Newcastle United's January Transfer Window Dilemma 

Can you talk about how Union St.-Gilloise are just dominating the Belgian league this year after being promoted for the first time in 48 years? If they continue this run, it would make a great video

Newcastle should try to do loans with options to buy so that if they stay up and like what they see, they can buy the players. If they get relegated anyway, then they aren’t financially and tactically bound to those players and can use the contracted team they have now (and acquisitions they could make for the championship) to get them back to the prem anyway.

I think the Ligue 1 suggestion was really good. Newcastle were linked to Boubacar Kamara before and after the takeover. I doubt whether he will join in January

Alfie rises above all other football journalism yet again

Howe has had a great impact on this squad. Unfair to say he hasn't. Results haven't been there yet but the players are doing better for the most part tbh

What's missing from this video is alot of clubs finances are fucked up from the impact of covid. Which means Newcastle can play hardball with their transfers. They will have to act fast, act smart and get proven premiership talent in but when getting talent from Europe they can be a bit more patient. On a related note the opposite of this, I think Everton would be in a better position if there was no covid impact, clubs from Europe would have taken away the deadwood and bentiz would have had more money and flexibility in the market

Obviously best case scenario (for Newcastle) is that Newcastle stay up this year, I think that goes without saying. However, I think being relegated really isn't the end of the world for them. They would most definitely be favorites to go right back up as champions and you could probably lean on that to convince young players with a lot of potential to pick your project over someone else's with that standing. They could look at really good players under the age of say 26 right now in the championship and then try to pull young players from PL teams who won't aren't looking like they're going to be getting a lot of game time in the next couple years as well as skilled young players at the foot of other European top flight leagues. That builds you a base to grow into the team you want in the PL while still giving you the power to absolutely blast your way out of the championship next year. On top of all that, dropping gives you a real chance to convince players you don't want to keep around, i.e. deadwood, to take deals to move elsewhere if they don't want to play or think they're too good for Championship minutes. Strategizing between accepting relegation and striving to stay up I think really depends on the next 25 days and how badly they go. If they're still rooted at the foot of the table, accept relegation. If they're only a few points off safety I think there's a real argument to be made that they could pull it off if they pick the right long term and loan signings.

This needs a follow up video soon of “my 22/23 Newcastle lineup”! Some great ideas and I think a lot of us would appreciate hearing your opinions on signings

As a fellow Hull City fan, I thought you would mention us as an example of what do in January (make big money loan signings.) Marco Silva took over and began a fightback which almost ended in our survival. He signed Niasse, Ranocchia, Lazar and Elabdellaoui on loan deals and they all went straight into the first team and did well. It was definitely the best strategy.

If Newcastle go down, they could arguably follow the Wolves model. Come back up with a spine of Premier League talent, armed with the transfer budget to push for Europe in its first season. If they stay up, they'll end up doing a Sunderland - only attracting overpaid mercenaries. In the weirdest way possible, it makes more sense to go down.

I fully believe the best thing for the Newcastle owners would be to focus on long term optics, rather than short term optics.

Interesting video and definitely worthy of discussion. As a Toon fan, I don't think many of us would be too disappointed with relegation if it were to happen - we've got rid of Bruce, Charnley, Sports Direct (in process) and most importantly, Ashley - for the first time in 14 years, it feels like the club can finally start looking forward and trying to be the best it can be instead of the soulless, joyless, zombie cash cow Ashley made it. Easy to say after a win but I don't think this squad is as bad as it's league position suggests - the team was poorly coached, woefully unfit and lacking in team spirit, unity and any semblance of a gameplan under Bruce who gave them multiple days off and was off himself galivanting in Portugal more often than on the training ground. In the space of a few weeks, Howe has vastly improved the fitness levels, given the players more coaching and instruction and implemented an identity of how he wants us to play. There is also a great sense of teamwork and a united squad (as seen with unused players smiling and hugging after the win and the locker room photo of the entire playing squad and staff); or from the training ground footage we see (another thing Ashley never allowed for). We do need reinforcements and signings but I don't think we need to break the bank either - under Howe, we have seen the rebirth of players like the maligned Joelinton and Shelvey who have been amongst our best players under Howe. Lewis has impressed at left back, Schar is showing some of his ball playing qualities (further mystifying why Bruce never played him, instead preferring a liability like Clark). ASM who is arguably the most talented player at the club has been solid, but not the standout that he has been in the past when it seemed like he had to carry the team on his back - and that's because others are stepping up to share the load. A lot of the comments from the players has been they feel fitter and clearer on what is expected of them - things Bruce neglected to do. Dare I say it, Howe reminds me of Rafa with his fanatical attention to detail and minute detail oriented coaching and man management style. Of course we would welcome signings but I think most sensible fans will agree we don't want mercenaries after a big pay day but players who genuinely want to be at the club. Playing for Newcastle is like living in a gold fish bowl one former player once said - it's not for everyone, but if you are up for it and embrace it and give everything you have for the shirt, the fans will adore you. Being in a relegation battle, yes we need quality and match winners but more importantly, we need players with spirit, fight, determination and motivation who will chase every ball, fight every challenge and scrap for every inch of turf. Give me 2-4 hard working, reliable solid citizens over 1 flashy big money signing. Once we have established ourselves, built up the infrastructure (destitute training facilities, youth academy etc), then we can start thinking of ambitious signings (and to their credit, the owners have also said this as well (essentially 'no point signing an Mbappe when he wouldn't have the proper structures around him') - it's a long term project that will take many months and years to do, there is no overnight fix; and pleasingly the owners appear up for the challenge whether we stay up or not). Either way, I'm excited for the future and enjoying being a supporter more than I have in the past decade or so. Howe-way the lads! 🏴🏳🏴🏳

4-5 games in Newcastle's favour and they're suddenly 13-15th at the table before February. Most of the clubs below this position also has a tough program before January, and in January Newcastle starts off with 3 very doable games, so anything can happen, with or without the window going in Newcastle's favour, though 3-4 fresh players in, especially in back and mid, will probably be necessary to make up for injuries, bans and fatigue for the rest of the season. Just my two cents, I don't think they'll relegate. I'd be more worried for the 4 or 5 other teams at the bottom.

I love Alfie but his voice always sounds like he's giving a speech for the oral exams in school😂

They don't really need to do anything in the transfer window. If MBS does what he does best and simply has a few star players of the opposing team killed before every game, I'm sure they'll scramble together enough points to survive.

Love how even a video about Newcastle includes a nice little kicking session for Spurs :-)

Maybe they brought Howe in with one eye on relegation. He would probably stay and help build the team while in the championship. Some of the foreign "big" name managers would probably leave

Great video as always Alfie even tho it’s mathematically impossible for me to have finished it by now. Also please do times teams have played in Europe whilst not being in their domestic top flight

Henderson, Ake, Trippier, Lingard, Aubameyang, Ben Brereton Diaz.

according to Fabrizio Romano Vlahovic rejected Arsenal in this summer, no way he is coming to Newcastle for a relegation battle.

Best German players in the premier league of all time. (Day 239) I will not give up until the video is made or Alfie himself tells me to stop. Everyone else telling me that will be ignored. If you don't believe my number, just go back to the previous videos. I'm at the bottom most of the time, but I'm there.

The lady from thumbnail gives me nightmares

a few months down the line and we are now more than fine thanks to our signings

Loan players in with obligations/options to buy. Buy players from Ligue 1 or Serie A since clubs in those leagues need money as compared to England, Germany, Spain so they somewhat have less leverage in negotiations My guess they'll just about survive with Norwich, Burnley & Watford being the three clubs going down.

Only 3 points away from safety is hardly relegation certainty. Accepted the December run in is thought but look at Leeds’. A few additions in January and it’s not as dire as you make out. Should we go down it’s a much more optimistic outlook than with Bruce and Ashley at the helm

I’m sure you would, as many others would too, like to see Newcastle to go down. All they have to do is be the fourth worst team in the league. Taking into account that the gap from bottom to eleventh is smaller than the gap between fourth and first, they’ll be okay id imagine. Lap it up while it lasts. We won’t catch them when they start.

A nice video of how Newcastle United must plan to start their January transfer window post takeover wisely and slowly start moving up the table,good friends!!!:-D

If I take over a club with that kind of money my first priority would be getting the best director of football for that particular club. Very sound advise at the end. Loan with option to buy and best of the championship with potential. That second category could be your home grown and squad depth quota later. France does indeed also have some good bargains. Should also look at other good talents that are on the bench/rotation of some of the bigger clubs across Europe.

I was just doing a script on how to save Newcastle's season for my own video. Who knows...maybe they could build on that first win to save their campaign ⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽⚽

Making a video on the Wellington Phoenix, the only club in the world who are in a different confederation from it's league, could be a good video idea

This job will prove if howe is actually good

The video is cool and all, but the highlight to me was the mention of Romain Faivre and Brest. Not everyday I hear my hometown mentioned in the worldwide football community

22:36 it's actually Santiago Muñoz (pronounced "Munios"), Santiago Múñez is the fictional character from the GOAL movie, I know... it's an extraordinary coincidence, both Mexican strikers with almost identical names, except this one actually exists and he's pretty good, he did very well at his club Santos Laguna from Northern Mexico

HITCSevens, please do a video about the best XI in the Premier League since 1992 in each position e.g Schmeichel, Cech in goal, Neville, Azpilicueta, Walker at right back. It would be brilliant.

You do have a few players who are at London clubs or more fashionable European clubs who are maybe unwilling or who's partners refuse to move to the North of England. One example of this was Oliver Giroud who played for Arsenal and Chelsea. There were rumours that he might sign for either Everton or Newcastle but it later emerged that Mrs Giroud was a bit fussy and refused to entertain a move to either Merseyside or Tyneside. The thing I would say is that the player concerned needs to make it known pretty early on if he really doesn't want to play or live in Tyneside. That way the club can then get on with trying to sign players who actually do want to play for Newcastle United & who don't have any issues about relocating to the NE of England. The way I look at it is that all areas have their own pros and cons but you should probably not go around with preconceived ideas about an area especially without having done your homework first because otherwise it is rather insensitive and very insulting to the people of the area.

What Newcastle fans expect: Newcastle spend big on January, stay up by May What ideally should happen: Newcastle spend little, stay up Any other outcome: FAILURE Knowing how January transfer window works (a 10m player is being valued AT LEAST 40m) and the fact that they are a desperate PREMIER LEAGUE club with the most commercial money in the world, any team would be dumb to not sell to Newcastle any less than 30m.

Really insightful video, as Newcastle fan I am uncomfortable with certain aspects of the ownership but I can’t help but be excited by the footballing side of things, Eddie Howe might not be a big name or as glamorous as some fans may have wanted but he has been very impressive so far. The team have been so much better now that there appears to be a plan and Howe seems to understand what the fans want from their team, unlike Bruce who never understood the fan base despite claiming to be a fan. I think January will be difficult and there is no easy fix for the issues in the squad, to be honest I hope they don’t try and change the whole squad, maybe get 2-3 players in to strengthen midfield and defence, maybe a back up to Wilson too. At the end of the day, if we get relegated, we get relegated. It will largely be a legacy of Ashley’s approach to running the club. Hopefully we have a brighter future where we can maybe hope to do something more than avoid the drop each year, who knows. Love the videos, especially the obscure ones.

7 current managers who have the most influence over their clubs transfers.

And what about contracts with a relegation claus in them like Wijnaldum etc had

Kevin Keegan was the best Newcastle manager in recent times.

‘ Viewers of this channel will know I rate Tarkowski highly’ - actually I didn’t because I rarely watch Alfie’s videos talking about football actually being played. I tend to watch the politics/history ones and What is going on ones!

Newcastle should buy Hazard, Coutinho, Bale for starters. Kinda like how Man City start with Robinho

I think with regards to loans it's only a limit of two from other English teams. So they can sign as many loan players from outside England as they want.

A lot of what is being said here is very selective. 5-10 years was the quote given for a major trophy. The owners have said on various occasions that relegation is a possibility and I think the appointment of Howe was made very much with that in mind. Nobody is expecting Newcastle to attract superstars right now we just want players that are better than we have. Players like Tarkowski are better than we have and would no doubt see Newcastle as a step up even if we went down. You are also not factoring in player power. If a player wants to move in a lot of cases will push that through regardless of the club's wants or just down tools. I also think it has been proven that The Telegraph is not a reliable source when it comes to all things Newcastle United related.

I didn't subscribe to the 'powerful people are reptilians' theory, but then I saw Amanda Staveley.

You need to do a video about Norwich City despite being dominant season after season in the championship. What's going wrong in the Premier League. Owners,transfers,injury hit seasons and just a lack of ambition at the higher level. Shopping in Aldi when others are spending in MS.

This video hasn't aged well

What’s the dilemma -whether to have public beheadings as the half time entertainment at St. James’s?

As a huge Newcastle fan great video. I watched their first win of the season and it was great to get the win and the clean sheet.

They should bring in shearer as head of recruitment someone who knows and breeds Newcastle and players will want to sign for Newcastle

love the come dine with me reference at the start

Great choice of image 8:36

Just checked the description: “one just one game all season” Nice one Alfie 👍

Newcastle should mostly go for loan and buy options,anything else might be disastrous for the club

Duvan Zapata his contract ends in 2023, and Lorenzo Insigne & Domenico Berardi duo - their contract end in june 2022, so they can be brought now as bargains.

They need to strengthen but should stay clear of marquee signings as they will end up paying to much and too high on wages. Really they need to look at teams who are struggling financially like a lot of French teams and some of the championship teams. Billing, Brereton, and solanke, all depending on how much they cost. I know people will probably say they are resigned to getting relegation but it is the lowest risk strategy as they possibly won't have to pay as much on transfer fees or wages and if they was to get relegated they have players that are proven championship players.

The manager appointment says it all. Survival this season using who’s available.

Love the come dine with me reference😂😂😂

The quality of analysis and thought Alfie puts in is admirable. Genuinely one the better footie channels, but sometimes he frustrates by taking a long time to say v. Little or labouring his point.

Ngl but placing trust with what Eddie Howe can still do to this current crop is the best plan Newcastle can do. Yeah they can loan but that’s an additional player to coach. If you wanna survive you got to have a solid team that’s coached properly. They need a solid 4-7 game run (ala dortmund 2014 and hamburg every season before the got relegated) to survive and I believe Eddie Howe has that in him

Before January newcastle face Leicester away,Liverpool away,City and United at Home and then Everton Away,Luckily Leicester are in a slump so that might give newcastle a chance and also a chance against Everton but i think they will be lucky to get 3 points before January and that doesnt leave them in a good spot considering any new signings will take time to settle,if they are going to make big signing they need to focus on players with prem league experience who can settle quickly.

As a Newcastle fan I have no doubt we could go to the top of world football in the future. So to talk about Man City and Chelsea at the time and not being in a relegation battle is silly in my mind. I wouldn’t mind going into the championship for a year. It’s a set back but with the extreme riches there is no reason we can’t bounce up and be in a better position. One season in my mind is very little considering the last 14 years we’ve been through

Living near Newcastle but not being a Toon Fan I can look at it close up as a 'Neutral'. As long as the club invest something and are fighting in late April, any relegation hate will still be put at the Ashley/Bruce door and leaving the new owners in an 'Impossible task' from the start

Excellent assessment.

30 min video essay that is already proven to be ridiculous and informed by envy just one month later. Stick to making snarky references to your self congratulatory world view Alfie. Its all you're good at.

Day 5: Do a documentary on Guy Roux, a man who spent 44 years in total at AJ Auxerre as their manager

Personally now I don't care if we stay up or go down. This project is clearly for the long term and alot of jealous fans seem to forget that. I think you pointed out in one of your previous videos maybe on West Ham with Bowen, Said etc, that they is alot of very good players 20-23 in the championship who simply ain't getting scouted by clubs in the prem instead they sign fancy players from Italy, Spain etc. If we go down we will go straight up, if we stay up then even better. Personally I think we will stay up due to how poor the bottom three will be (watford have an injury crisis until Jan) and tbh only teams to fear is Liverpool and City the rest are very winnable.

Bro really has the best channel on RU-vid

Great video mate 👌

There must be loads of haters pop up if we are seeing the club mentioned this often 😂. It's such a long video for football as usual. Imo, the club should just let Howe picked his addition for January. We are playing for survival, not building sustainable future. Also, I'm unsure who you have been talking to. I'm a toon supporter for about 20 years. Most of the fans I talked to is hoping if we get mid table as a best case scenario. Any how, enjoy the view counts. I enjoy the coverage regardless.

Newcastle need to use the opening days of the window more than deadline day, the sooner they get a new core to help them survive is key, sooner they get the better. Liverpool fan here, great to see another sleeping giant waking up

As a Newcastle fan I genuinely don’t think we’ll spend this window. It’s basically accepted that we’ll go down which is absolutely fine because we’ll restructure the club in the championship and do a Wolves where we buy a few decent players and build a squad around that before coming back to the prem. Getting relegated is literally least of our problems, plus is means we may have the derby back next season which has been sorely missed

Alfie keep uploading at this time of day because I'm at work and bored lol

This video is instantly made better by the 'Come Dine With Me' spin-off introduction. Love these Videos

Those burns.... Ouch!

It would be good to see you do a follow up video 1 year later..

I'm looking forward to see the role of the saudi regime at the club,what is the real endgame for this move,not forgeting how saudi regime runs his own country,are they really just gonna dump money at a club and sit back!?they have all the money in the world,why dump money on football and have no control especially from a country dominated by that control.

What on earth happened/ is happening to Panathinaikos should be one of the following vids. From being a European powerhouse in the late 1990s and early 2000s reaching Ucl and Uefa cup quarter and semifinals to present day Panathinaikos being 5+ years away from European competition and some years close to relegation for the first time in club history

1:29 I really disagree with this. As the Burnley match hadn't happened yet, our only proper matches under Howe were against Norwich and Arsenal. We were never going to beat Arsenal on their form at the time, but I feel we were amazing against Norwich. Playing a whole match with 10 players is really hard and I genuinely believe everyone did amazing. It was really unfortunate one player had to ruin it for us. In that match, the scorline really was disappointing. Our players worked so hard and did amazing, it showed clear improvement from Bruce and has excited most of the fanbase for the future, in my opinion. We were sloppy for one goal, however, we definitely have got a boost and have improved immensely. And, you wouldn't have seen it at the time, but we were still good-ish against Burnley. Joelinton, Schar, Shelvey, Lewis were all amazing and have been since leaving the shackles of Bruce. In January, I think it's quite clear where we need to improve. Centre Back. Considering we only have Fernandez and Schar who are useful isn't good. Our depth is lacking and we need a solid defender. I'd pick Tarkowski as his contract is running down, he is prem proven and isn't a huge downgrade for him (if a downgrade at all) Centre Midfield. Playing a 4-4-2, we have one man holding back in Shelvey, who is doing fantastic, and a more adventurous midfielder in Willock, who unfortunately isn't looking so strong. A player I'm not convinced would come is Kamara in Ligue 1. He is great defensively and could even cover centre back position. Even though Shelvey has been very good recently, we need more depth and rotation, and unfortunately, Kamara would have to start over him. Shelvey would be a great player for depth though. Another player linked with us who I'd like is Lingard. Playing similarly to Willock, he would suit our system perfectly. He wants a move away and won't be that expensive- not that money is a problem- so would be a great replacement for Willock and gain more depth. Wing back. Manquillo has never really let us down, but I feel we could step up a bit. It's a real push, but I'd love Trippier and I believe he wants to leave as well. Lastly, like I mentioned with our centre backs and midfield, we need depth. I honestly have no idea who, but a winger and striker is needed when inevitably with our luck, Maximin or Wilson gets injured and we're woeful.

The "What's More"/Watmore pic was good. I imagine this would have been a hard video to work in the "Anyhow"/Eddie Howe pic....

The main issue is, will the new football manager update after the transfer window reflect them as spending less or more

Eddie howe looks like Steve Bruce's after photo at slimmingworld

People are overthinking this. Players will come for the same reason anybody moves. Money talks.

Honestly cant wait to com back to this vido and comment "this didn't age well"

Would be smart if they sign 5 proven premier league players in January all under £25 mil each. But they can get real good veteran players from clubs in the current middle table

What's with that cheeky show of the banner everything isn't balck and white asking for a friend we're here for football

Can you do a history on professional football/soccer in America

Why there isn't any comments about you dropping in a Goal reference idk! Should've mentioned Gavin Harris tho, Santi thrives playing with him

Great video. But I don't think you mentioned if the 200m £ budget is realistic Or did I miss something?

Even if Newcastle United wont have a greadt January this idea cust make the January better for the channel: Day 5: Top 7 football clubs that have similar logos (FC Barcelona and Consolat Marseille, Benfica Lisbon and Hamm Benfica)

Newcastle should try loan Lingaard, considering the effect he had at Weat Ham, maybe Dean Henderson on loan too. There are a lot of players who could improve Newcastle who aren't playing ath their own clubs that I don't think they'd get bumped on. Newcastle's biggest issue is the centre backs, they need two!

Could you make a video about the photo of the uzbel balon dor person saying lewandowski is too slow to win the balon dor?

We've had 13years of underfunding but that was ok? We haven't even had a chance to sign anyone yet. Our team morale has been shattered.

It’s a marathon not a sprint

Dang. So no Messi, Salah, Ronaldo, Thanos, Kratos, Hulk, Iron man, Captain America, Black Panther, Mbappe for Newcastle

Day 59 Every professional seasons of one player ranked from worst to best ( Messi, Maradona, Henry hell I would even take Maguire whoever you want)

What happened to Panathinaikos?

Given how Tarkowski played against Leeds last night I'd give him a valuation of £3.50

They should hire you to guide their transfers because you detailed good ideas in this video. But you should decline the job offer because if the club is relegated you will be executed. 👍🏼

I was really hoping Newcastle would go down this season to stave off the takeover of Newcastle, but its just too easy to escape relegation by winning a few games.