Newcastle United fans pick out Mike Ashley's biggest mistake of 2021 so far as the Magpies slide towards Premier League relegation

The latest results of The Big Shields Gazette NUFC Survey have been released – and this time it's transfer talk and a lack of January action on the agenda.

Last week we discussed fan confidence in Steve Bruce, the Saudi-led takeover, messages for new owners and whether NUFC would drop out of the Premier League or not.

Now it’s transfer talk – and specifically the last window, January, and the one to come in the summer.

And United fans believe not signing another striker to support Callum Wilson, who would have been able to step in during his recent injury absence, was a massive mistake by those in the halls of power at St James’ Park.

When asked whether United had a successful winter window, 85.3% said no. Less than 1% (0.8% to be precise) believed it was a positive trading period while the remaining 15.7% thought it was OK, but the club could have done more to plug the obvious gaps in the Magpies’ squad.

Fans were also asked if “the Magpies (should) have signed a striker in the January window, especially in light of Callum Wilson's injury?”

Again, the results were conclusive.

‘Strongly agree, it’s been a priority since the summer’ polled 80.3% with ‘possibly, but priorities were elsewhere’ next best at 18.6%. ‘Strongly disagree, we have the back-up’ came in with just 1.1% of the votes from the fans polled.

Over in La Liga, Florian Lejeune has been winning rave reviews for his performances with Deportivo Alaves. The Frenchman was even named in the Spanish top flight’s team of the week after the weekend, along with former United midfielder Mikel Merino.

We asked fans whether United missed a trick in the January window by not recalling the central defender. Again, more than 90% of supporters polled thought he could have made a difference in United’s relegation fight.

Fifty percent (50.4%) voted for ‘he could have added to our squad’ while a further 43.1% said ‘yes, he's our best defender’.

Those wanting him back at the end of the season totalled 2.5% and the remaining 4.1% thinking his NUFC career is done.

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