Copium and chaos: Newcastle's summer of transition is testing fans' patience

It's a rough time to be a Newcastle United supporter right now. In fact, it feels like that's the case every summer, doesn't it?

Despite a lightning-quick start to the transfer window with one outgoing and one incoming before the window officially opened, things have slowed dramatically.

Leading up to the summer break, it was believed that this would be a summer of transition for Newcastle with plenty of players leaving and plenty coming in.

That first part has happened. Kieran Trippier, Emil Krafth, Matt Targett, John Ruddy and Aaron Ramsdale all left, Anthony Gordon and Sandro Tonali have been sold, and now we're looking less and less likely to keep hold of Bruno Guimaraes. 

Meanwhile, we've signed three young players to kick off a new phase for Newcastle United, but only one of them is being seen as one to go into the starting XI straight away. Ewen Jaouen and Sean Steur are likely to ride the bench next season, leaving Bazoumana Toure as a potential starter, although he'll be competing with Harvey Barnes.

Our transfer business has been nightmare fuel

Once again, Newcastle are finding it hard to get transfers over the line as convincing stars of the project is getting more and more difficult.

There does appear to be a plan now, and that plan is to buy young, talented players who are on the cusp of greatness but are possibly not quite tested enough to interest the 'Big Six'. However, we're not the only ones fishing in this pond. Aston Villa are making our life very difficult as their aspirations are the same and they have the carrot of Champions League football to dangle in front of prospective signings.

There's still a fair bit of 'dead wood' in the squad that we feel needs moving on. Pre-takeover players like Jacob Murphy and Joe Willock have been told they can find new clubs, but whether that happens remains to be seen.

With four weeks until the new season gets underway, Eddie Howe has been let down once again by the promise of quick deals and early arrivals. It was what let us down so much last summer, and it could happen again this year.

Is the vision being communicated properly?

At this point, we're not so worried about the big player sales. We do see the need for the big changes and, unlike most fans, we're willing to let this soft reboot play out if it means success down the line. We waited 70 years for a domestic trophy; we can wait another couple of years for another one, surely.

What is a worry, though, is that this vision isn't going over well with prospective players, and judging by the Bruno Guimarães rumours, it's not going down too well inside the dressing room either.

We may just be inhaling all the Copium right now to deal with this frustrating summer, but we will survive. We don't want players here who can't see the vision, even if that is a club legend like Bruno - and he is a club legend, and that won't change if he leaves. We can't take away what he's given us, but we reserve the right to be angry with what he's done this summer if it comes to him forcing a move.

Let's take deep breaths and try and look a few years down the line when Sean Steur is bossing the midfield and attracting £200 million bids, but we're going for the Premier League title and are in no mood to sell. I've gone to far now, haven't I? Sorry. Thank you for sticking with me through this therapy session.