Newcastle's Progress

An interesting 12 months for Newcastle. Starting with media favourite Joe Kinnear joining the club as director of football. I think Kinnear is slightly underrated in terms of his managerial record which certainly deserves some respect, but I wonder why he was ever appointed - maybe just to be the eyes on the ground for owner Mike Ashley. He has been roundly criticised by fans and pundits alike for how little actually happened in terms of transfers, but maybe that was his remit all along. To do the dirty work of keeping costs down and keeping the staff honest. Newcastle actually had a pretty good season considering their problems in 12/13 - the French imports settled and mostly delivered.

Basically I think they've bought extremely well this Summer. Both Remy Cabella and Siem De Jong were very high up on my Summer Shortlist this year. Riviere wasn't but I don't really know why not, as I rate him as a very good prospect.

Cabella has the ability to potentially be a superstar at Newcastle imo. It will be very interesting to see how Montpellier can possibly cope without their 15-goal star player next season. I'm left scratching my head at quite how Newcastle were able to get him for £8 million - maybe it's because as a central attacking player he forces a team to build around him, which the bigger clubs simply can't commit to?

Siem De Jong seems less settled in a particular role - when I've seen him at Ajax he often looks like an attacking player who might well be a striker, but hasn't quite committed to the role as yet. Maybe that's his appeal, that he can play anywhere across the front and maybe in midfield, and still be a rugged, attacking threat. I'm not sure what he is yet, but I think he's very good.

I also like the signing of Riviere from Monaco, just announced at £6m ish. Riviere has the build and the pace of a potentially terrific striker, and maybe suffered from the sudden upturn in finances at Monaco in the same way that Sturridge suffered at Man City and Chelsea. Whether he will deliver on his potential is another matter, but given the state of the market £6m for a player with any sort of shot at the big time is very worthy business.

I just think quite simply that Newcastle have found value and quality with all three of these signings. They've also signed Colback on a free as a useful option in the engine room of the team, and have to tidy up after the loss of Debuchy to Arsenal. They're one of those teams in a weird position where fighting for Europe really isn't quite feasible, so safety and consolidation is really the only option. Keep making clever signings like this and they will keep creeping forwards as a club, and may well entertain more than a few on the way.