It’s difficult to know which story upset Newcastle United fans during the week.
Managing Director Lee Charnley pronouncing that the club were not looking for a manager, but a Head Coach to work as part of a three-man team that included himself and Chief Scout Graham Carr?
Or the one that revealed the Magpies had entered the top 20 list of the world’s richest clubs.
Charnley’s confirmation of the job description for the next man in charge at St James’ Park and the suggestion that there’s no immediate prospect of an appointment provoked despair among seasoned Toon watchers.
Cult hero and former striker, Mick Quinn, described it as “the final insult”.
Charnley said: “We’re looking for someone who will work within our parameters and will buy into and work with us in terms of what we do and how we operate.
“The traditional English manager who would want full control is not what I’m looking for.”
In short, they’re after someone to coach the team, and the new man will have no involvement in signing and selling players.
There isn’t a current Premier League manager worth his salt who would sign up for that.
John Carver has never been a manager, so he’d have no problem working under that structure.
Charnley says there have been 80 applications. It’s fair to assume there aren’t too many household names on his short list.
The best guess and you can only guess when Mike Ashley is involved is that Carver will keep the role until the end of the season when it will be re-assessed.
It means that whoever succeeds Alan Pardew will have even less of a say than he did and he didn’t have much and will almost certainly be less expensive to employ.
And, in view of that other news, that’s all the more galling to supporters.
According to figures published by Deloitte, Newcastle are now 19th in the world’s Money League.
They had revenue of almost £130-million in 2013-14, up by £35-million on the previous season.
Almost all the clubs above them have access to Champions League money. Without it, the Magpies would be richer than Inter Milan and Atletico Madrid.
They also have the third-highest attendances in England.
And yet, in addition to going for the cheaper Head Coach option, there won’t be any transfer market investment this window, either.
Is it any wonder the fans are more than a little peeved?
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