IT HAS proven as hard to shoehorn senior players out of their Newcastle comfort zone as it is to bring vibrant new talent into the family.
What with lengthy contracts short-sightedly handed out to prevent paying transfer fees for replacements and wages way above Championship level United are having to resort to loan deals to safeguard the departing player's bank balance while freeing up pegs in an overcrowded dressing-room. However at last two more have been forced through the door via temporary deals.
Ciaran Clark and Jeff Hendrick, who could not even command a squad number in the end, are outward bound as loan rangers signing for Sheffield United and Reading just as Isaac Hayden did with Norwich City.
