By Tyne-Talk
January 12 2014
Newcastle United Director of Football Joe Kinnear has announced that the club has a one or two player policy when it comes to new signings.... and that is per year! The policy sounds like a good one.... if you aren't in dire need of players. However, with reports of several players leaving, what could already been considered a small squad the news that we could potentially not sign a single player this winter is not good.
The added problem of experience will also be highlighted by the young player policy. With older and more experienced players apparently with one eye on the exit, we should be considering which players have the necessary experience to lead the team.
In today's match day programme Kinnear wrote;
"For obvious reasons, in January 2013 we did significant business, but this year we can afford to take a more calculated and considered approach - if the right player becomes available for the right price and we are sure he can improve on what we have in the squad, then we may do business.
If not, then we won't. That's how it should be. We will not be rushed or forced into making knee-jerk decisions, which experience tells us more often than not turn out to be costly mistakes.
Our preparation for the transfer windows is a year-round activity and at Newcastle United we plan our transfer activity based on a full calendar year as opposed to approaching each window in isolation.
Now that we have strength and depth in most areas, as well as players within our ideal age range in most positions, our intention for the first team going forward is to sign one or two players per year to improve the squad.
This will be done within strict financial parameters – the club will only spend what it can afford.
We have made certain elements of our transfer policy well known. One example being the desire to recruit players whose futures are ahead of them, not behind, which in nearly all cases means players in their early to mid-20s, not beyond.”
MATCH PREVIEW FOR NEWCASTLE UNITED V MANCHESTER CITY HERE
