If a takeover is finalised, new Newcastle United owner must avoid repeating previous mistakes – opinion
Newcastle United's English head coach Steve Bruce checks out the pitch conditions ahead of the FA Cup fourth round replay football match between Oxford United and Newcastle United at the Kassam Stadium in Oxford, west of London, on February 4, 2020. (Photo by Adrian DENNIS / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No video emulation. Social media in-match use limited to 120 images. An additional 40 images may be used in extra time. No use in betting publications, games or single club/league/player publications. / (Photo by ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images)
Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley is reportedly in takeover talks with a Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund over a reported £340m sale of the North East club. However, should the deal go through, the new ownership structure should make sure to avoid repeating the mistakes of the previous hierarchy at St James’ Park.
Newcastle currently sit 12th in the Premier League table, with a comfortable seven-point margin to the relegation zone; furthermore, manager Steve Bruce has just secured their place in the fifth round of the FA Cup for the first time in 14 years.
Despite Rafael Benitez leaving over the summer and some predicting that the Magpies would prop up the Premier League table, Bruce has been largely proving the doubters wrong. The former Sunderland boss was accused of being an unambitious appointment, but even with a formidable injury record, Newcastle have spent the last 15 match weeks outside of the relegation zone.
Although every new owner wants to put their stamp on proceedings and select the man they believe should be in charge, it would be incredibly disrespectful to Bruce to dismiss him from his post after such an impressive season. Farhad Moshiri was quick to pull the trigger on Roberto Martinez’s reign at Goodison Park, less than three months after his takeover, but the Toffees have failed to finish higher than in 2013/14, when the Spaniard guided the club to fifth, since. He has since taken Belgium to their best-ever World Cup performance, finishing third in 2018.
Meanwhile, Ashley was similarly ruthless with Chris Hughton in 2010, after the manager had secured Newcastle’s return to the Premier League. The Englishman had the Magpies in 11th spot after sixteen top-flight games before a 3-1 loss to West Bromwich Albion cost him his job. In his place arrived the more experienced and well-known Alan Pardew, who guided the club to a fifth-place finish, but that was to be the exception and not the rule as Newcastle were relegated again in 2016.
If the takeover is completed, the new owners must learn from both Everton and Newcastle’s recent mistakes to ensure a similar situation does not occur again. Steadily, Bruce is building on Tyneside, and he has earned the right to finish the job so far this season.