Bit surely after a few windows we would if found someone by now
Yes injuries have highlighted our weak squad. How many times has cabaye and tiote played together 4?
Due to lack of defenders antia has played lb/rb but has seemed to be settled in a cm role and looks a decent buy.
Debuchy deal was rumoured to fail due to a difrence in 1 or 2 million in the clubs value in the summer.
We let a lot if players go on big wages last summer and never really replaced them.
Best/smith/DannyG etc that's over 100grand off the wage bill. Xisco is 50k left for 6months so there should be room there.
Okay, when Utd drop 100k off the wage bill, while making profit every year they can expect to replace them.... the money you were spending on Smith, Xisco... was the money that but for Ashley would have seen the club do a Rangers. You can't expect to get rid of Smith, on a huge wage, which was contributing to making a loss, who didn't play anyway and instantly expect to replace him.
Its not a **** up, you are almost certainly NOT going to get relegated, but even had you spent 20mil on two CB's, you STILL could have got relegated. Hence running the club with some profit is sensible. You've had years, and years, and years, and YEARS of HUGE losses, one 6 month period turning a very minor profit doesn't suddenly mean you can dump 20mil more on wages because you feel like it. A sensible club will take marginal profitability, and build up some cash in the bank, then and ONLY then start thinking about pushing on.
As for CB's, its been as clear as going for other targets that you have been going for them, a hint, anyone can buy a CB any time, easily, getting good ones is a different story. Arsenal went and blew 6-8 mil on Squillaci and 2-3 mil a season on wages on him, do you want to do that or actually get someone good? How much time did you spend going after Carroll, in all likelyhood none at all. I can't see how at anything short of a free transfer and an immediate halving of the wage he was on would he fit in with the other transfers Newcastle have made. They didn't break the bank for Cisse, or Ba, or Arfa, but you think they would on a player 1/10th as good as them? Its a media story, both because papers can't come up with anything original and because a lot of fans like a good home town player so it makes sense for the club to pretend they would have him back.
Maybe he turns into the best striker in the world in 5 years, but he won't come to Newcastle because 5 years before(now basically) Newcastle laughed at reporters suggesting he could come back. You don't burn bridges, most players don't do this or managers, or owners, etc.
AFAIk both Gael and Anita have played full back before joining Newcastle and were decent there, but neither has seemingly worked out... though its a bit early to judge.
First few games from Anita were pretty woeful, but that happens to loads of players who aren't in form due to not playing, the team as a whole was playing pretty woefully and so was he at right back. 2 months later with a bit of form he might be a solid player at right back, or left back, who knows. Currently with Cabaye injured and Tiote missing loads of games midfield is where he's playing and he's not doing bad.
As of yet Gael is turning out pretty good and Anita is coming on quite well, meaning you bought two players who seem to do a good job defensively, hardly a travesty of a transfer window. You tried to get a CB and couldn't get who you wanted, tried to get a RB and couldn't get who you wanted.
I've pointed out before, due to europe/cups you've played over the same period till just before xmas, some 40% more games, with unfortunately injuries and a constantly changing team in large part due to injuries.
Sideshow bob is clearly a very good CB, but he looks crap currently because the team isn't in form and the defence hasn't been settled, Simpson looks a patch on where he was last year, etc. All these things effect you, injuries + 40% more games in the same space of time + ever changing line up all mean you've been under performing. THe quality is still there, the performance in the past 4-6 weeks have improved pretty drastically, being very unlucky in the past few games to fall apart late in games.
Look who is around Newcastle, do Villa have the quality to dramatically improve, injured top players to come back, no, Wigan, no, QPR, no, Southampton/Reading, no. Do really any of them have spending power, or playing pulling power to get in a significant change in their squads in Jan, QPR alone really... but that will merely unsettle the team once again and screw them up more than help.
With Cabaye back and two defenders signed its HIGHLY likely Newcastle will be fighting for a Europa spot rather than relegation in 3 months time.
Newcastle will be a yo-yo club for a few years, up and down the table, expecting anything less is being hugely naive and insanely greedy for the club. You only just came back up from relegation, from 100+mil of debts, from a terrible bunch of managers loading debt for years on a club. You've JUST got out from under that and the fans suddenly think you should be a top 6 club every year and anything less is failure?
Newcastle will yo-yo up and down, you have a manager and owner who want financial stability, not a daft suicidal run at a top 4 spot, and that means sensible, economical, safe spending, not splurging every year.
You haven't suddenly become vastly more profitable from your first year up to this year, tv money isn't vastly different(will be in a year or two) and money from going up the table is pretty minor. You were WELL above a safe spending level for a prem league club and you've reduced that to just profitable, not 20mil a season spare. Your manager/owner previously acted like spoiled kids and almost destroyed the club, you've just become profitable and the fans are suddenly exactly as they were before, throwing the dummy out the pram because of a perceived lack of spending... which the club can't afford.
The club will improve over time, but that means great years achieving beyond their means(like last year) and crap years where they under achieve, somewhat like this year. You're 10 points behind where you were last season 10, not 30, and thats with 9 European games, travel and injuries all over the pitch, get some perspective. If you were in the same position but had no european games, and no injuries you could expect improvement, expecting no regression with vastly more games and injuries to most key players is ridiculous.