When we are United we are so much more of a force | OneFootball

What a rollercoaster of emotions this summer has been for Newcastle United.

Ending the season on cloud nine, having witnessed our most successful season in modern times, certainly since the 1950s FA Cup dominance. In the knowledge that we were going into a transfer market where PSR didn’t look like it was going to hinder our business for a change. Wishful thinking eh???

Despite the whole Alexander Isak saga and how it has been reported by so many of those ‘experts’ on Newcastle United in the media, nice to see that some actually recognise the success the summer has brought.

I remember well, the summer in which we signed Shaka, Barton, Ginola and Sir Les. What a summer that was! (No PSR nonsense – it was great).

Watching Warren Barton ‘centre parting’ and Sir Les make their debuts in Brian Honour’s testimonial at Hartlepool, I really did sense that magical things were ahead that 1995/96 season (Steve Harper playing in goal that day – Isak could learn a lot from people like Harps).

Issue 81 – September 1995

Had this summer not been completely overshadowed by ‘the rat’, I believe we’ve had similar success in the transfer market.

I got slated on one social media site for rating our summer a 7 out of 10. If we do manage to get a striker of decent quality in, that will rise further in my eyes:

Aaron Ramsdale – At 27 for a keeper, he’s young and he is also very capable, both protecting his goal and playing out from the back. We’ve got a leader in Ramsdale who is not afraid to organise the defence in front of him. We’ve already seen a couple of ‘hold ya breath’ moments with our current number one coming out to clear, but I do hold much admiration for Nick Pope. He deserves to wear the number one shirt but I do think he’ll find himself on the bench as the season progresses.

Malick Thiaw – A German international defender, which tells you everything really. Highly regarded, which led to his move to Milan, eventually cementing his place in the starting 11. He’s versatile, good with his feet, a physical presence and will now have the opportunity to develop under Eddie Howe. At 24 years old, we’ve got a great signing here.

Jacob Ramsey – Another who will flourish under the coaching staff at Benton. We may just have the midfielder who can unlock that resolute defence with his ball carrying and intelligence. Box to box midfielder who likes to play in the final third, hopefully Eddie and the team can improve his goal and assist tallies, and if they do, we’ve got a gem. What makes this even more satisfying, he’s one of Aston Vile’s own and they did not want to see him go.

Elanga – Absolutely rapid, can play with both feet, intelligent, excellent goal and assist tallies. Another young player who will improve under Eddie.

Cordero – A one for the future maybe? Or another PSR tactic? Time will tell.

All in all the transfer window has been a great one in my eyes. One of the best since that window before the 95-96 season. We’ve also signed two other key personnel, which many seem to have overlooked – well, a lot of the social media Newcastle United managers have anyway.

Martin Mark, our set-piece coach.

You can already see how Tino’s long throw is now being utilised to good effect. Tino and Big Dan Burn caused the scousers any number of headaches on Monday night. Martin is a great acquisition, who comes with a very good reputation from the Danish league, where over a third of FC Midjtylland’s goals came from set-pieces last season. I believe nine of NUFC’s 68 goals came from set-pieces in the league last year. This is, without doubt, an area in which there was room for much improvement. Judging by Martin’s impact with the Danes, we’re going to see that.

As for our new Technical Director – Suds (Sudarshan Gopaladesikan), as I understand he will focus on football data operations throughout the whole club. Can’t really comment on what that will mean, but it sounds good in this data driven game we watch now.

What a great transfer window but I have left out one. The obvious one is Alexander Isak. We’re no longer a pushover and we’ve stood firm, with a simple no. Pay up or pi.. off! I love it! I couldn’t help but join in with the ‘one greedy b…tard’ chants in the Villa away end after the game. I was disappointed to hear it after the scousers’ second goal on Monday night though, thankfully, it didn’t last too long.

What makes this a great transfer window for me, is the fact that we are now scouting and making enquiries for players who are choosing to join Real Madrid, Chelsea, Man Ure and LiVARpool. Whether you want to admit it or not – Man City, Man Ure, LiVARpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham are bigger draws than Newcastle United to many. We’ve got a long way to go to compete with the wages they can pay, and in the case of most of these teams, the promise of competing for the Premier League and Champions League.

Man Ure’s still recent record and name will always attract the best players from around the world. It took quite a while for Chelsea and Man City to become part of ‘the big six’, and a load of money thrown at it too. Remember Robinho? They didn’t have the red tape that we do but look at us. Qualifying twice for Europe’s elite competition in three years! Winning the League Cup for the first time in our history!

And yet still, I remember up until Christmas last year people were questioning Eddie Howe’s position. I stopped listening to the one particular podcast because of the constant negativity they were spreading after every game, as well as one episode where they discussed whether Eddie Howe had taken us as far as he could. Wow! We are now competing with these clubs both on and off the pitch, and currently without a CEO and Sporting Director. We might not be winning but we’re in the frame. A far cry from a few short years ago. And the key man pulling all of this together… Eddie Howe!

CEO and Sporting Director are incoming. We’ve all heard who they are and the qualities they will bring look and sound great. We could not have planned for Dan Cashworth downing tools or Darren Eales’ health issues. Paul Mitchell??? I don’t think anyone was convinced when he came in, despite his strong track record and good reputation. But this has happened, so let’s move on. Rome wasn’t built in a day and when it was built, you didn’t have Richard Masters trying to do anything he could to stop it from happening.

The trajectory remains positive, and we have so much to look forward to. Two great performances to start the season and a short trip down to Leeds on Saturday, where we will hopefully pick up three points. If that happens, many would have taken four points from those first three games. The squad has improved and we can almost field a second side against Bradford City (A bloody home draw!) that would do us justice against many Premier League teams. Two in every position they say, we’ve almost got that now. Finally, we await the Champions League draw at 5pm tonight. Bring it on!

The atmosphere on Monday was breathtaking once again and Wor Flags continue to excel with the displays. Massive thank you to those who put the hard yards in to give us the best displays in the country.

When we are United we are so much more of a force and it resonates on the pitch. I cannot wait to step into the away end at Elland Road once again and give it all we’ve got. Their home atmosphere is very good, but biased as I am, we still won the battle of the crowds last time down there. And we will again this weekend, hopefully with the goal advantage too.