Newcastle left exposed as strange summer ends with more questions than answers

In the end, it's been a really, *really* bad window for Newcastle United. How it descended into this, is undoubtedly a topic which raises so many difficult questions.

Teething issues are guaranteed to some extent when there's a change in leadership, and seemingly that's led to some misalignment, disagreement and a power struggle in the background.

It's also hard to diagnose *exactly* where these issues lie, so I'm reluctant to point the finger regarding situations which very much sit behind the scenes.

Firstly, the window doesn't really massively change my opinion on what I think Newcastle can achieve - this is still a squad with bags of quality that is capable of competing. Every player who finished 4th in 22/23 is still here.

Having said that, the two main areas which needed improvement haven't been addressed - right wing, and centre-back. I'm less bothered about the RW, but having only Schär as the RCB for the first half of the season is a huge risk. We all know that it was an area which needed depth - especially for a team who conceded heaps of goals last season (partly due to defensive absentees).

The PSR situation early in the window was a forgivable miscalculation, and in all honesty, they dealt with the situation well in the end. I really don't think there was a huge amount more that could've been done. Selling senior figures in January was always bound to be difficult.

But the Guéhi saga over the last month has played out so badly. Clearly, there's money available - so that isn't an issue. We were happy to pay £65m for him.

I've got no issue with going for Guéhi - he's excellent, even at that inflated price. But to show our hand in the market, insist on that one player, get played by Palace - and then at no point have an alternative which we could pivot to - is such a strange one.

It's left us exposed in that part of the pitch. I fully empathise with the idea of players who we are absolutely sure improve our team, particularly for the RW. But at CB, there are options. There's a lot of them.

Look, there's nothing I can say that hasn't already been said. It's turned out to be a really disappointing window. Kelly and Osula are good signings, but it's not unreasonable to have expected more.

Although the squad is mostly pretty good - squads need competition, players need motivation, managers need options. Things can get stale quickly if things aren't constantly refreshed.

I'm very much of the opinion that transfer windows don't define seasons - because in reality, they don't. Liverpool basically bought no-one after winning the UCL, and then won the PL the following season.

However, Newcastle had the opportunities and the facilities to improve - even if it was through loan deals to pad out the squad, but nothing was taken. And at this level, you constantly have to improve. We're far from the finished article, and we also need to keep our star players motivated to play here.

What I'll also say is that this is categorically not a *disastrous* situation for Newcastle. It's just a peculiar one. They might act in January.

It's not easy to accurately diagnose the problem, but I'm sure we'll hear something soon. It'll be nice to turn the focus away from this, and properly onto the football soon.

A few good performances, and a few wins will expedite that process. But if that doesn't happen, then questions will continue to be asked, and they'll start to get asked louder