Nothing ever seems simple at Newcastle FC. You often hear it said 'just three decent players and we'd have a good team'. Well this really was the case with Newcastle. Very talented Ben Arfa returns from long-term injury, you manage to keep hold of the coveted Tiote, add the three players and you've got a good team. What's more, thanks to very generous Liverpool, and the money they overpaid for Andy Carroll, they have the funds to buy these three. In fact they bought two of them over the past few days: another rated French winger, Sylvain Marveaux from Rennes and forward Demba Ba. Unfortunately they fucked the whole plan up, in typical Newcastle style it has to be said, by selling their captain Kevin Nolan to Championship West Ham. Nolan was the heartbeat of the team: fans favourite, he brought people into play and scored plenty of goals from midfield. Why they would sell him is anyone's guess. The club does seem to have a coherent plan of buying young talented players but they may well need time to gel; Nolan would have helped with this. It may transpire that he asked to leave, but it can only cause manager Alan Pardew plenty of problems. For a start, who will become they team's new captain, Joey Barton?
Signing No.1 must obviously be a replacement for Kevin Nolan. No easy task. They have brought in Cabaye, again from France, but it's unrealistic to hope he can fill such a role so soon. Seb Larsson would have been an option, but it looks like he's off to rivals Sunderland. Scott Brown from Celtic is said to be a possibility. I'd be tempted to take a punt on Stephen Ireland.
Signing No. 2 ought to be a strong central defender. One of the Birmingham duo, Dann or Johnson, would fit the bill. They may have competition from other clubs but must have the cash to tempt.
Singing No. 3 could be a left back. Interest in Jose Enrique from top teams seems strong , so Newcastle's efforts to bring in Swansea's Neil Taylor make sense.
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