You can't help you feel a bit sorry for Eddie Howe.
It was supposed to be the summer that it all finally started to happen for Newcastle.
Not only had he secured the first piece of great silverware from the club for 70 years, the Toon Boss also had the Champions League to look forward to.
He achieved all of that without making a big first team for 18 months while selling different members of his team in the midst of the struggle to meet PSR rules.
But it feels like all that excitement quickly evaporates when the feelings of frustration set up.
This is why the Newcastle summer window is in danger of becoming a real damper:
Alexander Isak
The Swede is now the hot topic and, despite the insistence of the club that it is due to injuries, his absence by the Tour Far East and the desire to see what is being offered in Liverpool only the speculation in his future.
All the current drama and concern about his future will come back until last summer.
Former co-owners Amanda Staveley and Mehrdad Ghodoussi had promised the camp discussions of the Hotshot about a bumper payment of his current £ 130,000 contract.
But then incoming sports director Paul Mitchell, about whom we have more below, decided to postpone the negotiations because of a feeling that Isak was already paid for beautifully and had the security that he was bound to a contract until 2028.
The striker continued to produce the goods on the field, but although Mitchell has now left, no progress has been made with an extension.
Newcastle is willing to break their £ 150,000 a week payment ceiling and to make him the best paid player in their history, but sources have indicated that he wants a weekly salary of £ 300k.
Although the last thing someone wants is that the drama continues to drag and a decision must be made to prevent a potential hangover that influences the start of the season.
Sports director
Howe revealed that he just started with the second day of his vacation in May when the news came through that Mitchell.
And prepared or mentioned without replacement, the head coach played a more central role in the transfer activities.
That led to him, head of recruitment Steve Nickson and assistant head of Recruitment Andy Howe who was given the task of supervising transfer agreements.
Howe revealed: “My phone exploded. I enjoyed my second day of my vacation and that quickly went sour.
“It was a complete surprise for me. And a big disappointment because we had stability, we were planning to plan the summer ahead and then that is a big revolution that we have experienced before with Dan Ashworth.
“It has been a busier summer in that respect than I wanted. Of course with Paul departure, that left a gap in terms of that role. And of course someone in that role protects the manager against many things. And of course his departure opened to me to do a number of things I would not normally have done.
“Summer was certainly not relaxing for me to turn off and see what is happening.”
The search for the replacement of Mitchell, in which former Arsenal assistant -sports director Jason Ayto was interviewed, now seems to come to an end.
The Chief Football Officer Ross Wilson Van Nottingham Forest is their favorite candidate and will be offered the role.
Transfers
Newcastle finally had something to celebrate when Howe succeeded in getting the deal over the line for Anthony Elanga.
But the £ 55 million arrival of the winger from the forest has so far been the only addition.
Howe, and people like skipper Bruno Guimaraes, called on the club to move quickly and to strengthen the wafer-thin team as soon as the summer market was opened.
But aside Elanga it was a hugely frustrating window in which Toon missed four top goals with a fifth that probably looks now.
The Magpies saw deals for Liam Delap, Joao Pedro, Bryan Mbeumo and Hugo Ekitike hijacked while Man City seems to dive and long -term goalkeeper Target James Trafford.
A team with a large number of young, raw and non -tested Academy players was beaten in Celtic on Saturday and that exposed how many more reinforcements were needed.
Howe said: “My wish was that we do our company early and we certainly tried it, but it wasn't.
“We had a frustrating time in terms of losing goals to other clubs. I would be very open with that. That happened several times.
“You just have to accept it. In order to really work a transfer, the player must, in my opinion, be desperate to come to your club. If we don't get that, the transfer will not work.
“We are looking for players who are good enough, who are desperate to come, and that can make the difference that they are scarce for us.
“We are convinced that we can try to get some more players to strengthen the depth of the team. We are sure that we have to do that and we try to do that as hard as we can.”
Newcastle has been set to tasks an £ 30 million offer for Brentford Vooruit Yoane Wissa after the Ster left the pre-season camp of Brentford in Portugal.
Overcarability
The expected arrival of Wilson as a sports director will only be the newest in a series of changes in the hierarchy.
A replacement for very popular CEO Darren Eales still has to be confirmed.
It was last September when he announced that he served his notification after the blood cancer diagnosis.
David Hopkinson, ex-realistic Madrid director, is supposed to be the leaders for the position.
And to add to the revolution and change, Newcastle appointed the director of football information Sudarshan Gopaladesikan of Atalanta as new technical director this week.
He will report to the person who comes in to take over Eales.
Every club that tries to operate without a good and on -site executive team will always be confronted with problems.
And the sooner the upper floor is sorted than better for everyone.