There's a familiar, growing sense of dread about Newcastle United's upcoming Premier League campaign. The Magpies started the season with a 4-0 pasting from Manchester City and followed that up with a tame 0-0 draw at home to West Ham. And things are scarcely much better on Tyneside off the pitch, either. The North East club have suffered through a frustrating summer transfer window that has taken in the appointment of Joe Kinnear as "director of football", undermining manage Alan Pardew's authority at the club and leading to the missing out on several targets, such as Darren Bent and Bafetimbi Gomis. Then came the Papiss Cisse incident in which the club's joint-top scorer last season almost quit over a disagreement relating to Newcastle's controversial new sponsors, Wonga, the dubious short-term money lending company. And now, influential midfielder Yohan Cabaye has gone on strike as the Frenchman attempts to engineer a move to Arsenal before next Tuesday's deadline day. The one ray of light that has managed to chink through at St James' Park this summer is the capturing on-loan of QPR striker Loic Remy, but to date, the ex-Marseille man has been the Magpie's only signing. With Newcastle narrowly avoiding relegation last season, more new recruits are needed and here, we examine 5 Signings Alan Pardew Needs To Make To Avoid Disaster. Click "Next" to begin.
Joseph is an accredited football journalist and has interviewed nearly all of the current 20 Barclay's Premier League managers. He is also a correspondent for Bleacher Report and has written for Caught Offside and Give Me Football.
