United have struggled to force Gayle and Co to go
JOHNGIBSON
IT HAS proven as hard to shoehorn senior players out of their Newcastle comfort zone as it is to bring vibrant new talent into the family.
What with lengthy contracts shortsightedly handed out to prevent paying transfer fees for replacements and wages way above Championship level United are having to resort to loan deals to safeguard the departing player’s bank balance while freeing up pegs in an overcrowded dressing-room.
However, at last two more have been forced through the door via temporary deals.
Ciaran Clark and Jeff Hendrick, who could not even command a squad number in the end, are outward bound as loan rangers signing for Sheffield United and Reading g just as Isaac Hayden did with Norwich City.
Only Freddie Woodoodman departed permamanently when he joined Preston n North End.
So they are still there to be had as the transfer window slowly winds down – regular Newcastle residents such as Dwight Gayle, Matt Ritchie, Matty Longstaff, Javier r Manquillo, Karl rl
Darlow, Federico co Fernandez et al.
Take the case of Gayle, who because he is 32 years of age has failed ailed to persuade Middlesbrough’s sbrough’s cheque-writer Steve Gibson to sanction a deal despite a promise of goals.
His case is truly absurd. Gayle has been at Newcastle since 2016 and is under contract until June 2024.
Yet he failed to start a single league game during the 2021-22 season, unpicked by three different managers in Steve Bruce, Graeme Jones and Eddie Howe despite the fact that United were crying out for a striker. No wonder baffled fans are convinced
Gayle has squatters’ rights at SJP he has resided so long yet been rarely spotted in combat gear! From United’s point of view his long stay has been a waste of time and wages, while from his viewpoint it is a waste of a career. Why when hitting 30, which indicates an impending slide down the other side of the hill, a footballer would sign a new contract knowing his playing time will be strictly limited if not non-existent is baffling. You are retired a long time without voluntarily sitting doing nought before your time is up.
Surely Dwight, banished to train with the under-23s, will not be prepared to defy the new regime and do that for the next two years of his current contract. Such willingness to sit out t i me suggests a lack of ambition and sparks accusations, rightly or wrongly, of finances being the only major consideration.
Gayle is of Championship quality but then they all are and in the main have always been. Absolutely none belong in the top half of the Premier League where surely United are bound. Taking up the case of Dwight again, he has made 81 appearances for Newcastle in the top flight, scoring only 11 goals (an average of one in eight), but during a season in the Championship notched 23 from 32 outings. On loan at West Brom a division down he again became prolific – another 23 goals in 39 matches.
Still, let us be magnanimous and say thanks to honest if limited performers who have left having served during less ambitious years than we are now thankfully experiencing.
Both Hayden and Clark had been kept on the payroll for the last six years since the summer of 2016. Hayden played 151 league games (18 in the Championship) during that time and Clark only 112 (34 in the second division).
Woodman is a little different. He actually spent even longer here – nine years – but joined as a kid after his dad became goalkeeping coach and his only league appearances were four in the top flight last season. He’s had more clubs than Rory McIlroy going out on loan to the likes of Hartlepool, Crawley, Kilmarnock, Aberdeen, Swansea and Bournemouth.
Hendrick has been with us for just a blink of the eye and hardly
deserves a going away party. He made only 25 league appearances over two seasons.
As for incoming deals United’s three summer signings have all been defenders which means they have manned the barricades with a complete set of new guys since the takeover – Pope, Trippier, Botman, Burn and Targett.
Now United require more depth and firepower through the acquisition of a striker and a wide player. Needs must, so more power to the negotiator’s elbow!
His case is truly absurd...he failed to start a league game in 2021-22, despite the fact United were crying out for a striker