OPINION
Newcastle United begun their 2018/2019 Premier League campaign with a 2-1 defeat at home to Tottenham, narrowly missing out on a point to get them on the board.
Despite signing some new players in this summer’s transfer window, boss Rafa Benitez only started one of one of them and named the rest of them on the bench.
In light of this loss, Match of the Day pundit Alan Shearer has slammed United owner Mike Ashley for not giving the manager “the ammunition to take the club forward.”
He said on the programme: “I’m exactly the same as the Newcastle fans because Rafa has not been given the ammunition to take the club forward. Again, Newcastle are in profit in this transfer window — around about £23m. Plus for finishing 10th last year you get about £123m.
“I think Benitez will stay at the club until the end of the season and there’s no doubt about it that he will review it because at times he must think it is an impossible job.”
The former Newcastle striker has hit the nail on the head here with his criticism of Ashley and his treatment of the club, and of Benitez. Even though they narrowly lost to Spurs, things still need to change to get the club heading in the right direction.
The Spaniard is not in a position to spend big to land the players he wants, and until Ashley invests more – which is not likely to happen any time soon – then the Magpies will continue to be stuck mid-table, rather that challenge for the top-six.
The owner is fortunate to have a manager of Benitez’ calibre on board, but that obviously does not seem to faze him – he has just spent £90million to buy department store House of Fraser, rather than providing some of his financial backing in the transfer market.
Until Ashley gets his priorities in order, Newcastle will not be making a surge up the table any time soon – even if Shearer does think Benitez did “a magnificent job” last season.
