Sometimes it feels like only the likes of Shakespeare and Scorsese do drama like Newcastle United. And the last seven days or so has encapsulated that perfectly…or imperfectly if you’re a Newcastle fan.
When news broke of the Munoz deal being hijacked on Wednesday night it wasn’t even that much of a shock, really. We’d already lost out on Zadok Zohana little over a week ago. He of course chose Brighton instead of Newcastle United. You can add that to almost the entirety of last pre-season when it felt like anyone we approached went elsewhere and the only quick deal was signing Nick Woltemade, done in the latter stages of the window.
Now, I don’t know much about Munoz apart from YouTube clips, so I’m not overly bothered that he’ll be in red, not black and white next season. But it’s not really the point. Once again we seem to have dithered and somewhat inevitably, lost out. Reports said that the player was keen to come, the price agreed etc. It was also said that he was the top target. And yet still we couldn’t get the deal done!
Earlier in the week we were greeted with the news that Head of Recruitment, Steve Nickson was off to West Ham. I won’t pretend to know exactly which players he signed, targeted or recommended, but whichever way you look at it losing such an important figure within the club doesn’t look good and just adds to the disruption. And it also means that when we should be actively recruiting players were also trying to recruit yet another replacement for someone who should be doing the recruiting. In theatre terms more a farce than anything Shakespearean.
There was also the news that Tino Livramento had picked up another injury and was out of the World Cup. While I feel for the lad, it just made me wonder if he’s ever going to be consistently available for Newcastle.
In the past week or so we’ve also had news about Sandro Tonali, Marco Pallestra and James Trafford. The Tonali to Spurs news just feels bizarre and yet so, so suited to us. Without going into any real detail though, why on Earth would he want to join Spurs? Seemingly, he does though. And the sight of their fans on social media explaining what it will take to get the deal done is galling to say the least. Then there’s Pallestra who our old friend Fabrizio Romano seems determined to tell us is DEFINITELY NOT GOING TO NEWCASTLE! Alright pal, calm down.
The Trafford news just left me cold. Two days of people pointing out that we’re interested once again. No concrete news about any actual transfer, but he’s our top goalkeeping target again. Forgive me if I feel like I know how this one ends already.
For me it’s crucial that we start hearing positive news. I appreciate that the window has only been open a matter of days, but other clubs aren’t waiting around. Brighton and Spurs have both made notable signings. I mean even previously skint Barcelona have made a major signing…
It’s important that we get things right. For weeks now we’ve heard rumours about the list of possible Gordon replacements and now we’ve lost out on the first one we’ve gone for. Already there are worrying echoes of last pre-season and much more of this could prove catastrophic for the upcoming season and the so called ‘project’. Again.
On the flip side, there are positives from the last week. New boy Ewen Jaouen looks to be a player with real potential and with any luck we’ve found our eventual number 1 for years to come. We have several players at the World Cup (ok, it’s not all incredibly positive, but there’s a barrel to be scraped here) and Yoane Wissa has actually scored.
It feels like the next couple of weeks have to be positive though. Players need to be coming in and coming in early. As I write the fixtures are out tomorrow and if you’re anything like me you’ll start looking at runs of games where we might start losing points! Forgive me for preaching positivity and then being so negative, but I’ve supported the club through thin and thinner and this is how I approach every season!
Clearly, we could all just do with some good news!
Middle Age Fanclub 