Newcastle’s ‘ambitious’ plans are not feasible, fans will be worried sick by new details
Newcastle will not be able to close the gap on Europe’s elite clubs by 2030 unless the regulatory landscape changes.
That is according to football finance expert Dr Dan Plumley who has exclusively told Football Insider that Newcastle should be looking at a longer-term target.
Chief Executive David Hopkinson said he wanted Newcastle to become the top club in the world, in an ambitious statement of intent.
Newcastle’s 2-2 draw with Chelsea currently leaves the Toon in the bottom half of the Premier League table, whilst they are on course to qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League.
Newcastle ambitions ‘tough’ in current landscape
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, Plumley has explained why Newcastle will not be able to become the top club in the world in just five years time.
“Fast file that one in the ambitious category, for sure. I think, I would also say that it depends on how they were defining being the top club as well,” Plumley said.
“There are different kinds of definitions they’ve probably got on that internally. I think there’s some assumptions we can make there. You’ve got to be in the Champions League to be a top club in the world, but certainly in Europe.
“You have to try and grow commercial revenue to do that as well. You have to, you know, be a big club commercially nowadays. And if we look at that, even on a kind of revenue and a performance basis, they still have a long way to go to catch up with Europe’s elite, certainly from a revenue perspective.
“We’ve seen them be very vocal about FFP and PSR, stifling them in that regard, but they’ve got to work within that. And with that regulatory landscape, I’ve said this before, you know, it’s tough to break into that elite with the landscape as it is.“
Newcastle must challenge for Premier League title
Plumley believes that Newcastle are currently in a best of the rest category in the Premier League, and should first be looking at consistent on-pitch success.
“So they’ve got a look at this as a longer-term project as they are, but even, you know, with five years away from 2030, I think closing that gap in five years is a big stretch, to be honest. I would say that they seem to be firmly positioned in themselves in, you know, certainly in the Premier League in this kind of next best category that they’re in now,” Plumley commented.
“But you’ve got to keep continued on-pitch success. You know, you’ve got to be challenging at the very top of the Premier League. You’ve got to be qualified for the Champions League. Winning trophies is a bonus, and we know that we’ve had success there recently.
“Getting into the Champions League, staying there, and being at the top of the tree in the Premier League year-on-year is, I think, where the definition of a top club will ultimately come from.
“That’s going to be tricky given the landscape certainly for me. I would probably stretch that a little bit further and look at maybe a ten-year plan.”