I’ve decided to start a story with my beloved Newcastle United. This will probably be difficult with the financial restraints Mike Ashley has but I want to bring glory to the TOON!

The first thing on the agenda is to remove Joe Kinnear from his position as Director of Football, it was a ridiculous idea to have him back at the club and that is something I had to straighten out immediately. This is one of quite a few changes I plan to implement at the club.

Season ExpectationsWe decide that a top half finish would be a good manageable target in my first season in charge. I have 8m to spend on transfers but I intend to generate quite a bit through the sale of certain players. I secretly believe that we could challenge for Europa League qualification but I would rather under promise and over deliver that the other way around.

Squad assessment
Goalkeepers
Tim Krul – top class keeper, I want him to fulfil his potential at this club
Rob Elliott – not a bad backup keeper, will only play if Krul is ever injured/suspended

Defenders
Davide Santon – a lot of clubs are looking at him, I will sell for the right price
Mathieu Debuchy – a quality RB, will be a starter
Fabricio Coloccini – club captain and a quality CB, will be a big part of the team
Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa – has the ability to be a top Premier League CB, likely to be first choice alongside Colo
Steven Taylor – can play CB or RB, will be a useful squad player
Massadio Haidara – a good young prospect, I feel he is up to playing in the first team
Mike Williamson – this lad can do a job for us, again will be backup to the first team

Midfielders
Hatem Ben Arfa – no doubt he has quality, but doesn’t always show it, Real Madrid are interested, if the moneys right I’ll let him go
Moussa Sissoko – wil be a starter in CM, is versatile so can be used in a few different positions
Yohan Cabaye – a quality player, can run the game for us, will be a starter but I may well take the vice captaincy from him
Cheick Tiote – can be a big player for us, has to get his yellow/red card count down though
Vurnon Anita – a very versatile player, can play RB, LB, DM or CM so will be very useful to have
Gabriel Obertan – not good enough at this level for me, I will be looking to sell him on
Dan Gosling – has had bad luck with injuries since joining the club, he will get a few chances this season, it is down to him to take them
Sylvain Marveaux – can be a very good player, will be used as a squad player
Jonas Gutierrez – has been a loyal servant to the club, not sure if he is still good enough to perform at this level though

Strikers
Papiss Cisse – was a revelation when he joined the club, has lost form and confidence though. Monaco are interested, another one I will sell for the right price
Shola Ameobi – a backup striker at best, if Cisse goes we will have to replace him as Shola is not up to being a starter

There are a couple of positions I feel we need to improve in the squad, the main one being we need another striker, even if Cisse does not leave. There are quite a few of our players that are attracting interest from clubs
Santon – Dortmund, Bayern, Spurs and Arsenal are interested in this lad, I decide to offer him to them for 15m, I think we would do very well to get this much for him and if he goes I think Haidara would be up to replacing him, we would also still have Anita that can play at LB
Ben Arfa – Real Madrid are interested in the Frenchman, I decide to offer him to them for 30m, this would be a huge amount to receive for Ben Arfa, I would be over the moon to get this much for him
Cisse – big spending Monaco have expressed an interest in our current number 9, I decide to offer him to them for 15m
If I can get 60m for these 3 players this will set us up very well for the season ahead, I will then be able to build a team capable of performing at the top level.

Next update I will let you know how we get on in the transfer market

Nice start but make the use of headlines, images etc http://www.fmscout.com/a-bbcode-tags-and-reusable-icons.html this will help you out and also have a look at other stories on the site

Thanks for that, I will bear that in mind on my next update

Newvastle United, the selling club?

Outgoings
Hatem Ben Arfa – Real Madrid for 30m
I didn’t think Madrid would offer the 30m I wanted for Ben Arfa, so when they did I accepted without hesitation, he is a good player but he certainly is not worth that kind of money. The only downside to this deal was that Real would only give 9m upfront, the 21m would then be paid over 24 months.
Papiss Cisse – AS Monaco for 15m
Although Cisse is a good quality striker he is not the player he was when he first arrived at the club, I feel a change will be good for both the club and the player, and with 15m I should be able to bring in an even better striker to replace him
Davide Santon – Dortmund for 15m
This is a lot of money for a left back, this is an offer I could not refuse. Dortmund were the only one of the 4 clubs that were interested in Santon that were willing to pay our asking price.
Gabriel Obertan – Crystal Palace for 4m
I wanted to offload Obertan and Palace were the only club interested in signing him. This is another deal where we got 1m upfront and 3m over 24 months.

So we have generated a lot of transfer income but we are now short of players in a few positions. We certainly need to bring in a quality striker. The atmosphere around the city is quite pessimistic at the minute, we have sold some of our best players and as of yet have not replaced them.

Incomings
Tom Ince – 3.4m from Blackpool
Tom is a player full of potential, he will take time to adjust to life in the Premier League, but I feel that he will become a top England International given the chance to grow in the first team. He also fits the model that I want for the club, he is a young British player, I feel we need to get the balance right between home grown players and foreign imports as at the minute we don’t have enough home grown players in the team
Wilfred Zaha – season long loan from Man Utd
Zaha was not going to get enough first team football at Old Trafford so we jumped at the chance to bring him in on loan for the season, he will be an important part of our attack this season
Christian Benteke – 19.75m from Aston Villa
This is a massive piece of business for the club. After the sales in this window the club needed something to lift the optimisim around the place. With this signing we have brought in one of the hottest properties in world football, and at a reasonable price. To be honest we made an initial offer of 18.5m expecting Villa to come back and say they wouldn’t let him leave for less than 30m, but when they came back and said he would be available for 19.75m we did everything we could to get the deal over the line.

Nice start. You got a great price for Ben Arfa and Santon. Great replacement for Cisse :). Good luck.

Good start mate, good luck with the toon.

I know youve already signed two wingers, and you seem to be going down the young english route....but candreva is quality from lazio and hes cheap....Just a thought! nice start though!

Thanks for the replies
jacko1092 i will have a look at Candreva thanks

I have just noticed that i missed Loic Remy off my squad assessment (he's injured at start of season so that's why)

Loic Remy - if he can stay fit he will be a good player for us, can play AMR, AMR or ST so will be useful. Would have to pay 6m for him to keep him at the club next season though, he will have to prove he is worth the investment

Tactics

I have thought long and hard about what formation will suit this team best. We do have real quality in the side now with the likes of Benteke and Cabaye but we still have to be solid and hard to beat before thinking about attacking teams. The formation I have decided on is a 4-1-2-2-1.

This is my preferred starting XI

GK – Krul
RB – Debuchy
CB – Coloccini
CB – Yanga-Mbiwa
LB – Anita
DM – Tiote
CM – Sissoko
CM – Cabaye
AMR – Zaha
AML – Ince
ST – Benteke

SUB1 – Gutierrez
SUB2 – Remy
SUB3 – S.Taylor
SUB4 – Haidara
SUB5 – Marveaux
SUB6 – Ameobi
SUB7 – Gosling

I think that this is a strong enough team for us to compete in the top half of the Premier League. The back 4 has a solid look about it, all 4 players have international experience for big countires, Argentina, France and Holland. The midfield 3 is as good as any in the league I think, if these 3 stay fit we can have real success this season. The front 3 might take a little bit of time to gel, Zaha and Ince will need to adjust to life in the Premier League, this can sometimes take a bit of time. If either of them don’t reach the levels expected quickly enough then Remy, Gutierrez or Marveaux will get the opportunity to prove they deserve a place in the starting XI. Benteke is the most exciting element of this team, if this lad hits the ground running and scores goals we will be in with a chance. I am expecting a top 7 finish, this may or may not be good enough for Europa League qualification, depending on cup winners etc, but if we can get top 7 I will be pleased. The main worry is the CM/DM postions as I don’t feel we have good enough cover there. Anita is the main cover, if any of the starting 3 midfielders pick up injuiries or suspensions Anita will step in and Haidara will go to LB. Steven Taylor can play CB or RB so will be useful for cover. Dan Gosling is going to be given a chance this season, he will get substitute appearance’s so it is down to him to take the chances when they come.

This is the tactic I think will work against lesser teams and the stronger sides in the league so I will not be setting up a backup tactic, we will start the season like this and see how we get on, after all our front 3 are new to the club and eachother so will take time to gel and learn to play together, although Ince and Zaha know eachother from the England Under 21’s setup which will help.

Like the transfer activity you have done and can't wait for the season to start!