Hughton Has the Cash
Newcastle United manager, Chris Hughton, says that he does have the money to spend on new players.
Newcastle have been very quiet in the transfer market since they won promotion from the Championship at a canter. It now seems that the boss is under pressure from the club's fans to make big signings that will eradicate the chance of another relegation season.
However, Hughton has kept his cards close to his chest and insists he will not spend a single penny on a player he does not think is worth it. He says that the main problem is the fact that clubs are now asking for a lot more than players may necessarily be worth.
Newcastle will have to make additions to a few key areas of their team if they want to get in to the top half of the table by the end of the new Premier League season. They can combine this with the experience of relegation to make sure it never happens again.
Additions
Newcastle are quite short in one or two areas of the team. They need a solid defender who can command the team against very influential attacking sides. They also need someone up front who can score over 20 goals a season.
The main problem for Newcastle is that when they got relegated from the Premier League, a lot of important players left the club who would have helped them right now at this vital time. This is not to say the squad is not a good one but it can be vastly improved.
Hughton said: "Birmingham and Wolves did well with the squads largely that got them promoted — Newcastle is in a different place to where we were a few years ago. The sums we had to spend then are not there any more."
External Factors
There are a number of external factors that will put the club in a good position when the Premier League season starts. Their support is as good as it ever was and Newcastle fans remain the most loyal group of supporters in the whole country.
The club know what it feels like to be relegated from the Premier League and they will not want a repeat of this feeling. This means that the players should be raising their performance levels and their determination, which will help in tough games.
Hughton added: "We have to be careful and get value for money. I expect players to come in before the end of the summer. It would be silly to say I can see us challenge in the next year or couple of years. I have to be realistic. One year ago we were plying our trade in a lower division. It has to be a growing progress."
Advice
Newcastle should be fine during the next Premier League season but as Hughton predicts, it will take the club some time to settle back down in to the division. You can back them confidently to stay up because there will be other clubs in much more difficult positions who will struggle.
If you want to pick one or two players in the team to back then take a look at striker, Andy Carroll. Carroll played very well in the Championship and scored a lot of goals, which got the club promoted. He is a good candidate to score a few goals in Newcastle's early games because Hughton is not the sort of manager that is going to pull the plug on the players that got them back in to the Premier League.
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