Newcastle 1-1 Aston Villa - 8 Things We Learned From Villa Draw
3. Transfer Window Gambles Rarely Pay Off
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For the majority of the summer, Newcastle were linked with French full-back Mathieu Debuchy and at several times over the summer, it looked a lot like the Lille player was on the verge of joining the club - and he seemingly would have if he had had his own way - but as the transfer window closed without so much as a whisper from the North East, some fans could be forgiven for feeling a little disappointed that the French club hadn't caved. That lack of movement was despite the long-term injury to Newcastle utility man Ryan Taylor, who was excellent against Atromitos in the first leg, and unfortunately damaged cruciate ligaments in the return game on Thursday, and despite the manager's assertion he would "have to speak to the board". Whatever he said didn't come off, and Pardew quickly changed his line to openly stating he wouldn't be doing any business just a few hours after saying he might need another player to come in. Instead Newcastle lined up against Aston Villa with just Danny Simpson as a recognisable right-back, with even stand-in right-back James Perch injured, and James Tavernier just about the only other player in the squad capable of playing in that position. Or so we thought - thanks to another injury, this time to Simpson, Newcastle faced the prospect of playing for some time without a fit first team right-back. The shot term solution was to play defensive midfielder and left-back Vurnon Anita in the position, and while he did reasonably well, square pegs can't fit in circle holes for too long and Newcastle were typically bitten on the backside by the cruel fangs of fate for not signing their first choice right-back. And that you could have put money on.