If the end-of-game music at the King Power Stadium was not louder than a jumbo jet, the final whistle in Newcastle’s 4-0 thumping would have been accompanied by the gentle clinking of agents’ champagne glasses.
They were there in Leicester’s stadium, after the latest capitulation, agents and the advisers of footballers. Some even brought their children, possibly to suggest Santa might be able to stretch to that bigger present after all.
A phone call from Newcastle United in January, from the second the transfer window opens, should probably be accompanied by that big finger they used to advertise the National Lottery with. “It could be you,” they used to say, and that will ring true for advisers and agents all over the United Kingdom, Europe and far corners of the globe.
The attempt by the Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe to save face, to gently nurse the fragile confidence of his squad’s morale by suggesting they were unfortunate, could not mask the size of the task or the importance of what has to happen in the January transfer window for the club to have a prayer of avoiding relegation.
Never mind four goals conceded against a Leicester side who had only arrived home from a draining defeat by Napoli at 3.30am on Friday and were missing eight players through Covid-19 and illness.
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Newcastle have taken seven points from a possible 27 since Amanda Staveley, with the financial might of Saudi Arabia’s public investment fund (PIF), took control of the club from Mike Ashley on October 7. Newcastle have taken five points from 15 since Howe was eventually appointed. There has been one win and that came when the Burnley goalkeeper Nick Pope dropped the ball.
It is now about the size of rebuild Newcastle are prepared to undertake in an attempt to stay in the Premier League, in which only goal difference keeps them off the bottom of the table. To make matters worse, they must visit Anfield to face Liverpool on Thursday and then host Manchester City on Sunday.
They will need calculators for the figures but Newcastle need two central defenders, a full back, a sitting central midfielder and a No 10 or a winger to begin a fightback and avoid the Sky Bet Championship next season. It is a squad that needs overhauling and it will not be cheap, but whatever price it takes to land Jesse Lingard, James Tarkowski and others of that quality have to be delivered.
Newcastle have bounced back twice from relegation in the Premier League but there are no guarantees. Financially they would be restricted, the path back to challenge England’s elite would be longer and Saudi Vision 2030, a plan to reduce the gulf state’s dependence on oil, would be closer.
The Leicester match was so important because it was a real opportunity to get points against a team in some trouble who had not secured a clean sheet since the season started. Howe’s plan must be to limit the damage against Liverpool and Manchester City and then hope the inconsistent Manchester United have an off day when they head to St James’ Park on December 27.
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Then it is Everton at Goodison Park and a reunion with Rafael Benítez, another game from which Newcastle must get something. That may create a modicum of momentum to limp over the line to the opening of a transfer window the significance of which cannot be overstated.
