Hopkinson was on talkSPORT on Wednesday, outlining his vision for the Magpies and repeating many of the assertions he had made when addressing supporters and briefing the press in December.
Newcastle will be “consistently challenging for the top prizes in global football” by 2030. Will they be champions within the next ten years? “Yes, but I think ten years is too long. We have a high ambition here, we have a concrete plan, it's a five-year plan that takes us through to 2030.” Last month’s transfer window was “extraordinary” in terms of activity. Ambition is the “magic word”, with “total alignment” over how to make it a reality.
Let’s talk reality for a bit then. A few hours after appearing on the radio, Hopkinson watched Newcastle relinquish their hold on the Carabao Cup after conceding three goals in the space of 25 minutes at the hands of Manchester City. That came four days after they had shipped four goals in the space of 49 minutes against Liverpool.
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The defeat at Anfield plunged Newcastle back into the bottom half of the Premier League table. Never mind being the ‘biggest club in the world’, how about trying to finish as the highest club in the North-East this season?
That’s on the pitch. Off it, where Hopkinson’s skills primarily lie given his back catalogue of work in Toronto, Madrid and New York, there has been precious little progress since Darren Eales and Pete Silverstone both moved aside in the summer.
Sponsorship deals Hopkinson proclaimed would be “easy to complete” when he spoke at the start of December remain unsigned. The training ground still doesn’t have a sponsor. Plans have been mooted for a new training complex near to Newcastle Airport, but at the moment, they remain unconfirmed. There have certainly been no boots on the ground yet.
The potentially game-changing issue of building a new stadium or extending St James’ Park continues to be kicked down the road. Newcastle have “an opportunity” that they’re “working on every day”, but progress is proving impossible to discern. Manchester City’s extension of the Etihad is just about complete, and as Wednesday’s game proved, they can’t even fill their existing ground anyway. Newcastle, crying out for the extra revenue that additional seats would generate, are either unwilling or unable to decide what to do next.
Then we get to PSR and the January window. Hopkinson is adamant there was money to spend and that Newcastle did everything they could to try to spend it. Eddie Howe, on the other end, spend the second half of the transfer window ramming home the point that PSR restrictions meant it was impossible to make the signings that might have helped a team that increasingly looks as though it is running on empty. At best, that is mixed messaging. At worst, it suggests things might not be quite as harmonious behind the scenes as everyone would wish to portray.
The glossy image of a bright, success-laden future that Hopkinson is trying to portray simply does not match the current reality of a club that is struggling to qualify for next season’s Champions League, still hamstrung by PSR restrictions, significantly behind the likes of Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal when it comes to generating revenue and now further handicapped by a disastrous summer transfer window that saw more than £200m squandered on Nick Woltemade, Yoane Wissa, Anthony Elanga and Jacob Ramsey.
Again, there is nothing wrong with being ambitious. A willingness to accept mediocrity was one of the main failings of the Mike Ashley regime, setting Newcastle back decades and creating a massive disconnect between the club and fans.
Far better to aim for the stars, even if you might fall slightly short. But bold, aspirational statements only mean anything if they are rooted in reality and have at least some chance of coming true.
At the moment, Newcastle don’t look anything like a club or team that will be “consistently challenging for the top prizes in global football” in the next four years, and the more senior club officials keep repeating that statement, the more they risk being made to look ridiculous.
Stop speaking, start doing. Sign those new sponsorship deals. Reveal the plans for the training ground. Make a decision over the stadium. Improve the recruitment operation to ensure the shambles of last summer is not repeated. Supporters want to dream. But they also want proof that their dreams can actually come true.