The ambitious plans of the Arab Public Investment Fund have been put on hold for now.
Newcastle’s millionaire and pharaonic project falters. Without wins in 11 rounds and penultimate in the Premier League, five points from salvation, permanence has become the primary goal of the new Saudi owners who acquired 80% of the club for $ 404 million in October.
The ambitious plans of the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, which has more than $ 539,000 million in assets and which is, like most companies in the country, under the umbrella of the royal family of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, whose fortune exceeds the $ 512,000 million, have been parked for now.
“Achieving titles requires investment, patience, time … We want to be on top, win the Premier and we will,” said Amanda Staveley, head of PCP Capital Partners, which owns 10% of the team. Some dreams that, for now, are on ‘stand by’. The director of the Board makes all the decisions together with Mehrdad Ghodoussi (PCP and her husband) and Jamie Reuben (RB Sports & Media), although they have the last word in the Middle East. In this metamorphosis, firing Steve Bruce was the first step of the board of a team that does not have, de facto, sports direction.
Waiting for the transfer market to open and they can pull the checkbook (they could spend up to $ 269 million without breaching the Financial Fair Play, but it does not seem that they will exceed $ 80 million) they have been entrusted to Eddie Howe to leave the quagmire.
“I am absolutely sure that we can save ourselves, but I do not promise anything about it. I will give 100% to bring Newcastle to success ”, confessed the English coach after signing for the ‘Magpies’ until 2024.
“Right now we are talking about the short term and the position of the team. Obviously, we have to tackle this problem, move forward and avoid the decline. I have spoken with the board of the ambitious vision that they have of the club and of the signings. It has impressed me, but we have not delved into it, “said Howe. His arrival is intended to give a boost to a Newcastle that have not won all season.
“He knows the League and knows how to work with teams that are in the lower zone. He understands the Premier and knows that we are a great club. It will come with renewed energy. He is an intelligent signing ”, he highlighted in the BBC Alan Shearer.
He learned from Iraola and Simeone
Howe, without a team since leaving Bournemouth in August 2020, had a sabbatical in which he disconnected and recharged: “I have had many offers, but I wanted to take my time and use it outside of football. I feel refreshed, energetic, and ready to go to work. I wanted to go back to the bench in a team that motivated me, not just go back ”.
And in that learning process, according to The Athletic, the Englishman visited Simeone and Iraola in Madrid to study the methods of the Atlético de Madrid coach and Rayo Vallecano. He was also in Melwood with Klopp … as before he delved into his blackboard after his talks with Rodgers, Wenger, Sarri …
“Being away allowed me to reboot, recharge and re-educate myself. I went on fantastic trips and spent time with my family. I feel like a better coach than I was, ”said a Howe who at Newcastle has stepped out of his comfort zone. In 2008, at just 31 years old, the Englishman took the reins of Bournemouth in League Two (Fourth). The club was bankrupt and was penalized with -17 points. He achieved the permanence and the following course the promotion to League One (Third) before leaving for the Burnley Championship (second). He did not put down roots on Turf Moor and returned to Bournemouth to take him to the Premier League for the first time in their history.
“He brought out the best in us and created a winning mentality at the club,” noted ‘excherrie’ Andrew Surman in The Athletic. The southern England team survived four seasons in the elite under their command … but fell to the Championship in 2019-20.
Moment in which Howe decided to leave a team in which he controlled everything: training, signings … Now he has moved to the north of England, six hours from his home, to embark on the most exciting, rich and difficult project in the world. Premier.
“The things that surround this job make it different. The pressure will be great, but I have always had high expectations of myself, “said a coach who has 24-hour football on his mind, but who has not tested himself outside of his environment.
Bet on offensive football
Newcastle were looking for a coach who “would play beautiful, attractive and offensive football” and they opted, after extensive casting Paulo Fonseca, Unai Emery … for the former Bournemouth. “Howe’s teams are known for playing offensively and very aggressively. Their tactics are often based on possession with the aim of pressing high to create as many scoring opportunities as possible, ”he explains. The Coach Voice about his style.
Attack and control football defined their ‘cherries’: they were the seventh most achievers, after the ‘Big Six’, in 2016-17 (55 goals) and 2018-19 (56) and had average possession 51% in his first two seasons in the Premier.
1-4-4-2 was his preferred system of the 13 he used at Bournemouth: he used it 59 times. The 5-4-1 that interim Graeme Jones has bet on will go down in history.
“My Bournemouth always tried to play bravely and offensively. I’m not going to come to Newcastle and do something that I haven’t done before. Over time you will see the changes. I want our style to excite the fans. The challenge is enormous, “said Howe.
Las Urracas have barely scored 12 goals in 11 matchdays and have conceded 24 !, being the second that have received the most after bottom Norwich (26). In addition, they are the team with the least average possession in the Premier (37.25%). They have been in the antipodes of what a Howe wants that compensated for everything they conceded behind (their ‘cherries’ received between 70 and 61 goals per season in their five years in the Premier) with their offensive power. They dominated the rival area before their own.
A plan in which Wilson, whom he gave wings to at Vitality Stadium, Saint-Maximin, Almirón, Willock, Joelinton … now fit perfectly. The pragmatism and chronic conservatism of the last Bruce seasons will give way to a more offensive, fresh and proactive football. Howe will look for his Newcastle to be the protagonist. In his debut against Brentford the first master lines will already be seen. The show begins. (D)
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