As Newcastle enjoy a few more hours in second place in the Premier League before Manchester City make light work of Leeds United tonight, there’s still a narrative going around that we’ve bought our way to the top.
Even last season after our historic escape act, the narrative was how we bought our way out of danger and not how we played our way out.
Look, of course there was spending. Newcastle made some key signings in January, without whom we wouldn’t have finished as high as we did, so yes we acknowledge that money was spent and that contributed. But the truth of the matter is, as good as the signings of Kieran Trippier and Bruno Guimaraes were (around £50m combined), it was our other £40m man that made the difference – The upturn in quality from Joelinton was instrumental in our rise up the league.
That upturn wasn’t all down to the player himself, it was down to Eddie Howe and his team – the changes he made when he came in, dialling up the intensity in training, making our players fit again after they’d become sluggish and lazy under Bruce who’d rather jet off to Portugal than take a training session. The introduction of actual tactics and an ethos around the club that brought the fans back onside – all of those things contributed more than any new signings could, in my opinion.
As we moved into the summer we once again spent money, sure, but we don’t even break into the top ten highest spenders in Europe. We had the seventh-highest net spend in the Premier League behind sixth-placed Arsenal who spent £30m more than we did.
Again, our new signings have definitely made an impact – Nick Pope and Sven Botman have been unbelievable for us this season along with Trippier and Bruno who continue to show their value week in week out, but again, it’s players who were here under Bruce who are stealing the headlines – Miguel Almiron is playing the best football of his career, Joelinton continues to be a rock, Fabian Schar has found his form again and the likes of Joe Willock, Sean Longstaff and Jacob Murphy have all improved drastically.
Our most expensive signing, Alexander Isak has played three games for us so that money has hardly contributed to our success. So yes, haters, we have spent money, but so have many other clubs, and now Liverpool and Chelsea have had to move quick in the transfer market to try and catch up to little old Joelinton and Miguel Almiron. The whole narrative is lazy and wrong and smacks of bitterness… And I love it. Keep crying, other clubs, keep crying.