Newcastle United are suffering this year, and things aren’t looking much better
When the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund purchased Newcastle United, it created a massive uproar across football, English football in particular. Saudi Arabia has faced plenty allegations regarding human rights violations and instead of using that money to invest in their own people, they used it to buy a football club.
Fans of all clubs have been frustrated as have the different owners around England. The team rid themselves of Steve Bruce and hired Eddie Howe, signed Kieran Trippier and are likely to try to sign more players, yet it is looking more and more as though it won’t be enough.
Newcastle look on their way back to the Championship, and while they will only likely reside there for a year, not even an endless amount of money seems to be enough to save them this season. Their shocking loss against Cambridge United in the FA Cup over the weekend was yet another low point.
Fixing Newcastle will take more than a few months and millions of pounds to resolve, and the new ownership must understand this. It might actually be best for the Magpies to go down a tier. They may lose the Premier League money but will be in a league with teams they can actually compete against.
They might be able to win the Championship, continue investing in players this winter, next summer and the following winter and then have a much better, more experienced team when they come back to the Premier League after next year.
Newcastle United need time, not impatience
Eddie Howe could build this Newcastle team into something well disciplined and organized if he has the time to do so. However, football is not always a patient sport when it comes to coaches. Some coaches get fired too soon while others get let go long after they’ve lost their usefulness.
Howe is a good, young coach, and if this Newcastle team can keep its young talent and add more, they will be a force in whatever league they’re playing in. No fan wants their team to be relegated, and so admitting it might be for the best is no easier than giving up status and prestige.
With that said, the facts are that United are in shambles and need to regroup without all of the pressure they find themselves under this season.
The Premier League may be the most difficult league in Europe to stay in and this is evidenced by the teams that routinely shuffle between the Championship and the top flight. They are too good for the Championship but are far below many of the Premier League clubs not just those at the top.
The league is stacked and any team can lose at any time once you get below the top five or six teams. Newcastle have shown little resistance so far this year and while they will keep building and try to overcome their awful start, it would take a really impressive turnaround to leapfrog the teams ahead of them, even as they only sit two points off of safety.
If Newcastle United can survive and remain in the Premier League next season, they will have plenty to work on. The Championship would be the better, more pragmatic route to take if it presented itself but it wouldn’t be as prestigious. Sometimes pragmatism isn’t flashy, but if it gets you to the glory faster than the alternative, it should be worth considering and coming to terms with.