Sunderland vs Newcastle United Review: Taylor strike seals derby win for Magpies

Bragging rights: Newcastle celebrate Ryan Taylor's winner

                                   

Sunderland 0-1 Newcastle

It was a typical North-East derby, full of controversial decisions, incidents and plenty of fouls. The only surprise, the scorer of winning goal, Ryan Taylor. The Scouse utility man etched his name in Newcastle history when his free-kick looped over the head Simon Mignolet and into the top corner of the net.

Sunderland had dominated the game for large periods of the first-half but faded badly in the second 45 as Newcastle grew into the contest before Taylor's strike sealed glory for Alan Pardew's men.

The result was little more than Newcastle deserved as they were denied a blatant penalty in the first-half as Sebastian Larsson prevented a Joey Barton header from crossing the line by palming the ball out of play. Barton and the rest of the Newcastle side protested vehemently to referee Howard Webb and the linesman on the near side but their protestations fell on deaf ears as neither official appeared to get a proper view of the incident.

For as much as Newcastle were unlucky not to be awarded a penalty, Sunderland were arguably just as unlucky not to have scored themselves as the lively Stephane Sessegnon crafted a number of chances in a vain attempt to give the Black Cats the lead. A series of bad tackles set the tone for what would follow in the second half as first Yohan Cabaye was booked for a high challenge on Phil Bardsley before tempers began to flare slightly following a late Lee Cattermole tackle on Joey Barton.

Steve Bruce's side ended the first period in the ascendancy as Asamoah Gyan's curling effort narrowly crept over the bar. The second half performance from the home side will have many Sunderland fans scratching their heads as to what Steve Bruce said at Half Time as all the momentum they had possessed in the early stages evaporated and Newcastle took a stranglehold on the contest.

Yohan Cabaye and Jonas Guttierez were particularly impressive for the Magpies and it was a typically strong and surging run from the Argentine Gutierrez that won the free-kick that led to Newcastle's winning goal as the Argentine was brought down on the edge of the area.

It was left to Taylor to do the rest and the former Wigan man, who scored so many for the Latics in the past against Newcastle, didn't disappoint as he delivered a perfectly placed free-kick which left a despairing Mignolet stranded and nestled in the top corner sending the visiting Toon Army into raptures.

From that point on it was a relative stroll in the park for Alan Pardew's men as Sunderland laboured to try and find an equaliser. There was still time for more spice and a predictable derby-day red card, first the spice as Cattermole was booked for a scything challenge on Gutierrez, the tackle led to a melee that had been brewing throughout the game which resulted in Barton and Bardsley both being booked for their involvement in the incident.

It was Bardsley however who proved to be the deserving recipient of the derby-day dismissal as he was shown a second yellow late in the game for a horror tackle on Coloccini which television replays showed would have been worthy of a straight red. The sending-off killed the game as a contest, but Newcastle had been coping comfortably long before Bardsley had been sent from the field as Pardew's decision to take off the intelligent Cabaye and switch to 5-4-1 quelled the Sunderland attack with Fabricio Coloccini and Steven Taylor impressive yet again.

In truth Newcastle could have by more by the end, Joey Barton was again denied a goal as his effort was correctly chalked off for offside, while substitute Dan Gosling spurned a late chance to score his first Newcastle goal and give the Geordies the 2 goal lead their play probably deserved.

It mattered not as the contest lulled to its conclusion and Alan Pardew added his name to the list of victorious managers in Tyne/Wear derby history, lifting considerable pressure that had been placed on him due to recent inactivity in the transfer market. The challenge now for Pardew and Newcastle, is to push on from this result and gather early season momentum.

Man of the Match: Yohan Cabaye - It would be easy to give it to Coloccini, who was imperious yet again, but I've plumped for Cabaye. The Frenchman was neat and comfortable in possession and battled well in the midfield which compensated for the relatively poor performance of his midfield partner Cheick Tiote. Very impressive for his first ever Tyne/Wear derby. Jonas Gutierrez also deserves an honourable mention.

Moment of the Match - Easy one this, Ryan Taylor's winning goal, horrible from a Sunderland perspective, but wonderful in every way from a Newcastle one. A beautifully weighted free-kick that clinched victory and put the noisy neighbours back in their place once more.

Player Ratings:

Krul - 7
Simpson - 5
S.Taylor - 7
Coloccini - 8
R. Taylor - 7
Barton - 5
Tiote - 6
Cabaye - 8
Gutierrez - 7.5
Obertan - 5
Ameobi - 6

Subs:

Williamson - 6
Gosling - 6

Sunderland vs Newcastle United Match Preview

So its almost time, its only the 2nd game of the season and fans of Newcastle United and Sunderland have a battle for local pride to endure, and while it may still be very early in the campaign, there is already much at stake in this game, particularly for Newcastle.

However, lets start by looking at Sunderland. Steve Bruce's men heading into the fixture on the back of an impressive 1-1 draw at Anfield against a new look Liverpool side. Although as good a result as it was for the Black Cats on Merseyside, you would be hard pressed to find many who would argue that Sunderland weren't fortunate to be 3 or 4 goals behind by Half Time.

Sunderland adopted a 4-5-1 formation against Liverpool as shown below:

The formation failed to create the desired effect in the first half of the game against Liverpool as Sunderland were overrun on the counter attack and Liverpool bossed the midfield. However, the Black Cats turned the game around in the second half and snatched a draw after Sebastian Larsson brilliantly volleyed home Ahmed Elmohamady's searching ball into the box. The result also owed much to the composed performances of central defender Wes Brown and holding midfielder Jack Colback, which helped stem a Liverpool attack that had been rampant in the first half.

Sunderland weren't the only ones showing defensive fortitude last weekend, as Newcastle comfortably held firm against Arsenal side that appeared largely devoid of ideas minus the outgoing Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri. Alan Pardew opted for a straight 4-4-2 for his side's opening game of the season. The formation is once again shown below:

Despite Pardew having to deploy Ryan Taylor at left back for reasons I'm too annoyed about to go into, Newcastle were able to handle the threats posed by Gervinho, Andrey Arshavin, Theo Walcott and Robin Van Persie with relative ease. Aside from the Joey Barton-Gervinho episode, the game passed without real incident, which given Arsenal's dominance of possession was an indictment of the Gunners attacking play as well as a testament to the solidity of Newcastle's defence. Both centre-backs Fabricio Coloccini and Steven Taylor put in fantastic displays, while Cheick Tiote did a solid job in covering for both full-backs when Arsenal counter attacked.

So two very solid results on the opening day for both sides, but what changes should the sides make as they look to try and secure derby day glory. Well in the case of Sunderland I would certainly expect that 4-5-1 to become a 4-2-3-1 with Colback and Cattermole playing the two holding roles, Stephane Sessegnon playing in behind the main striker with Larsson and Elmohamday on either flank.

The main striker may be the main problem in that equation for Sunderland, Asamoah Gyan is short of fitness and was subbed after 66 minutes for new signing Ji Dong-Won. Dong-Won is naturally lacking Premier League experience as is starlet Conor Whickham, who despite his clear talent and the hype surrounding him, may take a while to adjust to the Premier League. On the other hand, the heated atmosphere of a local derby maybe the perfect environment for a young star like Whickham to announce himself on the big stage.

Newcastle also have a dilemma to resolve up front. Yes, they gained a positive result against Arsenal but there was an evident lack of sting in attack and new signing Demba Ba lacked the service needed to try and begin to replicate his 1 in 2 record at West Ham. An injection of pace was the most obvious element absent from the Newcastle attack, Gabriel Obertan helped rectify this when he came on for Ba at Half Time and while Brown and Titus Bramble are an effective centre-back pairing, they are far from the fastest. Therefore it would be worth Pardew considering giving the former Man Utd man a starting spot in order to try and get in behind the Sunderland defence.

Sylvain Marveaux, another of Newcastle's French contingent signed from Stade Rennais may also be another option after the winger played a full 90 minutes in a game for United's reserve team.

So both teams have selection issues to address, but where will the game be won and lost, well in my mind there are two battles that will be absolutely vital, and both concern the left back position. The two sides are currently operating with makeshift left backs, for Sunderland Kieran Richardson, who has taken to the position well in recent times after moving there from the wings, and for Newcastle Ryan Taylor, the utility man who did an ok job against Arsenal last week, but is predominantly a right sided player.

The two managers will surely look to exploit these possible areas of weakness, but, should he start it is arguably Taylor who faces the bigger challenge against Elmohamady, the Egyptian possesses slightly more pace than Joey Barton who will most likely occupy Newcastle's right wing spot. However, Richardson could have a lot more to deal with if Pardew decides to throw Obertan and Marveaux into the mix as the game progresses. Whichever left-back does the better job will, in my opinion give his side the best chance to win.

I anticipate that both sides will stick rather than twist and opt for the similar if not the same lineups that they used the previous weekend. Alan Pardew has already said that Shola Ameobi will start up front for Newcastle, the veteran frontman has an outstanding record against Sunderland and will look to continue his good form against them on Saturday. The question is whether he will be partnered by Ba or left to play up front as the lone striker with Obertan playing in behind.

Sunderland have the home advantage and if an early goal comes I suspect it will be from them, both teams will be tight at the back however, and in my mind this will be a low scoring affair. The pressure is on Alan Pardew with fan discontent over the club's transfer business growing with each day, so I think Newcastle will be happy to leave the Stadium of Light with a typically hard-earned point.

Prediction: 1-1

Newcastle v Arsenal Match Review: Toon stand firm against goal-shy Gunners

I said in my previous piece that Joey Barton needed to let his actions on the field do the talking, and against Arsenal yesterday that is exactly what he did, but once again the controversial midfielder found himself in the headlines for the wrong reasons.

However, in doing so I believe Barton demonstrated part of his value to the Newcastle side, in a few mad minutes he was involved in the game's two major talking points. First he was quite blatantly stamped on by Alex Song, apparently unseen by both the Referee and his assistants the offence went unpunished, this naturally angered Barton who walked off the pitch to confront the fourth official and ask why he had not drawn the referee's attention to Song's indiscretion.

Still that wasn't the end of it, as Arsenal attacked and Gervinho probed Newcastle's down the left-hand side and went down in the box theatrically under a challenge from Cheick Tiote, no penalty was given but Barton, after being stamped on and seen Gervinho dive earlier in the contest had seen enough as he aggressively pulled the Ivorian to his feet.

The inevitable happened, a melee ensued and Gervinho raised his hands in the direction of Barton's face, Barton claiming a punch fell to the floor and the rest as they say is history. However much hypocrisy Barton showed in going down easy from the forward's 'punch', raised hands has never been acceptable in modern day football and Gervinho received a red card on his debut while Barton was cautioned for his part in the episode.

Barton had an average game on the whole, and he will likely be vilified by the media for his role in the incident, but in Newcastle circles, he should be praised for ensuring that the home side gained a well-earned point, for this, aside from possessing a very good delivery and range of passing, is what Barton does well. He gets under the skin of opposition opponents, he will fight and stand up for his team's cause and generally annoy teams, and in getting Gervinho sent from the field, Barton helped stem any real threat Arsenal possessed which ensured that the game ended in a stalemate.

Away from the life and times of Joey Barton the game was somewhat of a damp squib, Arsenal had much of the possession, and the game's best chances, but without the craft and guile of the soon to be departed Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri as well as the injured Jack Wilshere, the visitors failed to break Newcastle down.

This has often been a failing of Arsenal sides in recent history, but it was also much to Newcastle's credit, captain Fabricio Coloccini was outstanding throughout, while his centre-back partner Steven Taylor enjoyed a solid outing. Cheick Tiote couldn't repeat the heroics of last season's 4-4 draw but did a serviceable job covering for both Newcastle's full-backs whenever Arsenal launched a counter attack.

Going forward, Newcastle created the odd opening but never really threatened, with the home side's best opportunity coming after substitute Gabriel Obertan and Yohan Cabaye combined cleverly in the Arsenal penalty area but in the end it came to nothing. Had Cabaye managed to get a better connection on his shot it would have undoubtedly been the winning goal.

The pacy Obertan was a bright spot for Newcastle in attack but in the end this was a largely forgettable encounter with the spice predictably coming from Barton, both teams will have been happy to take a point from the game, but both still need to address their clear lack of firepower in attack.

Man of the Match - Fabricio Coloccini: Newcastle's captain was a colossus at the back yesterday, regularly breaking up Arsenal attacks with consummate ease and composure.

Favourite moment - Obviously the whole Barton episode was the game's major talking point, but for me my favourite moment was Gabriel Obertan racing half the length of the pitch to beat Bacary Sagna to a ball he had no right to win. It was insignificant in the grand context of the game but highlighted the winger's raw pace and the Frenchman rightly won the appreciation of the St. James Park crowd for an excellent show of commitment.

Finally, something to look forward to, at 1800 BST this evening Joey Barton will be talking to Robbie Savage on BBC 5 Live's 606 program, if ever there was a radio broadcast to tune into, it is this one.

Season Preview: Its adios to Enrique as Joey stays put

This will be a rushed blog, the Premier League season is less than 24 hours away and there is a lot to fit in, but we'll start with the most recent development to have taken place at Newcastle United, the departure of left back Jose Enrique to Liverpool.

Enrique swapping the North-East for the North-West should hardly come as a shock, the Spaniard has been making disapproving noises about the club's transfer policy for a while and has seemed a distracted player ever since Andy Carroll left for Anfield back in January. The former Villareal man also stayed quiet throughout the second half of last season and has done so for the majority of the pre-season period.

In the end it was something of a no-brainer for the club as they elected to accept a bid reported to be around £6m from Liverpool, rather than lose him for nothing at the end of this season.

Two questions spring to mind following Enrique's move:

1) Why did Newcastle accept an offer so small for a player that has improved considerably during his time at the club?

2) What now for Newcastle at the left back position?

No one aside from messrs Pardew, Ashley and Llambias knows the answer to the first question, but one thing is for sure, a figure of £6m is a considerably low one for a player that has been talked about as one of the best at his position in the country.

Newcastle fans will naturally be disappointed to lose a player of Enrique's calibre, the Spaniard is excellent in one-on-one situations and also possesses an impressive delivery and bags of pace. The supporters will demand a replacement as quickly as possible and the noises coming from Holland suggest that they may get one in the shape of PSV's Dutch international Erik Pieters.

I confess to knowing little about the 23 year old Pieters, but after a reported fall-out with PSV coach Fred Rutten, Pieters has apparently expressed his desire to leave the Eindhoven club and negotiations between the two clubs have reportedly now opened.

In the short term Newcastle have to come up with a solution for how to replace Enrique for Saturday evening's opening encounter against Arsenal.

Another area where Alan Pardew has a selection dilemma is in the midfield, though this is for entirely different reasons. Newcastle have a wealth of options in the middle of the park with Hatem Ben Arfa the only confirmed absentee. Among the decisions that Alan Pardew has to make is whether to include Joey Barton in his matchday squad.

Yes, Barton, despite his twitter rants criticising the club's board, still remains a Newcastle player and Pardew has refused to close the door on Barton's career at St.James Park and the former Manchester City player has resumed training with the first team squad in the past week.

In spite of the club stating that Barton is free to leave the club for nothing, offers for the midfielder appear to be few with Stoke City and Zenit St-Petersburg the only reported suitors. Neither of these clubs would represent a significant step up from Newcastle and it may be the case that Barton decides to stay in the North-East for the immediate future.

Barton re-invented himself playing on the right hand side of midfield for Newcastle last season as his delivery into the box and range of passing was a major factor in a large number of goals scored by the team in 10/11 campaign.

There is no doubt that it would be fantastic news for the club if Barton does decide to try and repair his relationship with Pardew and the rest of the management at Newcastle, but that reparation process may take a while and two things will have to happen for it to be a successful one.

Firstly, Barton must let his play on the field do the talking, the Huyton-born player is without doubt one of the most entertaining personalities on twitter, but if the player-management  is to be a harmonious one then it may be best for Barton to delete the twitter app from his phone.

Finally, and this is key for Newcastle's season in general, the club must replace Enrique and must sign another striker. Investment in the squad will keep Barton and the rest of the squad happy and a new striker is absolutely vital if the club is to make inroads into the top half of the Premier League table. If this happens then Newcastle can look forward to finishing in a strong league position, if not, questions will surely be asked about the atmosphere within the dressing room.

Whatever happens, it is sure to be another exciting season at St. James Park, I have listed my predictions for the season below.

Newcastle:

Key Player: Cheik Tiote - An effective barrier in front of the back four, the holding midfielder is key to Newcastle's success in the middle of the park. They have struggled to retain possession in games when the Ivorian has been absent, whereas they have been able to dictate play more often when he is on the pitch. Go figure.

Most important signing: Demba Ba - Unless Newcastle sign another striker, then there will be a lot of pressure of Ba's shoulders. If he can stay fit and replicate his form of 7 goals in 12 games for West Ham throughout the season, then Newcastle will be sitting pretty in mid-table security.

One to watch: Yohan Cabaye - Pardew has raved about Cabaye's ability to control games, Newcastle will win many battles in midfield if the Frenchman can do so on a regular basis.

Young gun: Haris VuckicVuckic was highly impressive during pre-season scoring in games against Columbus and Leeds and having one disallowed against Orlando. Vuckic is best suited to playing in the hole behind the striker, with Hatem Ben Arfa injured, expect Vuckic to see more action than anticipated this season.

Premier League: 9th - Being forever the optimist, I expect Newcastle will sign another striker, with all players fit Newcastle are comfortably a top ten side and a top half finish will represent further progress, albeit at a slower rate than some fans may desire.

FA Cup: 3rd Round - I'd love us to win the cup, but two things always seem to happen with Newcastle in the FA Cup. They either draw a Premier League team and get knocked out, or draw a lower league side away from home and suffer a giant-killing.

Carling Cup: Semi Final - Seen as a somewhat 'second-rate' competition with the top sides often resting players, I feel this is the competition Newcastle have the best chance to win. I think they will get far in the competition, but run into a Man Utd or Chelsea in the Semis.

General Predictions:

Premier League: Man City - If Man Utd sign Sneijder, then this prediction may change, but as it stands, with City due to sign Samir Nasri, the Eastlands club has the better midfield, and is at least on equal footing with Utd in other areas of the field. If City can get over the mental hurdles presented by Utd and their other challengers, then they will win the title.

2nd Man Utd
3rd Chelsea
4th Spurs
5th Liverpool
6th Arsenal

Relegated: QPR, Norwich, Swansea - Sorry I can't see any other outcome. One may do a Hull/Blackpool strong early start, but none of the squads capable of staying in the division.

FA Cup: Man Utd
Carling Cup: Liverpool

Champions League: Barcelona - Explanation? Still the best team in the World and they will show it, again.
Europa League: Paris Saint-Germain - The French Man City, bags of money and they know how to use it. Once the team gels they will be a force to be reckoned with.

Season Preview: Judging Newcastle's transfer business.

Club captain sold, pitch invasions, visa complications galore and twitter outbursts, it's been another typically controversial pre-season at Newcastle United.

Indeed, the club heads into Saturday's season opener against Arsenal having enjoyed, at best, a mixed pre-season campaign that is quite difficult to dissect, but that is what I will attempt to do throughout this piece as I look towards what is sure to be another eventful Premier League season at St. James Park. 

I'm not going to get through it all in one go, so we'll start by looking at transfers, and despite what you may think of Mike Ashley's buy low, sell high policy, it's difficult to argue that Newcastle been decidedly active in the transfer market this summer. Five players have joined the ranks at Newcastle, while two have departed.

The first thing to note about the signings Newcastle have made in Alan Pardew's first summer in charge, is that  all 5 players brought in were born in France. Yes, Mehdi Abeid, Yohan Cabaye, Demba Ba (officially registered as Senegalese), Sylvain Marveaux and today Gabriel Obertan all hail from just across the channel. Looking at these additions, and taking into account that in Hatem Ben Arfa and Cheick Tiote Newcastle have 2 other French speakers in the squad, fans could be forgiven for expecting La Marseillaise to played along with Blaydon Races on matchdays. 

All bad jokes aside, what can the mass of loyal supporters expect to see from the new charges as the season progresses? Well they probably won't see much of Abeid for a while yet, the RC Lens youth product who is primarily a Defensive Midfielder has impressed in pre-season, however at the tender age of 18, Abeid may spend most of his time in the reserves given Newcastle's strength in depth in midfield. 


Moving on then to Yohan Cabaye, Ligue 1 title winner with Lille and perhaps the best looking footballer I've ever seen, google him you'll see. Cabaye is someone who likes to control the game and dictate the play. Pardew said of Cabaye after the recent pre-season friendly against Fiorentina:

“When you have somebody like Yohan you can change the tempo of the game.

“He is going to be very important for us. His range of passing will be invaluable to us this season.”

Cabaye proved himself to be adept at set-pieces and from the penalty spot during his time at Lille, and with the undisclosed fee paid rumoured to be around £4.3m, the capture of the French international may be considered something of a coup if he can continue the good form he showed in Northern France. 

The signing of Cabaye could go a long way to helping solidify Newcastle's central midfield and Pardew has bolstered his midfield options further by adding some much needed depth on the wings with the signings of Sylvain Marveaux from Stade Rennais and Gabriel Obertan from Manchester United. 

Both players come with significant question marks for different reasons, Marveaux although fast, powerful and creative has struggled with injury and hasn't played a competitive game for 10 months. Signed from under the noses of Liverpool, there were rumours that Marveaux had failed a medical at Anfield before agreeing to join Newcastle, though these claims were later denied by both clubs and the player.

The doubts surrounding Obertan are entirely different, highly rated during the early stages of his career, the former Bordeaux man joined Manchester United with much promise, but failed to gain sufficient first-team opportunities to deliver on this promise. Pardew has taken a flyer on the 22 year old Obertan to try and inject the pace that he believes the side lacked during the previous campaign.

Commenting on Obertan Pardew said: 


"He has great pace and excellent technique and he has improved his power in the last 12 months and is ready now make a real impact in the Premier League."

Marveaux and Obertan will likely compete for first team places with Jonas Gutierrez and possibly Joey Barton (we'll get to him at a later date). Hatem Ben Arfa, when fit, can also play on the flanks but may find himself deployed in behind a main striker.

Ah yes, strikers, I'd almost forgotten about them, Newcastle have signed one so far this transfer window, and quite a good one too in West Ham's Demba Ba. The Senegal international is another player who has injury issues with a longstanding knee problem, but his record of 7 goals in 12 games for West Ham last season remains impressive and if he can stay free of injury then Ba will undoubtedly be a dangerous presence for Newcastle in the box. 

All this sounds very nice indeed, but the issue of the strikeforce, or lack of one, remains a major source of debate in Newcastle. Aside from Ba Newcastle's options up front are limited, Leon Best surprised many last season by notching a very respectable 6 goals in 11 games before suffering a season ending injury. Shola Ameobi and Peter Lovenkrands are useful but aging lower level Premier League strikers, Nile Ranger has impressed at times but there are serious questions over his character and Shola's brother Sammy Ameobi has much potential but is nowhere near ready to be relied upon to lead the line. 

Newcastle easily have enough quality and goals in them to stay in the division, but if they are to really progress as the fans wish, then the consensus is that another quality striker is most definitely required.

The need for another new striker has been made infinitely greater because of the departure of captain and top scorer Kevin Nolan to recently relegated West Ham United. Nolan's decision to drop down a level to re-unite with former boss Sam Allardyce raised many questions about the player's desire and the club's willingness to let him leave. Nolan netted 12 times for Newcastle last season and his leadership, particularly in games such as the unbelievable 4-4 comeback against Arsenal was vital in the Championship promotion season and in the club's return to the Premier League last season. 

Nolan appeared to be a vital cog in the Newcastle machine, however the much criticised hierachy of the club decided otherwise. Why? No one knows, many believe that the club's board want anyone who may speak out against the policy of the club (Nolan, Barton, Enrique) out of the exit door. 

The more likely explanation however, is that the club were reluctant to give a 5 year £50,000 pw (Nolan's reported contract at West Ham) deal to a player nearly in his 30s. Youth is the way at St James Park these days and there is little to no chance that Nolan was ever going to land a contract of that length. More to the point, despite his goals, he really didn't deserve to, Nolan's positioning in and around the box is fantastic but too often he was a passenger in the middle of the park which too often left Cheick Tiote having to do the work of 2 men in the centre of the park.

Despite this the departure of Nolan will surely be felt, and it will be interesting to see how the team deals with adversity during the campaign without Nolan's influence. The departure of the other player through the exit door, Wayne Routledge is almost completely insignificant. Routledge has already been replaced with the arrival of Obertan and although Routledge has landed on his feet in the Premier League with Swansea, his exit lends more credence to the opinion that Routledge is, at best, a Championship level footballer.

There are still three weeks left of the transfer window, so of course Newcastle can not be judged on their business until after midnight on August 31st, but with more depth added to the midfield as well as a target man, it is a case of so far, so good. If another striker can be added and the left back situation resolved then it will have been an excellent window for the club, but that would be all too simple for a club that is the king of the unexpected.