Paul Merson explains key blow for Newcastle this month – and it involves Watford

Newcastle's biggest blow this window is not all the players they're missing out on – it's Roy Hodgson going to Watford!

They're trying to sign half the world and not having much luck most of the time at Newcastle right now.

But I think that was a body blow to their hopes of staying up when Roy Hodgson took over at Watford. I really do.

All the clubs at the bottom who are in serious trouble will be cursing themselves thinking: "They've got every chance now, Watford.'

He is absolutely perfect for Watford. A dream ticket. You're talking about a team that cannot keep a clean sheet for love nor money.

And they've got someone in there who loves to set his team up not to let in a goal. It's the perfect appointment.

You know what else is great for the owners there? He won't give a damn about trying to entertain the man in the stands. He has a thick skin.

Watford have players who can score goals. Emmanuel Dennis, Joao Pedro and Josh King are good players, and hopefully they have Ismaila Sarr coming back.

But if the fans get on his back that it's too boring, he won't care less as long as they get a point here and there, keep it tight, and put the pressure on their rivals.

And I reckons that's what he'll do. Is there anyone more experienced in world football than Roy Hodgson?

He is literally a safe pair of hands who has done it before and kept struggling clubs up. I think he's priceless for Watford.

Do you think Hodgson can keep Watford up? Let us know in the comments section

For what they need over the next few months, I can't think of a better appointment – and that should worry Newcastle.

They are going to sign players. But they are going to try and play their way out of trouble with Eddie Howe. That's risky.

Newcastle's transfer strategy is different too. They are just buying for the next few months. Put it this way, if they stay up, Chris Wood is not playing for them next season.

He's there to do what it says on the tin and keep them up, simple as that.

They've weakened a rival and brought in someone who can score.

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But no disrespect to Chris Wood. Newcastle will be signing a superstar next season if they manage to stay up, and then he'll only get a handful of games.

This is just stop-gap football. I'm not saying that about Kieran Trippier. I think he'll captain the club. But he's 31. Wood is 30.

They were in for Dan Burn at Brighton. He's 29. So is Jesse Lingard. This is a three-month job. This is not the future.

But Newcastle have got that much money they'll just write it off and go again next season if they can stay in the Premier League.

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It's not a bad strategy if you can afford it. How can you get good young players in on contracts which say they can't leave if they go down? It's not going to happen.

Newcastle could sign a load of thirty-somethings before the window shuts, stay up, and then swallow the pill if they can't get rid of them. Job done.

And to be fair, if they go down, Chris Wood is an amazing signing for them – because he'd be like another Aleksander Mitrovic in the Championship.

There isn't much difference between them. It's a completely different game at that level.

Tanguy Ndombele would fit right in at PSG because they're like the Harlem Globe Trotters of football.

He could get away with how he plays at PSG, in a French league that's so much less demanding. But he can't get away with it at Tottenham.

He's a showboater. He's a Match of the Day player. He'll have good highlights but is never going to run the game. He's not a winner.

He's been a big disappointment at Spurs. Sometimes you watch him and think: 'Wow, this guy can play.' But the next minute, you wonder on earth he's doing.

PSG are just perfect for him. Go there, do a couple of Cruyff turns, a couple of Maradonas every now and then, you'll be fine. That's what the game's like over there.

And PSG want a team of showboaters. You can't tell me Ndombele is winning them the Champions League. That he's going to make the difference. That is not going to happen.

He's not an Antonio Conte player at all. Conte won't have that. So I'd be shocked if he ever plays for Tottenham too many more times.

Spurs spent £50-odd million on him. And he's done nothing. But no-one's really talking about it. They wasted all that money. Unbelievable.

Jesse Lingard needs to force his way out of Manchester United in this transfer window.

Does he want to play football or not? He's not a kid any more. If he waits and tries to move on a free in the summer, he'll probably get offered more money.

But your career soon disappears. If he sits on the bench at Old Trafford for the rest of the season, people are going to start to forget about him and he's wasting what time he has left.

He had an unbelievable chance to sign for West Ham and he should have taken it. Maybe he thought he could do better.

Maybe he really thought he could go back to United and he'd get in that team every week. But even a blind man could see that was never going to happen.

He knows now it's not going to happen for him at United, surely. He made a mistake going back there and there is no point hanging around there any more.

I like him. I think he's a good player. But he should have gone to West Ham when he had the chance.

He's probably thinking he can't go to Newcastle in case he ends up playing in the Championship. But he needs to be playing football.

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