Norwich City manager Dean Smith has been branded as a hypocrite following his post match comments after the Canaries were relegated from the Premier League. Smith had previously said that Newcastle United's 2022 resurgence was primarily due to their January spending spree, that saw Dan Burn, Matt Targett, Kieran Trippier, Chris Wood and Bruno Guimaraes join the Magpies for a combined fee of £93m.
""You just look at the January window they've had," the Norwich boss said following their 3-0 defeat to Newcastle on April 23. "They spent nigh on £100m and they've improved. Eddie's [Howe] an unbelievable coach - I've said that before - but they're pretty much owned by a country so they're always going to improve."
Coupled with the addition of Joe Willock last summer for £25m, that means Newcastle have spent just under £125m since the end of last season. However, following Norwich's defeat to Aston Villa at the weekend, which saw the Canaries relegated back to the Championship, Smith has revealed that spending is key to keep a side in the Premier League - stating that he needed to spend £125m to keep Aston Villa up in the Premier League when he was manager there.
READ MORE: Jamaal Lascelles opens up on 'mentality shift' at Newcastle United under Eddie Howe
"I'm disappointed with the result today to be honest because I thought we played well today," Smith told Match of the Day. "I've just said to the players, the reason we've been relegated is not because of today's performance.
"There's been poor performances during the season where we haven't been quite up to the standard of the Premier League but today I thought we played well. It's a very difficult league to stay in. I've spent £125m here at Villa to keep us up in our first season in the Premier League. That's how tough this league is. We had a terrible start, two points after 10 games - it's difficult then."
The truth lies somewhere in between, however. Newcastle did need to strengthen in January, their backline was leaking goals and they needed to add some quality in the middle of the park, too.
Bar Bruno Guimaraes and Chris Wood, who cost £25m, Newcastle have hardly signed players who might not have been available to the rest of the Premier League.
Dan Burn cost £13m, Matt Targett was signed on loan and Kieran Trippier cost just £12m from Atletico Madrid. Eddie Howe deserves credit for the job he has done, while the January spending has certainly helped Newcastle. The two go hand in hand and have helped the Magpies turn their season around in impressive fashion following a dismal start.
