James Milner's Departure Leaves Toon Fans Sweating

The inevitable has happened. James Milner's departure for £10 million to Aston Villa was confirmed on Thursday. And now, after the turbulent and often ridiculous events of the past 48 hours, Newcastle United go in to the final weekend of the transfer window having lost one of their most influential players with no obvious replacement on the horizon. Kevin Keegan's squad was already threadbare without this latest departure, but now the importance of adding at least three quality players before Monday has become ever more pressing. It's impossible to see where those signings are going to come from and how involved Keegan will be in recruiting the players he wants. The bizarre nature of United's power balance is in danger of wrecking what has been an ultimately positive start to the season. It seems crazy to think that the manager has nothing to do with player recruitment, but that is definitely the case at Newcastle these days, with Dennis Wise and Tony Jimenez, the men with the task ... (link)