OPINION
Newcastle United fans don’t need telling twice that their club could be doing a whole lot better than it is.
The Magpies look as if they should be safe for another year in the Premier League, barring the kind of unprecedented capitulation that is simply unthinkable, but many will still feel as sense of injustice.
United are a massive club, make no mistake. They have a captive audience in a football mad city, an infrastructure that puts most of their rivals to shame, and a history that makes them one of the biggest teams in the country, and yet the board still seem happy with survival.
The ridiculousness of this point is one not lost on Gary Neville.
Speaking on Sky Sports’ coverage, as seen in a clip on the broadcaster’s Twitter, of the Toon Army’s clash with Leicester City, as quoted in the Chronicle, he said: “I think they are one of the biggest clubs in the country.
“If you think of the investment into Man City and Chelsea, they have a bigger fanbase than them and get bigger crowds than those clubs now even.
“From my point of view they need someone to come in and do what the owners did for those clubs.
They either need to change the model or the ownership. They are one of the biggest clubs in the country, their fanbase is incredible. They get bigger crowds than Manchester City or Chelsea.”
The simple fact is that Neville is right, and his comments will have many supporters weeping in frustration.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see the problems that Newcastle have come from the top, and they have been stunted by a prolonged period of shambolic ownership.
It’s a narrative so well worn that it’s almost become tedious, but it bears repeating. This is a sleeping giant of a club, and one with a wealth of untapped potential.
All it takes is for one philanthropic suitor to come in and sweep the club of its feet and the Geordies could be in dreamland once again.
Unfortunately, philanthropic suitors don’t grow on trees.
