As far as I am concerned, the club’s failure to significantly strengthen the squad in the summer is not only coincidental to the team’s stuttering start to the season. The manager knows this. The players know this. The Chairman knows this. The supporters know this. And this is why I am encouraged by Shepherd’s recent comments regarding transfer funds in January.

However, let’s just hope we can utilise the cash efficiently this time. The summer transfer window had started so well with the bargain purchase of Damien Duff for £5m. Unfortunately, Duff hasn’t really hit the heights here that he did at Blackburn or Chelsea. Then again, I think he might be suffering from a plague that seems to be affecting one or two of the individuals in our team: great player, playing in a bad team under a bad manager.

That has adverse effects on the individual himself on the pitch, and like I say, there’s one or two in our side who seem to be suffering from that. The likes of Martins, Milner, and Emre at times, spring to mind. Frustrating inconsistency, and an infuriating lack of end product.

As childishly giggly as I was when we signed the Nigerian athlete from Inter, Oba hasn’t really settled in the side as of yet. But for me, the major thing that Martins has seemed to lack is a consistent strike partner. The guy has had four different strike partners so far this season, in only eleven appearances. Add to this his inexperience in the game, the need to adapt to the Premiership, the overall performances of the team and his expectation in the Number 9 shirt… and you’re telling me he’s supposed to click instantly?

It’ll take a season at least before Martins hits top form for Newcastle United, and my aspirations for the lad are enormous. I just hope that he still wants to play for us come the beginning of next season.

With the lengthy injury to the ‘new’ Shola, we are left with three potential collaborators for Martins.

One of these is a Man United youngster who’s understandably got his mind on playing infront of 75,000 mancs: Giuseppe Rossi. The fact that we were forced into bringing this guy in just proves what a shambles the transfer window was. I like the kid, and I think he’ll be special one day, but we should never have needed to sign him. We should have bought an experienced striker.

Another potential partner is some Spanish guy whose name I forget. He’s probably a decent player given the chance, but the manager won’t touch him with a bargepole unfortunately.

That leaves the ‘worst signing in Newcastle’s history’. I’m not afraid to admit, I jumped on this bandwagon when we signed Antoine Sibierski. I was embarrassed; it was disgraceful really. However, the Frenchman has turned into something of a cult hero here at Newcastle, thanks to his key goals in the cup competitions.

Not only his three goals, but his reactions to long balls and his ability to bring midfielders into the game, has been sublime and a key attribute to our team when he has played. His performance in the UEFA Cup match with Fenerbahce was brilliant - proving how much of a vital team player he is.

And strangely enough, the fellow that I wanted nowhere near the first team by September the 1st has quickly become the most ideal partner for our £10m Nigerian.

Still, I cannot see a huge amount of goals being accumulated from that partnership, and with the imminent departure of Rossi in January, the inevitable booting of Luque and the probable lack of goals from Oba and Sibi - the strike department is going to need worked on come January.

The other area of the team that quite obviously needs work on - is the defence. The backline is the most inconsistent part of our team, and I blame the manager for this, despite the obvious lack of talent from two or three of the players at the back. There have been a few performances this season, coincidentally all coming in the cups, where Roeder has ‘weakened’ the team, where the defence has looked incredibly solid and has shown a lot of potential.

I’ve always been a big fan of Steven Taylor, and I think he is a potential captain of this club. He’s had an up-and-down start to the season, but I still think that he is recuperating from his long injury lay-off. He’ll be a good player for us in the future. Ramage also has a potential similar to Taylor’s - his centre-back performances proving that he isn’t the donkey that he has proved to be on the wings.

But despite how well Taylor and Ramage play together in the team, whether they’re at centre-back or not, Roeder continues to bring back the two clowns: Carr and Babayaro. Sub-standard to down-right awful is how I would describe their performances this season, yet Roeder continues to play them.

I see Steven Taylor as our first choice right-back, with Carr behind him in the pecking order. But I believe we’re in dire need of a centre-back and a left-back. Bramble and Babayaro are both equally terrible when it comes to the defence. I’m beyond caring about how much potential Bramble has, he’s played under three managers now and not one of them has brought out that potential in him - and I hope he goes in January.

So, we come to the transfer window itself. The areas of the team that need strengthening are obvious - defence and attack. The midfield is adequate enough in my opinion; it just hasn’t hit top gear yet. Whether it will or not this season is down to the manager.

Two strikers and two defenders would be good business in my opinion, and I certainly have my preferences. Shepherd has said that he is going to give Roeder cash to spend, though I severely hope that he doesn’t give him upwards of £15m. That would give Roeder the power to go out there and typically bring in another £10m foreign centre-forward, which we could really do without.

A £10m transfer fund would be adequate in my opinion, and enough to strengthen the squad sufficiently to guarantee us a mid-table finish. Not exactly the aspirations we were hoping for June/July time, but you’d take that now, wouldn’t you?

Attack

Mark Viduka - Middlesbrough

We need a targetman, someone with a presence in the box, and someone who still has enough fire in their belly to do a job for us. We need a striker who would work with Martins, and who would stand in the box and wait for an opportunity to score, and more often than not - do so. Alright, Viduka isn’t Shearer, but he’s everything else that I’ve described. We wouldn’t have to break the bank for him either: he hasn’t been a particularly regular figure for Boro this season, and his contract is up at the end of the season. £2m would bring Viduka to Newcastle, and I’d be happy enough with that.

David Nugent - Preston North End

Nugent is an excellent young player with massive potential. He’s only 21 and already he has proved to be one of the most impressive forward players in the Championship. He’s not a serial goalscorer in the Championship, but nor was Darren Bent. Nugent’s scored 37 goals in 91 appearances for Preston, but he’s probably their key player. His pace, his shooting ability, his overall presence just scares defenders to death. Should he come to the Premiership, I can see him being another Darren Bent, rather than a Grzegorsz Rasiak - without a shadow of a doubt. Nugent wouldn’t come particularly cheap, as there are other suitors for him, and Preston won’t want to sell - what with their promotion aspirations. £3.5m.

If we were to say goodbye to Luque and Rossi, these two would be adequate replacements. Viduka primarily for short term, but Nugent’s definitely one for the future, and would be a great asset to the squad in a year or so.

Defence

Sylvain Distin - Manchester City

Distin is the leader at the back for Manchester City. I used to think that he was more of a donkey that leader, but really - he’s just what we need at the back. Strong in the tackle, good in the air, has leadership abilities that will help the defence as a unit, and experience that will help bring the younger players on. Like Viduka, Distin’s contract runs out at the end of the season, so realistically, City would like to cash in now if they could. £2m.

Wayne Bridge - Chelsea

A top class left-back, no matter which way you look at it. His services are being totally wasted at Chelsea, and at the start of the season you could see what a good job he could do when he was given a run in the team. A regular on the international stage, who would probably walk into most teams in the Premiership, Bridge would be a monumental improvement on what we’ve got. He deserves better than the Chelsea bench, and it wouldn’t surprise me if he was looking for a move come January. He’s largely unwanted over there aswell, so I doubt he’ll command a large fee, despite his quality. £3m.

These four players would improve our squad considerably; every of them is a great player in my opinion.

Given
Taylor Distin Moore Bridge
Milner Parker Dyer Duff
Martins Viduka

Excluding long-term absentees Owen and Shola, that would be my idea of a fit first team, and here is the reasoning behind it:

Taylor gives us a defensive aspect to the wing-back position. I honestly can’t think of the last wing-back we had that was actually better at defending than attacking. To be quite frank, it’s hard to tell with Carr. Taylor gives us that though, and will solidify the defence a little more.

Distin and Moore in the middle would give us a very controlled and careful centre-back pairing. Both of them have bags of experience at the top level, even though Moore’s coming towards the end of his career. I’d like to see Ramage and Moore come in and out of the team, simply because of the age and the potential of Ramage.

Bridge, as I described earlier, is an excellent left-back. Great going forward, and would work really well with Duff thanks to their days at Chelsea, and a good defender aswell.

To me, that looks like a very assuring defensive line. Of course, a lot of it is down to the manager, and I can’t imagine he’d regularly play Taylor ahead of Carr - but I would. It’s simple logic really. Taylor’s better than Carr.

Onto the midfield, as Taylor would hang back a bit more, Milner would have a bit more work to do up and down that right-wing. However, my ‘instruction’ to Taylor to hang back should relieve Milner a bit more of his weak defensive abilities. Besides, on the attacking front, I think him and Martins could work quite well together - Martins bobbing in and out of the flank, Milner coming inside, etc. All Viduka has to do when it’s out on the wing - is stay in the box and wait for the ball.

The inclusion of Dyer in the team gives us another attacking option. If Martins is going to be busy working and playmaking with Milner, Dyer can be charging through, like he does to such good effect. Viduka can use his strength to hold the ball up for him. However, this means that Parker can refer to a slightly more defensive role, allowing Dyer to run through. Parker can patrol the midfield, something that he is so good at. Challenging for the ball is his speciality, but he can spread the play to the wings so long as he cuts this backward-passing nonsense out of his game.

One would hope that Duff will thrive off the service of Bridge, and I think a quality left-back and the spreading of play from Parker can really help Duff. He needs to beat his men more often though. This team will work well for Duff.

That’s how I want the team to look come February the 1st. It’s a good looking team in my opinion, with plenty of attributes and a superb attacking prowess, coupled with a very sure defence. That team’s got potential.

It’s up to the manager now.