Eddie Howe claims Newcastle United 'couldn't afford' to sign anyone in January window - Takes aim at PSR once again
Newcastle United were inactive in the January transfer window yet again, with only exits from the reserves and the departure of Jamaal Lascelles.
Given the sheer number of injuries in the squad right now, the level of fatigue and the fact that we're still, today at least, in all four competitions, the decision not to add depth to the squad seems criminal to outsiders.
As fans, we obviously don't know exactly how difficult it is to do player recruitment. We can all say that we're mint at it on Football Manager, but that is still a game.
Eddie Howe was asked about Newcastle's inactivity in his press conference this morning, and he basically said that Newcastle couldn't afford to get involved in January and that he's just used to it at this point.
Eddie Howe doesn't sound too happy right now
Reading between the lines, it seems that Eddie Howe is not very happy with the club's decision to hold off until the summer.
"Financially, it wasn't possible; there may have been players we were looking at for the future. Younger players coming in who we could develop, but ultimately nothing that would affect the first team.
"We were left with no other option. Every decision we make has a long-term implication and there is no guarantee that signing someone this month with the funds we had available would help us short term anyway. We have been used to working in these conditions for a while. We have only been active in one transfer window out of the last four or five so we are under financial restrictions, we have to be smart and we have decided to wait until the summer.
"The summer window is a lot easier to recruit, there's a lot more players available and potentially better value for money. We had a very limited amount of money available to use in this window, and whether the right players were available in the very short term where we have a need, those options weren't there for us. We can't sign players that don't exist and we have to work under the conditions we are in."
The game is absolutely broken
The fact that there was money there, but the club is terrified of spending it, shows just how broken the PSR system really is.
We were hoping that with a new CEO and sporting director in place, we'd be a bit more proactive in the markets, but it looks as though we're in for the same old ride. Thanks, PSR.
Squad Cost Ratio rules aren't going to open the door for us when they come in next season, either, especially if we're in Europe again, as they have even tighter restrictions. The game's gone.
