Tottenham Hotspur manager Antonio Conte has become the latest big-six spokesman to show concern over Newcastle United's potential in the coming years.
Last week, it was Jurgen Klopp who bemoaned the lack of a “ceiling” on Tyneside since the £300million takeover. Over a decade of underinvestment under Mike Ashley saw the Magpies stagnate into a Premier League also-ran. His reign of apathy plagued St James' Park for 14 years and deteriorated one of English football’s greatest clubs into a vessel-like advertising arm of Sports Direct.
Supporters who had bled black and white from birth turned their backs on the club; not due to the lack of silverware - it was never about success - but because they had been repeatedly treated with contempt by the man serving as club custodian.
