Newcastle United have been one of the stories of this Premier League season as the Magpies currently sit third in the league table but not everything has impressed Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville.
When Eddie Howe replaced Steve Bruce as Newcastle United’s manager last year, the club were in 19th place in the Premier League as survival looked like a tall order but the Englishman has the club far away from those days now due to some great coaching and signings.
The Tyneside club made shrewd signings this summer with the likes of Nick Pope, Sven Botman and Alexander Isak, in particular, coming in through the doors of St. James Park but Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville is not fully impressed by the Magpies due to the money they have.
“It’s not incredible because we know when Saudi Arabia came in, there was going to be more money put in. They were going to buy better players,” he said on The Gary Neville Podcast on Sky Sports Premier League.
However, Neville did go on to credit the club’s approach since being taken over, saying, “The early signings have been measured, you see sometimes sovereign wealth funds coming into football clubs and all of a sudden, there has to be a star to pin to it. A badge of honour almost.
“We’ve not seen that with Newcastle actually. They’ve been a lot more measured in terms of how they’ve gone about it. Bringing in a manager, Eddie Howe, I would think it is fashionable but he would not be deemed a celebrity manager.
“The way they’ve done it has been quite controlled, and they’ve built a spirit and a good team ethic. They’re getting more out of the players who were there before.”
