Newcastle are finally off the mark with their first win of the season after Callum Wilson’s goal secured a 1-0 win against Burnley.
Earning your first win of the season in December usually means you’re going to have a tough time avoiding relegation, but Newcastle have got their new manager Eddie Howe who will be looking to bring some new energy to the club, and we all know about the money that they are likely to spend in the January transfer window to strengthen the squad.
Newcastle are now level on points with the other bottom two clubs and they’re three points behind Watford in safety. The bottom half of the table is tight and if one of the struggling clubs can get a string of wins together they could break free and get some distance between themselves and the drop.
Howe will be doing his best to make Newcastle the club that can do that, and sooner rather than later, as he knows it will be easier to attract talent to the club if they don’t look like they’re in too much danger of the drop.
If you look at Newcastle’s squad you can see many names that were in the team when they were in the Championship a few years ago, which shows that the club has been slow to bring in new recruits, but that is expected to change with some big names like Kieron Trippier, Ross Barkley, Aaron Ramsey and even Ousmane Dembele being linked with a move in January.
It’s always hard to trust the rumours until you see some real activity like meetings or medicals between clubs and players, but if some of the rumours are true we could have a transformed Newcastle by the end of January. A couple of new players can make a big difference in the dressing room, giving some extra confidence that can make all the difference for clubs that are battling to stay up.
Howe will also be working his magic and following a plan to improve the team’s fortunes and get them believing that they can win and take points from even the bigger teams in the league.
It’s going to need building from the ground up and the expectation to start winning will be even shorter than usual due to the money at the club. They have to build for the long-term and find players that can help to build that future. If that’s not the case they might end up with players who are happy earn but not happy to perform. #mmlove