Newcastle were able to sign only one player today, and the club again left things too late to get the players in Rafa wanted and needed.
And Newcastle have spent no (net) money in this transfer window making about £20M in profit – the difference between outgoing transfers and incoming transfers.
We have not taken into account loan fees or agents’ fees.
Newcastle spent £22M on the 7 players we brought in – so the average is about £3M per player.
Forget about buying players for £195M.
Rafa Benitez – has to be disappointed by this transfer window
Rafa and Lee Charley did well in releasing, selling, or sending out on loan 11 players for a cumulative £43M – but Rafa wasn’t allowed to spend that money.
We still have time to loan or sell players to clubs in other countries whose transfer windows are still open, which includes the continent.
But we cannot bring any players into the club now, other than free agents.
[table “74” not found /]This must have been an extremely disappointing window for Rafa Benitez, and his ambitions are being thwarted every time by the Newcastle owner.
But we all have to get on with it now – and fully support Rafa, the staff, and the players – just like last season.
We still think we have a stronger squad than last year at this time, but obviously not as strong as Rafa wanted.
Let’s just hope Paul Dummett isn’t injured this year since the club failed to bring in another left-back.
Hopefully, we can bring in another left-back in January – but we will not hold our breath.
Comments welcome.
17 comments so far
GeordieTwo
Aug 9, 2018 at 7:56 PM
Comment #1Sad state of affairs. Shows no ambition other than to stay in the Prem. Not good enough by any means. Rafa has probably made his mind up completely now. One more glorious season then?
Belfast
Aug 9, 2018 at 7:57 PM
Comment #2We’re basically running the same operation as West Bromwich years ago and more recently Burnley. Where the club is financially prepared for relegation if/when it happens. We do the bare minimum and our only target is to remain in the division. If/when we do get relegated it’s not the end of the world because we haven’t spent substantial money. Boing boing!
Jail for Ashley
Aug 9, 2018 at 8:01 PM
Comment #3We have a manager who is said to be seething that assurances haven’t been kept,who is in the last year of his contract and is very unlikely to be staying after the clubs ambitions have been laid bare, we have one established left back who is partial to the odd lengthy hamstring injury. Yet Jib, the smirking Ashley apologist reckons I’m an idiot. Seriously???
Charlietoon
Aug 9, 2018 at 8:02 PM
Comment #4Here you go Rafa. You dont have an agent so I’ve put this together for you.
“It has been a pleasure and an honour to manage Newcastle United. The players have given me their best and the passionate fans made every single weekend an amazing footballing experience. When I arrived it was my goal to get us back into the premier league and then challenging for trophies. It is where this club should be. Sadly my ambition and the fans ambition was not matched by the owner. I don’t wish to manage just to survive. I want to make the club better from top to bottom. The money is there. It is somewhere. I don’t know where. You need to ask the owner. I will not be signing a new contract. I wish the club and the fans all the best and I hope one day they get the support they deserve. Thank you.”
West Lancs Geordie
Aug 9, 2018 at 8:03 PM
Comment #5So tell us Ashley now – how much do you want for this Club & just how much would you sell it for now that you have plunder another £20.5 MILLION out of it PLUS all the TV money & the money RAFA won for you for finishing 10th in the Premier League?
You are a total disgrace & nobody will ever believe a single word you utter ever again.
YFGCBGOOOC!!!!!!
Jib
Aug 9, 2018 at 8:04 PM
Comment #6What is happening at SJP has nothing to
do with you being an idiot Jail.
That’s just an accident of birth
or
you were dropped on your head as a bairn
GeordieTwo
Aug 9, 2018 at 8:05 PM
Comment #7This is what you call slumming it with Mikey. He is the typical absent landlord who only cares enough to pick up the rent check and disappear again. Many of them own the east end of Vancouver. Sad pathetic, greedy, wealthy slobs.
nufc 11
Aug 9, 2018 at 8:06 PM
Comment #8If fans keep their intense campaign against Ashley maybe he will hit the road but it will take one hell of an effort and I wonder to the fans have the stomach for the fight and take it down and dirty where it needs to go?
Can you imagine his face when he would have to take a call from the pl bosses trying to explain why sjp was empty of fans and sky were televising the game across the world?
GeordieTwo
Aug 9, 2018 at 8:06 PM
Comment #9Sounds like Jibbles needs another sorting out for his abusive behavior on here. I wish Ed would take care of it.
Jib
Aug 9, 2018 at 8:08 PM
Comment #10behaviour
Jib
Aug 9, 2018 at 8:10 PM
Comment #11or as the
French Canadians say
comportement
GeordieTwo
Aug 9, 2018 at 8:14 PM
Comment #12Have we got anyone really valuable left except Lascelles? Is he going in January if the price is high enough? Then what Ashley? More of the same old dross? It sure looks that way. How do you think that’s going to go over after Rafa’s tenure Mikey?
SPRINGY
Aug 9, 2018 at 8:14 PM
Comment #13Hopefully ashley has been so greedy coz he’s planning on bailing out this season…so any money he saves on transfers goes in his poke as well as any money received from if he sells up…that would make some sort of sense for his absolute scroogeness….or he’s just an absolute tw*t….make ya own minds up!lol
Pottsclock
Aug 9, 2018 at 8:21 PM
Comment #14Presumably with Rondon, if he does well and wants to join permanently we can either:
1. Cancel the loan agreement by mutual consent with WBA at the Christmas transfer window and convert he loan to a permanent transfer if he definitely wants to join us. WBA would get a small transfer fee
2. Wait until the end of the loan period and offer him a permanent contract as he’ll be a free agent and would be available on a free. The only downside being that we’d have competition for his signature.
Maybe I’m missing something, but I don’t see the downside except that it has used one of the two loan slots we had. If he does not fit in, then we just let him go.
SwissSte
Aug 9, 2018 at 8:21 PM
Comment #15It was a decent transfer window, but any fan should be wanting us to be wayyyyyyyy more ambitious than that! I believe Charnley actually does what he can and wants to do well (basing that on giving up his promotion bonus), its Barnes that’s thwarted everything.
Improvements to the academy should’ve started in April.
Improvements to the training ground should’ve started in the close-season.
If Rafa was “in control of all footballing matters” then why have his players “not met the criteria”?
If Fulham can sign Mawson, Seri and Bryan, Wolves sign Dendoncker, Everton sign Bernard, Palace sign Meyer, we can surely compete with these teams.
What was that about “we demand a club that tries”?
If you think that was a satisfactory window then you are just as devoid of ambition as our spiteful, greedy, psychotic, wealthy slob of an absent owner. To pass a fit and proper test you should have to attend at least 10 games a season. New rules are needed to get the leeches out of the game.
GeordieTwo
Aug 9, 2018 at 8:27 PM
Comment #16Once a season one lucky supporter should get to shoot the owner in the cobblers with one of those bean bag shot gun affairs. If that’s not painful enough then by all means switch to rubber bullets. I’m not saying it’s perfect but it would make me feel slightly better. We could have a raffle or something.
anthc
Aug 9, 2018 at 8:50 PM
Comment #17Empty stadium on world wide broadcasted match would send a message but it will never happen.
Full stadium week in, week out why would Ashley sell?
I’ll not buy any players, not invest in the academy and pocket all the money and I bet the ground still fills!!