board. First off, Pardew identified the problem:

“I think it’s evident that we could do with a couple of additions,” Pardew told The Northern Echo. “On its day, we have a team that can compete with anyone, we’ve proved that against some of the top teams in this division.

“But is there that competition and quality in all areas when other players have to come in? I thought James Perch did terrific at left-back, but he isn’t naturally left-footed and so we maybe lacked a little bit of balance down that left-hand side.”

“We couldn’t get Jonas in the game as much as we would have liked, and little things like that make a difference. We are looking at the market, and hopefully we can bring someone in.”

Good news, if true. I wouldn’t be expecting us to go on a massive spending spree though, and I think that others should prepare themselves for the same. As long as the sqaud is strengthened I don’t really care how much is spent. If they could do it on 50 pence I wouldn’t care as long as the end result left Newcastle United better equipped to compete in the Premier League. Pardew continued:

“I have the backing of the board, and I want to put that into place in terms of taking the club forward. We’ve secured Steven Taylor this week, which was very important, and there’s a no sale on Andy Carroll, which is probably the biggest and best news we’re going to have during the window. But hopefully we can add one or two as well.”

Football is a squad game, and whilst we are missing the likes of Hatem Ben Arfa, it is also hurting us that we don’t have the squad to cover. It’s not all doom and gloom of course. There are certain areas where the squad is fine for now, like in central midfield where we can pick from approximately 3,642 different options. I’m also failry happy with the centre of our defence aswell.

It’s creating the chances where we seem to be struggling, particularly creating chances from wide positions. As Pardew said, playing Perch on the left is less that ideal, but he actually had a fairly decent game. He gave Lennon a bit too much space once, and he paid the price for that, but he was otherwise pretty solid, much to my surprise. Thing is, again as Pardew said, it makes it hard to get Jonas in the game if the lad behind him is constantly struggling on his weaker foot.

Still, we’ve pretty much been told that there will be some activity, so I guess all we can do now is what and see.

Where would you strengthen?

NUFCBlog Author: toonsy toonsy has written 643 articles on this blog.

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18 Responses

  1. crying out for pace and creativity!!
    go for keane – can open up defences easily and can score! – yes he getting on abit but his class (if head is rite) would be great now!!
    good shouts also for Krancjear and Larrson, we have to invest now to avoud being dragged into the relegation mix!
    we cant afford that, we must pick up poinys and quickly

  2. A new striker replacing strola and a pacey midfielder.
    Oh yeah, and CH as manager.

    Howay the lads

  3. Ridicilous statement and examples you make. We have a very decent cover for Enrique in Kadar. Still we play one of the worst right backs in the premier league. Don´t only look at his defending. He offered nothing when going forward in that game as always and he can barely defend, though I admit he was okay at defending in this game it seemed but of course gave Lennon acres of space when he scored.

    And then Nolan. What the heck? We have Ranger, a terrific prospect. Little more than a year ago Carroll was struggling with goals as well. We have Vuckic as well, even Guthrie but he chooses to play Smith. He´s such a poor coach it amazes me. He was much more bolder when he was at West Ham. He was basicly scared this time.

  4. Chris Hughton is gone, I think we should all get over it. For better or for worse. Move on. He is not coming back

  5. my word we got some player haters here today…
    get over it, perch isnt as bad as you make out.. he had a great game yesterday. jonas doesnt have that final ball but is still an excellent winger. routledge as well, they need to be specially trained i reckon, they should spend 2 weeks straight learning to cross lol.

    yesterday it was blatant pardew didnt want a repeat of the debacle of sunday and set out to soak up pressure and frustrate spurs, probably with the bench in mind, for about 60 – 70 minutes. he basically missed that by 5 minutes or so which was unfortunate. pardew got it spot on yesterday but was a little unlucky with a cracking effort from lennon. hes an excellent coach i really dont know why you all moan so much constantly :S

  6. Bridge, Krancjear and Ireland for me. I would also like to see Xisco, Perch, Smith, leaving to fund these moves. Maybe Dunne too and with HBA and Gosling coming back I think we could have the makings of a good squad

  7. id play Xisco on the left tbh, would prefer him not to leave. perch i think will develope in to a good defender. smith however just doesnt seem to have anything about him any more which is a shame, all he can do is foul people on the edge of the box :S

  8. Indian Magpie says:
    December 29, 2010 at 11:31 am

    Chris Hughton is gone, I think we should all get over it. For better or for worse. Move on. He is not coming back”

    lol who mentioned Hughton?

  9. Keane on loan till the summer would be a terrific deal I reckon, links up the midfield and attack really well and chips in with goals, but more importantly, he is ready and fit, doesn’t need time to bed in, he could start next week and do a job.

    However, everyone can see the main problem, out midfield is dormant at times and is bad need of ideas, especially on the wings, however don’t tell Worky this or he’ll just accuse you of being a unintelligent sheep!

  10. Yeah ILM I think Keane could do a job for us , he does have a decent scoring record and i think he would fit into the squad nicley in terms of personaitly n what not.

    I dunno about the midfield tho ilm. We do have ben afra due back soon and i think someone would have to go before we bring in anyone else n i dont think there be a massive que for our fringe players

  11. well for one bridge wants first team football and he’s not as good as jose, and secondly he is on a huge wage at city.
    Krancjear would be a good signing if we play jonas on the right.
    For me Ireland plays well on the counter attack however I don’t think his slower play is as good as every one goes on about. his crossing is also lacking.

    David Beckham has a great cross and doesn’t have pace, for players like Carroll that is what we need service from anywhere rather than no service from the byeline. Barton has played really well on the right so put him there for the Wigan game. and for me Ranger must start with Carrol up front. Nolan back to being a midfielder

  12. IMHO, NUFC top management decided the game at Spurs was a loss, so they put players in the game and on the bench to “showcase” them for selling on in January. Whoever comes in during January will have a little flurry of games to prove themselves and then make way for HBA and possibly Gosling.

  13. @richard johnson

    think beckham would be a great choice on a commercial level alone. though would cost the earth and a couple of moons maybe mashley could be convinced it would be a profile maker in markets we dont have large identities.

    dont suppose you used to live in fawdon?

  14. Indian Magpie says we should get over Chris Hughton’s sacking. Newcastle supporters should also get over being treated like fools, being disrespected, and being given nothing in return for their years of loyalty. If the Newcastle supporters had any guts they would have boycotted St. James Park after Hughton’s sacking. However they are clearly masochists and like being kicked in the teeth by Ashley & Co. The Toon Army are whipped!