Peter Silverstone has predicted that Newcastle United will be in an even 'better place' next year - even if the Magpies' chief commercial officer admitted it will take time for the club to 'catch up' off the field.
Newcastle have gone from fighting relegation to finishing in the top four in the space of less than 18 months. It goes without saying that Eddie Howe's team are well ahead of schedule.
However, leapfrogging Liverpool, Spurs and Chelsea in the table is one thing; bridging the commercial gap on these sides is a different matter entirely. Newcastle posted revenues of £180m in their most recent set of accounts, which took in the final three months of the Ashley era and the first nine months of the current ownership. For context, Chelsea's turnover figure for the same period was £481.3m.
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Of course, it is worth bearing in mind that Newcastle have since qualified for the Champions League, which is worth a minimum of £30m, while the black-and-whites have also agreed a number of new commercial deals, including a £25m-a-year agreement with new front of shirt sponsor Sela. Continuing to strike further lucrative agreements is the task facing Silverstone and his team to boost revenues and, in turn, increase what Newcastle can spend within Financial Fair Play regulations.
"I said it to one of the players after the Carabao Cup final," he explained at True Faith's end of season show. "It's really difficult to keep up as a club, as any business, when one side of the business is going so fast, so hard, so high, so quickly.
"We will be in a better place next year as a club - no matter what - but that takes time. To actually catch up, we have got to make sure we get the pricing right for the Champions League and make sure that all the fans can enjoy themselves in Europe.
"How do we bring people with us? How do we bring sponsors on board to make sure to fuel it all?
"The commercial team we have got here is tiny. People have been doing five or six different roles. We need to make sure that's built out, that it's sustainable, both on people's workload and, also, for the future.
"We have got a lot of catching up to do to make sure we are equipped for the Champions League off the pitch as well, but it's definitely a lot nicer picking up the phone and having people ask you, 'What's available? How can we engage with this great football club?'
"There is a lot of work to do. The Champions League is so exciting, but we have just got to keep up with it. That's a great problem to have. I think Darren [Eales] calls it a champagne problem."
