Why taking Toon to the top could be a slog on the Tyne
FIRST impressions count when you’ve bought a football club of Newcastle United’s size.
And, whether it was by design or not – and you suspect it was deliberate – new Tyneside darling Amanda Staveley hit the nail squarely on the head in the first address to her adoring flock.
The freshly acclaimed First Lady of that parish said investment was needed across the board and she didn’t want to overpromise and under-deliver.
Forget Mbappe and Haaland, the Magpies’ new owners need to deal in the here and now. The more immediate problems facing the club are pressing and sizeable.
How else can you sum up the state of affairs at St James’ Park?
The Toon lie 19th in the Premier League, without a win and will have to make do with the current squad until the new year. The stagnation over the past five years of previous owner Mike Ashley’s reign cannot just be waved away with a wad of cash. Not until the new year.
Sure, there will be a warm feeling among supporters that even the cruel North-east wind cannot chill.
But feeling good about your club doesn’t put the ball in one net and keep it out at the other.
That mood will be heightened by a change in the dug-out.
Steve Bruce did what he came to do. He ensured that Ashley had a
Premier League asset to hand over.
In his boss’s absence, he was unfairly criticised in a lot of quarters as fans were looking for a scapegoat. Bruce (below) was rightly criticised in others. And, having almost managed 1,000 games, will have expected no less.
When he is eventually shown the door, the incoming boss will have to play the hand he has been dealt.
And it isn’t a great one – because there’s not a gap to the top any more, but a chasm.
I mean, how much cash is necessary to push Newcastle upwards?
Since Sir Alex Ferguson retired, Manchester United have spent £1.2billion and still David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer have not managed to plonk the main pot into the
cupboard.
Chelsea have spent £350m in the past 12 months. OK, the Champions League was their reward, but they were starting from a position of strength.
But Everton have blown more than £400m and got nowhere near. Aston Villa’s owners spent £250m in their first year and backed their club since promotion with another £200m. Arsenal added to an expensive squad with another £160m.
Newcastle may be on the way back, but they’re now a threat.
And the Big Six, among others, won’t take kindly to the assault on their cosy cabal.
Overall, though, Staveley’s right. Fairy-tales in football never happen without sweat and tears.
Turning Newcastle into title challengers will be a mammoth task – and all the cash in the world can’t make it happen overnight.