(L to R): Hall, Routledge, Williamson, Best, SimpsonJanuary came and went for Newcastle United fans but not with the usual disappointment following zero investment. No, the 2010 January transfer window proved to be an opportunity when even Mike Ashley realised some financial speculation was the right thing to do, not least because it might see a return on his money. But this isn’t a debate about the owner or his intentions. This is a first glance review of the lads we brought in during the January transfer window and what I think of them so far.
It was clear to a lot of us that we needed recruitment in various areas and while some of the gaps were filled, we also got the surprise package of Wayne Routledge. Not all of the players met with universal glee and obviously the jury is out for all of them still. Each were signed for an ‘undisclosed fee’ which seems to be the order of the day in many modern transfers. So it’s difficult to conclude whether they’re value for money or not, but here goes anyway: (more…)
Van Aanholt: Good while it lasted.Most of us are aware that Saturday’s game at Watford marked the end of Patrick van Aanholt’s short term loan move from Chelsea and that he has now headed back down the A1 to the bright lights of London. Chris Hughton did try to extend the loan but Chelsea were unwilling to play ball as they suffer their own defensive crisis.
I can understand Chelsea wanting the boy back as he has been nothing short of exceptional in his brief spell on Tyneside, but with Jose Enrique now fit and raring to go in our next match against Barnsley, there would be little point in stifling the young lads development by sitting him on the bench, especially when we have young Tamas Kadar who can play left back should anything happen to Enrique.
It seems the Newcastle United supporters have made quite an impression on the Dutchman. After the final whistle blew at Vicarage Road on Saturday, van Aanholt split from his team-mates and walked over to the travelling Toon Army to pat a final farewell, for which he recieved rapturous applause. Reflecting on his reception, van Aanholt had this to say: (more…)
Jose looking bullish in a fetching yellow.Jose Enrique could make a return to the squad after missing out on the last six matches. The 24-year-old and £6.5million-rated Spanish left-back, has been one of Newcastle’s best players this season, but with initially no natural replacement it was feared that the Spanish defender, nicknamed ‘The Bull’, would be a big loss.
Chris Hughton brought in Chelsea’s young left-back, Van Aanholt, 19, who had a previous loan spell at Coventry City to cover the position for a month. The young Dutchman has done well when called upon and has turned in some decent performances considering the shoes he’s been filling in the position.
Hughton will have the option to extend Van Aanholt’s loan from an initial one month period to until the end of the season. Personally, I’d like to see him given the opportunity here as he won’t feature for Chelsea (injuries permitting) and there’s always the danger of Enrique falling to injury again.
Enrique’s last game for Newcastle was the 2-0 win over Crystal Palace, now nearly over a month ago. Hughton has the decision to instantly bring Jose back for his guaranteed experience, or stick with Van Aanholt who hasn’t really put a foot wrong. However, seeing as Hughton only rates Enrique as “hopeful” for Watford, it would be assumed that in keeping with his usual ‘safe approach’, the manager will stick with Van Aanholt. (more…)
January transfer window now closed.Many Toon fans had a certain amount of unease about the prospect of the January transfer window. Given the previous few windows under Mike Ashley, and a seemingly ruthless intent to slash the wage bill since our relegation, optimism wasn’t exactly flowing!
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 Harewoodand Zurab Khizanishviliwho 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. (more…)
Plenty to ponder?The Sky Sports team talked it up and went as far to say that ‘Leicester 0 Newcastle 0’ was the best goalless draw they’d seen for a long time. I think in their quieter moments, off camera, they might ask for their money back, and so might the fans. Because it was a bloody awful game of football from where I was sitting, and perish the thought that I almost travelled to watch that garbage.
It will be a long journey back home for those loyal Mags who had to sit through another unstimulating performance from our team. Even with the well worn cliche of ten men often being harder to play against, tonight was a perfect opportunity to get ourselves back on track and put some daylight between us and the chasers. Unfortunately we fell miles short of looking anything like taking the 3 points at any stage in the game, and if any team looked more likely to create something, it was Leicester.
We just look completely stale and while I’ve argued for months now that we’ve rarely looked like a good football team, we also now seem to have lost some of the hunger that was earning us points regardless of the style we played. (more…)
