Kevin Keegan maintains he is "not in a hurry" to add new players to his St James' Park revolution, and "it would not be the end of the world" if no-one came in before the end of the transfer window.
Newcastle saw their only hope of silverware extinguished yesterday when they lost 3-0 at Arsenal in the fourth round of the FA Cup.
Keegan had hoped to make former England defender Jonathan Woodgate the first piece of his "jigsaw" in what is expected to be a long path back to the top.
However, the $20million-rated centre-half now looks set to join Tottenham instead.
Keegan will have to look elsewhere, and could now focus on a striker to partner Michael Owen.
The Newcastle boss insisted: "I am not in a hurry and it won't be the end of the world if we don't get anybody in.
"I would have been happy to have just got Woodgate in, but it looks like we've lost him.
"Tottenham can offer him the chance to play in a cup final, they are in Europe - and the only way we're going to get into Europe is if we get on a ferry."
Keegan will take his troops back to the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday night for their Barclays Premier League encounter.
The Newcastle boss insists plenty can be achieved between now and May.
Keegan said: "We're in the bottom half of the table and we need to play for pride, which is the biggest thing of all in my view.
"The first half performance at Arsenal told me that the players have a lot of pride and talent.
"If you take four international players out of any side, they will struggle, but we got a good shift and the confidence just went when the goal went in."
Keegan knows it is all about getting his squad to believe again.
He said: "Confidence is a big thing. We've got a good mix - some very talented young players and also some top, top international-class players
"When you're not creating chances, the forwards start thinking: 'When am I going to get the service?' Probably Emre does that but we're having to ask young lads such as [Charles] N'Zogbia and [James] Milner to do that and while they can do it sometimes, they're still learning their games."
Keegan feels captain Owen - who has not found the net in the league since October - is close to recapturing his predatory form in front of goal and can be a potent weapon for new England boss Fabio Capello.
"He's fit enough and sharp enough and maybe playing with England and being part of that scene will help him," said Keegan.
"I know Michael will be knocking at my door saying we aren't creating enough opportunities because that is what I did when I was a striker."
Keegan had hoped to make former England defender Jonathan Woodgate the first piece of his "jigsaw" in what is expected to be a long path back to the top.
However, the $20million-rated centre-half now looks set to join Tottenham instead.
Keegan will have to look elsewhere, and could now focus on a striker to partner Michael Owen.
The Newcastle boss insisted: "I am not in a hurry and it won't be the end of the world if we don't get anybody in.
"I would have been happy to have just got Woodgate in, but it looks like we've lost him.
"Tottenham can offer him the chance to play in a cup final, they are in Europe - and the only way we're going to get into Europe is if we get on a ferry."
Keegan will take his troops back to the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday night for their Barclays Premier League encounter.
The Newcastle boss insists plenty can be achieved between now and May.
Keegan said: "We're in the bottom half of the table and we need to play for pride, which is the biggest thing of all in my view.
"The first half performance at Arsenal told me that the players have a lot of pride and talent.
"If you take four international players out of any side, they will struggle, but we got a good shift and the confidence just went when the goal went in."
Keegan knows it is all about getting his squad to believe again.
He said: "Confidence is a big thing. We've got a good mix - some very talented young players and also some top, top international-class players
"When you're not creating chances, the forwards start thinking: 'When am I going to get the service?' Probably Emre does that but we're having to ask young lads such as [Charles] N'Zogbia and [James] Milner to do that and while they can do it sometimes, they're still learning their games."
Keegan feels captain Owen - who has not found the net in the league since October - is close to recapturing his predatory form in front of goal and can be a potent weapon for new England boss Fabio Capello.
"He's fit enough and sharp enough and maybe playing with England and being part of that scene will help him," said Keegan.
"I know Michael will be knocking at my door saying we aren't creating enough opportunities because that is what I did when I was a striker."
Copyright (c) Press Association
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