Tottenham to face a brand new Newcastle

Time Stamp: April 3, 2022 6:01 AM

As Newcastle United’s new owners took their seats in the St James’ Park directors’ box on October 17 last year, they felt the wave of possibility surging through the stadium and wider Tyneside area. Chairman of the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, was alongside Amanda Staveley, her husband Mehrdad Ghodoussi and Jamie Reuben; all members of the consortium which bought out Mike Ashley 10 days earlier were present for what they hoped would be a perfect start for the next chapter.

The entire city had been in party mode since Ashley departed; it had been all people had wanted for more than a decade, and supporters reacted in the only way they knew; there was a collective drunken haze across the region, but when the football returned, they needed a marker to show that everything was about to change. Tottenham Hotspur, then managed by Nuno Espírito Santo, were the visitors. Everything felt like it was new and a line in the sand had been drawn, but that wasn’t really the case.

Steve Bruce, the manager, was expected to leave before the match; he’d not won all season and his popularity with supporters was at an all time low. But the decision dragged on and, with Bruce one game away from reaching 1000 in management, it was eventually agreed he would stay on. That meant there was an anchor to the old in the dugout, visibly reminding people of the current state the club found itself in. Pumped up on adrenaline and the release of once again feeling like an ambitious football club, Newcastle overawed Spurs early on. Callum Wilson ignited everything with an early goal; everybody saw what the future could look, sound and feel like, particularly the owners.

But then the moment subsided and reality kicked in; 20 minutes later, they tired and Spurs equalised. From then, it quickly became a training ground exercise; the visitors had been struggling under Nuno themselves, but Newcastle’s poor fitness reserves and lack of tactical identity, a damaging byproduct of the neglect and disregard for detail trademarked by the Ashley regime, were painfully evident. What started as a day full of hope ended in the same debilitating sense of acceptance. But it showed the depth of the problems the club faced, and made everyone aware.

Bruce was gone that week, but without a replacement, the negativity lingered. The new owners have made some mistakes; keeping Bruce immediately was chief among them, as was their public courting of Unai Emery, fraught with premature leaks to the media. But the key to their revival, after the appointment of Eddie Howe, who immediately set about changing the corner-cutting culture at the club, has been patience; they’ve not been rushed into anything, staying calm in January to make five measured, suitable additions. With competence now the key at Newcastle, a season that looked like ending in disaster when they last came head to head with Spurs, now feels like it could have an exciting conclusion.

Relegation went from feeling like a nailed-on certainty to a distant threat in a matter of weeks. The season is far from over and nobody can rest on their laurels, but Tottenham will face a very different team in North London on Sunday than the one they met in October. Ending the January transfer window as Europe’s biggest spenders was a vital factor which could ultimately define the season, but it would be incredibly disingenuous to suggest that as the sole reason for the upturn in form, as well as being factually untrue.

Kieran Trippier, Chris Wood, Dan Burn, Bruno Guimaraes and Matt Targett have all influenced the team in different ways, but Howe’s biggest success after implementing a style and improving work rate and endurance has been getting players who previously looked out of sorts back to their best. Jonjo Shelvey, Joe Willock and Fabian Schar are all pertinent examples, but Joelinton’s transformation, not only in performance levels but also position, moving from a striker to a box-to-box midfielder has rightly stolen headlines.

Under Bruce, Newcastle were a team who relied on individual quality; the hope was that Wilson would score a goal or Allan Saint-Maximin would produce some inspirational magic, and there wasn’t much beyond that. Both men, and Trippier, who has been seen as the new standard bearer and a symbol of new ambitions, have been out for much of the nine-match unbeaten run which changed everything. Newcastle have been robust and sure enough to continue in the winning vein, subscribing to a collective aim which is paying off immensely.

Successive defeats to Everton and Chelsea came at a busy period and signalled the need for a break, but they were also a reminder that things can still go wrong. Over three weeks on and Newcastle should be refreshed and ready to go again, but Spurs, now under the stewardship of Antonio Conte, have found form, with Harry Kane back to his best. This is a game which, on paper at least, they should probably lose.

But that is exactly the point; Newcastle are not the same team anymore. They will not rollover; Spurs will meet a club benefiting from real, comprehensive difference after the takeover. It is no longer just for show.

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