Newcastle are back in the Championship - How and why did that happen, what will they do this season, why will it be different in the Premier League next time? James Harrison is our man with the answers.
Now then, Newcastle are back in the Championship. How did that happen?
JH: A systematic approach to make money over several seasons that eventually failed both in monetary terms and sporting success. Years of selling our best players and replacing them with substandard players from the continent (or sometimes not replacing them at all) led to a squad that was flabby and threadbare at the same time. By the time the club realised they were in trouble and got the chequebook out, it was too late.
Shhhteve McClaren partly to blame, or victim of the way the club operates?
JH: Both. He was lucky to even be considered after getting sacked at Derby. He was a yes man, just like Alan Pardew and that is why he was recruited. The players had no clue what system we were playing. Playing Riviere in his final match was his suicide note.
Rafael Benitez, Champions League winning manager and recently of Real Madrid, was persuaded to stay on regardless. How did that happen?
JH: It must have been that final game of the season where we stuffed Spurs with ten men. Personally speaking, at the end of the match, I thought I had an aneurysm from singing the same song for 60 minutes straight. Here was a manager with the clout to make the club see that their model was unsustainable. The fans could see the opportunity for change and begged him to stay. He obviously sees the club as a long term project which he hasn't really had since Liverpool.
Why will he succeed here where others have failed?
JH: He is giving the club focus and re-engaging it with the community. It's all the small things that seem to be happening. The annual kids’ tournament he set up this summer, the kids kit not having Wonga emblazoned on it, the fact our shirt finally has stripes on the back for the first time in about 15 seasons, the club communicating with the fans. Too many things seem to be going right for him not to have had a say. The fact he has his own website means we're better informed about the ongoings in the club than we have been at any other point in the Ashley era.
Surely he hasn't seen much of Grant Hanley, Daryl Murphy etc How are the transfers being done?
JH: I'd like to think he's done his homework. They're both ex-Premier league and internationals after all. Plus Daryl Murphy is the antithesis of Mike Ashley's transfer policy of the last few seasons; over 25, no sell on value and non-continental. Benitez must have the majority of (if not complete) say on transfers. The sheer number and difference in players recruited would not have happened without him.
Massively overhauled team this summer, what areas specifically have been improved?
JH: I think swapping Sissoko for Diame will be a master stroke. Sissoko flatters to deceive. He has all the tools at his disposal but none of the energy to translate. In comparison I've always been impressed with Diame. Getting a player as professional as Matt Ritchie in place of Townsend was excellent business. Gayle hasn't played that well so far in my opinion and yet he has four in five. He is a sound bet to be top scorer.
And where is it still potentially weak?
JH: Centre back. I have nightmares about Andy Carroll tying Ciaran Clark in knots and Hanley never impressed me back in Blackburn's Premier League seasons. Granted they were both young at the time. Lascelles and Mbemba are solid but we still look weak on set pieces. We will have to see if the signings of Lazaar and Atsu will make a difference to the left side, we've been one sided ever since Gutierrez was unfairly jettisoned.
Any reason you won't storm straight back, as you did last time you were at this level?
JH: Our lack of muscle and leadership worries me, so I was very happy with the Daryl Murphy signing. Nolan, Carroll, Smith etc were blunt instruments but it worked. Mitrovic needs to channel his aggression into goals not cards if we're going to put the fear into Championship defences.
And Chairman Big Fat Mike? Stuck with him for the long term?
JH: I think so but as I've said before I think it's a case of better the devil you know. If Benitez can get the club and community on the same wavelength then he's probably the best we can hope for. It's no coincidence that we do better when everyone in the city is on side with what the club is trying to achieve...
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