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talkSPORT's Simon Jordan | talkSPORT
Newcastle United supporters are yet to be given clarity over St James’ Park’s future.
Simon Jordan has unloaded on Newcastle United’s ownership for stalling on a potential new stadium.
And in a passionate on-air rant, the former Crystal Palace chief urged Toon CEO David Hopkinson to start being honest with supporters. Appointed in September, the Canadian has vowed several times to propel Newcastle into a global powerhouse by 2030.
Barcelona thrashed the Magpies 7-2 on Wednesday - a reality check on how far they must go to challenge the established elite. A frustrating summer transfer window last year - that saw Alexander Isak leave - also raised questions about the Saudi-backed project.
‘Increase the stadium’ - Simon Jordan
Ex-Palace owner Jordan has told the Public Investment Fund to bankroll a new stadium to help Newcastle bridge the gap. He told talkSPORT: “They've got the moniker of having the world's richest owners, but they've got the backdrop, the commercial reality. They cannot go pound for pound for these boys that are spending £250million quid every transfer window.
“They can't keep their best players because their best players are going to legacy football clubs like Liverpool. What do they do? The only thing they can do is something they should be doing now, which is build a new stadium.
“Increase the capacity of the stadium, increase the revenues, get some more opportunities to be able to monetise themselves better. That is the only way Newcastle will achieve anything vaguely resembling what their CEO said about being a dominant force in 2030.
“If you were to build a 75,000-seater stadium in Newcastle and fill it, it's not 10,000 seats, that's 25,000 seats. There's a 50,000 uplift. You then build in all the enabling, all the digitalisation that they all know goes into stadiums that can actually monetise it way beyond just people sitting there with bums on their seats once every two weeks.
“These guys (PIF) print money. These guys have got a sovereign wealth fund where building a stadium would fall out of their pocket and away to a game. They're in a part of the country where the council and the environment out there would bend over backwards for them to do it.”
Simon Jordan wants David Hopkinson honesty
While telling Newcastle fans they will reach the top is fine, Jordan believes Hopkinson must outline exactly how he plans to achieve his goal. Continuing on the stadium talk, Jordan added: “That's the answer to the question. So when are you going to do it and how are you going to do it?
“If you want to turn around and say you're going to be successful, knowing the backdrop of Financial Fair Play and the governance which restricts you from doing it, tell everybody how you're going to do it.
“If you're going to sell people that vision, then you've got to tell them how you're going to do it because, ultimately, you're just selling them a pipe dream. Newcastle United, as big a club as they are and as wonderful as their fan base is and as meaningful as they are in their region, can never, ever catch Manchester City, Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal without having the financial wherewithal to match them.
“But if you're going to sell people this vision, then you need to be held to account as to what that really means because it's a crock. You can't do it. Unless you're going to tell me that you can do it by some (other) methodologies, the only way you can do it, whether I'm being slightly bold about what I'm saying, is to build a new stadium.
“Where's the Middle Eastern ownership that wants to dominate sport? They've played nicely with the rules. They've been passive with all the challenges they've had.”
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