Which Newcastle United transfer window was worse? | OneFootball

Since the turn of the Millenium, prior to this summer Newcastle United transfer window, there were two windows that were always renowned as missed opportunities for NUFC.

I am talking about the summers of 2003 and 2012.

Where after having a strong season and being in a good position with a talented squad, Newcastle United failed to appropriately strengthen.

That leads us to the aftermath of the Summer 2024 Newcastle United transfer window.

Even the happiest of clappers will feel a bit disappointed that the ‘transformative’ summer some in the media alluded too, didn’t arrive. So I think it can now be classed as a similar Newcastle United transfer window to the two aforementioned windows.

So lets compare the three in a number of ways and judge, was Summer 2024 really as bad? Which of the three was the worst?

The Background

Summer 2003

Sir Bobby’s swashbuckling young team had achieved a second top four finish and a second consecutive qualification to the final qualifying round of the Champions League, this after having a European adventure that took in the Delle Alpi, Nou Camp and the San Siro, amongst others. The team was full of some of the best young talent around, had a beloved manager and the future looked bright.

Summer 2012

Despite the losses of key leaders like Nolan and Barton, the team came together through sheer grit and determination in the first half of the season along with the goals of Demba Ba winning us games.

In the second half of the season we turned into a team who played some good stuff, utilising the talents of the Dembas, Cabaye, HBA and the defensive solidity of the likes of Tiote and Coloccini.

Unlucky to miss out on the Champions League, a good base was there to move on, but the presence of Mike Ashley still loomed in the shadows.

Summer 2024

After Eddie Howe’s coaching brilliance got so much out of the squad, to save us first from relegation, then qualifying for the Champions League the following season, the first after the Saudi Arabia PIF led takeover, there was a season where Murphys’s law was in full effect (no, not Jacob or Daryl).

Injuries, cup draws from hell and squad exhaustion all damaged our season. Credit to Eddie and the players for getting a 7th placed finish and missing out on Europe because the Man City machine malfunctioned in the cup final.

Verdict

To compare the three is easy, despite a tough 2023/24 season, Newcastle United are an infinitely better place than when we had the spectre of the FCB hanging over us.

Highest Profile Signing

Summer 2003

Lee Bowyer, England international midfielder.

Admittedly. his stock had dropped a bit due to some off-field issues and Leeds downfall, arrived on a free from West Ham. Still a very good player and added depth to the squad. Essentially replaced Acuna.

Issue 172 – 30 August 2003

Summer 2012

Vurnon Anita.

Little Vurn was a personal favourite of mine as he was a tidy player and he could cover both fullback positions but was predominantly a CM.

Signed from Ajax for just under £6m. Seemed a strange one, to let Danny Guthrie go and pay out for a player, as much as I liked him he wasn’t much better, if at all.

Summer 2024

Lloyd Kelly.

An athletic CB who is equally as comfortable as a defensive LB, good on the ball as well.

Arrived on a free from Bournemouth to reunite with the man who signed him there. Clear improvement on Paul Dummett and a good squad addition.

Verdict

As much as I liked him, I have to say worst was Summer 2012, as the others, despite not being star signings and arriving on a free, clearly improve on the person they were replacing.

Who else signed?

Summer 2003

According to Wiki, we didn’t sign anyone else for the first team squad

Summer 2012

Romain Amalfitano, Gael Bigirimana and Curtis Good.

The aim I presume was to bring in young talent at a low price and hope they could help the first team. With the benefit of hindsight, unfortunately Romain didn’t have the talent of his brother, Good never troubled the first team and Bigi, despite a bright start, faded big style.

Summer 2024

John Ruddy, Odysseas Vlachodimos and William Osula (and Lewis Hall signed on a permanent deal, though of course he was in the squad last season already, as a loan player), plenty of cover for goalkeepers and Osula has raw potential that could develop, even if the fee seems a little high.

Verdict

It’s Summer 2003 that’s the worst. When you need to strengthen, somebody is better than nobody, even if the others aren’t exactly eye catching.

Issue 170 – 31 May 2003

Who left?

Summer 2003

Acuna left in the October and Bowyer is an upgrade.

Summer 2012

Of the first team players who moved on, Smith and Lovenkrands were past their best. Guthrie and Best could contribute still but were both squad players at best.

Summer 2024

Losing a home grown talent like Anderson and a high potential player who had never played for us, both due to PSR, was painful. Anyone else who went, needed moving on really.

Verdict

Its Summer 2024 as the worst. The PSR inflicted losses of young talent, particularly a local lad like Anderson, really hurt.

The previous Window

Summer 2003

Technically there wasn’t a previous window, so for this I’m going with our in-season signings in 2002-2003.

Firstly, Jonathan Woodgate, a big money signing of a top class player in a position of need, clearly making the team better, then the addition of Darren Ambrose, a smart signing to give us some high potential depth.

Summer 2012

Like 2003, the January 2012 window brought us a high-end big money signing which instantly improved the team in the form of Papiss Cisse, who was key to our great end of the season.

Issue 266 – 3 March 2012

Summer 2024

Despite our cataclysmic injury list due to PSR concerns, the inability to move players on, meant we didn’t bring any first team players in.

Verdict

It’s Summer 2024 as the worst of the three again.

It is always worrying when you have back to back poor windows and lose the boost a big signing can give to the squad and fanbase.

Future Outlook

Summer 2003

With a beloved manager and a talented young squad, the future still looked bright, despite Chelsea’s takeover, which would make repeating success harder.

As would losing in the qualifying round of the Champions League.

We could still compete and the Uefa Cup could be a chance to go far. The big issue would be relying on Freddie Shepherd not to do something stupid in the coming years.

Summer 2012

The ‘big four’ we were competing against in 2003, had become the ‘Sky Six’ and it wasn’t likely that Chelsea and Liverpool would continually drop off so much, as they had in 2012-2013.

The spectre of Mike Ashley getting rid of one (or more…) of our stars also only seemed like a matter of time.

Summer 2024

Still limited by PSR and the conniving nature of the Premier League and the red cartel, there is still a lot to be positive about.

We have hit a speed bump but are still trying to move forward.

We have a great coach who can get the best out of some talented players and it may be a blessing not being in Europe so we don’t get so fatigued. Just have to hope our luck with injuries has changed.

Verdict

Summer 2012 the worst and the presence of Mike Ashley always meant it could always go wrong even more than standard Newcastle luck.

The potential to move forward is a lot higher now than 2012, as it was in 2003.

Overall Conclusion

Is the Summer 2024 the worst case of us missing an opportunity in a Newcastle United transfer window?

I don’t think so.

Yes, it’s concerning that we’ve lost some talented players, to Premier League rivals as well. It is also concerning that it’s two bad windows on the bounce, but despite the Premier League’s best efforts kept our best players and can still potentially still go through with the doomed pursuit of a big ticket player in Guehi in an upcoming window..

Summer 2012 will always be the worst case because 2011-2012 was the eye of the Ashley storm and the poor window just indicated the light that we could see wasn’t anything positive.

Issue 269 – 2 June 2012

In comparison, we aren’t perfect now, but the vision from the top is to go forward and be the best we can be despite the issues we face.

Summer 2003 felt like we were still in a strong place (personally I think if we’d beat Partizan we would have opened the chequebook). With the benefit of hindsight its easy to see what went wrong, the 5th place finish followed by the horrendous decision to bring Souness in to replace Sir Bobby, then to back him big the following summer, put us on the path to Ashley.

We can’t predict the future but I just feel like we are on a sounder footing, in that we might not go up as quickly as some want, but we won’t plummet.

The spectrum of views on exactly how bad this latest Newcastle United transfer window has been, is a vast one, we all have our views.

I just think it’s interesting to compare to the past and fingers crossed, hopefully we have a more positive future than either of those times. HWTL.