Eddie Howe has admitted that Newcastle United’s winter transfer window was “not ideal” but has urged his Magpies to battle on with silverware still a big possibility on two fronts.
Howe stated that Lloyd Kelly’s exit never put Newcastle in a position where they could have made a deadline day swoop but said he was “very reluctant” to lose a player he only signed in June. And his message ahead of the summer window was one of caution as he insisted that “no set figure” or warchest has been put to him.
In an open and honest media briefing, Howe insisted:
- He had no “definitive date” when transfer funds would improve
- There was frustration at not being able to move the squad forward after the likes of Man City and Aston Villa spent big
- He is now under pressure to avoid injuries given the thin layer of cover in the squad
Chronicle Live understands that Newcastle’s prospects on the recruitment front now rest on the long-term revenue making machine at the club, which could need another two or three years to start really proving to be beneficial. Another short-cut to a brighter window next summer will be qualifying for the Champions League – with Howe’s budget cut last summer when failing to even scrape into the Europa Conference League.
When asked on the chances of a warchest, Howe, speaking at his first Press conference since the window shut, told Chronicle Live: “It would be nice if they could (change the PSR rules). I think for us, no, there is no set figure.
“I know people have said all sorts of things, warchests, but it does not quite work like that. We are in a position where we will communicate and discuss what is going to happen in the next window but that’s not now.”
When asked if he was “frustrated” by the lack of business, as the likes of Aston Villa and Man City have gone on shopping sprees, Howe said: “No, I don’t think frustrated is the right word. We had been planning and looking at numbers and opportunities for weeks and weeks and weeks. Frustrated yesterday? No. That (losing Kelly and Almiron) was a long time in making, it ended how we expected it to at the start. So different emotions for me. I think overall an element of frustration because have not taken the squad forward in a positive way.”
Touching on other clubs improving and Newcastle essentially slipping backwards, Howe said: “I think that is everybody’s aim and ambition when you go into a transfer window, but not frustrated on deadline day, it is overall frustrating because we are trying to take the team forward and progress. We are trying to improve and get better. Obviously, we haven’t been able to do that.”
Howe said that the Kelly exit did not allow Newcastle the headroom to buy yesterday and commented: “No. That did not give us any positive headroom to bring a player in. We knew from the off this month we weren’t in the incoming market. It was about controlling sales that navigated us out of a problem. So that’s where we were the whole month, and it never changed..”
Although, Howe insisted that the window panned out the way he believed it would in many ways due to PSR.
Howe said: “I said right at the start in the build up to the window, that it was not a case really of looking at incoming – it was a case of trying to manage outgoings really and trying to not weaken the squad to a point where the team’s affected. But we also future-plan and make sure that we control everything in terms of our PSR level, so I think we’ve done that. I think it’s been successful in that regard.
“I think the two sales – the two players go with our best wishes, they’re two great lads. The squad is lighter in numbers but high in quality so I think for us managing injuries will be a big part of what we do now in this part of the season coming up. There is still no reason why we can’t be successful but yeah, hopefully the future looks a little bit brighter.
“I think I’ve said many times it’s a difficult thing to give a definitive and clear answers, and that’s not me being difficult as to what the future looks like, but I think certainly the last year we know we’ve been managing a situation where we had to make decisions, as I’ve said many times before, that we wouldn’t have necessarily made from a football perspective.
“But hopefully by being prudent and making good decisions now, in the future we won’t be making those decisions, we’ve been making purely football-based decisions. When we get to that point, I can’t give you a definitive date, that’d be wrong of me to do so, but I think everything that we’re doing is trying to leave us to that point.”
Reflecting on avoiding injuries, Howe added: “Yeah, of course, from my side, I think we want a competitive team on the pitch, and I know everyone feels the same way. Our two injuries at the moment with Callum coming back and Harvey Barnes out – and Jamaal Lascelles out – we don’t have sort of a huge burden of injuries at the moment, but we still have a tight squad.
“So that’s why I say that managing that with the games we have to come is going to be hugely important to us. We need to try and keep everyone that we have fit and available remaining. We need to (avoid injuries) to stay competitive for the remainder of the season.”
View news Source: https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/very-reluctant-eddie-howe-breaks-30929813
