TOON NEED SIGNINGS IN SO MANY POSITIONS SAYS QUINN
QUINNY ANSWERS YOUR QUESTIONS ON ALL THINGS UNITED
FORMER Newcastle United No 9 and ChroniceLive columnist - Mick Quinn loves offering his opinion on all things NUFC to fans and readers on a weekly basis.
He was keen to hear what it is supporters wanted to know about during this international break and so we held an online question and answer session with the Magpies’ goal hero.
Fans have sent their questions in ranging from his thoughts on Saturday’s crucial game with Brighton, the latest on Mike Ashley’s ownership of the club, Rafa Benitez’s future and what Newcastle need to do in the January transfer window - and Quinny has answered them.
As ever, he was forthright and honest in his views. Here are the big answers to your questions.
Which positions would you like Newcastle to strengthen in January?
It is a good question - and, if truth be told, my immediate thought would be - everywhere!
If you read my column after the defeat to Leicester when I went through each of the current Newcastle players you will have seen I was not particularly impressed by any of them.
The obvious one would have to be up front. They need a proven Premier League goalscorer. End of.
I know I am biased as a former forward myself but Newcastle’s striking options just are not good enough. The the problem is goalscorers cost big money - and this club just does not seem to spend big at the moment.
At goalkeeper and centre-back I think Newcastle are OK but they need new fullbacks. I like Paul Dummett but for me he is a centre-half.
I would also like to see some pace out wide - none of the wingers are consistent enough - and an attacking-midfielder who actually creates chances.
Will Rafa Benitez have the chance to spend the sort of money which will bring in four or five quality players in January Newcastle need, though?
I am going to doubt it unfortunately.
What is your favourite goal you scored for Newcastle and why? I have been asked this question many times before - and I cannot choose between two of them. The first one is from my debut and it was a penalty. You may wonder why I would pick a spot-kick but it was my first Newcastle goal and that really was a special moment.
I had signed for this huge club and decided to take on the iconic No 9 shirt. It was vital I got off to a good start and when that penalty hit the back of the net against Leeds I suddenly felt at home. No striker had scored 20 goals during a single season in a blackand-white shirt for 20 years but I hit four on my debut - and I never looked back. I cannot overstate how important that penalty was for setting me off on the right foot with Newcastle fans.
The other goal would have to be the one I scored against Derby in the FA Cup during a 2-0 win in January 1991.
I remember Ando John Anderson - floated a long ball forward, I had made a run forward and the ball dropped just in front of me 25 yards out. I let it bounce up and I smacked a peach of a halfvolley straight past England goalkeeper Peter Shilton and into the back of the net. He never even saw it, I hit it that well.
That one was a sublime finish and it was made all the more sweeter by the fact I had scored past the best goalkeeper in the country.
If Newcastle are relegated and Benitez walks, what do you think will happen? Who will replace him?
I am trying to stay positive at the moment and not think about the ‘R word’ - but I admit it is hard not to given the current position the team are in.
It is all a matter of ifs and buts at the moment. I mean, will Mike Ashley still be here come the end of the season? Who knows. Benitez will not be if we go down, I can count on that - and why should he stay if Newcastle are relegated after what he has had to go through?
All I know is Ashley will pick someone you would never expect to be the next manager. I don’t mean that in a positive sense.
I don’t mean to be alarmist but I really worry about what would happen in that scenario. For me, Benitez is the glue holding everything together at Newcastle.
If he goes, you only have to look at my former clubs Portsmouth and Coventry to see how quickly teams can tumble down the leagues.
However, I am confident Benitez will keep Newcastle up this season.
He is a world-class manager and I still think United will start to pull away from the relegation zone in the coming weeks.
Then we will not have to deal with this doomsday scenario at the end of the season...
Mike Ashley reportedly offered to take the Newcastle squad on holiday next summer if they avoid relegation. If you had been offered something like that during your playing days how would you have felt about it?
I would find it insulting. I really would.
When you are playing for a club as big as Newcastle United you don’t need the offer of a free holiday to motivate you to keep Newcastle up.
Look, we don’t know for certain if Ashley did actually offer this - but if I had been there I had have told him he did not need to buy my commitment with things like that.
My professional pride would want me to stay up as it is - but even more so I would want to keep Newcastle in the Premier League for the fans.
It is a top-flight club, or at least it should be, and the players in that dressing room will want to prove they are good enough to play for NUFC in the Premier League. The offer of a holiday is irrelevant.
Given the situation Newcastle are in, Ashley needs to be shelling out on new players, not holidays.
Who is the best player you played alongside at Newcastle?
Oooh, this is a tough one. My first thought would be Mark McGhee, who I had a great relationship with both on and off the pitch. We scored goals for fun.
He deserves an honourable mention - as too does Lee Clark, although he was only just starting to break into the first team when I played but I would actually go for Kevin Brock.
It will probably surprise a lot of people I have chosen Kevin but he was a very underrated player. He never quite went on to fulfil his potential but at Newcastle he was great for me.
Kevin may have been small in stature but he had a huge influence on the pitch. I cannot tell you how many of my goals he set up for me.
We had an almost telepathic relationship where I had already run before he had even played the ball and he would find me.
We had such a good connection he helped me be the success I was on Newcastle. He does not get the credit he deserves.
Why do you think Ashley is back at games and taking the team out for dinner? Do you think he has a sinister motive?
It is a good question - and one I am not going to pretend I have the answer to.
I can never quite tell with Ashley what he is up to. He makes illogical decisions and I just have no idea why he chooses to do some of the things he does at the club.
If I was to guess, I think he is back for one of two reasons.
On the one hand, perhaps he genuinely does want to re-connect with the club because he wants to make sure they stay in the Premier League to maintain their value - and he is worried they are in trouble.
Another part of me wonders if it is a show of strength from him.
A power play almost. With all the protests and speculation around the club, perhaps he is fronting up and saying: ‘Look, I am still here. I am not going anywhere.’ Whether he is being deliberately antagonistic to fans or not I am not sure but it is weird he has returned in the last month after being absent for a
year and a half.
Do you think Benitez needs to change something if Newcastle are going to win against Brighton? This is a huge game for Newcastle. Make no mistake about it - they simply have to win. I think they will.
Look, Brighton are a decent outfit and they beat Man United earlier in
Saturday is a huge game for Newcastle. Make no mistake about it - they have to win. I think they will Mick Quinn
the season. Yet let’s not kid ourselves - they don’t have the quality Man United do and Newcastle made the Red Devils look ordinary last time out.
I liked what I saw from Yoshinori Muto at Old Trafford.
He is busy, he makes good runs and he looks a threat. I would like to see him start again.
If Salomon Rondon is fit I would start him too. Newcastle are at home and they need to score goals - and those two together will be a real handful. The classic little-and-large combo.
Benitez does not like playing two up front too often but I think this might be one of the occasions he decides to. Newcastle need to make sure they are on the front foot - and if they take the lead I don’t see Brighton coming back into it.
I genuinely think one win is all it will take to turn Newcastle’s season around, particularly with the games coming up. Two up front at home is the best way forward.
No disrespect but it is Brighton the Magpies are taking on - it is not Man City or Chelsea.
Did you ever regret leaving United during your playing days?
I regretted having to leave - but not the decision I made to leave. There is a difference.
Look, I loved playing for Newcastle United. I loved living in the North East. I had moved my family up and we were settled. I loved playing in that iconic No 9 shirt. I loved running out at St James’ Park. I particularly loved the fans.
However, Kevin Keegan simply did not fancy me as a player. He kept promising me I would get my chance and that, if I took it, I would stay in the team. That never happened. He kept picking me, I scored a few, then he would drop me. Then the same thing would happen again.
It reached the stage where I felt like I had no option but to leave. I did not want to but when I was offered the chance to take the step up to the Premier League with Coventry in November 1992 - I went there in search of regular football.
What I regret is I was not able to be part of what happened at Newcastle in the seasons afterwards.
I had felt we were on the brink of something big - when we lost in the play-offs under Jim Smith I had realised the potential at the club - but I was not given the chance to be part of it.
I would have loved to have seen out my playing days at Newcastle but as a professional I had to move on.