Richard Keys is way off the mark with latest tiresome 'not happening' Newcastle United claim

Not for the first time in recent years, Richard Keys has taken a shot at Newcastle United by suggesting the Magpies’ Saudi-led owners are losing interest in the club and suggesting they will never break into football’s elite.

Such was the regularity and quite frankly tiresome nature of his digs at the Magpies, one regional newspaper refused to report on his comments. Sometimes it is better to ignore - and in previous cases it was. But on certain occasions it is best to meet such comments head on and put some context on the situation. Speaking on beIN Sport earlier this week, Keys said: “You think they’re growing or have the Saudis just lost interest? There’s so much more for them to spend their money on. How long will it take Newcastle to break into the elite? Here’s the answer - never. It’s not happening.”

Andy Gray, so often the Punch to Keys’ Judy throughout his own broadcasting career, also weighed in on Newcastle’s chances of breaking into the elite and suggested the Magpies’ Saudi-led owners were ‘not going to hang around’ and make things happen. “We know the league is regarded as the best in the world and people want to be part of it,” explained the former Everton and Scotland striker.

“But do you think we’re coming to the time where clubs that are bankrolled by nations, like Newcastle, when they get there, they can’t spend it. So what are their thoughts about Newcastle? Where can they take Newcastle? How long will it take them to get Newcastle there? These guys are not there to wait 10 years for success - they want it immediately. They’d love to spend £400million every (transfer) break but they won’t be allowed to. Surely a sovereign nation is not going to hang around.”

Of course, the owners are ambitious and want success - but they also realise they are building from a shocking low base that was left behind by the club’s previous owner, who was, by coincidence, the subject of routinely laughably praise by Keys during his time running the show at St. James‘ Park. At times, the infrastructure behind the scenes prior to the October 2021 takeover was skeletal at best. Key staff in pivotal essential roles were effectively doing the job of several people. Costs were driven down, the hours of key individuals were forced up. High pressure, high demands, low rewards - a working environment staff at the previous owner’s sportswear stores will know all too well.

We should perhaps take a moment to remember exactly where Keys and Gray get their presumably almighty pay cheque from these days. beIN Sports is a Qatari-owned broadcaster and, as was widely reported during the prolonged takeover at Newcastle, issues between Saudi Arabia and their Middle East neighbours are not something to underplay. So there is always a large pinch of salt to taken when Keys aims barbed comments at Newcastle. The Magpies are far from the club that received gushing praise from the former Super Sunday host and former co-commentator Gray during the mid-90s when Kevin Keegan’s Entertainers embarked on one of the most glorious failures in Premier League history - when a side brimming with charisma and intent narrowly missed out on the Premier League title.

After building from a low base, reaching such heights was always going to be a mid to long-term project and no matter how wealthy the Magpies owners are, they are playing catch-up with clubs that are years ahead of them in terms of their own development. The fourth place finish achieved during Eddie Howe’s first full season in charge provided sizeable on-field progress that far outstripped the pace of the rebuild of the infrastructure at St. James’ Park. Going from Championship relegation candidates to Champions League qualifiers in just under 18 months provided financial challenges and ones that in the cold light of days proved too big in this world of Financial Fair Play and Profit and Sustainability regulations.

However, with new sponsor deals and partnerships being announced, and several departments being boosted with new staff, all of the indications are that the Saudis remain very much interested in making a success out of Newcastle. By Eddie Howe’s own admission, it may take a little longer to get to where the owners want the Magpies to be - but, as a club, they remain determined to break into the elite and are doing everything within their power to overcome the financial challenges to take the club where they want it to be.

They are not yet at the levels of Manchester City, Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool - but they have potential and with the financial backing and intent, that potential can be realised. To part-quote one Magpies legend when faced with the former Sky Sports duo on a famous night in 1996, it would be interesting to see if Keys and Gray would ‘love it’ if that was to happen.