UP, UP & HOWAY?

They’ve got rid of Ashley & Bruce but now Saudis and Staveley have a mountain to climb to fix all the Toon’s problems... beginning with finding a top-class coach

THE future for newly-rich Newcastle appears laden with possibilities - but also with problems.

With Steve Bruce gone, Toon have glamour names like Paulo Fonseca, Roberto Martinez and Frank Lampard scrapping to be the next boss.

The joyous fans have been galvanised by the Saudi takeover amid bold statements of ambition. And bookies will offer only cramped odds for the Magpies to be Premier League champions within the next five years. But though the future is bright, there are clouds on the horizon.

Let’s not forget amid all the optimistic title chatter that Newcastle on the pitch are a club in crisis.

Only Norwich are below them in the Premier League. They are without a win all season. And after eight games they have the worst defence in the top flight.

With Bruce sacked, at a cost of £8million, and former owner Mike Ashley (below) disappearing with a £70m profit in his back-pocket, the pantomime villains are gone and that has thrown the spotlight on the new owners.

And their first big task, the task that will define their ownership, is to appoint the right man as Bruce’s replacement. They need a top coach, a club-builder, a visionary, a moodenhancer, a faith healer, a pied piper. Does that man exist?

Toon fans thought they had one in Rafa Benitez but he is now at Everton and his head is not for turning.

Fonseca, the former Roma boss wooed in the summer by Spurs, is the favourite in the betting and has the pedigree to get the thumbs-up from fans. But there are others in the running. Men like Steven Gerrard, Eddie Howe, and Lucien Favre.

Appointing the right man as manager is not the only task the new Newcastle owners face, however. Legal action lies ahead if rival Premier League clubs force a permanent block on sponsorship deals with companies associated with owners.

And the questionable humanrights record of Saudi Arabia will make Newcastle an easy target for rival fans.

In the days of Kevin Keegan, Newcastle, the great entertainers, were everyone’s second-favourite team. That’s unlikely to be the case now they have unlimited financial clout.

Newcastle play Crystal Palace tomorrow with caretaker Graeme Jones in charge. His reign won’t last long but ultimately it could prove significant – he needs to stop the rot for Newcastle, whose only points this season have come against Leeds, Watford and Southampton.

They badly need top-class defenders and a midfield enforcer but such players are not readily available in the January transfer window.

There are 14 Premier League games between now and mid-january and Toon need to pick up at least another 20 points by then.

Yes there will surely be signings in January. To stick with the current squad would be commercial suicide.

But will they be the right players? More importantly, will they have the right manager to guide them?

There’s a mountain to climb for the fabulously wealthy new owners, fronted by Amanda Staveley (left).

And finding a new boss is the first step on the foothills.