Steve McClaren has likened the arrival of five new players at Newcastle United to a 'bomb' going off in the dressing room following the Magpies' 'fantastic' window.
Newcastle's new owners spent more than £90m in their first window at the helm as Kieran Trippier, Chris Wood, Bruno Guimaraes, Dan Burn and Matt Targett all joined the club.
The quintet are all expected to be regulars in the coming weeks as 18th-placed Newcastle bid to pull clear of danger.
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As a result, a number of players' places in Eddie Howe's starting line-up and, indeed, his 25-man squad were under threat - Jamal Lewis, Ciaran Clark and the injured Isaac Hayden were all left out - and McClaren does not think that reshuffle is a bad thing.
"I think it's a fantastic window," the former Newcastle boss told the McClaren Performance Podcast. "When you've got five or six new players coming in, it freshens everybody with competition for the dressing room and it's like throwing a bomb in there.
"I always like that now and again. Not if you're settled, but now and again. It needs a bomb because players now will wonder, 'What's the pecking order all of a sudden. I was the top dog. I was the number nine. Now, Wood's coming in. How's the gaffer going to play? What's he going to do? What's the system? What's this? What's that?'
"All of a sudden, they're second guessing and it's a little cattle prod for the players already in the dressing room and it's great for those coming in. Where do they fit in? They've got to be strong characters.
"What a fantastic signing Trippier is in terms of character. He's played for England, been abroad, working under [Diego] Simeone and he comes to this dressing room and he must think, 'God. I'm top dog. I'm kingpin here' - even though he's a right-back, which is not a huge position in terms of how we view it and rank.
"Strikers? Yes. Centre-backs? Maybe. Goalkeeper? Yes. That flair player? Yes. The right-back? Well, I think you saw in the first game what he will bring to Newcastle - not just on the field but off the field."
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