BBC pundit Mark Lawrenson is not surprised by the club’s lack of investment in the summer transfer window.
Unlike most other Premier League clubs who spent heavily on new signings, we made a healthy £21m profit with supporters heavily critical of Mike Ashley and Lee Charnley’s lack of backing for Rafa Benitez.
However, in his Premier League predictions this week, Lawro says fans shouldn’t have expected any money with the current owner looking to sell the club:
“Newcastle have had a difficult summer, with their fans and the manager Rafa Benitez questioning the level of investment in the team.”
“It was never going to be any different, though, was it? Magpies owner Mike Ashley wants to sell up and he was never going to say ‘Here’s £150m Rafa, go and enjoy yourself’.”
The comments from the former Liverpool defender aren’t particularly insightful, to be honest with you. With no prospective buyer on the horizon, a more sensible approach than cutting funding would be to invest sensibly.
Giving the resources to a world class manager like Rafa could have meant moving the club into the European places, making the club more attractive to potential new investors. As things stand, any improvement on last season’s tenth place finish is looking unlikely.