For this article we are going to assume that we have Joey Barton, Mark Viduka, David Rosehnal, Leighton Baines, Derek Boateng and Tal Ben Haim at the club.
Barton and Viduka have arrived and we are fairly confident we can get the remaining four players in – some imminently.
We will now look at the squad we have and ask the question – who else to we need?
Sam Allardyce
We have let go – Srnicek, Onyewu, Bramble, Moore, Bernard, Sibierski and Parker. Albert Luque has also gone to PSV for a season long loan.
We have received £7M for Parker.
Let’s also assume that each of the players we bring in cost the following:
Viduka (free), Barton (£5.5M), Ben Haim (free), Baines (£5M) Boateng (£0.7M), Rosehnal (£3.3M) for a total of £14.5M.
So we’ve spent a net of £7.5M to amass the following squad – note the new players are the ones not wearing the Newcastle shirt (that seems to makes sense):
Goalkeepers:
Given, Harper, Krul
Good goalkeepers but we feel we may need to send out Krul on loan for a year or two to give him the vital playing experience he needs – just like Manchester United did with Ben Foster – so we may still need to being in a third goalkeeper.
Full Backs:
Solano, Dyer, Carr, Baines, Babayaro
We’ve put both Solano and Dyer in this group because Sam has said he may play Dyer there and Solano played well for us there last season. So we may not need a right back – and think Carr and Babayaro may be surplus to requirements – especially if we bring in another full-back.
Center Backs:
Taylor, Ramage, Ben Haim, Rosehnal
Ben Haim can also play full back as can Taylor and Ramage – through their best positions are central defense. Huntington and Edgar may need to be sent out on loan for a year or two to give them vital playing experience – they both can also play at full back.
Think we are OK for central defense now?
Central Midfield:
Butt, Barton, Emre, Pattison, Boateng
Two defensive midfielders in Butt and Boateng – and two attacking ones in Barton and Emre. Not sure if Pattison fits in here – he will have to show himself next season if he wants to remain at Newcastle. This at least looks balanced right now.
Wingers:
Duff, N’Zogbia, Milner, O’Brien
Of course we can also play Solano and Dyer here but it looks like we may need another right winger. Maybe Freddie Ljungberg or Dimitri Payet could fit the bill there?
Also – this will be a vital season for O’Brien if he wants to stay at Newcastle – he has shown class and pace playing for Ireland – and will have to show that next season for Newcastle – but he looks to be third choice at left wing. Wolves have always been interested in him and there is news today they may want to sign him.
Strikers:
Ameobi, Owen, Martins, Viduka
Wow – that looks like a potent strike force to us – we have experience – two big men and two smaller goal pinchers – a good combination. We also have 18 year old Andy Carroll – who looked very good last year – maybe he needs to go out on loan to get playing experience?
Well that’s what we think we have right now – some areas are looking good – other areas still need more players coming in.
But we really need your help on this.Let us know what you think of the current squad (assuming those transfers happen) and then let us know who else needs to be brought in.
Hey – maybe Sam will look at this and get a few ideas ……………. OK just kidding. 😀
64 comments so far
Pete
Jun 8, 2007 at 1:35 PM
Comment #1I our right side looks the weakest. At right back Solano played alright there last season but he got caught out a lot. Dyer is too much of a girl to get stuck into the hard tackles but he has great pace.
I agree we need another right winger even though Milner played awesome last season.
I would also play Zog’s more centrally, and keep Babayaro for cover.
My Team:
Given
TBA/Solano, Ben-Haim, Rosenhal/Taylor ,Baines
Milner, Barton/Dyer, Emre/Zogs, Duff
Ameobi/Viduka, Martins/Owen
Ron Sheeepskin
Jun 8, 2007 at 1:36 PM
Comment #2That squad is not good enough for the top 6. We need:
Defence
Carr and Babayaro need to go as they should not figure in a squad aiming for the top 4
New right back – I would like neill of West Ham as he is versatile and can play CB (indeed that is his best position I think)
Midfield
Get rid of Emre and Dyer – under achievers who flatter to deceive. If we can get £15m for the 2 of them that will be excellent business.
Another defensive midfielder and a couple of creative midfielders. I would play Zoggy in the middle, then we probably need another top class midfield player. Not sure who that is yet though.
Wingers
Get shot of Duff – I believe he is a busted flush and fits into the “flatters to deceive” category. Also O’Brien and Pattison must go as they should not figure in a squad with Champions Leage ambition.
We need to find a left sided player to fill Duff’s shoes assuming Milner is on the right
Strikers
If we’re being ruthless, you’d have to say Shola should go
Bring in Crouch who is massively underrated and would link well with Owen and Martins.
carl
Jun 8, 2007 at 1:45 PM
Comment #3a good squad but still in nead of improving if we are to get a top 6 finish.i think we would be fine in centre back assuming we get ben haim and rozehnal,left back would be fine if we get baines(a must) with babayaro as cover.but we are in need of a quality right back as carrs past it and we cant rely on solano and dyer.as for midfield and wingers i think thats a good combination but somewhere that could have more world class talent in if sam spends the cash ashley will provide .and we all know if all our strikers remain at the club then were fine in that department.
Outlaw
Jun 8, 2007 at 1:48 PM
Comment #4That looks like a shit squad. We still need a few more players. Plus players like Babayaro and Carr should be chucked out. Waste of time!
ben warman
Jun 8, 2007 at 1:51 PM
Comment #5If we keep all the strikers we have now that is that area totally sorted in my opinion, looks very good on paper at least. I would personally rather never see either carr or babayaro play for newcastle again so I would suggest shipping them out and getting replaced whether they are just for back up or able to walk straight into the team. I also think Dyer would be very much wasted as a fullback and would much prefer him as an attacking mid or winger.
So overall if we get the players you have mentioned it would be a pretty strong squad. But I would try and add another right and left back along with either another right winger or centre mid (depending on how dyer will fit in). I’ll try and have a think of specific players
John McCooe
Jun 8, 2007 at 1:52 PM
Comment #6We need a few World class players brought in, ditch all the players who don’t wanna play for toon, bring in a world class center back like vidic, world class midfielder like maxi rodrigez or aimar and possibly ditch owen and bring in somebody like messi!!! HaHa, i love the Argies!!!!
Cicero
Jun 8, 2007 at 1:53 PM
Comment #7I’d go for a world class keeper Given’s not in the same class as Petr Check or Pepe Renier. I’d also go for Michael Carrick to play along side Barton (would Dyer, Emre or Zogs or any of our squad,with the exception of Owen, walk in to the Man U or Chelsea team? Don’t think so) We need 3 or 4 world class players in the team if we are going to break in to the top 4.
paul p
Jun 8, 2007 at 1:54 PM
Comment #8my sqaud would be as follows
goalkeepers
given, harper, kruel
defenders
taylor, ben haim, baines, richards, rozenhal, solano, davies, ramage
midefielders
barton, butt, emre, dyer, duff, nzogbia, wright phillips, milner
forwards
owen, viduka, bellamy, martins, ameobi.
I would loan out huntingham and edgar, but pattinson and obrien are not good enough to play for newcaslt. Anyd Carrol is going to be a good player and what better players can you learn off with owen and viduka to bring him on.
Wright Phillips, Davies, Richards and Bellamy would be my other key signings. With this squad, there is no reason why we can not push the top 5 teams.
John McCooe
Jun 8, 2007 at 1:54 PM
Comment #9What about Philip Lahm if we can’t get Baines and for the right how about, jasus, i dunno!!!!
carl
Jun 8, 2007 at 1:58 PM
Comment #10my team
given
? ben haim/taylor rozehnal/ramage baines/baba
solano/milner barton/dyer butt/emre duff/nzogbia
amoebi/viduka owen/martins
as you can see we could improve both left and right wingers aswell as maybe one more central midfielder of high quality and def nedd a right back
carl
Jun 8, 2007 at 2:01 PM
Comment #11maybe get rid of emre,dyer,baba and carr
paul p
Jun 8, 2007 at 2:15 PM
Comment #12sqaud 2!!
goalkeepers
given, buffon, krul
defenders
ben haim, taylor, baines, richards, woodgate, alex, nesta, emmanuelson, rozenhal, alves
Midfielders
joquinn, wright phillips, milner, barton, riquelme, diego, xavi, van der vaart, gattusso, butt, duff,
Forwards
Owen, Viduka, Adriano, David Villa, Torres
Why not… we now have the money to buy who we want, so why not have a go eh.
Pete
Jun 8, 2007 at 2:16 PM
Comment #13John McCoe,
Messi is the best player this planet will ever see, he is ACE ! ! !
The best goal ever:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=hokq-7olthE&mode=related&search=
Soren
Jun 8, 2007 at 2:19 PM
Comment #14I say we bring back Aaron Hughes from Villa, and strenghen our back position. Aaron can play all over the defence like Ben-Haim, and that versatility could be a good thing, if we are hit by injuries once more.
peter charlton
Jun 8, 2007 at 2:20 PM
Comment #15Cicero what planet are you on Given is among the top 5 keepers in the world if u ask me hes about par with petr czeck and he is way above ranier ,put them 2 keepers behind our back 4 last season and see how they would fare.As for michael carrick ur having a laugh u said we needed world class players and he definately isnt world class.Also how many players would walk into the Man U team from any team in the premiership they are the title holders hence the best team we looking for top 4 .Think you need a bit of a reality check m8 .
carl
Jun 8, 2007 at 2:21 PM
Comment #16messi,alex and joquuin would be amazing
A geordiedoonsooth
Jun 8, 2007 at 2:23 PM
Comment #17Looks great but lets wait & see what BS does with all the money he is supposed to be getting.
John
Jun 8, 2007 at 2:27 PM
Comment #18GK: Given, Harper, Krul
RB: Micah Richards, Tal Ben Haim
CD: Rozehnal, Steven Taylor, Curtis Davies, Ramage
LB: Leighton Baines(New Beresford), N’Zogbia
DM: Joey Barton, Nicky Butt, David Edgar,N.Reo-Coker(the contingency plan for if J.Barton is jailed)
AM: Emre, K.Dyer
RW: Solano, Milner
LW: S.Downing, Martin Petrov(season long loan from A.Madrid,replacement for Duff), Duff(injured)
FW: Martins, Owen, Viduka, Ameobi(or use him plus money to swap for Kevin Doyle)
Loan out Luque, Huntington, Pattison, Troisi
Sell S.Carr,Babayaro
Pete
Jun 8, 2007 at 2:30 PM
Comment #19Its one thing having loads of money, but I doubt we will attract the world class players in their prime as we are not in any of the european comps.
What we need is a team to get us into europe this year, and then we can attract the big names and stars that you are all talking about.
Are we even sure if BS will have a ton of money anyway? Just because Ashely is loaded doesn’t mean that he will give it all to us to spend.
Aaron D
Jun 8, 2007 at 2:40 PM
Comment #20The GK is well covered but Krul needs to go on loan for experience and can be no. two next season.
Def Left – Babayaro Definitely out, leaving Baines plus one more, some one like Urby Emanuelson or Eric Abidal. Man Utd have Evra and Heinze, Chelsea Cole and Bridge, Tottenham Lee and Bale. So definitely need to quality players. Should of gone for Carlos
Def Right – Lets face it Dyer isn;t going to play in this position is he. So that leaves Carr and Solano. Carr can be shipped out to a championship side. Leaving Solano plus another, the likes of Wes Brown, Jonny Heitinga or Marcell Jansen.
DC – Finally looks strongish, could do with another i think Ramage should be a 5 choice. Some one in with that £40 million we have Andrade, Naldo, Juan, Merzelder.
ML – Duff is not injury prone and had one good game last year, sell to spurs £5m, and replace with Babel £9m. N’Zogbia and Babel to battle for a starting birth.
MR – Milner had a great season, but i think he isn’t going to improve to much, i like him but needs some one else to challenge for a place – Quesmara, Figo (why not?), Robben.
MC – Has all ways been strong, Butt and Barton to start with Emre and Boateng in rotation. Maybe another Sneijder for £7m before Villa get him or Van der Vaart. Butt may even leave for Sunderland yet. Or some one young and skillful to come off the bench, like the Brazilian Kerlon.
FC – Viduka, Owen and Martins quality. Ameobi has had several years to prove himself and still hasn’t sell him before it’s too late. Replace with Huntelaar or Alves.
Many of the player i have suggested come from Ajax so they would know each other and soon fit in.
És
Jun 8, 2007 at 2:57 PM
Comment #21I think the squad is very strong, but I hope we can secure the players that is mansion in the article here…no team in premier league have as good strikers and wingers that we have! so fellas we most not underestimate our beloved team;).
andy
Jun 8, 2007 at 3:04 PM
Comment #22i think that owen will be going next year but i would get bellemy to fill his boot, i also think that the midfield needs some spark i sugest Andres D’Alessandro this player is unreal, and he only playes for real zaragossa, inb the spainsh league, 10mill should get him
Pete
Jun 8, 2007 at 3:17 PM
Comment #23Yeah we havnt got anyone that can really skin players, we need a little brazilian or something that we can throw on to scare defenders with there skill (Ronaldo, Kaka, Messi etc)
Ed Harrison
Jun 8, 2007 at 3:23 PM
Comment #24Cicero – Given is better than Pepe Ranier – surely – Pepe still makes too many mistakes.
chris
Jun 8, 2007 at 3:23 PM
Comment #25how about diego from wevder br i think and he scored against england, and got like 15 goals from mid field
Ed Harrison
Jun 8, 2007 at 3:26 PM
Comment #26John – Micah Richards looks good – but awfully expensive – but there agian – guess that doesn’t matter too much these days – think he would jump at coming to Newcastle.
John
Jun 8, 2007 at 3:36 PM
Comment #27Re:Ed Harrison…
Money is no longer a big problem now since Ashley bwcomes the owner now..If the money still comes out from Sir John/Fat Fred’s pocket,it would be a problem!
Richards, Davies,Taylor and Baines can be a long term partner a few years later(It will be excellent if they will all be selected to England Intenational Team later…)
And I think that it’s extremely stupid to sell Parker to West Ham…
Ed Harrison
Jun 8, 2007 at 3:38 PM
Comment #28Certainly looks like Carr and Babayaro are not well thought of – and consensus seems to be to get rid of them. Micah Richards seem to be the one most often quoted for right back – he can also play midfield of course.
John
Jun 8, 2007 at 3:48 PM
Comment #29Re Chris:
If NUFC has to buy Diego, I think it will be done 2 years later, and together with the Lyon’s Brazilian Fred,since they can perform as the replacement of Emre/Dyer and Viduka, since they will be a bit old 2years later.
jamo
Jun 8, 2007 at 3:50 PM
Comment #30I think we should have a go at bringing back bellamy! he showed class with us and lots at blackburn, and is curently out of favour at liverpool. He may be slightly off the handle but if we can contain barton, we could contain bellamy no problem, big Sam is renowned for being able to calm players down and help them reach their potential anyhow!
Cicero
Jun 8, 2007 at 3:52 PM
Comment #31Top5 in the world your having a joke. Given is a better than average prem player but suspect on crosses and his distibution is pathetic, he still just boots it down field looking for Big Al. A great goalkeeper would command his box and organise his defence. If you look at the goalkeeper stats for the season he’s way down. He looks good as a shot stopper but has had plenty of practice.
henry
Jun 8, 2007 at 3:52 PM
Comment #32are you forgeting about ALBERT LUQUE! our worldclass foward from depor who BIG sam can probz get the best out of i think
jamo
Jun 8, 2007 at 3:55 PM
Comment #33No way!! Luque is a pathetic excuse for the money we spent. Slow, weak and just not looking motivated or being able to fit in. About all he has to offer is slight skill now and then and a fair eye for goal.
jamie
Jun 8, 2007 at 4:34 PM
Comment #34I think that squad would be reasonable but we need more experienced fit pacy players in my opinion.i think the likes of ljungberg,anelka,morton-gamst pedersen would be a great addition to the squad if avaidable.defense,nufc keep going on about sign past it defenders eg.sol cambell,instead we should send the inexperienced youth(huntington,carrol o`brian and krul)to free up the wage bill and get some first team football=experience,so they can sign the likes toure ,wes brown etc with possible high wage demands,either one of these would besuitable to play alongside future england star taylor.out of defense i would like to see go would be carr baba`afro` 🙂 and ramage on loan.i would like to see replacing thesewayne bridge or samii hypia .in midfield i believe we should of never let parker go,its rediculious,he proved he kept the balance of the team going and after all who will take the armband now?,a possible replacement is neccersery(2-4 mil).as for strikers i believe its fine but anelka would always be welcomed by me .
thanks jamie,13,hebburn
Beastie
Jun 8, 2007 at 5:08 PM
Comment #35My Team
Given
Solano, Taylor, Ben-Haim, baines
milner, barton, emre, charlie,
viduka owen
am sorry but shola has to go the lad cant cut it at this level!!! how many chances is he gonna get!!! Great to see Newcastle United active in the market in june and not 10-30pm tranfer deadline day!!! barton and viduka great signings!!! ben haim and baines would be great the lad rozenhal looks very steady seen him a few times for psg looks really good, would love to see us sign miguel from valencia followed him since euro 2004 was a right winger but moved to right back and has speed to burn!
bob
Jun 8, 2007 at 5:17 PM
Comment #36lol jamo i think henry mite be jokin
Ed Harrison
Jun 8, 2007 at 5:58 PM
Comment #37jamo – news today that Bellamy would like to come back to Newcastle – but we don’t think it will happen. Pretty sure Sam could handle him. It may be a possibility if Owen leaves.
Beastie
Jun 8, 2007 at 6:07 PM
Comment #38no no ed keep owen get rid of the clown!!! AMEOBI!!!!
Ebol
Jun 8, 2007 at 6:15 PM
Comment #39I think we’re sorted for goalies. We could loan out Krul with the option of recalling him if Given or Harper get injured. Fraser Forster is also a good prospect.
I think we need another right back- maybe Heitinga. I’d also like another class central defender like Curtis Davies or Phil Jagielka and a backup left back when babayaro leaves. Anyone decent would do.
In midfield, I think we need an attacking midfielder who actually can be a playmaker and create something and not just a box-to-box midfielder like Barton (who I think would be much better battling it out with Butt for the defensive mid role). I would love to see either Diego or Van der Vaart in a Newcastle jersey. Diego would be more costly as he is the the Bundesliga player of the year. I also don’t think he would adapt as well as Van der Vaart who has already proved himself in two leagues. I think we are fine for right mid and if we had Payet, I would also be happy with our left wing although Babel is a very exciting prospect.
I think we should sell Owen who is only still at Newcastle through guilt and for the sake of his public image. He will never be motivated to play for us and anyway him and Martins are very similar players. I think we should replace him with a strong player who is good in the air like Klose or Ashton.
Owen
Jun 8, 2007 at 6:21 PM
Comment #40Babayaro and Carr have to go.
We need 2 left backs and a rightback. Plus, we need a class, experienced centre half.
That is the absolute minimum we have to sign.
If we keep the current strike force I’d be happy this year, they are good enough to get us into the top 6, possibly 4th if the rest of the squad can keep up.
What we really need is a creative midfielder, some one who can deliver the killer pass that will allow of strikers to do what they do best. Score bucketfulls of goals.