This has been a difficult week, with thoughts very much dwelling on a pair of Newcastle United heroes.
The loss of Kevin Keegan hit me like a ton of bricks.
A timeless Newcastle hero, probably the most important figure in the club’s recent history and a genuinely magnificent person. A week working away, predominantly on my own, left plenty of time to digest the outpouring of material remembering Kevin, creating more than one emotional moment.
Then, the saga of a modern day hero, as the Bruno Guimaraes transfer situation rumbles on despite the fact that nothing tangible has actually happened.
Bruno has been an outstanding player, captain and advocate of our club over the past four and a half years and to lose him would hurt terribly, despite it being understandable that his ambitions may well outstrip United’s recent performances. It feels like an agonising wait until his return next Friday likely sees this move one way or the other.
This all got me thinking about the article (‘Who are Newcastle United’) I wrote about a month ago, addressing the issue of where NewcastleUnited stand in the greater scheme of things, and what our expectations as fans should really be given our place in the pecking order of English football.
Overall, I concluded that United’s natural position is in the lower European places, with a serious tilt at the Conference or Europa League trophies a realistic ambition for the years ahead.
Getting into the Champions League should be a stretch target for exceptional seasons and falling out of the top half of the table an underperformance. This is based on the financial gap that was allowed to develop to our Premier League rivals under the previous regime.
As I’ve previously said (and will doubtless bring up again soon) the gaps to the establishment six (based on the most recent set of Deloitte football rich list figures) range from a difference in annual revenue of £161m (to Chelsea) to a whopping £379m (Liverpool). This means each of the clubs in question has this huge additional income to splurge on wages, transfer fees and agent bonuses.
Deloitte Top 20 Revenue-Generating Football Clubs (2024-25)
All figures in € millions (m) or billions (bn). Locked to mobile viewports.
My argument was that it’s an impossibility to overcome this until either there’s a huge change in the rules, or a game changing income stream is brought in (basically the seemingly impossible new stadium). The recent hammering from UEFA has doubled down that difficulty and it feels like the situation has stepped back to a point where we need to have a Brighton or Bournemouth-esque couple of years, where top players are inevitably sold on whilst hoping that solid recruitment clicks to return a respectable league position.
It feels strange to accept this reality when reminded of the incredible rousing nature of Keegan’s approach to everything. In my recent piece about the great man, I harked back to his quote about how we should all be dreamers at heart. Some people would say “we can’t do that” and KK would counter “why not?”
Am I the person saying we can’t do that because the financial dice is too heavily loaded against us? Would the greed in the game be too overwhelming even for Keegan’s irrepressible nature, or would he attack this challenge with the vigour, ambition and raw enthusiasm he approached his entire life with?
I am hopeful that I can honour Kevin Keegan by adapting his mindset for the year ahead. That the young, hungry players we have added to a revamped squad kick start a revamp that brings out the best in what we have left and produces a season to remember, akin to 93/94 or 22/23. I hope Eddie Howe rediscovers what it takes to ‘ride the black and white tiger’ after a challenging 12 months. Yes, there is more to be done this summer, but what are we without hope? I’m going to quote Keegan one more time:
“Every manager in the country would want to manage a club like this, to put a team out in front of fans like this. Let’s look at the positive things, you mustn’t look at the negative things in life, I never have. Let’s look forward, there’s so many pluses about this place.”
You may wonder at what stage of KK’s illustrious reign these effervescent words were said. These are quotes from his initial unveiling as manager. This was his view of a club sitting in 23rd place in the second tier, who had a crowd just under 16k for the previous home game (losing 4-3 to Charlton from 3-0 up) while sat in a crumbling ground with outdated terracing on three sides. If he can see the positives from there, can we maybe look at things through a slightly brighter lens from our current situation?
As for our other hero, if he feels it incumbent to move on for the good of his life and career, I feel it would be vitriolic to hold it against him and I can only think well of him going forward. Conversely, if the situation arises where he accepts a fee can’t be agreed and focuses on the season ahead, this is a level of integrity that is rare in the modern game and full support should be forthcoming. After all, if we can’t believe. why should he?
I have revised my answer slightly to the conundrum of “Who are Newcastle United”. I maintain that NUFC are a club whose natural standing in the game, historically and in modern times, is to be competitive for Europe and fluctuate around the upper middle of the Premier League. However, I would add that Newcastle United are also a club that has been taught to dare to dream.
Lets dream again on the 23rd August.
You can follow the author on BlueSky @bigjimwinsalot.bsky.social