Newcastle's stale team is WORSE than it was two years ago and Brighton exposed that in 1-0 win - but it's down to wasteful recruitment, not transfer restrictions, writes CRAIG HOPE
- Toon have been let down by shoddy recruitment and were toothless on Saturday
- Gordon was the last man to improve the first XI - and he joined in January 2023
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If you live and die by your recruitment, Newcastle United are learning that to get it wrong can leave you gasping for air.
Four without a win in the Premier League, no goals from open play in nearly seven hours and a feeling that Eddie Howe’s best XI is weaker than it was two years ago.
Key players such as Kieran Trippier and Callum Wilson have aged and are increasingly absent, while others like Fabian Schar and Dan Burn are sound performers but will turn 33 this season.
There has not been the refresh and improvement needed when it comes to trading - and that is why Howe faces a huge challenge in stimulating a squad that has gone a little stale.
Take Saturday. They were brilliant for 35 minutes but did not score because they had a striker in Alexander Isak who was rusty and spurned two glorious chances on his return from injury. Why has a more reliable deputy not been signed? Meanwhile, on the right wing, they tried first with Jacob Murphy and later Miguel Almiron. Evidently, the quality is not there.
Newcastle are paying the price for poor recruitment with their profligacy in front of goal
Why has an able back-up not been signed to support Alexander Isak and Callum Wilson?
Anthony Gordon is the last arrival to truly enhance the team and he signed in January 2023
The four players signed at a cost of £150million in the summer of 2023 all featured, but have any of Sandro Tonali, Harvey Barnes, Tino Livramento and Lewis Hall made the starting XI better? Not yet.
Come January, it will be two years since the arrival of Anthony Gordon and the last player who truly enhanced the team’s level. Forget PSR, you just have to be smarter. Newcastle took their eye off the ball and the upshot is this - they can’t put it in the back of the net right now.
Once Brighton led through the excellent Danny Welbeck on 35 minutes, the confident start made by Newcastle slowly drifted to nothing. There was little belief on the field or in the stands of them salvaging a point during the final half hour, and that seemed implausible after the aggression and offensive intent of the opening period.
When Manchester City fall behind at home, it inspires them. Newcastle lacked inspiration after their setback and, to widen the point, this feels like a club in need of some galvanisation. The squad needs an injection of new life - and to revisit the mantra at the top, recruitment is the best means of resuscitation.
