NEWCASTLE’S Saudi owners seem to be getting their act together off the pitch at last.
But unless they can sort things out on the field again, last March’s Carabao Cup win could be as good as it gets for the richest club in the world.
News of progress in plans for a new £200million training ground feels significant.
For a start, such an outlay would put paid to fears bosses at Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which owns 80 per cent of the club, had lost interest.
Boss Eddie Howe said before Christmas that positive developments on a state-of-the-start HQ and/or new stadium would be “game-changing” — proof Newcastle (and by extension their overlords) still had big ambitions.
New chief executive David Hopkinson insists that is the case, claiming the club will rival his former employers, Real Madrid, at the top of world football by 2030.
Hopkinson has overseen changes behind the scenes and a couple of senior executives have left.
But it is the recruitment and retention of those who wear the black-and-white shirts which really needs to be improved if Geordie Arabia is to achieve its lofty goals.
A bit of investment in the remainder of the winter window would be a good start.
The Carabao Cup defence may look doomed after Rayan Cherki’s late second goal for Manchester City at St James’ Park in the first leg of the semi-final.
BEST FREE BETS AND BETTING SIGN UP OFFERS
But there is still the FA Cup, the Champions League and, most significantly, a Premier League finish in the top four or five to play for.
Howe is down to his last four fit senior defenders, and one of those is Kieran Trippier, whose legs seem to have gone.
Yet when asked about the possibility of reinforcements, Howe ruefully refers to the constraints of Profit and Sustainability Rules.
It says a lot that Newcastle are faffing about over whether to recall left-back Matt Targett — a player Howe clearly does not rate — from Middlesbrough.
Without reinforcements, Newcastle have a real battle on their hands to secure Champions League football for next season.
The last time that happened, two seasons ago, they had to sell Elliot Anderson and Yankuba Minteh to balance the books.
Nottingham Forest star Anderson, a Geordie who is now an England international and £80m-rated target for the big Manchester clubs, is a particularly regrettable loss.
Howe himself has to take some of the blame for the strength of his squad.
Newcastle spent £245m last summer ahead of selling Alexander Isak, with Howe very much in the driving seat.
There is no point having fabulous facilities if you do not have fabulous players to use them… just ask Leicester
Having won his internal battle with sporting director Paul Mitchell, who left after less than a year in post, this was Howe’s chance to show he knew better.
But of the big-money new recruits, only Malick Thiaw has been a true success.
Nick Woltemade’s goals have dried up after a promising start and Yoane Wissa is still finding his feet after injury.
Jacob Ramsey and Anthony Elanga have contributed very little.
When you cannot spend as big as the big boys, you have to spend smart.
Newcastle have not done that recently.
All their best signings — Isak, Bruno Guimaraes, Trippier, Anthony Gordon, Sandro Tonali — were made in the first four transfer windows under Saudi control.
It does not help that ‘Saudi control’ is remote. PIF still does not have anyone senior regularly on the ground on Tyneside.
Ross Wilson arrived from Nottingham Forest as sporting director in October to try to put things back on track after the Mitchell fiasco and the embarrassing saga of Dan Ashworth coming and going.
The financial controls of the Premier League will change from PSR to a Squad Cost Ratio system from the summer.
But if anything, it will only cement the spending power of the traditional Big Six, with their existing bigger incomes.
Newcastle and other clubs like Aston Villa, who aspire to break the glass ceiling, will have an even tougher task on their hands.
The slight relaxation of Associated Party Transaction rules may allow Saudi firms to inject a little more cash into the club.
But not enough to compete on level terms with City, Liverpool and so on.
Spending on infrastructure, like a £200m training ground, does not count for PSR or SCR purposes.
But there is no point having fabulous facilities if you do not have fabulous players to use them.
Just ask Leicester.
The 2015-16 Premier League champions opened their £100m Seagrave HQ in December 2020 and were relegated to the Championship two-and-a-half years later.
No one is predicting the same for Newcastle. But dreams of competing with Real Madrid look just as fanciful right now.
