Newcastle Spirited In Defeat As Isak Liverpool Transfer Saga Rumbles On

Newcastle United versus Liverpool was always a joyous affair. One filled with the promise of attacking football and the ever-present possibility of a 4-3 scoreline. Though Monday night’s meeting between the two teams had some bitter undertones, the drama and the goals were still present.

When Newcastle defeated Liverpool in the final of last season’s EFL Cup, there was the impression that, though disappointed, Liverpool supporters didn’t begrudge Newcastle and its fans a first domestic trophy in 70 years.

This was acknowledged by many Newcastle fans, and the feeling between the two sets of fans was relatively respectful as far as soccer opposition goes.

At the beginning of the new season, though, things have turned sour. The Liverpool team was heavily booed by Newcastle fans as their team bus arrived at St James’ Park stadium for their meeting on Monday night.

Inside, Newcastle supporters held a large sign reading “get into them” and this game quickly turned into a rivalry match from their point of view.

Liverpool’s current unpopularity with those supporters is down to the Premier League champions’ interest in star striker Alexander Isak.

Arne Slot’s side made a bid of £110 million ($149 million) for Isak earlier in the transfer window, which was rejected by Newcastle as the club is holding out for something closer to £150 million ($203 million).

Liverpool has not made another bid since, but Isak has indicated his desire to leave Newcastle and hasn’t been part of the club’s pre-season preparations or either of the opening games of the new campaign.

This mess is partly of Newcastle’s making. It has no sporting director in place during what is a key transfer window in the club’s history, so it’s perhaps no surprise that it has struggled to get transfer deals over the line all through this summer.

That inability to sign players is part of the reason the Isak situation has turned into a summer-long saga.

A club with well-organized recruitment and sporting direction would have negotiated a record-breaking fee early in the window and used it to strengthen throughout the team ahead of a season in which the club can also boast Champions League football to attract new signings. A well-organized club would have had the alternatives lined up and ready to sign.

Financial fair play (FFP) and profitability and sustainability rules (PSR) have been put forward as a reason for Newcastle’s inability to sign players, but this is where a big sale of a player, such as Isak, would help them for years to come.

Monday night’s opponent, Liverpool, has built much of its title-challenging and title-winning sides on the back of such sales, not least that of Philippe Coutinho to Barcelona for £142 million (around $192 million at the time). Selling is a key part of the game for any club, especially those looking to strengthen their team and stay within PSR and FFP boundaries.

It’s now up to manager Eddie Howe and the players they do have to make sure this failure of a transfer window does not turn into a failure of a season.

On the evidence of Monday night against Liverpool, they might well be OK. They went a goal down in the first half but were the better team during that period. Their task was made even more difficult when Anthony Gordon was sent off for a dangerous tackle on Virgil van Dijk.

Liverpool scored shortly after the second half kicked off, but Newcastle again looked the better team, albeit in a poor quality game, for much of the second half despite being a man down. Their late equaliser was well-deserved, but given this is Newcastle versus Liverpool, that was not the end of things.

The 16-year-old winger Rio Ngumoha came off the bench to score a memorable winner for himself and Liverpool, leaving Newcastle reeling having put in so much effort.

With Champions League football coming back to St James’ Park, Newcastle should be building from a position of strength, but Howe’s task is feeling like an uphill one.

Jacob Ramsey should be a handy signing, but at this stage of the transfer window, with just a week to go until it closes, all of the business around the Isak situation and the attack has been left until too late in the day.

Newcastle fans are understandably annoyed with Isak, but have, for the most part, aimed their anger at Liverpool rather than their own club’s incompetence this summer.

Newcastle legend Alan Shearer has criticized the club, though, and asked, “Where’s the director of football, where’s the CEO?

“Newcastle have known for a long time now that they would lose Darren Eales [who stepped down for health reasons]. They’ve lost the sporting director for whatever reason—their second one within 12 months,” Shearer added.

“Liverpool have put a bid in to Newcastle for Isak, who actually turns the bid down? There is no CEO, there is no sporting director.

“It just seems that up to now Newcastle’s transfer window has been a mess.”

Injuries to Sandro Tonali and Joelinton in this game against Liverpool might, if they keep them out for some time, further expose the lack of squad depth at Newcastle, which now has days, rather than weeks, to remedy the situation in the transfer market.

There are at least some promising signs on the field, despite a stuttering start results wise, the ongoing transfer issues, and one lingering saga.