When it came to transfer business, Newcastle allegedly had a bad 2011. The football press, never knowingly in possession of a capacity for calm analysis or any degree of foresight, decreed that we were strong contenders for relegation. In their pre-season predictions feature, the estimable Football365?s contributors nearly universally tipped us for the drop.
Their reasoning was that we had replaced Premiership class players – who had performed admirably during the previous season – with cheaper, untested, foreign imports. What had got us promoted and kept us afloat in the Premiership was a deep well of heart, spirit and guts. In losing the players that best personified those traits, we were practically begging to be relegated.
Nobody, least of all myself, expected us to be unbeaten in late October. Nonetheless, there was clearly enough quality in the squad to see us survive ahead of the likes of QPR and Swansea. So, while I predicted we would out-perform our (reasonably low) expectations, I hadn’t expected that the loss of Carroll, Nolan, Enrique and Barton would make us stronger. But with the benefit of hindsight, each player loss has, paradoxically, in a number of different ways, made us stronger, by ridding us of certain hindrances and flaws.
Take Nolan first. He was, in his own rotund way, magnificent last season. He scored more goals than Drogba, Torres, Lampard or Rooney. He put four goals away against Sunderland. He captained us to comfortable survival, and what would have been, but for a ludicrous capitulation against West Brom on the final day of the season, a top-half finish. But with Nolan in the team, particularly in a 4-4-2, you are always essentially conceeding control of the game to the opposition.
He has to be accommodated and indulged, relieved of his defensive duties due to his lack of movement and mobility. There are players who suffer from these afflictions, who are so potent an attacking force that they merit being accommodated. Kevin Nolan isn’t one of them. One key reason for Chiek Tiote ’s impressive season was the sheer amount of work that landed on his desk through compensating for his Captain’s shortcomings.
Yohan Cabaye has allowed us to dictate the tempo of games, keep possession and operate more impressively as a team, facilitating plenty of goals himself. No serious observer of football could seriously suggest we are a weaker team for replacing the Liverpudlian with the Frenchman.
Joey Barton does not suffer from the same technical limitations as does Nolan. He is a tidy passer of the ball, remains reasonably mobile, and added a great deal of goals from set-pieces in our first season back in the top flight. However, in shoehorning him into the side on the right wing, our teams in 2010/11 were too-often sluggish moving up the pitch, leaving them over-reliant on the strong, if workmanlike, running of Jonas Gutierrez. I have no doubt a place could be found for him in our team had his transfer to QPR not gone ahead, but we haven’t suffered, thus far, for his loss.
Love it. You truly hit the nail on the heed. I loved Nolan’s will, Carrol’s presence up front, and Barton’s willingness to stand tall for the squad, team, and Toon – all in dire circumstance. Now I see wisdom in the change, and I think it benefits all. Nolan gets paid and will be a hero for leading the Hammers back to the Prem, Carrol really needed to leave home & he’s getting paid, and Joey can be the man at a club with bottomless pockets. Most importantly, the Mags are back playing the kind of football the world appreciates, and I love. HWTL!