Newcastle points deduction preferable to Cantona sale as Eddie Howe questions asked

Newcastle had an awful transfer window and the sale of Elliot Anderson to Nottingham Forest looks the worst decision of all. Take the points deduction.

As the former ‘Geordie Maradona’, the Midlands Messi comparison was a natural one for the commentary team to make after Elliot Anderson’s stunning dribbling showcase just 15 otherwise-uneventful minutes into proceedings at the City Ground.

First weaving through five players when seemingly trapped down the blindest of alleys on the right wing, seconds later Anderson somehow glided past four others inside the Crystal Palace penalty area on the left before forcing a fine save from Dean Henderson.

It perfectly encapsulated one of Eddie Howe’s favourite things about a player he helped mould. “What I love about Elliot is he’s versatile,” the Newcastle manager once said. “He can play wide, he can play inside” – often in the same phase of play, as it happens.

But not for Newcastle. Not anymore. Anderson has instead been the cornerstone of one of the most impressive single Premier League transfer windows ever, and the centrepiece of one of the absolute worst.

The inside track on his move from St James’ Park to Nottingham Forest had more echoes of Eric Cantona than Maradona or Messi. The part of Denis Irwin was played masterfully by Anthony Elanga, whose sale Forest refused to countenance. But an open line of negotiation was established between the two clubs; Forest used both that and their knowledge of Newcastle’s public PSR panicking to manoeuvre a remarkable heist.

The £35m fee attached to Anderson was eye-catching. In a summer of conspicuous overpays it was the biggest. But nine appearances into his Forest career it looks like the ‘bargain in the making’ many suspected even before factoring in the £20m Forest received in exchange for Odysseas Vlachodimos, who has at least finally made a Premier League squad for Newcastle.

Up against fierce competition, that ostensible swap looks like the most damaging in a series of baffling transfer decisions from Newcastle.

The months spent chasing Marc Guehi in a saga which includes the form of the player and both clubs as collateral damage. The Anthony Gordon deal they arranged with Liverpool and then hastily cancelled, almost certainly contributing to his single non-penalty goal, zero assists and ineffective performances so far this season. The sale of Yankuba Minteh at a time when their right-wing options comprise Jacob Murphy and Miguel Almiron. The £15m committed on Will Osula, whose eight cameo minutes in the Premier League have come at the end of Newcastle’s two defeats and in a period when their only other specialist centre-forwards were unavailable or returning from injury.

If the first phase of Newcastle’s inexorable path towards world domination was completed before anyone could have expected with Champions League qualification, the next steps have only been backwards and played out to a backdrop of apparent civil war.

There are legitimate arguments to make about the inherent unfairness of Premier League rules designed to prevent the shattering of glass ceilings. Those legitimate arguments coming from a state-owned club with otherwise limitless funds and limited moral scruples make them funnier but no less relevant or worthy of debate.

Had Newcastle known the loopholes exploited by other teams – the Covid allowances and hotel sales – were available to them then their summer desperation would have been eased and Anderson’s development could have continued in the north east.

But even then, the 21-year-old was hardly on an unstoppable rise at Newcastle. He never started more than three consecutive Premier League games for the Magpies and remained low down the pecking order on the left flank and in central midfield. He was reluctantly deemed surplus to requirements because of his considerable fee but also his restricted first-team standing; Howe knew he had a player worth at least as much as Forest were willing to pay yet Anderson was rarely afforded a consistent opportunity to prove it.

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The back injury which sidelined him for four months last season was a significant factor but it simply felt as though Anderson never had the trust and belief of Howe in the same way so many of the manager’s faithful lieutenants still do.

Sean Longstaff would not have attracted the same sort of money but Newcastle might not have had to sign a back-up keeper for £20m just to sell him. The importance of such squad players is understated but Murphy, Almiron, Callum Wilson or Kieran Trippier could have generated enough income between them to offset any need to sell a legitimate potential starter for the next decade. It is pure hindsight but even recognising Gordon’s value might never be higher and cashing in opportunistically looks far more preferable than offloading Anderson.

Failing that, Newcastle could have chosen the nuclear option: take the 10-point deduction they feared for PSR breaches while retaining a player worth far more than that to them over the course of his contract. Chuck Minteh into the equation and their squad’s two biggest problem areas – a creative midfielder and right-winger – are solved instantly.

Perhaps that is fanciful but especially in light of their weirdness over Allan Saint-Maximin a year ago, Newcastle might soon consider taking those short-term hits for long-term gain instead of complaining about having to take a more circuitous route to the top than initially envisaged.

Forest themselves are an interesting case in point. While they tried to avoid the four-point deduction which made last season more uncomfortable than necessary, it is as far away in their rear-view mirror as their actual employment of Mark Clattenburg as a lobbyist.

It is on those foundations that they have built an excellent start to the season. The gap to Newcastle is but a single point but the current difference between the two teams – and more pertinently their squads – feels far bigger.

Forest have a coherent plan entirely contrary to their reputation. A sensible summer recruitment push brought in nine permanent signings aged between 18 and 26. Nikola Milenkovic has been exceptional, Jota Silva and Ramon Sosa are thriving from the bench and Morato is being spoken about in the same hushed tones as Murillo. Adding Alex Moreno on loan was another masterstroke.

But in Anderson they have what was once thought impossible: a player capable of shouldering the creative and leadership burden of Morgan Gibbs-White and thriving under the responsibility. With Chris Wood continuing to give even more possible cause for regret, Forest would do well to thank Newcastle for their needless generosity.

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