SpoilerShow
For all the talk of fresh starts, of building a brighter, more ambitious future at Newcastle United, one crucial point has perhaps been overlooked: You can only build successfully on solid foundations.
Less than two weeks into this post-Mike Ashley world at St James’ Park, not only are the foundations anything but solid — in places, they are barely perceptible. As a senior source among the consortium told The Athletic last week: “There is so much to do. We always knew that, but the reality also hits home (once you are actually inside of it).”
For Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the non-executive chairman, in attendance as part of a Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF) delegation, there was perhaps a stark realisation that, despite spending £240 million to acquire 80 per cent of the club, perhaps tens of millions more are needed just to ensure Newcastle retain their top-flight status. To actually challenge for the Premier League title, as is the stated aim within half a decade, the sums required are almost incomprehensible.
But, before they can even consider bringing in reinforcements, they must navigate another 12 games. The January transfer window cannot come soon enough but, by that stage, half of the season will have gone. A fifth of it has already passed and Newcastle have failed to win any of their opening eight games, sit second-bottom of the table and are three points adrift of safety.
While there are clear deficiencies within the squad, in the view of many supporters, the primary issue now that Ashley has departed is the head coach he left in the dugout. Steve Bruce may have been overseeing his 1,000th competitive match as a manager, an excellent achievement and a testament to his longevity, but it is a landmark many supporters hoped he would not reach as soon as this weekend.
In a survey conducted by The Athletic, 97 per cent of fans called for Bruce to be dismissed.
Upon assuming control, the consortium appeared certain to relieve Bruce of his duties and the expectation was that they could do so before the first match of the “new era”. Whether by accident, or design, with the strong suspicion being the former, Bruce endured.
Perhaps now, having witnessed first-hand the disarray the team are in during the 3-2 defeat by Tottenham Hotspur, and having listened to thousands of supporters once again demand Bruce’s removal, they will take the action so many anticipated would be a formality.
“I’ll wait until they set fit and we’ll see what they’ve got to say,” Bruce said, when asked if he was set for further talks with the owners. “You’ve got to ask somebody else that one.”
As it has done at several junctures before, however, Bruce’s position feels untenable.
Newcastle may have started with magnificent intensity, taking a deserved lead through Callum Wilson, but that seemed to be fuelled by the emotional energy they absorbed from a crowd celebrating the end of the Ashley era. The pre-match atmosphere was electric and it inspired Newcastle, while it surprised Spurs, who appeared rattled.
Yet, as has so often been the case, Newcastle’s woeful defending cost them. All three of Tottenham’s goals were far too simple — and, if there is some mitigation in terms of players being affected by a fan suffering from a medical emergency during the first half, the visitors were already leading 2-1 by that stage.
For Spurs’ first, Tanguy Ndombele was given space inside the area to curl into the net.
The second, meanwhile, came from a poorly-sprung offside trap, which Harry Kane overcame, with the help of VAR, to lob Karl Darlow. Then, for the third, the defence were torn apart by Tottenham’s front four.
“It’s pretty obvious we haven’t defended well enough,” Bruce said. “Unfortunately, we’ve done that a little bit too often this season for my liking.”
Few supporters will argue with that. Not only have Newcastle conceded a Premier League-high 19 goals – three worse than the second-leakiest defence, Norwich City – they also have the worst expected goals against (xGA) of 15.2. Those statistics are perhaps unsurprising considering Newcastle also gift the third-highest number of shots to their opponents (16.1 per game) and the second-most efforts on target (5.5 per match).
Given that four of Newcastle’s back five against Spurs played during the 2016-17 Championship-winning campaign — Darlow, Jamaal Lascelles, Ciaran Clark and Matt Ritchie — it is little wonder that their ageing squad is creaking.
What fans will contest is why Bruce is still the man tasked with trying to secure positive results. Bruce repeatedly cites Newcastle’s shortcomings — primarily their inability to stop the opposition from scoring, with no clean sheets in the league this season — yet the team has shown no discernible improvement. This defensive regression has occurred over time and is now so chronic that it puts their top-flight status at severe risk.
So, does Bruce accept the newly-anointed “richest club in the world” are in a relegation battle?
“Well, have we not been for five out of the last six years?” Bruce said. “We’ve been up against it, certainly since I picked up the reins. We’ve finished 12th and 13th. I found that very respectable. If you’re in the bottom half of the table, you’re in a relegation battle.”
For all the talk of fantasy football, winning trophies and signing superstars over the past 10 days, the actuality of Newcastle’s plight has perhaps now dawned on the consortium. You only get one “first game” as fresh custodians and this was definitely not the on-field start they would have envisaged.
With Bruce still on the touchline, he became the focal point for frustration, the surviving symbol of the stagnation of the Ashley years. Removing the head coach will not solve all of Newcastle’s problems, but it would at least offer a break from the past.
Newcastle’s owners need to install solid foundations from which to build — and many fans would argue that the first of those should have been, and still should be, a new head coach.
Less than two weeks into this post-Mike Ashley world at St James’ Park, not only are the foundations anything but solid — in places, they are barely perceptible. As a senior source among the consortium told The Athletic last week: “There is so much to do. We always knew that, but the reality also hits home (once you are actually inside of it).”
For Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the non-executive chairman, in attendance as part of a Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF) delegation, there was perhaps a stark realisation that, despite spending £240 million to acquire 80 per cent of the club, perhaps tens of millions more are needed just to ensure Newcastle retain their top-flight status. To actually challenge for the Premier League title, as is the stated aim within half a decade, the sums required are almost incomprehensible.
But, before they can even consider bringing in reinforcements, they must navigate another 12 games. The January transfer window cannot come soon enough but, by that stage, half of the season will have gone. A fifth of it has already passed and Newcastle have failed to win any of their opening eight games, sit second-bottom of the table and are three points adrift of safety.
While there are clear deficiencies within the squad, in the view of many supporters, the primary issue now that Ashley has departed is the head coach he left in the dugout. Steve Bruce may have been overseeing his 1,000th competitive match as a manager, an excellent achievement and a testament to his longevity, but it is a landmark many supporters hoped he would not reach as soon as this weekend.
In a survey conducted by The Athletic, 97 per cent of fans called for Bruce to be dismissed.
Upon assuming control, the consortium appeared certain to relieve Bruce of his duties and the expectation was that they could do so before the first match of the “new era”. Whether by accident, or design, with the strong suspicion being the former, Bruce endured.
Perhaps now, having witnessed first-hand the disarray the team are in during the 3-2 defeat by Tottenham Hotspur, and having listened to thousands of supporters once again demand Bruce’s removal, they will take the action so many anticipated would be a formality.
“I’ll wait until they set fit and we’ll see what they’ve got to say,” Bruce said, when asked if he was set for further talks with the owners. “You’ve got to ask somebody else that one.”
As it has done at several junctures before, however, Bruce’s position feels untenable.
Newcastle may have started with magnificent intensity, taking a deserved lead through Callum Wilson, but that seemed to be fuelled by the emotional energy they absorbed from a crowd celebrating the end of the Ashley era. The pre-match atmosphere was electric and it inspired Newcastle, while it surprised Spurs, who appeared rattled.
Yet, as has so often been the case, Newcastle’s woeful defending cost them. All three of Tottenham’s goals were far too simple — and, if there is some mitigation in terms of players being affected by a fan suffering from a medical emergency during the first half, the visitors were already leading 2-1 by that stage.
For Spurs’ first, Tanguy Ndombele was given space inside the area to curl into the net.
The second, meanwhile, came from a poorly-sprung offside trap, which Harry Kane overcame, with the help of VAR, to lob Karl Darlow. Then, for the third, the defence were torn apart by Tottenham’s front four.
“It’s pretty obvious we haven’t defended well enough,” Bruce said. “Unfortunately, we’ve done that a little bit too often this season for my liking.”
Few supporters will argue with that. Not only have Newcastle conceded a Premier League-high 19 goals – three worse than the second-leakiest defence, Norwich City – they also have the worst expected goals against (xGA) of 15.2. Those statistics are perhaps unsurprising considering Newcastle also gift the third-highest number of shots to their opponents (16.1 per game) and the second-most efforts on target (5.5 per match).
Given that four of Newcastle’s back five against Spurs played during the 2016-17 Championship-winning campaign — Darlow, Jamaal Lascelles, Ciaran Clark and Matt Ritchie — it is little wonder that their ageing squad is creaking.
What fans will contest is why Bruce is still the man tasked with trying to secure positive results. Bruce repeatedly cites Newcastle’s shortcomings — primarily their inability to stop the opposition from scoring, with no clean sheets in the league this season — yet the team has shown no discernible improvement. This defensive regression has occurred over time and is now so chronic that it puts their top-flight status at severe risk.
So, does Bruce accept the newly-anointed “richest club in the world” are in a relegation battle?
“Well, have we not been for five out of the last six years?” Bruce said. “We’ve been up against it, certainly since I picked up the reins. We’ve finished 12th and 13th. I found that very respectable. If you’re in the bottom half of the table, you’re in a relegation battle.”
For all the talk of fantasy football, winning trophies and signing superstars over the past 10 days, the actuality of Newcastle’s plight has perhaps now dawned on the consortium. You only get one “first game” as fresh custodians and this was definitely not the on-field start they would have envisaged.
With Bruce still on the touchline, he became the focal point for frustration, the surviving symbol of the stagnation of the Ashley years. Removing the head coach will not solve all of Newcastle’s problems, but it would at least offer a break from the past.
Newcastle’s owners need to install solid foundations from which to build — and many fans would argue that the first of those should have been, and still should be, a new head coach.
