Joey Barton is out for eight weeks, and with the usual injury candidates making promises of long-term returns (Owen, Smith, Viduka, etc) but none of us are holding our breath ... it again exposed the limitations of a paper thin squad.
Most fans began to fear it over the summer when Kevin Keegan said we needed at least "six or seven quality players" ... and he only got his wish with ONE!
Keegan insisted Newcastle United's squad is ill-equipped to cope with the demands of a Premier League campaign ... and we have far too many players who never play more than half a season.
The defence picks itself, so imagine the disaster if Habib Beye (our best defender by a proverbial mile) picked up the same injury as Barton.
The midfield is strong, but only the names in the first team.
Since James Milner was sold to Aston Villa we've dropped down to the bare bones because, although Danny Guthrie is a decent replacement for Barton, the rest are kids.
