Newcastle United’s start to life with new owners has been ‘a little chaotic’ as they attempt to start a new project at St James’ Park.
That’s according to Daily Telegraph journalist Luke Edwards, who was speaking on BBC Radio Five Live on Monday night.
Edwards noted that Amanda Staveley and Mehrdad Ghodoussi visited Newcastle’s training ground on Monday for a meeting with Steve Bruce.
Bruce is widely expected to leave Newcastle very soon, but did speak to Staveley and Ghodoussi for around an hour.
They are believed to have thanked Bruce for his work, but he will likely lose his job before this weekend’s game against Tottenham Hotspur.
“I am a little bit [surprised Bruce didn’t go on Monday], but I think it’s fascinating actually because the meeting lasted for about an hour, which is a very, very long time for a meeting if you’re going to sack a manager. They would normally last about 90 seconds,” said Edwards.
“I do think Steve Bruce will be gone, I think he’s going to go before the Tottenham game. I think this meeting was polite, and I think it was the right thing for the new owners to do. My understanding is that they may well have thanked him today for keeping the club in the Premier League so that this takeover could happen. I think we will find out in the 24 to 48 hours, Steve Bruce’s future.”
Edwards added that the start from the new owners has been chaotic, which could be scary to some fans, but it’s just because the takeover happened so quickly.
“I just don’t think there was plan. They had planned previously, but they hadn’t this time. One of the sources I’ve spoken to today has described it as ‘a little bit chaotic’, and I think that might scare people a little bit, but that’s just the way it is. They’ve gone in, they’ve got this club suddenly and they actually seem to be doing things the right way. It is a little bit confused, there are a lot of names in the air in terms of a new manager, there are a lot of names in the air in terms of a new sporting director, and that just reflects the fact that this time last week, they didn’t know this was going to happen, so they’re kind of learning on their feet,” he added.
Newcastle project needs time amid Bruce uncertainty
With so much money to play with, Newcastle fans are no doubt excited. They want big names, expensive signings and visible progress.
This will ultimately take time though, and Edwards’ comments sum that up.
Plans made in 2020 may not be available now, and the new Newcastle owners need to suddenly move quickly to plan so many things.
Bruce’s exit, finding another manager, finding a sporting director, identifying transfer targets for January. It won’t all come together in a week, a month, two months.
Bruce may well go this week, but Newcastle fans will likely be rewarded for some patience as this new era begins.
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