Speaking after last Sunday’s cup final defeat at Wembley, Amanda Staveley took part in a bold and brilliantly passionate interview on talkSPORT, vowing to bring all sorts of silverware to St James’ Park.
“We will win the Carabao Cup, we will win the FA Cup, we will the Champions League and we will win the Premier League. As owners, we’re very humbled by what’s happened today. I know Yasir (Al-Rumayyan) has been here with me, we’re just so excited. You know what? Next time, we will get there.“
I don’t know about you, but statements like that aren’t made if we’re not about to give it a real go this summer. After all, you don’t win the Champions League or Premier League without massive investment.
It feels to me like we’re entering phase two of this exciting new project. We have spent sizeable sums over the past 18 months on Alexander Isak, Bruno Guimaraes and Sven Botman, mixed with bargain moves for Nick Pope and the influential Kieran Trippier, but I expect things to move up a gear this summer.
A lack of squad depth has hampered our top four push in recent months – something we must be conscious of ahead of a European campaign in 2023/24 – and a lack of quality cost us in the final; two factors that won’t be lost on Yasir Al-Rumayyan as he watched on from Wembley.
It’s clear we have opted for steady, organic growth – an approach that has worked wonders so far when compared to Chelsea’s Gung-Ho spending – but there will come a point where sentiment is put to one side and big decisions must be made.
That doesn’t mean we’ll rip the soul out of our club and suddenly bin off players who can still do a solid job in Eddie Howe’s squad. However, Staveley’s words, combined with Al-Rumayyan’s visit to Tyneside last month, leave me believing this will be a hugely exciting summer at St James’ Park.
They’ve seen how far we’ve come with measured investment. We kept our powder dry in January, look set to announce new sponsorship deals in the coming months, are planning to expand the stadium and could secure a far more lucrative kit manufacturer. We’ve had a 16-game streak on TV – which promises to earn the club upwards of £20m – and will have also benefited financially from that cup run, which featured several sell-outs at home and at Wembley.
Combine this with trophy heartache, newfound belief we can break the ‘big six’, Staveley’s massive claims and the likelihood we’ll be playing European football in some capacity next season, I’m confident this will be THE most exciting summer yet for Newcastle United fans.
Season imploding!
But at least we are safe!
Joseph(Quote)