Quote Originally Posted by Zippity View Post
So...here's the current list of ins and outs from NUFC.com

Inbound:
Christian Atsu bought
Florian Lejeune bought
Jacob Murphy bought
Javier Manquillo bought
Mikel Merino loaned (with option to buy)
Joselu bought

Outbound:
Vurnon Anita released
Sammy Ameobi released
Yoan Gouffran released
Haris Vuckic released
Lubo Satka released
Florian Thauvin sold
Kevin Mbabu sold
Matz Sels loaned
Adam Armstrong loaned
Daryl Murphy sold
Ivan Toney loaned
Emmanuel Riviere released
Siem De Jong sold
Grant Hanley sold

I'd rather have added Colback and Saivet to the 'out' list too and the less said about the omissions from the 'ins' list, the better.

As for the actual 'ins' I'm happy with Lejeune and Merino; given the way he's started and the need to grow a sqaud then signing Atsu looks ok. I honestly don't know enough about Murphy and whilst the mackems swear that Manquillo was utter shte for them he's proved to be ok-ish cover thus far. Joselu looked decent the other day too.

Our lack of a proper LB, a creative player for the next time Shelvey fucks up or a striker to take the weight off Gayle-both physically and, it would appear now, mentally-is going to come back and bite us on the arse, imo.

As for the released list, Mbabu seemed a very strange one and I would have kept Vurn rather than buy Manquillo. De Jong, too, although all the negatives that have been pointed out about him mean I'm less bothered than I was.

So, I reckon out of 10?......... 4 (I was going to give a 5 but.....ah, i dunno. We should have done so much better. Maybe a 5?

Over to you.
Players wise
3 decent players in:
Florian Lejeune bought
Mikel Merino loaned (with option to buy)
Joselu bought

These lads improve us a great deal in terms of professionalism and stability. Mentality is a big factor in football and all 3 are calm down to earth characters.

Christian Atsu bought

This lad was ok last year and seems to have improved this year. Hope he continues to get better and better.



Getting all the players off the wage bill is huge. Foolishly we have some dross like Colback on silly money and not being able to move the likes of him due to the his unrealistic wages point to the real issue with the club & the clubs performance in the transfer market for the last 10 yrs.

When we were gonna go down and we brought in 6 french players it was just throwing sh!t at the wall to see what sticks. It worked, just about, that time. However Fat man and his cronies have left Rafa in a difficult situation. He is more than capable of keeping the club in the Prem with the threadbare squad we have so long as those new boys stay fit for the most part.

Rafa's player selection - I give a 6.5
He can attract many top quality players with the right backing. Sadly that backing is simply not there.

The clubs & fatman's comments - 0
A liar, a fraud - essentially 'not a right and proper person' to run such an important sporting institution. Ashley is enjoying free advertising making a fortune from the club. He doesn't care if the club is in the prem or the Championship because matches are televised to the whole UK - Sports Direct is a UK based company so what does he care which league we are in, if we are having cup runs or in a European competition?

The people of Newcastle really should attempt to buy the club by means of a financial syndicate. Much like the Glazers buying ManU by leveraging their revenue streams and profitability even 400m should the NUFC remain in the Prem for the next 5 yrs that debt could easily be paid off.

I think it's time for the Geordie nation to move forward and reclaim our castle, reclaim our cathedral and reclaim our birthright.