Newcastle are acting early in the transfer market.

One of the main criticisms over the last few years has been the delay in which Newcastle seem to have acted with in the transfer market.

I'm not going to go into reasons as I don't want the comments to turn into a fizzing debate about Mike Ashley, again, but it is fair to say that for the most part we have been left wanting in the transfer market and that the transfer periods under the current ownership have been less than impressive, aside from the January window in the Championship and the window at the start of the season of course. For me, I'd say that they were a success in all honesty.

There are calls for the club to show a bit of ambition and strengthen the squad accordingly, but the problem with that is that the longer the transfer window drags on without making a signing the more doubts start to creep in. Not only amongst fans, but amongst players aswell. This is why it's nice to hear that Newcastle are already in talks with several players over summer moves to St James' Park according to Alan Pardew.

“We’ve had two or three meetings, we’ve contacted some players who are out of contract in the summer. We’re allowed to do that," Pardew told the Sunday Sun, blissfully unaware that most fans already know that out of contract players can be spoken to.

“We’ve contacted a couple of clubs about players who are under contract to see their situation. We’re very much down the road in signing the sort of players we think can add to the club.”

The fact the we are, apparently, already in talks with players is a good sign. It shows a willingness to get things done which has often been missing in the past. Whether it's just empty words or not remains to be seen, but I live in eternal hope that the club will realise that it needs to do something this summer.

As I've said before, I'm not bothered about investment levels and I don't really care how much we spend as long as the team, and squad as a whole, is stronger than what it is now. At times we have lacked the depth in the squad to cope with the injuries and suspension that inevitably mount up through the course of the season.

That will need addressing in the summer, so with Pardew claiming that any incoming players will have to have played at a high level for us to be interested in them I hold out some hope that we will get decent players in.

Pardew continued: “All of the players that we’ve contacted have good experience. It’s more about having 150 games under your belt than a 19-year-old with potential."

“They need to have played at a very high level for us to be interested in them and to warrant coming here, in my view. There may be one we take a fancy to, but most are established players.”

It's hard to take any of this seriously to be honest. On the surface they are good words from Pardew, but so were the words about Andy Carroll being "100% not for sale". The only way that doubts can be cast aside is by seeing signs of action because at the moment these are just words.

Words!