WITH seven points in three games, it has been a good start to the new Premier League season for Newcastle United.
Hopefully not too good. Just as a few bad results can lead to panic-buying on deadline day, so a few good ones can create a false sense of security.
They have been here before. Last January, when the Magpies were scrambling to find an 11th-hour replacement for Andy Carroll, they did so with the assurance that Leon Best was fresh from a top-flight hat-trick.
Eight months on, Best and Peter Lovenkrands – the third and fourth-choice strikers in the New Year - were again manning the front line again as Fulham came to town.
Like Shola Ameobi, Demba Ba has a dubious injury record. With those two in the ranks, a fifth striker is needed. It is something manager Alan Pardew is aware of, but has so far been unable to address. Pardew must hope owner Mike Ashley is not deafened to the urgency of his pleas by the comfort blanket that is the league table.
Printing the standings at this stage of the campaign is a nonsense anyway, but gives a particularly misleading impression for Newcastle at a stage of the campaign before their squad depth has been put to the test.
