For the third transfer window in a row, Newcastle are about to fail to make a single signing that improves their first team. Yes, PSR is clearly a major issue. Yes, the Magpies are paying the price for the spending that was required to secure survival in the early days of Saudi ownership, and to repair the damage that was inflicted under Mike Ashley.
But while other clubs come up with increasingly creative ways to ensure their squad does not stagnate – think Aston Villa, who have been willing to sell to fund the acquisition of the likes of Donyell Malen, Marco Asensio and Marcus Rashford, or Nottingham Forest, who have solved their own PSR issues in order to build a team that continues to go from strength to strength – Newcastle remain stuck in transfer stasis, unable to improve a group that even Eddie Howe concedes is at grave risk of ‘going stale’.
When Fulham boss Marco Silva needed to make changes in Saturday’s game at St James’ Park, he turned to his bench and brought on Andreas Pereira and Rodrigo Muniz, who combined to produce the Cottagers’ 82nd-minute winner. Howe was forced to introduce an out-of-form Joe Willock, a 34-year-old full-back in the shape of Kieran Trippier and youngster Will Osula, whose summer move from Sheffield United looks increasingly senseless given the financial constraints within which Newcastle are having to operate.
Getting Callum Wilson and Harvey Barnes back to full fitness within the next few weeks should help, but should Newcastle really be so reliant on such a small group of players? Should the return of an injury-plagued 32-year-old really be make or break for the Magpies’ season? How is Howe meant to take this group forward when the same faces reappear window after window, year after year?
“We don’t have many attacking options, which is difficult when you are chasing the game,” admitted the Newcastle boss, who has now seen his side suffer home defeats to Brighton, West Ham, Bournemouth and Fulham this season. “It’s very difficult because we don’t have a huge array of choices from the bench.
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“You’re thinking, ‘Let’s change something tactically or personnel wise’, but you’re not 100 per cent sure that any change would make you stronger.
“It’s going to be vital that we keep our attacking players fit. We’re going to need to keep everyone fit, healthy and playing well. Any type of injury to any of our attacking players will leave us very vulnerable.”
That is the worry heading into the final three-and-a-half months of the season, with the need to keep Newcastle’s key players healthy and, just as important, at the peak of their powers becoming clearer with every week that passes.
For most of the last couple of months, the Magpies’ new-look midfield trio of Sandro Tonali, Bruno Guimaraes and Joelinton has been at the heart of their success. In the last two home games though, both individually and collectively, the midfield unit has malfunctioned, depriving Newcastle of the kind of ‘control’ that Howe has been claiming his side have now mastered.
That shouldn’t really be a surprise given that all three players have danced every dance pretty much all season, with Howe clearly having reservations about Willock’s form and also reluctant to throw Lewis Miley back into the fold. That might have to change on Wednesday night if Joelinton’s knee problem keeps him out of the Arsenal decider.
Despite their struggles, Newcastle looked to have established a winning position on Saturday when Jacob Murphy fired through a crowded box towards the end of the first half.
Raul Jimenez equalised when he slotted home Antonee Robinson’s cross though, and Fulham claimed their winner with eight minutes left when Muniz flicked home Pereira’s free-kick at the front post.
Two substitutes transforming the course of the game. When was the last time anyone associated with Newcastle were able to say that?
