Peter Beagrie delivers damning verdict on Newcastle Premier League chances
By Dominic Toner
Peter Beagire insists that the current Newcastle squad is not good enough to compete in the Premier League.
The Magpies sealed their return to the top-flight on Monday night with a 4-1 win over Preston and that sparked wild celebrations for supporters.
Rafael Benitez has managed to achieve an automatic return to the Premier League following their relegation last season and has guaranteed a top-two finish in the Championship.
They have been aided hugely by the key trio of Jonjo Shelvey, Matt Ritchie and Dwight Gayle on the pitch.
However, Sky Sports pundit Beagrie believes that Newcastle need huge investment into their squad ahead of next season in the Premier League.
“He (Benitez) has done what he stayed to do and it will be interesting to see what happens next year,” Beagrie told Sky Sports. “The club will have to massively match his ambitions.
“They will have to spend a huge amount of money. They have showed they can do that – although they have balanced the books – because this squad is not good enough for the Premier League.”
He added: “The top players are – that’s lots of them that are – but he needs to bolster that squad and it will be an even greater achievement for Rafa to get a mid-table position next year in the Premier League.”
Newcastle fans may be insulted by Beagrie’s comments about their squad as they have accumulated an impressive 88 points so far this campaign.
Several teams have shown in the past that it is possible to make the step up to the top-flight, with the likes of Leicester and Bournemouth achieving success after keeping the core of their Championship squads.
Benitez was trusted by the board ahead of this season and bolstered his squad with a number of big-money signings, including Gayle, Ritchie and Ciaran Clark.
Beagrie feels that the Newcastle board will need to trust the Spaniard once again and give him the licence to improve his squad drastically in the summer.
In other Newcastle news, Alan Shearer has urged the club not to stand still after securing promotion.
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