Former Newcastle United manager Steve McClaren has pleaded Magpies fans to be cautious over the reported £300m takeover by the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund.
Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley is extremely unpopular among the club’s fanbase. The Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund (PIF), which is led by Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, has reportedly bid to buy the club from Mike Ashley for £300m. Fans are now getting optimistic as they are set to approach a new era if the takeover is successful. However, McClaren has warned the fans to be cautious.
“You’d like to think it will be done, that’s what everybody has been craving for,” McClaren told White & Sawyer.
“The northeast is a unique area for football. The Newcastle fans are thinking not another season with Mike Ashley.
“What happens at a football club, as we all see, is the crave to want this and want that. We want the takeover, we want Mike Ashley out, and this and that.
“And it’s going to be great for the first three or four months, but it depends what they do and which direction they go after that.”
McClaren lasted just nine months at St. James Park and was sacked in March 2016 after a home defeat to AFC Bournemouth. He warned that the owners could come and ‘cut the budget’ and not invest money on the team.
“They may come in and could be one of those [owners] who cut the budget, and they’re not going to give the money or rescue the club. Nobody knows until they come in,” he added.
“But what you will get is a huge lift from those supporters wanting change and craving change. Football is a religion in the northeast, it is a religion in Newcastle.
“They will want to see change, so they must be so frustrated again. But I’ve seen this come up so many times over the years from living in the northeast and it never happens. And as long as this one drags on then that’s going to slip by as well.”
