Newcastle United - Lifting the Fog on the Tyne

Pre-Season Results

H vs Ajax L 1-0
H vs Heerenveen D 1-1 Ryan Donaldson
A vs Carlisle W 2-0 Mike Williamson, Sylvain Marveaux
A vs Ipswich W 4-1 Markus Henriksen (2), Yohan Cabaye, Yaya Sanogo
A vs Gateshead W 2-0 Jeane Reames (OG), Demba Ba
H vs Racing W 3-1 Demba Ba, Xherdan Shaqiri, Yohan Cabaye
H vs Osasuna D 2-2 Sylvain Marveaux, Demba Ba
H vs Parma L 0-1

Bit of a mixed bag... some decent results in there, coupled with some disappointing draws and losses, particularly the last two results against Osasuna and Parma.

Transfers

As you can see from the pre-season results, I was able to sign some of my targeted players.
Unfortunately, some of my targets were unable to secure work permits, including Ahmed Khalil, Kara, Siyanda Xulu and Eyal Golasa, meaning that I had to look elsewhere, at pricier targets. A shame really, as they are all talented youngsters who I would love to have in my team.
I was able to offload quite a few players also, but I also sold some players I had not intended to sell originally, namely Jonas and Coloccini, after receiving big offers for them from Juventus and moneybags Man City respectively.
I missed out on a couple of signings also, Milan Badelj moved to Portugal with Benfica, while Icelandic striker Kolbeinn SigÞorsson (or Sigthorsson) was out of my price range, with Ajax quoting £13m. Disappointed in missing out on Badelj, who looks an absolutely cracking player, but I offered him a lot of money and he still turned me down, fair enough.

These are the players that were signed in time for the first proper game of the season at home to Stoke.

IN

And these are the players that went out.

OUT
STC Shola Ameobi - £3.4m over 48 months to Southampton
STC Leon Best - £3.7m over 48 months to Southampton
AMR/L Jonas Gutierrez - £10m over 48 months to Juventus
MC Alan Smith - £1.2m to QPR
DC Fabricio Coloccini - £9m to Manchester City
AML/STC Peter Lovenkrands - £1.1m to Rangers
DR/C James Perch - £350k loan to Southampton

As you can see, I was able to make a lot of progress prior to the start of the season, signing young players with bags of potential. I'm particularly pleased with the deals for Yaya Sanogo, who is rated very highly by head scout Graham Carr, and the deal for Danish star Christian Eriksen, who looks to be a bargain at £7m.

Unfortunately, we lost club captain Fabricio Coloccini in what has proved to be an unpopular move with the fans. I considered £9m up front to be too good a deal to turn down, coupled with the fact that the money could be used to bring in more players. The same criteria applied to the Juve bid for Jonas. Overall, I'm sad to see them both go, but the club will ultimately benefit in the long run from their sales.

That said, there is still work to be done. We definitely need another striker, and with the sale of Coloccini, we need another centre back also.