7. Sell Mike Williamson - And Sign Replacements
Sort of an expansion on the previous point, but also deserving of an entry all of its own. Mike Williamson - although better than Steven Taylor against Borussia, which says just about all you need to know about the Geordie's performance in all honesty - is just not Premier League standard. The fact that Newcastle's first-choice centre-backs last season were the same as those who finished the 2009-10 Championship promotion-winning campaign five years ago shows just how much the Magpies have failed to progress since then in this department. Newcastle have been linked with the likes of Marseille's
Nicolas N'Koulou, Ajax's
Joel Veltman and Schalke 04's
Joel Matip this summer - and each and every one of those names, as well as countless more, would be a significant upgrade on the current bunch. Reinforcements cannot come soon enough.