L'esprit de l'escalier, Newcastle?

FOX Sports Asia takes a look at Newcastle’s January transfers after the Magpies put up impressive recent performances spearheaded by their new French contingent.

Have you ever walked away after being bested in an argument, only to have all the witty things that you could have suddenly pop up in your mind the moment you're out of the room? 

That feeling is also known as "l'esprit de l'escalier" - a feeling that Newcastle fans would easily associate with earlier this season when they were struck by an extensive injury crisis.

Their treatment room has seen Fabricio Coloccini, Hatem Ben Arfa, Steven Taylor, Papiss Cisse, Demba Ba, Davide Santon, Yohan Cabaye, Cheick Tiote and Sylvain Marveaux at times this season - in addition to long-term absentees like Ryan Taylor, Haris Vuckic and Dan Gosling.

It has not helped that the Magpies went through an underwhelming summer in the transfer market during which they only added Vurnon Anita to the first team, with Gael Bigirimana and Roman Amalfitano joining as backups while squad players Leon Best and Danny Guthrie left the club.

With a gruelling Europa League campaign vying for their attention, it wasn't surprising that Pardew chose to concentrate on the continental competition, which consequentially resulted in a drastic drop in Newcastle's domestic performance. They hovered around the relegation zone for much of the season's first-half.

When the transfer window opened in January, it was unsurprising to see them snap up five French transfer targets a week before the deadline closed. It was typically decisive of Pardew and his backroom staff to seal their transfers early to avoid complicated bidding wars.

However, it begets the question - are Newcastle's signings six months late?

January signings fall into three broad categories: 

Emergency signings - the ones that we see commonly happening as clubs attempt to beef up their squad as injuries and fixtures take their toll or when clubs did not reinforce enough in the summer. Chelsea's signing of Fernando Torres two seasons ago was a prime example, as was Arsenal's signing of Nacho Monreal in the past month. Because of its nature, these kinds of signing tend to be more backward-looking and pricey.

Forward-looking signings - where clubs sign players to give them six months to integrate into the squad ahead of the new season or to snap up their targets before a bidding war starts over them. Southampton's signing of Vegard Forren, Stoke snapping up Jack Butland and Manchester United's coup of Wilfried Zaha fall into this category.

And then there are the opportunistic signings, which happen mostly when players' contracts are expiring and they are available for cheap or free to come on loan. Instances of these are Roger Espinoza joining Wigan and Tottenham's bargain in landing Lewis Holtby.

According to Newcastle director Derek Llambias, the Magpies were six months early.

He told Chronicle Live: "Looking at our working model, I had planned for two of those signings to arrive in the summer.

"We just had to bring things forward. Normally we would not do that. [But] the injury list was terrible.

"I spoke to [Newcastle chief scout] Graham Carr and he said in football you will not see this again. He felt what was happening with our squad was unprecedented as far as injuries were concerned.

"We felt we had enough because we had finished fifth with the squad we had and we had added to it. We keep rolling, so the new players we have now, two of those deals were lined up for the summer."

It was the deals for Yoann Gouffran and Moussa Sissoko that were accelerated but the duo have not let anybody down so far, taking part in the wins over Aston Villa and Chelsea.

"In November we had our targets, we just had to think how soon we were going to bring them in." Llambias added, "They did not just crop up in November, we identified them a long time ago.

"If you look at Sissoko, Graham's first report was from 2010. Graham knew about him from when he was 18 - we follow players for years. We take a look as we analyse the role each signing is expected to play at Newcastle."

As it stands, it was other Premier League clubs who probably experienced l'esprit de l'escalier as they watched Newcastle snap up five Frenchmen for a total price of £18.6m.

Here, we analyse what each of them brings to the table and the role they are expected to play at the club.

Name: Mathieu Debuchy

Age: 27
Position: Right-back
Cost: £5.5million 
Verdict: Debuchy is a steal at £5.5million. An experienced international, he was drafted in to take over want-away Danny Simpson role at right back. As he showed at Euro 2012, Debuchy's boundless energy enables him to surge forward to join the attack and add an extra body in the box without compromising his defence. He was even deployed as a right winger in France's final group game, which is a testament to his excellent crossing abilities.

Name: Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa

Age: 23
Position: Center back
Cost: £6.7m
Verdict: Linked with clubs like Arsenal and AC Milan in the summer, Yanga-Mbiwa comes with a big reputation as the 22-year-old captain of Ligue 1 winning side Montpellier. He is another steal at just £6.7m and is clearly a replacement for Fabricio Coloccini, who has indicated that he will leave Newcastle at the end of the season. 
Yanga-Mbiwa's greatest asset is his mobility which allows him to make many crucial interceptions and his lightning-quick reflexes can only hold him in good stead as he adapts to thundering pace of the Premier League.

Name: Moussa Sissoko 

Age: 23
Position: Central Midfielder
Cost: £2.1m
Verdict: Sissoko was once dubbed the next Michael Essien for his excellent tackling abilities, but to focus solely on the defensive aspect of his game would be to do him an injustice. Sissoko's role at Toulouse was to drive their attack from midfield ahead of their defensive midfielder Etienne Capoue - similar to what Sami Khedira does for Germany. 
Using his admirable speed and sleek dribbling ability, Sissoko's can pierce midfield lines - a useful addition to Newcastle's midfield as back-up to the injury-prone Ben Arfa.

Name: Yoan Gouffran
Age: 26
Position: Wide Forward
Cost: £1.28
Verdict: Gouffran's signing came as a reaction after Newcastle lost out on Loic Remy's signature to QPR. He was part of the highly-rated Bordeaux squad that won the Ligue 1 title in 2008 and has improved since. 
Gouffran started out as a winger, but his inability to hold onto the ball for long led to him being shifted forward into his current position as a wide striker. Two-footed, quick and a fine finisher, Gouffran topped his side's scoring charts last season. Expect to see him cut in quickly from wide often and look for an open space to lay off a deadly pass or a snapshot on goal.

Name: Massadio Haidara 
Age: 20
Position: Left Back
Cost: £3m
Verdict: Haidara's recruitment is definitely under the category of ‘One for the future'. With Davide Santon currently holding on to the left back position thanks to his excellent form, it's hard to see Haidara breaking into the side over the next few months. 
However, the 20-year-old's proclivity to dribble and push forward whenever possible may mean he could be deployed further forward on the left wing instead. Certainly one to look out for in any case.

Source: Fox Sport