Throughout the summer, my outlook on this season has been that it's a year of rebuilding. Realistically, it's going to take a while for the damage done by the previous board (DISCLAIMER: The previous board did BOTH good things and bad things. But the good things don't mean that the bad things don't exist) and managers to be undone. I was thinking if we solidify around top 10, it's going to be a good season.
The developments at Man City have changed my outlook a bit. The comedy on deadline day, where Man City bid for half a dozen world class players in the hope that at least one would come, clearly shows what the new owners have in store for the club: their plan is to create no less than a Chelsea II. I have no doubt that Man City will be throwing around a hundred or maybe even two hundred million quid next season in an effort to build a "top 4" quality squad. If they have European football to offer at that point, it's all over. The big four will become a big five.
And what of our friends down at White Hart Lane? While they may currently be in a shambles, and I firmly believe they will struggle mightily this season and probably finish below us, the fact remains that they are a club with loads of cash, a decent skeleton of a squad, and most importantly, the media image of "a club on the up." As long as the money keeps flowing as it did this year, Tottenham will continue to be able to attract up-and-coming European stars, and eventually they'll get it right. While it may take another 2~3 years for them to finally balance out their squad, when they do, we face the unwelcome prospect of the "big five" growing to a "big six."
Personally, I don't believe that Aston Villa, Portsmouth, or Everton will ever solidify to the point where they become insurmountable. In fact Everton and Portsmouth have already very much gone backwards this season, and I have doubts that both will be able to achieve a top ten finish. While they'll constantly be in and around our level as formidable thorns in our side, they're not what we have to worry about at the moment. The real threats are Man City and Tottenham, both of which are highly unstable at the moment, but we have reason to believe that both will soon be unreachable unless we quickly establish a platform to build on ourselves.
So it all comes back to my re-evaluation of the importance of this season. I think it's imperative that we push hard for a UEFA place this year. Why? Three reasons.
First, it re-establishes our credibility in the transfer market, instead of relegating us to the status of also-rans. I agree with the commonly expressed notion that playing in the UEFA Cup itself is not much of a draw. However, the fact that the team placed highly enough to qualify for the Cup is. Qualifying for the UEFA Cup indicates to transfer targets that we are a contender in the League and a team that challenges the big four. Not qualifying quickly designates us as "mid table also-rans." It is therefore imperative that we secure a place and act proactively in next year's market before City and Spurs begin to exert a monopoly on UEFA Cup spots just as the current establishment has one on the Champions League.
Second, it delays the development of our rivals. If we can manage to push City out of the UEFA Cup, it will have a highly negative effect on their major spending drive next season. The best players in the world targetted by City will think "they couldn't even qualify for second-tier European competition with a squad like that! Is that really where I want to be?" Likewise, failure to qualify for UEFA will extend the uncertainty at Spurs further, perhaps even resulting in a sacking of Ramos and a period of turmoil. Qualifying for the UEFA will be important if only for the fact that it will stop one of these clubs from solidifying.
Finally, a good showing in the league this year will be a catalyst to change the media's negative perception of us. While I applaud the new regime's policy of "no information to the media," you cannot deny that it has resulted in a mass backlash against us which has had a highly negative impact on the club's image. While we might not believe the shit spewed by the rags, non-Newcastle fans do, and more importantly, so do transfer targets playing abroad who may rely on "general perception" for their image of English teams. The only way to shut the media up is to prove them wrong with our performances on the pitch. and that is something that will have to happen sooner rather than later.
More than any other league in Europe, I belive the EPL is rapidly becoming stratified into "haves" and "have-nots," and unfortunatley, it looks like this season will play a major role in whether we land in the former or the latter category. I do not wish to blame Team Ashley on their performance in this summer's transfer window. Our lack of UEFA cup qualificaiton, the media's mud-slinging campaign, and the Big Sam sacking and resultant turmoil of last year all combined to create an extremely negative image of the club which must have been a turn-off to many of our targets. Given the circumstances, I believe they have done well in establishing a squad that is capable of comfortably landing itself in the top 10 and perhaps even qualifying for the UEFA cup.
It's now up to KK to use those players to build a team that can get us where we need to be. And while I trust the man to death, I can't help but be fearful for the coming season: our window of opportunity is starting to close very, very quickly.
