No more Mr Nice Guy - It’s time for Newcastle United to get dirty with their FFP/PSR tactics

Newcastle United have played by the book up until now. They need to start playing dirty – or risk being Premier League also-rans forever

No more Mr Nice Guy – It’s time for Newcastle United to get dirty with their FFP/PSR tactics

Like the boy who cried wolf, Newcastle United appear to have finally reached their FFP/PSR limit. A brief was given, whether that be by Eddie Howe or a senior official, to supporters before each transfer window since the Saudi-backed takeover.

“It (FFP) will continue to impact us, I think, for a number of years,” Howe warned fans in 2022. “We haven’t got the free rein that has been perceived, that we can sign who we want and pay extortionate fees ad wages. We’re not in that position and I don’t think we will be for some time.”

Yeah, whatever Eddie, not that old chestnut again, was the sentiment among supporters at the time, after watching their club sign the likes of Bruno Guimaraes, Sven Botman and Alexander Isak. But the spectre of FFP now acts as an albatross around Toon chiefs’ necks, with no incoming signings in January despite the worst injury crisis on record.

Premier League clubs voted unanimously to overhaul the system ahead of the summer chaos. What looked like a seismic vote, however, did little to improve Newcastle’s situation.

Football financial guru Kieran Maguire expects the new measures to hamstring the Magpies further into submission while the “Super League six”, as he called them, benefit further. He posted on social media: “What does it mean in plain English? Five of the ‘Super League six’ can spend a lot more money, along with financial teacher’s pet Brighton.

“Aspirational/ambitious clubs such as Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest and Newcastle, who want to spend more money, will not be able to do so and instead need to cut.”

Perhaps now, given the backdrop of frustration within the St. James’ Park corridors, is time to play dirty.

The Saudi-backed regime have jumped through hoops not to put a pinky out of line since buying the club. All eyes were on them in those early days, with Neymar et al. expected to land at Newcastle Airport within weeks of the takeover.

Fear about the Magpies’ potential inspired a Premier League vote on commercial deals, the sticking point of Manchester City’s ongoing legal battle. Newcastle dare not step out of line – but that should change.

The rules? Break them all. Now is the perfect time to weaponise the anti-FFP/PSR rhetoric and be a pioneer, treating the anti-competitive restrictions with the contempt they deserve. Go on a spending splurge and face the consequences when they land. Given the might of Saudi Arabia behind them, a case against Newcastle could take years in the making – just look at the aforementioned City fiasco.

Points deductions? Take them as well. Everton were found guilty – twice – of breaching the rules and lost eight points in total. Would solving Newcastle’s injury crisis with superstar signings be worth eight points? You’d like to think so.

As for sponsors, make a mockery of the authorities. Everything from training cone sponsors to official underwear partners should be in the pipeline. An arbitrary “fair market value” was introduced last summer – who decides that term?

Is there an impartial umpire calling the shots, with a measuring stick to assess what can be deemed fair? Nonsense. Those boundaries should be pushed to the limit and then some.

The alternative, for Newcastle, looks bleak. A prudent approach has got them to the Champions League promised land – and could do so again – but competing with those whose financial muscle was set in stone before the FFP/PSR jobsworths shut the door for everyone else.

They may flirt with success, but that will never become a romance so long as Newcastle nod their heads and dance to the elites when told. Disregard the rules – and enjoy the odyssey of a lifetime while doing so.