Just going back to your point, Taff, there was a thread in January that highlighted the youngsters situation:
http://www.newcastle.vitalfootball.co.uk/forum/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=23073&posts=18&highlight=tavernier&highlightmode=1#M337207
A number of them turn into grown up footballers this summer as can be seen at the bottom of the first post.
Maybe this explains why 3 English (home grown) players have been allowed to leave before replacements have been found.
It will be interesting to see how many of them make the squad of 25 and how many go on loan.