Anniversaries are all the rage on Tyneside at the moment but in the middle of April, an unwelcome one will arrive.
Next year will mark a decade since Newcastle United’s last European engagement, a Europa League quarter-final that ended in defeat to Benfica.
Since then Swansea, Wigan, Burnley and Leicester have all played in Europe but the Magpies have had their wings clipped, more often dealing in relegation battles than battling for a route back into Continental competition.
But times are changing. The takeover may only be 12 months old, but Newcastle sit in sixth and Eddie Howe has assembled a solid body of evidence that their elevated Premier League position can be sustained.
If you base the table on results since the end of January – when the impact of the club’s substantial recruitment drive had a chance to bed in – they are actually better off than Chelsea, with only the current top four in better shape.
In short, the current table isn’t lying, even if Newcastle’s management are happy to play down the great expectations that are rising in the North East. The official line, after all, remains that the pre-season ambition of a comfortable top 10 finish and a deep run in one of the cup competitions remains.
We will perhaps know more after the next month, which looks like a litmus test of their top seven ambitions. Before games against Everton, Spurs and Villa, they travel to Old Trafford on Sunday brimming with belief and playing well.
Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United provide a real examination of the progress suggested by a pair of swaggering wins against Fulham and Brentford but there is confidence that they can conjure a statement win.
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The talk on Tyneside is of momentum and whether a great leap forward can be achieved this season. Certainly the planning going on behind the scenes suggests the club’s power brokers are acutely aware that they have a chance to make real progress in the coming months.
i understands that Newcastle intend to move again in January, and the hope inside the club is that continued good form will fire the imagination of chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan.
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund governor wrote to fans reaffirming his desire that Newcastle challenge for trophies in short order on the anniversary of the Saudi-backed takeover last week but should understand the opportunity that this season is starting to present for the club.
Forget the talk about this being a multi-year project, there is enough talent in the squad and dugout to make real and sustained progress this year if the club are bold enough.
There is an acknowledgement among the other members of the consortium that things move more quickly in the transfer market when Al-Rumayyan is personally engaged – and it is likely he will take in another game before the Premier League breaks for the World Cup in Qatar. If Newcastle remain in contention for Europe the temptation to “go for it” in January to bridge the gap will be palpable.
There is not an unlimited fund available to dip into – the club are acutely aware of financial fair play regulations and retaining enough wiggle room to act in future transfer windows – but Newcastle retain an interest in Leicester playmaker James Maddison and Bayer Leverkusen’s Moussa Diaby among others.
Both were unattainable in the summer but will come back into the Magpies’ thinking in the next transfer window. If they have a realistic prospect of European football, the hard sell that attracted star man Bruno Guimaraes a year ago might not be required.
Guimaraes’ performances this season are solid enough reason to believe that Newcastle are going places. Saturday’s man of the match performance prompted local newspaper The Chronicle to run a survey about whether he is the best midfielder to ever don the club’s black and white stripes.
He lacks the length of service to accurately gauge whether that is the case but he certainly has the ability to one day become that – if Newcastle can keep him away from the clutches of Real Madrid, the super club that Guimaeres admitted at the weekend had been in contact over the summer.
For now, he is happy being at the vanguard of Newcastle’s push. But the club are only too aware that they need to keep extending themselves and showing ambition to keep him on board.
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