Transfer Window Roundup

Last night the transfer window closed and Newcastle United found themselves in the unfamiliar position of being the league’s highest spenders, having invested just over £28m on 4 new signings; Jonjo Shelvey, Andros Townsend, Seydou Doumbia and Henri Saivet.

There was a lot of speculation leading up to deadline day that Saido Berahino would be a fifth addition after the magpies made a record £21m bid for him but that bid proved to be fruitless. Signing Berahino would have been a real signal of intent from Mike Ashley but for once, Newcastle United had a plan B; signing Doumbia on loan from AS Roma the day before. For once, it looks like we have actually approached a transfer window with some kind of plan (and a back-up) in mind. Most Newcastle fans will be happy with this window; we have bolstered the attack, provided steel in midfield, not sold anyone and even managed to tie Ayoze Perez down to a long term contract. That said, in my opinion anyway, we were in desperate need of both a left back and a centre back. Numerous left backs were linked, none were signed. Whilst I am extremely happy with the players we have brought in, the lack of numbers we have in defence is worrying and could come back to bite us hard.

Can the new signings salvage the season? We face Everton tomorrow and I fully expect to see Jonjo Shelvey and Henri Saivet to retain their places in the side but it will be interesting to see if Andros Townsend and even Seydou Doumbia both start and who makes way.

Jonjo Shelvey

Signed from Swansea for £12m, his fee raised some eyebrows but given that we were linked with him during the summer, with a fee of £18m being mentioned, I feel we have done a good bit of business here. Especially given than Swansea are battling against us for survival. I’ve said in previous articles that I am a huge fan of Jonjo Shelvey - I have always admired him from afar at Swansea and when he has come up against us as a Swansea player, he has looked head and shoulders better than anyone else on the pitch. His attitude has been questioned but if he can rediscover his form of old, and continue playing the way he did on his debut against West Ham, we will be safe. He is the replacement for Cabaye we have been waiting for and with age on his side, he could become a huge player for Newcastle United in years to come.

Henri Saivet

Bit of an odd one this as I know very little about him other than he was the go to player on Football Manager a couple of years ago! At the time, he was operating as a striker/winger, he was young, had potential, pace and power; but that was his stats on a game and as much as Sky Sports seem to have gotten in to bed with the Football Manager franchise recently, using their stats as a genuine base for discussion, real life is completely different.

We’ve signed Saivet for £4m from Bordeaux as a central/defensive midfielder. He seems to have the right attributes for this position in that he is a big strong lad but whenever I see him I can’t get passed him being another Yoan Gouffran, Gabriel Obertan or Emmanuel Riviere. He is certainly a Graham Carr signing and whilst Carr has come up with some gems, far too often we have obtained a fairly average, not quite up to it, decent in Ligue 1, not cut out for the Premiership type of footballer. I’m not going to write him off yet but I have my doubts and suspect he might follow a similar path as the aforementioned French lot.

Andros Townsend

We’ve signed him for £12m from Tottenham Hospur and everyone seems to be laughing at us for paying that much. Given we paid similar amounts for Remy Cabella and Florian Thauvin which according to a number of French football experts at the time, was a snip, I am more than willing to give Townsend the benefit of the doubt here. Townsend is an out an out winger, capable of providing service from the wings as well as cutting in, playing as an inside left forward. This entire season we have played a system with wingers but given that the only out and out winger we have is Rolando Aarons we have clearly been missing a fairly important ingredient in this system. A winger.

I suspect Townsend will be given a starting spot on the left hand side with Moussa Sissoko continuing on the right (again, I am sick of saying this, Sissoko is not a right winger). In fact, given the signing of Townsend as well as Doumbia, I am really interested to see what formation we do start to play and who makes way for the new signings.

Jonjo Shelvey and Andros Townsend are Steve McClaren signings without a shadow of a doubt and whilst fans of other clubs will ask what the big deal is, this is a huge deal for Newcastle United. For years we have used a system whereby the scouts recommend the signings to the director and the manager (coach) is presented with players and told to use them. Quite simply this system does not work. In Shelvey and Townsend we have signed two young England internationals who have something to prove before Euro 2016. This will make a difference.

Seydou Doumbia

Most 12-18 year old lads will say they know everything about Doumbia. They’ll say he is strong, powerful, pacey and an amazing player. You’ll wonder why they know so much about a player who has spent most of his career in some far away leagues until recently signing for Roma. One word. FIFA (the computer game just to be clear…).

Doumbia has been a legend on that game for a few years now and kids often spend a fortune (of their own/parents money - I mean real money) to buy him for their Ultimate Team side. Now I’m not sneering at the FIFA players or even the Football Manager players from before. I am 35 years old and readily admit to being heavily addicted to both games despite having a wife and two kids. Doumbia is a bit of an icon on the game and has a huge cult following. I can’t say I have paid much attention to him in real life but having seen his “real life” scoring record, I am impressed. Out of all four signings, I am most looking forward to watching Doumbia. The question is though, we have had loan strikers before. Will Doumbia be a Loic Remy or a Facundo Ferreyra?

Formation

So, how does this all tie together?

We have Rob Elliot in goal with Karl Darlow as backup.

The defence is fairly steady given we have no real other options so at right back it will be Daryl Janmaat, Fabricio Coloccini and Chancel Mbemba in the centre with Paul Dummett as left back.

In midfield it gets interesting. Gini Wijnaldum has to keep his number 10 role, Jonjo Shelvey will play in the centre and I suspect Moussa Sissoko will continue on the right. On the left you would assume it will be Andros Townsend.

That leaves space for 2 more players; will McClaren stick with a defensive midfielder in Jack Colback or Henri Saivet or will he go for two up front with two from Ayoze Perez, Aleksandar Mitrovic, Seydou Doumbia and Papiss Demba Cisse?

It will be very interesting to see the line up against Everton tomorrow night although I suspect he might not tinker with too much and stick with one up front (Mitrovic). Our next home game I suspect will give us a real insight in to how we are going to line up for the remainder of the season.