History shows that success follows money in football. Even in the old days of “retain and transfer”, money talked. Newcastle United are back in the Premier League after a brief dalliance with the second tier but life promises to be difficult once again next year, particularly in light of Monday’s revelations of the club’s financial ill-health.
In his first season as a full-time manager, Chris Hughton has brought the expected instant remedy to Magpies fans with a quick return to the Premier League. They’ve enjoyed a lazy-boy ride in the Championship, picking up the title along the way, with what many say is already a top-flight squad.
The revelation that Hughton will not be granted a slush fund to dabble in the summer transfer market, however, should be an indicator to fans to expect a bumpy road next season. Club owner Mike Ashley has announced that he will not be offering his manager a transfer kitty this summer as the club recorded losses of £37.7 million in the 2008-09 season and a figure in the region of £32.5 million for the season that has just breezed by.
The trend of clubs booming into the Premier League without a chequebook only has one curve, and it is not in ascendance. Sunderland is the textbook example of how not to do Premier League returns. Between 1999 and 2005 the Black Cats bounced up and down three times until they finally learnt their lesson. A takeover by the Irish Drumaville consortium provided ammunition for survival with the big boys and Roy Keane flashed the cash by bringing in players such as Kenwyne Jones, Kieran Richardson and Steed Malbranque, who have helped to establish the club in the top flight.
Newcastle may argue that their current squad boasts players of an overall higher calibre than Hull, Burnley and Portsmouth – who have all been relegated to the Championship – but you can’t dispute what the record shows.
Birmingham put their money where their mouth was this season, and it paid off, with an over-achieving ninth-place finish. Top quality signings, totalling £18 million, Christian Benitez, Scott Dann, Roger Johnson and Barry Ferguson rejuvenated Birmingham last year and they have reaped the rewards.
Mick McCarthy, who presided over some of Sunderland’s darkest days, was not going to be scalded twice. He deserves a clap on the back for his shrewdness in bringing Kevin Doyle to Molineux and what a return the Irish international has provided since his signature last summer for £6.5m: his nine goals have been instrumental in the survival of Wolves Premier League status for next season.
A wealth of talent does exist in the Toon ranks. Steve Harper, Fabricio Coloccini, Shola Ameobi and Alan Smith are all capable of performing at the top level. However, unless every Geordie on Tyneside remortgages their house to form a whip-round for Hughton, then Newcastle may well be fast tracking it back to the Championship come next May.
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