daniel chigunwe
THREE years on from the euphoria of the Geordie Arabia takeover, it all looked a bit ‘Mike Ashley’ at St James’ Park on Monday.
A mid-table team, scoring fewer than one goal per home match, deservedly losing to West Ham and their dreams of world domination a distant memory.
The Saudi revolution on Tyneside has not just stagnated over the past year, it has headed into reverse.
During those past 12 months, Eddie Howe’s Newcastle have won 15 and lost 14 in the Premier League.
They have better players than in the miserable era under Ashley — the Saudis have spent the sharp end of half a billion in the transfer market — yet they are bang-average all the same.
There is still greater ambition and optimism than in the wretched years before the Saudi Public Investment Fund’s morally dubious influx of cash.
A home Carabao Cup quarter-final with Brentford next month may not compete with the dizzy heights of thrashing Kylian Mbappe’s Paris Saint-Germain 4-1 early last season.
But it offers the hope of silverware — 70 years on from the Toon’s last domestic trophy — and any such triumph would be greeted with elation throughout the Geordie nation.
Although Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United and Tottenham have also reached the last eight — all part of the Big Six ‘cartel’ who fear Newcastle’s owners and are behind the Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) which have hindered them.
Since the Newcastle takeover, the PIF has showered money on the Saudi Pro League, as well as on the sports of boxing and golf.
Newcastle have become less of a priority for the Saudis than originally planned because of PSR.
While outsiders may rejoice at the stifling of a sportswashing project by a human rights-abusing regime, there are wider questions here about the competitiveness of the Premier League.
PSR has slowed Newcastle’s spending so much that Lloyd Kelly — a free transfer from Bournemouth — was the only summer arrival to feature on Monday night — and he was badly at fault for West Ham’s opener.
PSR forced Aston Villa, who broke into the top four last year, to sell Douglas Luiz in the summer.
Unai Emery’s men host Juventus tonight but — like Newcastle last term — are struggling to juggle Premier League and Champions League football and are winless in six games.
Neither Emery — the Saudis’ first choice as Newcastle boss after their takeover — nor Howe enjoy the squad depth of the Big Six.
And those ambitious characters who arrived on Tyneside amid that wave of euphoria in 2021 have since become restless.
Sporting director Dan Ashworth quit for Manchester United, while it is believed Howe would have been interested in the England job had the FA been willing to pay £6million in compensation.
Anthony Gordon, Alexander Isak and Bruno Guimaraes — three players of undoubted Champions League quality — will be frustrated Newcastle are not in elite European competition.
The summer exits of Amanda Staveley and her husband Mehrdad Ghodoussi — seen as the acceptable face of the takeover — after an internal power struggle, hinted at further problems behind the scenes.
A feeling of positivity and unstoppable momentum has been replaced by discord and stasis.
Howe overachieved in his first full campaign as boss by securing Champions League football and reaching a first domestic knock-out final for 24 years. While last season’s regression was mitigated by fixture congestion and severe injury problems, there are no such excuses this time around. —Sun.
Online Reporter