Newcastle United’s long-suffering supporters will arguably watch Sunday’s Premier League fixture against Tottenham Hotspur full of hope and expectation.
The takeover of the club by Amanda Staveley’s PCP Capital Partners and the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund has given the Magpies a real shot in the arm after the Mike Ashley era.
For so long a sleeping giant in the north east, the new owners will hopefully awaken them and give the fans a club and a team to be proud of.
One pundit has risked the wrath of the Toon Army with his ill-considered diatribe against the club.
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TalkSPORT’s Jason Cundy had the audacity to label them as ‘not a big club.’
It’s an odd and, frankly, incorrect, statement to be making to his listeners. Though trophies may have eluded them for decades, a history which Cundy described as ‘pitiful,’ they are one of the best followed clubs in the country.
It isn’t unusual to see thousands travelling away from him for a midweek fixture, by way of example.
Furthermore, they’ll almost certainly start to fill their 52,000 capacity St. James’ Park stadium once more, and only a big club has those sorts of numbers to come and cheer them on.
The journey they are about to take will surely be watched with interest by clubs and supporters right across Europe.
On the strength of the potential investment by the new owners, Newcastle will become a disruptive influence in the Premier League, and a big club to boot.
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