The fans have seen the likes of Marcelino, Hugo Viana, Jean-Alain Boumsong and Albert Luque arrive in big-money deals in recent years, with less than impressive results, and we wonder why the glamour boys never seem to settle on Tyneside.
David Ginola had a great spell under Kevin Keegan but he still never settled here.
Will Roeder go Latin?
GLENN ROEDER: "People might say I have not been over-active or very quick to bring players in. But I am conscious of not bringing players in who, within a couple of months, I am thinking 'I wish I had not done that', and we are stuck with them on a two or three-year contract.
"That has happened here before and it has happened at many clubs. Managers sign players with a short-term goal and within two or three months wish they had not signed them.
"They are then lumbered with them and when they go to the chairman, he says: 'Hold on, I allowed you to sign a number of players, you signed them, it is your fault if you do not like them now'.
"I have been careful to try to bring in players who, once they are in, we like them and we know we are going to get good use out of them over the next two or three seasons - like Damien Duff and Obafemi Martins.
"I would have thought in the next four to six weeks we will be sitting down and talking to Antoine Sibierski about taking up an option we have got for him to stay for a year.
